The provided texts detail the confirmation and swearing-in of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State under President Trump’s second administration. The sources include excerpts from an interview where Rubio discusses his foreign policy priorities, his speech to State Department employees, and portions of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His focus centers on strengthening America’s global standing, prioritizing national interests, and countering adversaries like China and Russia. Specific policy discussions involve the war in Ukraine, the TikTok ban, and US relations with various countries, particularly those in Latin America and the Middle East. The overall narrative showcases Rubio’s commitment to a more assertive American foreign policy under the Trump administration.

Study Guide: U.S. Foreign Policy & Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Short Answer Quiz

How does Secretary Rubio distinguish his current focus from his previous role as a senator regarding domestic matters? He explains that as a senator, he had opinions on all kinds of domestic matters, but now as Secretary of State his sole focus is on foreign policy and how to interact with allies, adversaries, and potential enemies to keep the country safe and prosperous.
What is the primary rationale behind delaying the TikTok ban, according to Secretary Rubio? The law has a 90-day window allowing for a delay in implementation so that a potential deal can be reached for an American entity to purchase TikTok or otherwise ensure it is not controlled by a foreign entity like the Chinese Communist Party.
What is Secretary Rubio’s stance on the war in Ukraine and how does he propose it be resolved? He views it as a complex, tragic conflict that must be resolved through pragmatic, serious diplomacy and is seeking an end to the conflict by using U.S. leverage to bring all sides to the negotiating table, understanding that neither side will achieve their maximalist goals.
What is the central principle guiding the State Department’s actions, according to Secretary Rubio? He states that all actions of the State Department must be evaluated by whether it makes America stronger, safer, and more prosperous, making those considerations the top priority.
What is Secretary Rubio’s view on the role of U.S. in NATO in the 21st century? He questions whether the US should have the primary defense role or serve as a backstop with allies taking on more responsibility, while still recognizing the importance of the alliance.
How does Secretary Rubio define the relationship between US and China? He sees it as a global competition that the United States must win, requiring an all-of-society approach. He acknowledges that the countries must interact, but that China cannot continue to receive all the benefits of the international system without accepting its obligations.
What are Secretary Rubio’s views on the International Criminal Court (ICC)? He believes the ICC has severely damaged its credibility by targeting non-member states like Israel, creating a dangerous precedent and undermining its core mission of holding accountable those who have no recourse within their own countries.
What is Secretary Rubio’s position on the flow of fentanyl and the cartels operating in Mexico? He recognizes that designated terrorist organization status is not a perfect tool to use against sophisticated criminal enterprises but recognizes the severe impact of these organizations on both the U.S. and Mexico, and says they have operational control over border regions.
What is Secretary Rubio’s perspective on trade with China, and how should a “fair” relationship be approached? He sees the relationship between trade with China as unfair when the US allows their companies to do whatever they want here but we can’t do the same there, and believes we should prioritize our industrial capacity and supply chains at home in key industries, while actively engaging with the world to address the issue.
What approach does Secretary Rubio propose for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program? He believes the US should be open to any arrangement that allows for safety and stability but must remain clear-eyed about Iran’s intentions and that any concessions will be used to continue building their weapon systems and sponsorship of terrorist groups.

Essay Questions

Analyze Secretary Rubio’s perspective on the balance between American values and national interests in foreign policy. How does he argue that prioritizing national interests is not isolationism, and what examples does he provide to support his views?
Evaluate Secretary Rubio’s proposed strategies for dealing with China. How do his views contrast with previous administrations’ approaches and what potential challenges or benefits might his strategies present in international relations?
Discuss Secretary Rubio’s assessment of the challenges and opportunities in the Middle East, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the potential for regional normalization, particularly regarding Saudi Arabia. What role does he envision for the U.S. in these dynamics?
Examine Secretary Rubio’s views on the Russia-Ukraine war and its implications for Europe and the United States. What diplomatic strategies does he suggest and how does he propose balancing support for Ukraine with the pursuit of peace and long-term stability?
Considering Secretary Rubio’s responses across multiple foreign policy issues, evaluate his leadership style and his vision for the United States’ role in the world. What are the potential strengths and weaknesses of his proposed approach?

Glossary of Key Terms

Quad: An informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India.
Indo-Pacific: A geopolitical region encompassing the Indian and Pacific Oceans, increasingly recognized as a key area for global security and trade.
Freedom of Navigation: The principle that ships of all countries should have the right to pass through international waters, especially vital in regions like the Indo-Pacific where territorial claims are disputed.
Executive Order: A directive issued by the President of the United States that manages the operations of the federal government.
Appropriators and Authorizers: Congressional members who work on committees that both provide funding (Appropriators) and establish the laws and programs (Authorizers).
Diplomatic Core: The group of foreign service officers and other personnel who represent a nation’s interests abroad.
U.S.M.C.A.: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement; a free trade agreement between the three countries.
AUKUS: A security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States focusing on enhanced defense cooperation.
International Criminal Court (ICC): An international court based in The Hague that prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO): A designation by the U.S. State Department for a foreign organization engaged in terrorism, imposing financial sanctions and other restrictions.
Sanctions: Economic and political measures imposed by one country on another to achieve a political objective.
Dual-Use Parts: Technology or materials that can be used for civilian and military purposes, often an issue in international trade.
Assan: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia.
New Start Treaty: The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation.
Monroe Doctrine: A U.S. policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas.
Mercantilist Policies: Economic policies designed to maximize exports and minimize imports, often with the aim of accumulating wealth and power.
Polar region/Arctic region: The northernmost part of the Earth, including the Arctic Ocean and surrounding lands, increasingly important for trade and resources.
CEE (Central and Eastern Europe): This area includes the countries of Europe that were formerly under the influence of the Soviet Union.
PEPFAR: The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Rubio’s Foreign Policy Priorities

Okay, here is a detailed briefing document summarizing the key themes, ideas, and facts from the provided sources.

Briefing Document: Secretary Marco Rubio’s Confirmation and Foreign Policy Priorities

I. Overview

This document summarizes key points from various sources related to Marco Rubio’s confirmation as Secretary of State and his initial remarks outlining his foreign policy priorities under President Trump’s administration. It includes his Senate confirmation hearing, his swearing-in ceremony, and statements he has given to the press and State Department staff. The overall theme is a shift towards an “America First” foreign policy, emphasizing national security, economic prosperity, and strength, with a focus on countering adversaries, particularly China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. It also includes the focus on alliances and supporting partners against bad actors.

II. Key Themes and Ideas

“America First” Foreign Policy: Rubio repeatedly emphasizes that the top priority of the State Department will be the United States, focusing on policies that make America “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” He states, “President Trump’s made it very clear everything we do and this is true in government but especially at the Department of State everything we do must be justified by the answer to one of three questions does it make us stronger does it make us safer and does it make us more prosperous.”
Reinvigorating American Foreign Policy: He emphasizes President Trump’s intention to “reinvigorate an American foreign policy that makes America safer and stronger and more prosperous”. He is taking direction from President Trump’s campaign promises, and he emphasizes that his role at the State Department is to help the president keep those promises.
Focus on National Security: Rubio frames many foreign policy issues through the lens of national security, including concerns about China’s military buildup, Russia’s aggression, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the security of America’s borders. He states, “the priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States it will be furthering the national interest of this country.”
Hardline Stance on Adversaries: Rubio signals a more assertive approach towards countries he views as adversaries. This includes:
China: He highlights China as the most significant long-term threat, citing concerns about intellectual property theft, fentanyl trafficking, and exploitation of free markets. He states, “China Remains The most significant long-term risk to the United States,” and believes this is a competition that the United States must win. He believes that the goal is “to deal with China…in a way that furthers our national interest”. He warns against “a world where much of what we depend on for our security our health our safety and our economic Prosperity will largely depend on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not and that cannot be a world that we leave for our children”.
Russia: Rubio criticizes Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and Putin’s reliance on energy as leverage against Europe. He states, “the only way to solve these things we got to get back to pragmatism but we also get get back to seriousness here and that is the hard work of diplomacy.”
Iran: He expresses concern over Iran’s nuclear program and its sponsorship of terrorism, stating “what cannot be allowed under any circumstances is a nuclear armed Iran”.
Cuba: He believes Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism and plans to reverse any policy that does not reflect that view.
Venezuela: He sees the Venezuelan government as a “narcot Trafficking Organization” and supports strengthening sanctions against the Maduro government.
Importance of Alliances: He recognizes the importance of alliances and highlights his first meeting with the “Quad” nations (Australia, Japan, India), focusing on freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific. He acknowledges the importance of NATO as well, but calls to question if its role should be the primary defense role, or that of a backstop to aggression.
Diplomacy is Key: While a hardliner, Rubio also makes room for diplomacy, stating “the only way to solve these things…is the hard work of diplomacy.” He acknowledges the necessity of negotiation with various actors.
A 21st Century State Department: Rubio states that changes need to be made at the State Department so that it can “move faster than we ever have because the world is changing faster than we ever have.”
Pragmatism and Realism: Rubio stresses a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, stating that “prudence in the conduct of foreign policy is not an abandonment of our values” and that America’s resources and power are not “unlimited” or “infinite”. He argues that placing America’s core national interest above all else is not isolationism and that “countries acting based on what they perceive to be their core National interest that has been the norm not the exception”.
Internal Policy Alignment: Rubio acknowledges the need to focus on domestic matters including an overhaul of our education system and a need to prioritize “the importance of our industrial capacity and our access to supply chains domestically.”
The Importance of Family: Rubio acknowledges his wife, children, and extended family. He mentions that his family is made up of immigrants, and acknowledges that their story is an American story. He states, “the family, not the government, is the most important institution in our society.”

