Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) honored Miami Marlins’ pitcher José Fernandez in a moving floor speech on Tuesday. Fernandez tragically lost his life on Sunday in a boating accident.
Rubio told the life story of Fernandez, who tried multiple times to immigrate from communist Cuba to the United States. Fernandez failed three times, each resulting in him being thrown into a Cuban prison. Upon his third release, Fernandez and his family made the longer trip to Mexico before coming to the U.S., where he defected.
"One of José’s proudest accomplishments, in fact he said one of his proudest was not on the diamond, and we know this because he told us," Rubio said. "Last year, José became an American citizen, and afterwards he said, ‘This one is my most important accomplishment. I am an American citizen now. I am one of them. I consider myself now to be free. I thank this amazing country the opportunity to go to school here and learn the language and pitch in the major leagues. It is an honor to be apart of this country, and I respect it so much.’"
Rubio said that Fernandez’s story touched so many Cuban-Americans in his district because it reminded them of their own stories.
Rubio said that Fernandez lived the American dream and was the pride of Miami.