Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, delivered his opening statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio emphasized the “unmistakable mandate” granted by the American electorate to the incoming administration, highlighting a commitment to an “America First” foreign policy.
Transcript:
“Well, thank you, Chairman Risch. I want to thank the ranking member as well, Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Scott, for your introduction. Let me just say it’s a bit surreal to be on this side of the room, but you all look very distinguished. I wanted you to know that. (Laughter)
In the 249-year history of our Republic, there’s only been 71 other Americans who have served in the role and the position that President Trump has now nominated me to occupy. I want to thank him for his confidence. It’s an incredible honor. It is also, as many of you have already pointed out, an extraordinary responsibility.
Three of my children, Amanda, Anthony, and Dominic, could not be here with us today or join us here in person. But I am happy that my wife, Janette, is here and that my daughter, Daniella, is here with me as well, because I think as each of you know well, it really is impossible to do our job in the Senate, not to mention the job I’ve been nominated for, without the love and the support of our families.
I’m also very pleased that my sisters, Barbara and Veronica, and my nephew, Orlando, are joining me here today.
To me, it’s a reminder that the path that brings me to this moment was paved by those who are not here with us today by two parents who arrived here on May 27th from Cuba, and they had nothing but the dreams of a better life.
Because of them, I had the privilege to be born a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of mankind and to be raised in a safe and stable home by parents who made their children’s future the very purpose of their lives.
I also want to acknowledge all the blessings that God has bestowed upon me in my life. My faith is critical and something I will lean and rely on heavily in the months that are ahead.
In a tumultuous world, where in my faith we are called to promote the cause of peace and the common good, that task has gotten harder than it’s ever been.
I will rely heavily on my faith and pray for God’s blessings that he will provide me the strength, the wisdom, and the courage to do what is right in these tenuous moments.
At the end of the Second World War, the United States was, in the words of then-Secretary of State, tasked with creating an order—a world order—a free half, in his quote, out of chaos without blowing the whole of the world into pieces in the process. In the decades that followed, that global order served us quite well.
Americans’ income rose, and communities flourished. Alliances emerged in the Indo-Pacific and Europe that led to the emergence of stability, democracy, and prosperity in these regions.
Alliances emerged in the Indo-Pacific and in Europe that led to the emergence of stability, democracy, and prosperity, but it also prevented a cataclysmic world war, and ultimately a wall in Berlin came down, and with it an evil empire.
Out of the triumphalism of the end of the long Cold War emerged a bipartisan consensus.
And this consensus was that we had reached the end of history, that all of the nations of the world would now become members of the democratic Western-led community, that a foreign policy that served the national interest could now be replaced by one that served the liberal world order, and that all mankind was now destined to abandon national sovereignty and national identity and would instead become one human family and citizens of the world.
This wasn’t just a fantasy. We now know it was a dangerous delusion.
Here in America and in many of the advanced economies across the world, an almost religious commitment to free and unfettered trade at the expense of our national economy shrunk the middle class, left the working class in crisis, collapsed our industrial capacity, and has pushed critical supply chains into the hands of adversaries and rivals.
An irrational zeal for maximum freedom of movement of people has resulted in a historic mass migration crisis here in America, but also around the world. It’s one that threatens the stability of societies and governments.
Across the West, governments now censor and even prosecute domestic political opponents. Meanwhile, radical jihadists openly march in the streets and, sadly, drive vehicles into our people.
So while America too often prioritized the global order above our core national interests, other nations continued to act the way nations have always acted and always will in what they perceive to be their best interest.
And instead of folding into the post-Cold War global order, they have manipulated it to serve their interests at the expense of ours.
We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order, and they took advantage of all of its benefits, and they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities.
Instead, they have repressed, lied, cheated, hacked, and stolen their way into global superpower status, and they have done so at our expense and at the expense of the people of their own country.
In our very own hemisphere, narco-terrorists, dictators, and despots take advantage of open borders to drive mass migration, to traffic women and children, and to flood our communities with deadly fentanyl and violent criminals.
In Moscow, Tehran, and Pyongyang, dictators and rogue states now sow chaos and instability, align with and fund radical terror groups, and then hide behind their veto power at the United Nations Security Council or the threats of nuclear war.
The postwar global order is not just obsolete. It is now a weapon being used against us. And all this has led to a moment in which we must now confront the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive in this room today.
Eight decades later, we are once again called to create a free world out of the chaos, and this will not be easy. It will be impossible without a strong and confident America that engages in the world, putting our core national interests once again above all else.
Just four years ago, I believe we began to see the outlines and beginnings of what that would look like. During President Trump’s first term, American strength was a deterrent to our adversaries, and it gave us leverage in diplomacy.
There were no new wars. ISIS was eviscerated, Soleimani was dead, the historic Abraham Accords were born, and Americans were safer as a result.
Now, President Trump returns to office with an unmistakable mandate from the voters. They want a strong America, a strong America engaged in the world, but guided by a clear objective to promote peace abroad and security and prosperity here at home.
That is the promise that President Trump was elected to keep. If I am confirmed, keeping that promise will be the core mission of the United States Department of State.
Now, tragically, horrifying atrocities and unimaginable human suffering can be found on virtually every continent. I am certain that today I will be asked about the array of programs and activities the Department of State carries out to address them.
We are a nation founded on the revolutionary truth that all men are created equal and that our rights come not from man or government, but from God. And so we will never be indifferent to the suffering of our fellow man.
But ultimately, under President Trump, the top priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States. The direction he has given for the conduct of our foreign policy is clear.
Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue, must be justified by the answer to one of three questions. Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?
Under President Trump, the dollars of hardworking American taxpayers will always be spent wisely, and our power will always be wielded prudently and towards what is best for America and Americans before anything and everything else.
Prudence in the conduct of foreign policy is not an abandonment of our values. It is the common sense understanding that while we remain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth, our wealth has never been unlimited, and our power has never been infinite.
Placing our core national interest above all else is not isolationism. It is the common sense realization that a foreign policy centered in our national interest is not some outdated relic.
Since the emergence of the modern nation-state over two centuries ago, countries acting based on what they perceive to be their core national interest has been the norm, not the exception.
And for our country, placing the interest of America and Americans above all else has never been more relevant or necessary than it is right now.
For in the end, how can America promote the cause of peace on Earth if it is not first safe at home?
What good is America to our allies if it is not strong? And how can America help end the suffering of God’s children across the world if it is not first prosperous here at home?
I thank you, and I hope I can earn your support, whether it’s because you believe I would do a good job or because you want to get rid of me.”
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