III. Specific Issues and Facts

Executive Orders: President Trump issued executive orders on his first full day of his second term, including pardons for nearly 1,600 January 6th rioters, beginning withdrawal from the WHO and Paris Agreement, and declaring a national emergency at the southern border.
TikTok: The President issued an executive order to delay the ban on TikTok, citing a 90-day window to find a deal that addresses national security concerns. Rubio supports the law and said the law gives the president the right to delay the ban. He said the goal is “to stop it operating or no longer controlled by a company under the control of the Chinese Communist party”.
Ukraine War: Rubio stated that the war in Ukraine needs to end and that will require “complex and hard diplomacy.” He stated that “neither Russia nor Ukraine can achieve the maximalist goals that they may have for this conflict”.
Senate Confirmation: Rubio was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, indicating bipartisan support for his appointment.
First Latino Secretary of State: Rubio is the first Latino American to serve as the US’s top diplomat.
Former Colleagues: Rubio recognized his former colleagues who are now on the authorization and appropriation committee, and noted he has asked for them to be nice to those who testify from the State Department.
International Criminal Court (ICC): Rubio criticized the ICC for going after non-member states, specifically Israel, and warns that could be a precedent for the United States.
NATO: Rubio recognizes the importance of the NATO alliance, but questions if the US should have the primary role in defense in the region, or should the other countries pick up more of that burden.
China’s Military Buildup: Rubio highlights that China’s direction for its military is to be prepared to take Taiwan by 2027. He acknowledges that “that does not mean that he will invade in 2027 and it’s also true that’s not pre determined but it should be very concerning to all of us that he’s given his military that direction”.
Fentanyl: Rubio wants to designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations to give law enforcement more tools to fight against the fentanyl epidemic. He notes that these are sophisticated groups that operate over the border regions.
Energy Dependence: Rubio acknowledged the European reliance on Russia, and how President Trump had previously called this out as a weakness. He also highlights how the Russian GDP is composed of mostly raw materials, food production, and fertilizer which are all important factors in national strength.
AUKUS: Rubio noted that AUKUS relies heavily on the transfer of technologies, and said that the current administration has been difficult to work with.
Haiti: Rubio acknowledges that there is “no legitimacy of authority” in Haiti and believes that it is important that the international community provides “some level of stability and security in Haiti so that you can explore the opportunities to have a transitional government that has legitimacy”.
Nicaragua: Rubio states that Nicaragua has “become the point of entry from people from all over the world” and has “invited the Russians to establish a military Naval presence”.
Venezuela: Rubio acknowledges that seven or eight million Venezuelans have left the country, and that he disagreed with the prior administration about allowing oil to flow.

IV. Potential Areas of Conflict or Uncertainty

Balancing “America First” with Global Engagement: There may be tension between an “America First” approach and maintaining strong alliances and international cooperation.
Use of Sanctions: While Rubio sees value in sanctions, he also makes room for using the lifting of sanctions as a form of diplomacy.
Relationship with China: Balancing the need to confront China with the need to maintain communication and avoid conflict will be a complex challenge.
Reversal of Policy: It is unclear how some of the Trump policies that Rubio has stated he is in favor of reversing will be received by the international community.
Contradictory Statements: Rubio himself stated that as a senator, he was able to give his opinion on domestic policy matters, but that he no longer can as secretary of state. He said that he is “focused singularly on foreign policy on how I interact with our allies for example.” However, he states that it is important to consider the industrial capacity within the United States as part of the state department’s priorities.
Uncertainty over the Ukraine War: While Rubio recognizes the need for the war to end, it is unclear how negotiations will be pursued and what compromises may be necessary.
Internal Policies: Rubio wants to emphasize “the importance of our industrial capacity and our access to supply chains domestically,” which might cause a conflict with a strict focus on State Department priorities.

V. Conclusion

Marco Rubio’s confirmation as Secretary of State signals a significant shift in US foreign policy under President Trump’s leadership. The focus on national security, economic prosperity, and a more assertive stance towards adversaries is clear. While Rubio acknowledges the importance of diplomacy and alliances, his commitment to an “America First” approach suggests potential tensions and challenges in navigating the complex global landscape. There is an emphasis on bringing a 21st century approach to the State Department and on making it more efficient and effective. The coming months will reveal how these policy objectives translate into concrete actions on the world stage.

Rubio on US Foreign Policy

FAQ: US Foreign Policy Under Secretary Marco Rubio

How will Secretary Rubio approach the issue of January 6th pardons given his past criticism?
Secretary Rubio states that his focus is now entirely on foreign policy and interactions with international counterparts. He does not anticipate foreign partners will ask about the pardons. While as a senator he expressed concerns about the impact of January 6th on America’s standing, his current role demands complete dedication to U.S. foreign policy goals, ensuring national safety, prosperity, and strength. He wants to move past domestic matters to focus on foreign policy challenges.
What is the administration’s stance on TikTok and its national security risks?

While previously concerned about TikTok’s national security risks, the administration has granted a 90-day delay for the ban to take effect. The intention is not a blanket TikTok ban, but rather to prevent the platform from being controlled by foreign entities, particularly the Chinese Communist Party, that could exploit American data. This delay allows for potential negotiations for a US-controlled purchase or an arrangement to mitigate the security risks. Congress passed the law which gives the president the right to take this pause.

What are Secretary Rubio’s plans to address the conflict in Ukraine?
Secretary Rubio emphasizes the importance of ending the war in Ukraine, highlighting the tragic impact it has had on both Ukraine and Russia, as well as on European stability. He stresses the need for pragmatic and serious diplomacy, involving U.S. influence to encourage both sides to make concessions. The goal is not just a ceasefire, but a lasting stability for Europe and beyond. He does not believe this will be easy and this has to be done behind the scenes and not in press conferences. The goal is an end to the fighting.
What is the core principle guiding the Trump administration’s foreign policy, according to Secretary Rubio?
The administration’s primary foreign policy mandate is to prioritize the United States’ national interests. Every action taken by the State Department must be justified by whether it makes America safer, stronger, or more prosperous. This approach does not indicate isolationism, but rather a focus on ensuring America’s well-being, as a safe, strong, and prosperous United States is essential for global stability and peace.
What is Secretary Rubio’s view on China and its global ambitions?
Secretary Rubio sees China as a significant long-term risk to the United States, highlighting its theft of intellectual property, fentanyl trafficking, exploitation of free markets, and undermining of American national security. He views China as an adversary that seeks to dominate the world by 2049. He argues for a proactive, “all-of-society” approach to compete with China. He stated the importance of balancing the two powers. The core challenge is that the two superpowers need to find a way to communicate to prevent a global conflict.
What stance does Secretary Rubio take regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
Secretary Rubio is highly critical of the ICC. He argues it has damaged its credibility by pursuing cases against non-member states, such as Israel, setting a dangerous precedent. He fears this approach will ultimately be used against the United States. Furthermore, he believes the ICC’s actions are harmful and that it should only focus on states that do not have a proper judicial system. He sees it as overstepping its mandate, especially when it tries to treat countries who can solve their own issues the same as countries who can’t.
How does Secretary Rubio view the US relationship with NATO and its members?
While recognizing NATO’s importance, Secretary Rubio questions whether the U.S. should continue to play the primary defense role or act as a backstop, with European countries taking greater responsibility for their defense. He emphasizes that America needs to have capable defense allies. While America plays a critical role in this alliance, other countries must do their part. He believes that alliances are very useful, but countries have to be willing to spend money in their own defense. He thinks that has been generally missing in NATO.
What are Secretary Rubio’s specific concerns regarding the Western Hemisphere, and what steps does he plan to take to address them?
Secretary Rubio is very concerned about multiple issues in the Western Hemisphere. He highlights the challenges presented by the lack of legitimate authority in Haiti; the destabilizing activities in Nicaragua and their use as a point of entry for migrants to the US; the narcoterrorist government in Venezuela; and the continued influence of China in the region, including military installations in Cuba. He believes in partnering with other nations to bring stability. He will work on cutting off the flow of migrants and other destabilizing activities. His overall view is that the United States has to be present in the region, have counters to each of these problems, and have consequences for those nations who work against our national interest.

