Middle Ground: Healing our Country’s Politics
Our society is deeply divided. We don’t understand one another and many of us don’t care to. How I tried bridging the partisan gap in Washington, and how every citizen can do their part.
Our Angry Nation and Immigration
No issue is more divisive in our country than immigration. Why are Americans scapegoating one another and turning their backs on our history as a nation of immigrants? Securing the border and a healthy nation that welcomes those who seek to contribute.
Saving the Planet
Time is running out. Many parts of the country are threatened by rising sea levels and other effects associated with a changing climate. What are the solutions and how do we bridge the partisan gap?
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Not yet 40 years of age, Carlos Curbelo has had quite a number of interesting life experiences. He started a media and public relations firm fresh out of college and ran it successfully for over ten years. At the age of 29 he became senior staff for a U.S. Senator and a key advisor on Latin-American policy. Just a year later he was elected to the Miami-Dade County School Board and was part of a historic leadership team that took America’s fourth largest school district from bankruptcy to excellence. During his tenure on the board, Miami-Dade County Public Schools expanded choice, cut administrative costs, and gave teachers raises resulting in the District receiving the prestigious Broad Prize for Education.
In 2014, Carlos was elected to represent his community in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Education and Workforce Committee, the Small Business Committee, and the powerful Committee on Ways and Means where he co-authored the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 - comprehensive tax reform legislation that delivered historic tax relief, drove investment to challenged communities, and made American businesses more competitive. While in Congress Curbelo also led on climate policy, immigration reform, and gun safety. He co-founded and co-chaired the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, served in a leadership role in the Problem Solvers Caucus, and led the Brazil Caucus to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Latin-America's leading economy. In 2017, Curbelo was honored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation with the New Frontier Award for his work promoting bipartisan cooperation on environmental policy. In 2018 he filed the landmark Market Choice Act, ambitious legislation that would invest nearly a trillion dollars in American infrastructure while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by pricing carbon. Also in 2018, he led a discharge petition initiative that forced the U.S. House to debate and consider comprehensive immigration reform legislation - including a path to citizenship for Dreamers - for the first time in a decade.
Curbelo has consistently advocated for decency, sobriety, and civility in politics, and more broadly, in American society. Just weeks before leaving Congress he made news for holding a press conference with a young man who threatened his life where he publicly forgave him and announced he would not press charges. He was ranked the fourth most bipartisan Member of the House where he represented South Florida until returning to the private sector in 2019.
My Speaker List
