David Rivera (R-Fla.)

U.S. Representative (since January 2011)

(State Library and Archives of Florida)

Why He Matters

Rivera was originally born in New York City, but has spent most of his life living in Florida. Previously special assistant to the head of the State Department's Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Rivera has worked in highly-classified positions as well as senior posts within the Florida Republican party.

Long involved in Florida politics, Rivera has served in the Florida House since 2002. In 2009 and 2010, he was the chairman of the Florida House Full Appropriations Council. Even with deficit spending, and without raising taxes, the state budget was balanced both years with money left over for public education funding.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Florida State Representative (2002-present); Special Assistant to Director of State Department 's Office of Cuba Broadcasting (1991-1999)
Birthday: Sept. 16, 1965
Hometown: New York City
Alma Mater: Florida International University B.A. (1986), M.P.A. (1994)
Religion: Catholic
Committees: House Natural Resources Committee ; House Foreign Affairs Committee
DC Office: 417 Cannon HOBWashington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-2778Fax: (202) 226-0346

Path To Power

Rivera began his career as a writer and researcher for the Cuban American National Foundation. He then went on to work for the Valladares Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based international human-rights organization.

From 1991 to 1999, Rivera was special assistant to the head of the State Department's Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), the official U.S. government broadcast services to Cuba. He has also taught in the Florida International University's School of Policy and Management.

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The Issues

While in the Florida legislature, Rivera passed property-reform legislation, anti-cyber predatory legislation and created a back-to-school sales tax holiday. He also passed multiple pieces of legislation combating health care and insurance fraud.

Rivera believes in protecting and supporting the right to bear arms.

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He does not believe in lifting the travel ban or trade embargo against Cuba.

Rivera believes in continuing to offer foreign aid to Israel. He supports putting pressure on Iran to end uranium-enrichment and weapons programs.

Rivera opposes the Obama administration's health-care reform bill and believes it will cause a tax increase despite the president's promise to not raise taxes.

Rivera has stated that he would have opposed extending unemployment benefits in summer 2010 to those who have run out of coverage after being out of work for so long.

Immigration

Rivera believes in comprehensive immigration reform. He says it is necessary to strengthen the borders and enact harsher penalties to discourage illegal immigration. He believes it is also necessary to penalize employers who hire undocumented workers. He believes the strict immigration bill passed in Arizona is too extreme and distracts from a larger conversation about comprehensive immigration reform.

Though Rivera has expressed a desire to help children of undocumented workers, he does not support the DREAM Act, which would provide conditional permanent residency to those who arrived in the U.S. as children and completed two years at a four-year college or in the U.S. military.

Taxes

A fiscal conservative and advocate for small business owners, Rivera wants to repeal the alternative minimum tax. He has advocated for the self-employed to be able to deduct health-insurance costs from their tax bills.

He has also proposed that small businesses be permanently allowed to write off expenses such as furniture and supplies.

He is against letting the Bush administration's tax cuts expire.

The Economy

Rivera is in favor of placing a cap on congressional discretionary spending.

Rivera has said that the 2009 stimulus plan failed and has pledged to cancel the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Rivera supports the stalled free-trade pact with Colombia. He believes this helps the economy and can create job growth.

Energy and the Environment

Rivera opposes emissions trading and is against the Obama administration's so-called "cap-and-trade" policies. He supports domestic energy and exploring renewable-energy resources.

In the wake of the spring 2010 B oil disaster, he believes near-shore drilling should have been suspended until a full investigation could have been carried out. However, he doesn't believe the U.S. should eliminate off-shore drilling entirely, noting, "Other nations are doing it - it's done all around the world - and if we don't do it, someone else will be doing it."