Rubio’s Second Term: A Trump Administration Timeline

Okay, here’s the detailed timeline and cast of characters based on the provided sources:

Timeline of Events:

2021:January 6: Riot at the U.S. Capitol occurs, leading to arrests of Trump supporters. This event is later referenced by Marco Rubio as a “national embarrassment.”
Pre-Second Trump Term:Donald Trump campaigns on promises including ending the war in Ukraine.
Start of Second Trump Term (Monday Evening):Donald Trump issues a “deluge” of executive orders, including:
Full pardons for approximately 1,600 people arrested during the January 6th Capitol riot.
Orders to initiate the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, ordering military to “seal the border”.
Executive order to delay the ban on TikTok for 90 days to allow a potential sale or transfer of control.
First Full Day of Trump’s Second Term:National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral with Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their families.
Marco Rubio is officially sworn in as Secretary of State by Vice President JD Vance.
Rubio speaks at the State Department, emphasizing that the Department’s priority will be the United States’ national interest.
Rubio holds his first meeting with members of the Quad (Australia, Japan, India).
Rubio makes remarks at the State Department to staff, where he’s joined by his wife, children and family. He emphasizes the importance of diplomacy and national interest.
Rubio has his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Subsequent Events:Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing for Marco Rubio’s confirmation as Secretary of State, where he discusses various international issues and US foreign policy priorities.

Cast of Characters:

Marco Rubio:Role: Newly appointed Secretary of State for the second Trump administration, former Senator from Florida.
Bio: A Cuban-American who previously served as a US Senator from Florida, with a focus on foreign policy, particularly regarding Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia and international security. He is the first Latino American to serve as US’s top diplomat.
Donald Trump:Role: President of the United States, beginning his second term.
Bio: Former businessman and politician, now serving his second term as president, who campaigned on an “America First” agenda including a strong stance on immigration, trade and national security.
JD Vance:Role: Vice President of the United States.
Bio: Former venture capitalist and author, now serving as Vice President in Trump’s administration.
Usha Vance:Role: Wife of JD Vance.
Vladimir Putin:Role: President of Russia.
Bio: Leader of Russia, seen as an aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine.
Mario Diaz-Balart:Role: US Representative for Florida
Bio: A former colleague of Marco Rubio in the Florida legislature, also Cuban-American and serving on the House Appropriations Committee.
Lois Frankel:Role: US Representative for Florida.
Bio: A former colleague of Marco Rubio in the Florida legislature and member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Brian Mast:Role: US Representative for Florida.
Bio: A colleague of Marco Rubio in the House and member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Janette Rubio:Role: Wife of Marco Rubio.
Bio: Immigrated to the United States from Colombia; mother of Marco Rubio’s four children.
Amanda Rubio:Role: Oldest daughter of Marco Rubio.
Bio: Attends college and has a job.
Daniela Rubio:Role: Daughter of Marco Rubio.
Bio: Attends college and has a job.
Anthony Rubio:Role: Son of Marco Rubio.
Bio: Attends college and has a job.
Dominic Rubio:Role: Youngest son of Marco Rubio.
Bio: In his junior year of high school.
Maria:Role: Mother of Janette Rubio.
Bio: Immigrated to the United States from Columbia.
Barbara & Veronica:Role: Sisters of Marco Rubio.
Orlando:Role: Nephew of Marco Rubio.
Ioni Wells:Role: Correspondent covering the events at the State Department for the news.
Senator ScottRole: Senator and colleague of Marco Rubio; introduces him at the Senate hearing.
Senator Shaheen:**Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee who will be working with Marco Rubio.
Senator Coons:**Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Danes:**Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Murphy:**Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Booker:Role: Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Paul:Role: Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator McCormick: **Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Kane: **Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Duckworth: **Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Cruz: **Role:** Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee

Key Themes & Issues:

“America First” Foreign Policy: The new administration, led by President Trump and Secretary Rubio, emphasizes prioritizing U.S. interests above all else.
Re-evaluating Global Alliances: Questions are raised about the U.S. role in NATO and the need for allies to be more capable and self-sufficient.
Confronting Adversaries: Secretary Rubio takes a hard-line stance against countries he sees as adversaries, including China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.
Trade and Economic Security: Concerns are raised about China’s growing economic influence and the need to prioritize domestic industrial capacity and secure supply chains.
Sanctions: The effectiveness of sanctions as a tool is discussed, including both their potential to punish and the importance of leveraging them in diplomatic negotiations.
Challenges in the Western Hemisphere: Issues with Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba are all discussed, as well as concerns about China’s growing influence in the region.
The Indo-Pacific: The importance of this region is highlighted, focusing on both China and U.S. allies in the area, with specific emphasis on the Pacific Islands, the Philippines, and Asean nations.
North Korea Policy: A discussion is had about whether the US policy has failed and needs a re-evaluation of strategy.
Arctic Region: The strategic importance of the Arctic is emphasized, with concerns about its opening up for trade routes and China’s interest.

This detailed breakdown should provide a solid understanding of the events and characters in your provided sources.

Rubio’s Confirmation as Secretary of State

Marco Rubio’s confirmation as Secretary of State involved several key steps and notable events, as detailed in the sources:

Nomination: President Trump nominated Marco Rubio to be the Secretary of State [1-3]. Rubio was serving as a senator for Florida before his nomination [2, 4].
Senate Confirmation Hearing: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a confirmation hearing for Rubio [5, 6].
Senator James Risch of Idaho chaired the committee, and Senator Jean Shaheen of New Hampshire was the ranking Democrat [5, 6].
Senator Tim Scott introduced Rubio at the hearing, highlighting Rubio’s knowledge of foreign relations and national security [6, 7].
During the hearing, committee members discussed various foreign policy issues with Rubio [8].
Committee Members:Committee members included Senators Tammy Duckworth and Jackie Rosen [5].
Other members included Senators McCormick, Danes, Scott, Lee, Curtis, and Corin (Republicans) and Jackie Rosen (Democrat) [8].
Bipartisan Support: Rubio received bipartisan support, with all 99 senators voting to confirm him [4].
Oath of Office: Rubio was sworn in by the Vice President [2, 9].
First Day as Secretary of State: On his first day, Rubio addressed the staff at the State Department, emphasizing that the department’s priority would be the United States and furthering the nation’s interests [2].
He stated that everything the department does must make the country stronger, safer, and more prosperous [2].
He also met with members of the “Quad,” which includes Australia, Japan, and India [9].

Key themes and priorities that emerged during the confirmation process:

Focus on US Interests: Rubio emphasized that the State Department’s main focus would be on the interests of the United States [2, 9].
Relevance of the State Department: Rubio also discussed his goal of making the State Department relevant and effective in setting and implementing foreign policy [10]. He said that the Department had been marginalized and needed to be a source of creative ideas, as well as effective at implementation [10].
Foreign Policy Priorities: Several foreign policy issues were discussed, including:
China: Rubio expressed a hard-line stance against China, seeing it as an economic and security threat [4, 11, 12]. He also mentioned the need to address Chinese influence and disinformation campaigns [13, 14].
Russia and Ukraine: Rubio discussed the war in Ukraine, emphasizing the need for diplomacy to end the conflict and the importance of European energy independence from Russia [15, 16].
Middle East: Rubio spoke about the Abraham Accords and the potential for further normalization of relations between Israel and other countries [17, 18]. He also addressed the situation in Gaza and the need to address the actions of Hamas [19, 20].
Latin America: Rubio, of Cuban descent, expressed a desire to take a tougher stance against Cuba and Venezuela [4, 7]. He also spoke about the crisis in Haiti [21].
Other regions: Rubio expressed concerns about the Pacific Islands and the Arctic region [22, 23].
Commitment to Career Diplomats: Rubio committed to working with the Senate to quickly confirm qualified career Foreign Service officers [19, 24]. He highlighted the need to prioritize key posts [19].
Special Envoys: Rubio discussed the use of special envoys, emphasizing that they must align with the mission of the State Department and that potential conflicts of interest must be vetted [25].
Personal Touches: During the confirmation process, Rubio introduced his family and thanked them for their support, indicating the importance of family to him [1, 3, 26-28].

In summary, Marco Rubio’s confirmation as Secretary of State was marked by his emphasis on prioritizing American interests, his commitment to a more effective State Department, and his focus on addressing key global challenges, and his focus on addressing key global challenges including China, Russia, and the Middle East [2, 9, 10]. He received bipartisan support and was quickly sworn into office [2, 4].

Trump’s America First Foreign Policy

President Trump’s foreign policy, as indicated in the sources, is characterized by several key principles and priorities:

“America First”: A central theme of Trump’s foreign policy is the idea that the interests of the United States should be the top priority [1-6]. This includes making the US stronger, safer, and more prosperous [2-6]. According to the sources, Trump’s foreign policy will be guided by the answer to the question of whether a particular action makes America stronger, safer, or more prosperous [3].
Rejection of the Post-War Global Order: Trump views the post-war global order as “obsolete” and a weapon being used against the US [5]. He believes that this order has allowed adversaries to take advantage of the US [5].
Pragmatic Foreign Policy: The sources indicate that Trump’s approach emphasizes a pragmatic view of foreign policy where choices are not always between good and bad options, but often between two bad options [2, 4, 7-9].
Promotion of Peace: Trump’s overriding goal for global policy is the promotion of peace and the avoidance of conflict [2, 4, 10].
Strong Military and Deterrence: Trump’s foreign policy emphasizes a strong military as a deterrent to adversaries [5]. The sources suggest that Trump believes that American strength is essential for leveraging diplomacy and preventing wars [5].
Re-evaluation of Alliances: While valuing alliances, Trump questions whether the US should have the primary defense role or act as a backstop, with allies taking on more responsibility [11].
Trade: Trump favors reciprocal trade relationships [12].
Rejection of Globalism: Trump believes that no foreign entity or international organization should have veto power over the US’s national security interests [13].
Withdrawal from International Agreements: Trump has initiated the process of withdrawing the US from the WHO and the Paris climate agreement [3, 14, 15]. He also ended the Iran nuclear deal [5] (not in sources but mentioned to support the claim that he withdraws from international agreements).
Prioritizing National Interest over Ideology: Trump’s administration aims to ensure that US foreign policy goals are not undermined by ideological or political requirements and that personnel decisions are based on merit [16].
Focus on Specific Regions: Trump’s foreign policy appears to focus on specific regions and issues, including:
China: Trump views China as an economic and security threat, aiming to counter its influence [12, 17, 18]. He seeks to restore reciprocity in the economic relationship and impose costs on Beijing for hurting American workers [12].
Russia: Trump aims to end the war in Ukraine and has expressed a desire to promote peace [1, 5]. He also wants to end Russian energy reliance in Europe [19].
Middle East: Trump seeks to promote peace in the Middle East [14] and is supportive of Israel [20]. He supports the Abraham Accords as an example of successful diplomacy [5].
Latin America: Trump is expected to take a hard-line stance against Cuba and Venezuela [17, 18].
Africa: According to the sources, the Trump Administration has not prioritized Africa [21].
Arctic: Trump’s focus on Greenland suggests an interest in the strategic importance of the Arctic [22, 23].
Use of Special Envoys: Trump has appointed special envoys, including those focused on hostage affairs and Ukraine [24].
Diplomacy: Trump’s approach to conflict resolution relies on diplomacy. It involves all parties making concessions, and it is not to be negotiated in public [1, 5, 25].
Ending Conflicts: Trump has stated his desire to end conflicts, including the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East [1, 14].
Economic Tools: Trump’s strategy includes the use of economic tools to address trade imbalances and national security threats [12].

In summary, Trump’s foreign policy is characterized by a focus on US interests, a strong military, a reevaluation of alliances, and a willingness to challenge existing global norms. He has a pragmatic approach to foreign policy and seeks to promote peace while addressing specific regional challenges and threats.

US-China Relations: Competition, Cooperation, and Conflict

US-China relations, as depicted in the sources, are characterized by a complex mix of competition, tension, and areas of potential cooperation [1-36]. The sources emphasize that the relationship is a defining one for the 21st century [4, 14].

Key aspects of the relationship:

Competition: The United States views China as its most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary [4]. This competition is multifaceted, encompassing technological, industrial, economic, geopolitical, and scientific domains [4]. The US believes that China is actively challenging American leadership and attempting to reshape the global order [14].
Economic Concerns: The sources note that China engages in economic warfare against the US and its allies, with concerns about intellectual property theft, fentanyl trade, and exploitation of free markets [2, 11]. The US sees a need to restore reciprocity in the economic relationship and impose costs on Beijing for unfair practices [11]. The US also recognizes that it has become overly reliant on China for critical supply chains and mineral rights [5, 37].
Military and Security Issues: China is seen as a military threat, with concerns about its actions in the South China Sea, its naval drills targeting Taiwan, and its military modernization [3, 4]. The US is particularly concerned about China’s ambition to take Taiwan by 2027 [3] and has discussed strategies to deter such action, including the “porcupine strategy” of arming Taiwan [6, 7]. The sources suggest that China has also engaged in acts of sabotage and cyber warfare against the US [3].
Ideological Differences: The US is critical of China’s human rights record, particularly the treatment of Uyghur Muslims, as well as its actions in Hong Kong and Tibet [4-6, 8, 25]. China’s repression of Hong Kong and its violation of agreements are also noted as significant issues [25, 26].
Influence Operations: China engages in disinformation and influence campaigns, both against the US and in other countries [12, 38]. These efforts are aimed at undermining US standing and promoting conspiracy theories [12, 39].

Areas of Tension and Conflict

Taiwan: The status of Taiwan is a major point of tension [6, 7, 24]. The US maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity” while also supporting Taiwan’s defense capabilities [7].
South China Sea: China’s territorial claims and actions in the South China Sea are a source of conflict with the US and its allies [3].
Trade Imbalances: The US has criticized China for engaging in unfair trade practices and not abiding by international trade rules [4, 14, 40].
Chinese Influence in the Western Hemisphere: China’s growing influence in Latin America, including its control of key infrastructure like the Panama Canal, is a concern for the United States [6, 7, 27, 34-36, 41].
Chinese Alignment with Russia: The sources note that China has tacitly supported Russia’s war in Ukraine, providing it with technology and assistance in evading sanctions [8, 25].

Potential Areas of Engagement and Diplomacy

Communication: Despite tensions, the sources emphasize the need for communication between the US and China, given the potential for conflict [16].
Trade: While critical of current trade practices, there is a recognition that trade relations will likely continue, and there may be some potential areas for limited cooperation [9, 15, 16].
Sanctions: Sanctions have been used as leverage against China, but there is also an idea that removing some sanctions may be a “carrot” for improved behavior [15].
Diplomacy: The sources suggest that diplomacy will be a critical tool in managing the relationship with China [8, 9, 15-17] and that direct engagement is necessary for resolving differences [18].

US Strategy for Addressing China

“All of Society” Approach: The sources suggest that a comprehensive approach, involving not just the government but the whole of society, is necessary to counter China’s influence and actions [3-5].
Rebuilding Domestic Capacity: The US recognizes the need to rebuild its industrial base and reduce its reliance on China for critical goods and resources [5, 37, 40].
Strengthening Alliances: The US aims to strengthen its alliances in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond as a counterweight to Chinese influence [19, 42].
Holding China Accountable: The US aims to hold China accountable for its actions on the global stage, including at international organizations [40].
Outbound Investment Transparency: The US seeks to impose transparency requirements on outbound investment to China, particularly for companies in dual-use technology areas [22].

In summary, US-China relations are characterized by a complex mix of competition and potential cooperation, with several points of tension and conflict. The US views China as a major threat but recognizes the need for diplomacy and engagement to manage the relationship and avoid conflict. The US strategy involves a multifaceted approach, encompassing economic, military, and diplomatic tools, as well as a commitment to building domestic capacity and strengthening alliances.

The War in Ukraine: Causes, Actors, and Potential Resolutions

The sources provide considerable insight into the war in Ukraine, covering various aspects such as its causes, the involvement of different actors, and potential paths toward resolution. Here’s a breakdown of the key points:

Causes and Background:

Russian Aggression: The war is characterized as a result of Russia’s violent assault on Ukraine [1]. Russia’s actions are viewed as an illegal war, with the invasion beginning in 2022 [1]. The conflict is described as the largest war in Europe since World War II [2].
Putin’s Miscalculation: According to the sources, Vladimir Putin miscalculated, believing that European nations would not effectively respond due to their reliance on Russian energy [3, 4].
Loss of Deterrence: The sources indicate that the war may have been caused by a loss of deterrence and that the conflict is a result of President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan [2].
NATO Expansion: According to one source, the expansion of NATO and the possibility of Ukraine joining the alliance were factors contributing to Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine [5].

Key Actors:

Ukraine: Ukraine is portrayed as the victim of Russian aggression, with its people bravely fighting to defend their sovereignty [6]. Ukraine has suffered extraordinary destruction, with its infrastructure and energy systems severely damaged [6]. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced [6].
Russia: Russia is seen as the aggressor, with its military actions causing massive destruction and loss of life [6]. Putin’s actions are viewed as a threat to the security and stability of Ukraine, the US, and its allies [1]. The sources note that Putin has escalated the war multiple times [1].
NATO: The NATO alliance is seen as an important alliance [7]. There is bipartisan agreement that NATO is a very important alliance and that its existence led to the end of the Cold War [7]. The sources also note that some NATO partners need to contribute more to their own defense [8].
China: China has supported Russia in the war, enabling Russia to carry on its illegal war against Ukraine [1].
North Korea: North Korea has provided support to Russia in the form of soldiers [1].
United States: The sources note that there is strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the Senate [9]. The United States has provided military and financial aid to Ukraine [2].

Impact and Consequences:

Humanitarian Crisis: The war has led to a major humanitarian crisis, with millions of Ukrainians displaced and in need of assistance [6].
Economic Impact: The war has had global economic consequences, including increased food and gas prices [10].
Geopolitical Instability: The conflict has created significant geopolitical instability, with the war impacting not just Ukraine but also emerging democracies, civil society movements, and the broader global order [10].
Food Insecurity: The war has caused food prices to increase and has contributed to food insecurity around the world [10].
Energy Crisis: The war has exposed Europe’s vulnerability due to its reliance on Russian energy [3, 4].

Potential Paths Forward:

Negotiated Settlement: The sources indicate that a negotiated settlement is the most likely path to end the war [11].
Concessions: Achieving a lasting peace will require concessions from both Russia and Ukraine [11].
Ceasefire: The sources suggest that a ceasefire is a necessary first step toward a broader peace agreement [11].
Diplomacy: Bold diplomacy is required to end the conflict, and it will be difficult because there are historical underpinnings to the conflict [11].
Leverage: Both sides need to have leverage to make concessions at the negotiating table [12]. For Ukraine this includes the continued supply of war materials from the US and its allies [12]. For Russia, this may include the removal of sanctions as part of a peace agreement [5].
US Role: The United States should make it clear that the war should end and clarify its goals for the conflict [6]. The US can play a role in facilitating negotiations and providing security guarantees to Ukraine [11]. It is important for the United States to support Ukraine with sufficient leverage to achieve the best negotiating position with Russia [2, 11].
Long-Term Security: The sources emphasize the need for a long-term security plan that ensures Ukraine can defend itself after the conflict [12].
Neutrality: The possibility of Ukraine becoming a neutral country, not part of a military alliance such as NATO, should be considered as part of a negotiated settlement [5].

Concerns and Challenges:

Stalemate: The war has become a war of attrition and a stalemate [6].
Territorial Losses: Concerns exist that a peace agreement could result in the loss of Ukrainian territory [10].
Russian Ambitions: There is concern that Putin’s goal is to impose neutrality on Ukraine, retrofit, and then restart the conflict in a few years [11].
Erosion of Deterrence: The conflict has highlighted the erosion of deterrence globally, and the need to re-establish it [13].

In summary, the war in Ukraine is a complex conflict with significant global implications. The sources suggest that a negotiated settlement is the most viable path forward but it will require bold diplomacy and concessions from all sides.

TikTok, National Security, and a 90-Day Window

The sources discuss a potential ban on TikTok, focusing on the national security risks associated with the app and the legal mechanisms surrounding it [1]. Here’s a breakdown:

National Security Risk: TikTok is seen as a major national security risk because it exposes the data of millions of Americans to the possibility of being stolen by the Chinese government [1]. This concern stems from the fact that the app is controlled by a foreign entity, specifically a company under the control of the Chinese Communist Party [1].
Not a TikTok Ban, but a Foreign Control Ban: The sources emphasize that the issue is not specifically about banning TikTok itself, but rather about prohibiting companies controlled by foreign entities from operating in a way that poses a risk to the United States [1].
Law and 90-Day Window: A law was passed that includes a 90-day window during which the President can delay the ban from taking effect [1]. This window allows time for potential solutions, such as a deal for an American company to purchase TikTok [1].
Executive Order to Delay the Ban: President Trump issued an executive order to delay the ban on TikTok [1]. This move was not a reversal of policy, but a tactical decision to provide time for a deal to be reached [1]. The law was written to take effect the day before a new administration took office, which is why the delay is needed [1].
Potential Solutions: The law aims to either stop TikTok from operating in the US or ensure that it is no longer controlled by a company under the control of the Chinese Communist Party or any other foreign power [1]. The President has outlined a model of a joint venture in which the United States would have a controlling interest to protect national interests [1]. The President is seeking a deal that would allow people to continue to use the platform while protecting national interests [1].
Congressional Action: Congress passed a law that requires the executive branch to take action against foreign-controlled companies that pose a national security risk [1].
Executive Branch Action: The law gives the President the right to take a pause and see if there is an arrangement that can allow people to use the platform while protecting national interests [1].

In summary, the discussion around the TikTok ban is centered on concerns about national security and the need to prevent foreign entities, particularly those controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, from accessing the data of American citizens [1]. The law that has been passed is not a ban on the app itself, but rather on foreign-controlled companies [1]. The law gives the President a 90-day window to find a solution that protects national interests while allowing the app to continue operating [1].

Summary

This source comprises excerpts from various media appearances and a Senate hearing featuring Marco Rubio following his unanimous confirmation as Secretary of State under President Trump’s second term. The core theme revolves around Rubio’s articulation of Trump’s foreign policy priorities, emphasizing a focus on American national interests, defined by strength, safety, and prosperity. He addresses specific policy decisions, such as pardons and the TikTok ban, framing them within this overarching goal. Further, the text showcases his confirmation hearing, revealing his views on key geopolitical issues—including relations with China, Russia, and the ongoing war in Ukraine—and his commitment to merit-based appointments within the State Department. Ultimately, the purpose is to present Rubio’s vision for American foreign policy under the Trump administration, highlighting a shift towards a more nationalistic and assertive approach.

The Original Text

Secretary Marco Rubio talks Trump’s international agenda

right now we’re going to talk speak with Secretary of State Marco Rubio Mr secretary thank you for joining us this morning congratulations on unanimous confirmation by the Senate that’s rare these days uh let’s begin with Jan January 6 pardons back in when this happened you called it a national embarrassment saying we now have third world countries that are lecturing us and we have tinpot dictators that are mocking us of course you’re now America’s top Diplomat you’ll be speaking with your counterparts around the world what message does that pardon send to them well I don’t anticipate a single one of our partners will ask about it obviously and you know this well from your time in the administration and my job is to focus on the foreign policy of the United States I have a different job this morning and a different focus and it’s one that demands 100% of our attention and so that’s what I’ll be focused on and won’t be aining on domestic matters at this point because frankly my focus needs to be 100% on how I interact with our you know counterparts our adversaries our potential enemies around the world to keep this country safe to make it prosperous that’s a clear mandate from the president it’s what he campaigned on I think he made it pretty clear yesterday that he wants to reinvigorate an American foreign policy that makes America safer and stronger and more prosperous that that’s what the promise that Donald Trump was elected to keep and that’s the one we’re going to help him keep at the Department of State but as a senator you did say that it affected our standing in the world you don’t believe that anymore well as a senator I had an opinion all kinds of domestic matters but now I’m focused singularly on foreign policy on how I interact with our allies for example my first meeting right out of the box as soon as I’m sworn in and get over to the state department is with the members of the so-called quad which are our important allies in uh in in Australia and and Japan and India and we’ll be talking to them and we’ll be focused on that none of these domestic topics are going to come up they’re going to be focused on how do we make our relationship one that increases and strengthens not just our position in the world but for example freedom of navigation in the Indo Pacific and those are the kinds of things that we’re going to be focused on 100% And that’s the things I’ll be talking about president Trump also issued the executive order to delay the ban on Tik Tock yesterday as a senator you led the charge in warning that the app poses a major national security risk it exposes the data of millions of Americans to to the CH to being stolen by the Chinese government uh the so why give Tik Tock a break now do you endorse this move well the law which I supported also includes in it and it’s and it gives the president a 90-day window uh in which he can delay it going into effect for example if you have a a potential deal on the table for someone to purchase it in the end this was never a Tik Tok ban this is a ban on companies controlled by Foreign entities and the risk it poses to the United States as part of that law what it previews what it hopes to achieve in many ways is it either stops operating or it is no longer controlled by a company under the control of the Chinese Communist party or any other foreign power for that matter and so it gives the president if a 90-day window in which to now hopefully find someone that will buy it or some arrangement that will deal with this the law was written in such a way so it would have kicked in the day before a new Administration so I think it’s fair to assume that a new Administration would need more than just a handful of hours coming into Power uh to make a decision on how they want to handle it on on which deal they think would be the right one the president outlined a model of a joint venture in which the United States would have an interest and a controlling interest in a way that would protect us and so I think he’s talked about a 75 day window of those 90 that he wants to use to see if an arrangement can be found But ultimately you know Congress passed a law and the executive will have to execute on it but that law gives the president the right to do exactly what he’s doing now and that is to take a pause and see if there is a Arrangement that can allow people to continue to use a platform that clearly people like but at the same time protect our national interest finally the president as you know promised during the campaign to end the war in Ukraine even before he took office of course that didn’t happen but can you share any details on how you plan to end that war now well I wouldn’t look this is a complex tragic conflict one that was started by Vladimir Putin that’s inflicted a tremendous amount of damage on Ukraine and also on Russia I would argue but also on the stability of Europe so the only way to solve these things we got to get back to pragmatism but we also get get back to seriousness here and that is the hard work of diplomacy the US has a role to play here we’ve been supportive of Ukraine but this conflict has to end I think one of the most important lines in yesterday’s inaugural address was when President Trump said said he wants to promote peace and I think everyone should be happy that we have a president that wants to promote peace and that means we want the war in Ukraine to end now obviously you know neither it’s going to involve complex and hard diplomacy it has to be vigorous every side’s going to have to give because neither Russia nor Ukraine can achieve the maximalist goals that they may have for this conflict but he wants the dying to stop so it will not be simple it will not be easy but it is important it has to happen that’s a priority and we’ll be working on that and it won’t be negotiated in press conferences or interviews it’ll have to be negotiated the way all these kinds of deals are negotiated and that is in settings in which we use our leverage our influence our national power to bring about not just an end to a conflict but also to provide long-term stability for Europe and Beyond um I I don’t think anyone wants to see a conflict and only to see it restarted two or three years down the road Mr secretary thanks for your time this morning thank you

BREAKING NEWS: Newly Sworn-In Secretary Of State Marco Rubio Speaks To Employees At The State Dept

[Music] w w [Applause] Mr secretary welcome to the department distinguished [Applause] want to give a special greeting to Mrs Rubio yes to your family to your children distinguished guests members of Congress on behalf of the nearly 80,000 strong officers who are serving the department of St State a warm welcome Mr Mr secretary your career exemplifies a life of public service advocating for core American interests all over the globe in these challenging times we need principled strong leadership that is why we are so happy to have you with your experience your dedication and your energy to lead us thank [Applause] you your team who are obviously very happy to see you um have proudly supported so many of your trips abroad where you’ve Advanced Security in the the Middle East helped us to sustain our our counterterrorism fight and inspired so many with your walk across the seon boulevard Bridge Mr secretary the men and women of this department are ready to get to work advancing the agenda of President Trump and of yourself and with that I will welcome you to the Department of State colleagues the 72nd Secretary of State Marco Rubio thank you thank [Applause] [Music] you thank you thank you so much thank you it’s a blessing and an honor to be with all of you today and I want to introduce you to my family I want you to meet them um we’ve been able to manage them uh for the last uh 20 some years counting and so uh it’s I said this earlier today when the vice president swore me in my my most important job I believe the most important job any of us will ever have is the job we do at home and and I don’t mean that both here at home domestically in our politics but domestic but in our lives and I’m very proud of my wife my four children and their support my wife Janette who uh her parents uh immigrated here from Colombia anybody here from Colombia anybody cover [Music] Columbia and um and then my my oldest daughter Amanda say hello Amanda and then came danela and now Anthony and our youngest Dominic so these three these three are in school meaning you know college and and even jobs we got we’re still working he’s doing good he’s in a junior in high school and uh and obviously my my family beyond that is here who made this possible janette’s mom Maria is here and my sisters Barbara and Veronica here and a lot of friends that came from Miami uh who joined us here today and I’m grateful um and thank you I also want to recognize U my former colleagues from the Congressional Branch who also happen to be appropriators and authorizers and so I thought it was important uh three people I’ve known for a long time and by coincidence Florida is very well represented in the authorization and Appropriations in the house Mario Diaz Bart uh who [Applause] I who I’ve known as a personal friend we served together in the Florida legislature in fact sat next to each other on the floor who would have thought Mario back in the day and and now here we are you know and um two Cuban Americans if we had a third they’d call it a conspiracy but there’s only two so we’re in shape uh congresswoman Lois Frankle we also served in the legislature together um again I know this I know it looks suspicious she just happens to be from Florida as well and they happen to she happen to be on that committee and then of course my colleague who Brian Mast to thank you for being here as well um uh I have asked them as a personal favor to be nice to each of you who we send over to testify and appear before their committees so and and to be nice to us when they write those Appropriations bills and pass those laws and uh but we are great I’m really grateful you would join us because our partnership will be critically important I want to thank president Trump for nominating me this is an extraordinary honor and a privilege uh to serve in this role uh to be here frankly uh to oversee the greatest the most effective the most talented the most experienced diplomatic core in the history of the world resides in this [Applause] [Applause] building and and it’s important to remember that obviously they serve our national interest and our foreign policy they also serve Americans and as a member of the Senate um we often would get calls for a brief period of time panicked calls about passports uh as you remember that era uh when everyone forgot their passport expired and their Cruise was on Saturday and it’s Friday 5:00 p.m so we were why are you guys chuckling is that you know it’s true it’s it happened and then of course uh but we also serve Americans that sometimes find themselves overseas and lost their passport or even worse something terrible or tragic happened and their families are are impacted by it and so it’s important it’s an important task and one that I know is is is critical to our mission uh beyond that this is the face of the United States in fact if you think about it for many people on this on this planet their only interaction with America most will never travel here their only interaction with America in many cases whether they be leaders or everyday people will be the men and women who serve us abroad and do so uh with tremendous integrity and dedication they are literally the face of our country whether it’s through the aid we’ve provided or through the services I also want to say hello I is this being live streamed somewhere are people watching this in all of our missions good I want to thank them I know they can’t be with us here today and depending on where they are in the world it’s probably not as cold as it’s been at least for a Floridian so I also think the Brilliance of this organization shows by hosting these events indoors uh which uh it it it’s already showing and um we’re grateful for that as well but I want to tell you that I want to thank you all those who are serving over seas and abroad some in places that are strong and stable and others that are more tenuous and dangerous and I want to do something also special I want to also thank uh the locally employed staff the Nationals of those countries who work with us [Applause] without without their help without their support um it would be impossible for us to conduct our mission and in many ways um years later I’ve run into people lit run into people in the United States that are either conducting business or visiting as tourists or what have you and they will tell me they were locally employed uh in our they were locally local employees of our missions abroad and as a result their love for the our country is never ending I am new to this department today is my first day on the job literally um but I am not a stranger to it I’ve interacted with many of you both in my travels abroad and in our daily functions my job now is different and our job in some ways will be different in our Republic the voters decide the course of our nation both domestically and abroad and they have elected Donald J Trump as our president when it comes to foreign policy on a very clear Mission and that mission is to ensure that our foreign policy is centered on one thing and that is the advancement of our national interests which they have clearly defined through his campaign as anything that makes us stronger or safer or more prosperous and that will be our mission that will be our job across the world is to is to ensure that we have a foreign policy that advances the national interest of the United States I expect Every Nation on Earth to advance their national interests and in those instances and I hope there will be many in which our national interest in their as aign we look forward to working with them this is in many ways and again it was referenced by President Trump yesterday in this in his speech that he designs that his overriding goal for Global policy is the promotion of Peace the avoidance of conflict and no agency will more be more critical in that regard than this one in fact it’s its founding principle and purpose and that’s what we Endeavor to do to promote peace around the world because that’s in our national interest without peace it is hard to be a strong Nation a prosperous nation and and one that is better off but there will also be challenges we recognize that there will be those times unfortunately as humans interact with one another because of our nature but there will be conflict we will seek to prevent them and avoid them but never at the expense of our national security never at the expense of our national interests and never at the expense of our core values as a nation and as a people we are at the end of the day a nation founded on a powerful principle and that powerful principle is that all men are created equal because our rights come from God our creator not from our laws not from our governments and we hope the entire world can one day live under that and we will always always be strong Defenders of that principle never at the expense of our national interest never at the expense of pragmatic foreign policy never at the expense of the reality that oftentimes in foreign policy our choices are not between a are between two a bad option and a good option sometimes in foreign relations our options are two bad ones and we’re just trying to figure out which one of them is least bad and that’s unfortunate but it is true and that’s a tough job it’s our job and we’ll seek to do it right and well that is the core mission of this AG and it will be the core Mission while Donald Trump is President and we will be effective on his behalf I also want this agency to be re and I don’t mean irre not that it’s irrelevant now but I want it to be where it belongs I want the Department of State to be at the center of how America and great gauges the world not just how we execute on it but on how we formulate it some of the brightest minds and foreign policy reside within this building and within this government and we need to ensure that we have an environment here that’s conducive to creativity to boldness to new ideas to recognizing the dynamic World in which we live one that is changing faster than it has ever changed before and we need to be ahead of it when the time comes for the principles to gather or even deputies I want the Department of State to have the best ideas and the best options available for the president and then I want us to be able to execute them better than any agency in our government that will also be a task of mine I have watched from the Congressional side from time to time administrations and both parties and which sometimes the Department of State has been sort of relegated to a secondary role because some other agency can move faster or seems to be bolder or more creative it’s not your fault but we’re going to change that we want to be at the centerpiece we want to be at the core of how we formulate foreign policy because we’re going to have the best ideas of any agency and because we’re going to execute it better and faster and more effectively than any other agency in our government and I know we have the right team to do it there’s no other a agcy in the world there’s no other agency in our government than I’d rather lead because of the talent that’s collected here in this room and those watching around the world that will be our mission and I hope we’ll be able to do it together there will be changes but the changes are not meant to be destructive they’re not meant to be punitive they’re not out of the changes will be because we need to be a 21st century agency that can move by a cliche that’s used by many at the speed of relevance but we need to move faster than we ever have because the world is changing faster than we ever have and we have to have a view that some say it’s called look around the corner but we really need to be thinking about where are we going to be in 5 7 10 or 15 years some of the issues that confront Humanity today have no precedent they have no historic precedent some of the challenges we Face have no historic precedent we can compare it to another era to another time but they’re not the same things are moving faster than ever think about how much the world has changed in the last 5 years imagine how much it will change over the next 25 years and my sincerest told hope and my prayer is that we will as a nation be able to leave the future generations with a country and a planet safer and better than the one that was left for us and you will be a big part of achieving that goal it is an honor to be able to lead this agency I hope to do it with distinction and with Integrity working harder than anyone ever has at this role and that will not be easy because some pretty hardworking people have come before me but I know that we are up to the task and I’m glad that I’m in the job that I’m in the job on day one I was sworn in at about 9:15 I didn’t mess up the oath and uh and we’re ready to go to work and I know you are as well thank you God bless all of you God bless our country thank you [Applause]

Marco Rubio sworn in as US Secretary of State | BBC News

it is lunchtime here in Washington DC and the first full day of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House is now well underway it started as is TR tradition with the National Prayer service at Washington National Cathedral you see there the trumps alongside the vances of Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance there in the front row a moment of reflection perhaps ahead of the Whirlwind to come and that Whirlwind started on Monday evening with what could be described as a deluge of executive orders take a look at Mr Trump signing those documents in the White House you’ll remember his Unique Style too many to mention individually but among the most eye-catching of those orders a full pardon for nearly 1,600 of his supporters who were arrested in the riot at the US capital in 2021 orders to start the process of withdrawing the us from the un’s health body the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement there was also the Declaration of a national emergency at the southern border ordering the military to quote seal the ERS due to the threat of crime and president Trump is expected to talk about his infrastructure plans a little later but before that we are now going to hear from the newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio he’s making remarks at the state department uh let’s uh bring up those pictures and take a look at that and let’s listen in as well earlier Mr Rubio became the first of the cabinet nominees to take his oath of office in a ceremony overseen by the Vice President here’s what he had to say afterwards president Trump was elected to keep promises and he’s going to keep those promises and his primary promise when it comes to foreign policy is that the priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States it will be furthering the national interest of this country and he’s given us a very clear mandate president Trump’s made it very clear everything we do and this is true in government but especially at the Department of State everything we do must be justified by the answer to one of three questions does it make us stronger does it make us safer and does it make us more prosperous if it doesn’t do one of those three things we will not do it okay that was Marco Rubio when he was sworn in he is now speaking at the state department let’s listen in and I’m very proud of my wife my four children and their support my wife Janette who uh her parents uh immigrated here from Colombia anybody here from Colombia anybody cover [Music] Colombia and um and then my my oldest daughter Amanda say hello Amanda and then came danela and now Anthony and our youngest Dominic so these three these three are in school meaning you know college and and even jobs we got we’re still working he’s doing good he’s in he’s a junior in high school and uh and obviously my my family beyond that is here who made this possible janette’s mom Maria is here and my sisters Barbara and Veronica are here and a lot of friends that came from Miami uh who joined us here today and I’m grateful um and thank you I also want to recognize uh my former colleagues from the Congressional Branch who also happen to be appropriators and authorizers and so I thought it was important uh uh three people I’ve known for a long time and by coincidence Florida is very well represented in the authorization and Appropriations in the house Mario Diaz Bart uh who I who I’ve known as a personal friend we served together in the Florida legislature in fact sat next to each other on the floor who would have thought Mario back in the day and and now here we are you know and um uh two Cuban Americans if we had a third did call it a conspiracy but there’s only two so we’re uh congresswoman Lois Frankl we also served in the legislature together um again I know this I know it looks suspicious she just happens to be from Florida as well and they happen to she happen to be on that committee and then of course my colleague who Brian Mass to uh thank you for being here as well um uh I have asked them as a personal favor to be nice to each of you who we send over to testify and appear before their committees so and and to be nice to us when they write those Appropriations bills and pass those laws and uh but we are great I’m really grateful you would join us because our partnership will be critically important I want to thank president Trump for nominating me this is an extraordinary honor and a privilege uh to serve in this role uh to be here frankly uh to oversee the Great greatest the most effective the most talented the most experienced diplomatic core in the history of the world resides in this building and it’s important to remember that obviously they serve our national interest and our foreign policy they also serve Americans and as a member of the Senate um we often would get calls for a brief period of time panicked calls about passports uh as you remember that era uh when everyone forgot their passport expired and their Cruise was on Saturday and it’s Friday 5:00 p.m. so we were why are you guys chuckling is that you know it’s true it’s it happened and then of course uh but we also serve Americans that sometimes find themselves overseas and lost their passport or even worse uh something terrible or tragic happened and their families are are impacted by it and so it’s important uh it’s an important task and one that I know is is is critical to our mission uh beyond that this is the face of the United States in fact if you think about it for many people on this on this planet their only interaction with America most will never travel here their only interaction with America in many cases whether they be leaders or everyday people will be the men and women who serve us abroad and do so uh with tremendous integrity and dedication they are literally the face of our country whether it’s through the aid we’ve provided or through the services I also want to say hello and is this being live streamed somewhere are people watching this on all of our missions good I want to thank them I know they can’t be with us here today and depending on where they are in the world it’s probably not as cold as it’s been at least for a Floridian so I also think the Brilliance of this organization shows by hosting these events indoors uh which uh it it it’s already showing and um we’re grateful for that as well but I want to tell you that I want to thank you all those who are serving overseas and abroad some in places that are strong and stable and others that are more tenuous and dangerous and I want to do something also special I want to also thank uh the locally employed staff the Nationals of those countries who work with [Applause] us without without their help without their support um it would be impossible for us to conduct our mission and in many ways um years later I’ve run into people literally run into people in the United States that are either conducting business or visiting as tourists or what have you and they will tell me they were a locally employed uh in our they were locally local employees of our missions abroad and as a result their love for the our country is never ending I am new to this department today is my first day on the job literally um but I am not a stranger to it I have interacted with many of you both in my travels abroad and in our daily functions my job now is different and our job in some ways will be different in our Republic the voters decide the course of our nation both domestically and abroad and they have elected Donald J Trump as our president when it comes to foreign policy on a very clear Mission and that mission is to ensure that our foreign policy is centered on one thing and that is the advancement of our national interest which they have clearly defined through his campaign as anything that makes us stronger or safer or more prosperous and that will be our mission that will be our job across the world is to is to ensure that we have a foreign policy that advances the national interest of the United States I expect Every Nation on Earth to advance their national interests and in those instances and I hope there will be many in which our national interest and theirs align we look forward to working with them this is in many ways and again it was referenced by President Trump yesterday in his in his speech that he designs that his overriding goal for Global policy is to promotion of Peace the avoidance of conflict and no agency will more be more critical in that regard than this one in fact it’s its founding principle and purpose and that’s what we Endeavor to do to promote peace around the world because that’s in our national interest without peace it is hard to be a strong Nation a prosperous nation and and one that is better off but there will also be challenges we recognize that there will be those times unfortunately as humans interact with one another because of our nature but there will be conflict we will seek to prevent them and avoid them but never at the expense of our national security never at the expense of our national interests and never at the expense of our core values as a nation and as a people we are at the end of the day a nation founded on a powerful principle and that powerful principle is that all men are created equal because our rights come from God our creator not from our laws not from our governments and we hope the entire world can one day live under that and we will always always be strong Defenders of that principle never at the expense of our national interest never at the expense of pragmatic foreign policy never at the express of the reality that often times in foreign policy our choices are not between our between two a bad option and a good option sometimes in foreign relations our options are two bad ones and we’re just trying to figure out which one of them is least bad and that’s unfortunate but it is true and that’s a tough job it’s our job and we’ll seek to do it right and well that is the core mission of this agency and it will be the core Mission while Donald Trump is President and we will be effective on his behalf I also want this agency to be and I don’t mean IR not that it’s irrelevant now but I want it to be where it belongs I want the Department of State to be at the center of how America and great gauges the world not just how we execute on it but on how we formulate it some of the brightest Minds in foreign policy reside within this building and within this government and we need to ensure that we have an environment here that’s conducive to creativity to boldness to new ideas to recognizing the dynamic World in which we live one that is changing faster than it has ever changed before and we need to be ahead of it when the time comes for the principles to ga are even deputies I want the Department of State to have the best ideas and the best options available for the president and then I want us to be able to execute them better than any agency in our government that will also be a task of mine I have watched from the Congressional side from time to time administrations in both parties in which sometimes the Department of State has been sort of relegated to a secondary role because some other agency can move faster or seems to be bolder or more creative it’s not your fault but we’re going to change that we want to be at the centerpiece we want to be at the core of how we formulate foreign policy because we’re going to have the best ideas of any agency and because we’re going to execute it better and faster and more effectively than any other agency in our government and I know we have the right team to do it there’s no other agency in the world there’s no other agency in our government that I’d rather lead because of the talent that’s collected here in this room and those watching around the world that will be our mission and I hope we’ll be able to do it together there will be change es but the changes are not meant to be destructive they’re not meant to be punitive they’re not out of the changes will be because we need to be a 21st centry agency that can move by a cliche that’s used by many at the speed of relevance but we need to move faster than we ever have because the world is changing faster than we ever have and we have to have a view that some say it’s called look around the corner but we really need to be thinking about where are we going to be in five 7 10 or 15 years some of the issues that confront Humanity today have no precedent they have no historic precedent some of the challenges we Face have no historic precedent we can compare it to another era to another time but they’re not the same things are moving faster than ever think about how much the world has changed in the last 5 years imagine how much it will change over the next 25 years and my sincerest hope and my prayer is that we will as a nation be able to leave the future generations with a country and a planet safer and better than the one that was left for us and you will be a big part of achieving that goal it is an honor to be able to lead this agency I hope to do it with distinction and with Integrity working harder than anyone ever has at this role and that will not be easy because some pretty hardworking people have come before me but I know that we are up to the task and I’m glad that I’m in the job that I’m in the job on day one I was sworn in at about 9:15 I didn’t mess up the oath and uh and we’re ready to go to work and I know you are as well thank you God bless all of you God bless our country thank you [Applause] okay you’re watching there Marco Rubio the newly sworn in Secretary of State in Donald Trump’s Administration he sworn in earlier this morning speaking to staff at the state department uh he was speaking also to the staff there and as he said to the staff serving the state department abroad including as he said the local staff flanked there by his wife and their children now Marco Rubio was voted in by all 99 Senators he was unanimously voted in so he had the support of all of the Senate of course he was serving as the senator from Florida until he took on this post he said his agency will be critical in promoting peace around the world and he also said he wanted this agency to be quote where it belongs at the center of how America engages with the world so Marco Ruby as you see there at the state department taking up his new role in this Donald Trump administ our correspondent ioni Wells has been following this for us today ioni what do you think this message is that uh Marco Rubio sending to the rest of the world of course allies and adversaries on day one as Secretary of State that’s right well I think one significant thing about his appointment in general he is the first uh Latino American to serve as the US’s top Diplomat and he’s made it pretty clear that he plans to take quite a Hardline stance against against the countries that he sees as the US’s adversaries uh namely to the South Cuba Venezuela in particular he’s from a Cuban family he I think is pretty set to reverse a policy that uh Joe Biden only recently did which was to remove Cuba from a list of countries uh accused of sponsoring uh terrorist groups that’s something which I think uh certainly marar ruia plans to reverse uh secondly I think it’s likely that he will uh take a tougher stance on uh Nicholas Maduro government in Venezuela as well potentially removing some of the exist uh sort of remaining licenses that exist for uh oil sales uh and essentially strengthening the sanctions regime against Venezuela I think that’s something that’s likely to happen uh one of the kind of interesting things as well to bear in mind about him will be sort of what his response is uh wi more widely given some of Trump’s statements in recent days around for example wanting to take Greenland wanting to take ownership of the Panama Canal both of which have been strongly rejected by both Denmark in the case of Greenland but also by Panama’s government when it comes to the canal so uh how he will be sort of responsible when it comes to negotiating uh what Trump has indicated that he wants to do in those cases uh I think there’s also then this question more generally uh which will be uh how does he or what moves does he do to try and uh Implement what Trump has described as a desire to end current conflicts both in Ukraine but also in the Middle East as well uh Trump still hasn’t given very much detail on what exactly he plans to do when he’s made those very bold claims both during the campaign but also uh since becoming president so I think that will be something which Marco Rubio will have to sort of well be be essentially be intending to spell out more detail on all right indeed ion we’re looking at these pictures still of Marco Rubio at the state department this is of course the first full day for Donald Trump in his second term give us an idea of uh what the day has looked like for him well he’s been sort of meeting with top Republicans today uh of course he’s announced a flurry of different executive orders in the last 24 hours since his swearing in as president notably as well uh he has pardoned more than 1500 people involved with storming the capital building uh who had been either some of whom have have now been released from prison since uh but he’s also been uh sort of essentially canceling any sort of existing legal action for some of those still facing consequences of those riots that took place uh he’s also removed the US from some key treaties including uh sort of saying that he’s going to remove uh the us from the who who he heavily criticized during the covid pandemic but also saying uh ordering officials to remove the us from the Paris climate treaty as well uh again something which he had done previously as president but something uh which he he has shown his intention to do again of course immigration was a big feature of his campaign as we know and that is something which uh he has also been a big focus of his executive orders in particular when it comes to his desire to shut down uh the Mexico border

how oh w [Applause] w w [Applause] [Music] okay Mr secretary welcome to the department distinguished yes yeah want to give a special greeting to Mrs Rubio yes to your family to your children distinguished guests members of Congress on behalf of the nearly 80,000 strong officers who are serving the department of State a warm welcome Mr Mr secretary your career exemplifies a life of public service advocating for core American interests all over the globe in these challenging times we need principled strong leadership is why we are so happy to have you with your experience your dedication and your energy to lead us thank you your team who are obviously very happy to see you um have proudly supported so many of your trips abroad where you’ve Advanced security and the Middle East helped us to sustain our our counterterrorism fight and inspired so many with your walk across the seone boulevard Bridge Mr secretary the men and women of this department are ready to get to work advancing the agenda of President Trump and of yourself and with that I will welcome you to the Department of State colleagues the 72nd Secretary of State Marco Rubio thank you thank you thank thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you so much thank you it’s a blessing and an honor to be with all of you today and I want to introduce you to my family I want you to meet them um we’ve been able to manage them uh for the last uh 20 some years and counting and so uh it’s I said this earlier today when the vice president swore me in my my most important job I believe the most important job any of us will ever have is the job we do at home and and I don’t mean that both here at home domestically in our politics but domestic but in our lives and I’m very proud of my wife my four children and their support my wife Jette who uh her parents uh immigrated here from Colombia anybody here from Columbia anybody cover Columbia and um and then my my oldest daughter Amanda say hello Amanda and then came danela and now Anthony and our youngest Dominic so these three these three are in school meaning you know college and and even jobs we got we’re still working he’s doing good he’s in he’s a junior in high school and uh and obviously my my family beyond that is here who made this possible janette’s mom Maria is here and my sister’s Barbara and Veronica are here and a lot of friends that came from Miami who joined us here today and I’m grateful um and thank you I also want to recognize uh my former colleagues from the Congressional Branch who also happen to be appropriators and authorizers and so I thought it was important uh three people I’ve known for a long time and by coincidence Florida is very well represented in the authorization and Appropriations in the house Mario Diaz Bart uh who I who I’ve known as a personal friend we served together in the Florida legislature in fact sat next to each other on the floor who would have thought Mario back in the day and and now here we are you know and um uh two Cuban Americans if we had a third they’d call it a conspiracy but there’s only two so we’re in uh congresswoman Lois Frank we also served in the legislature together um again I know this I know it looks susp ious she just happens to be from Florida as well and they happen to she happened to be on that committee and then of course my colleague who Brian Mast to thank you for being here as well um he uh I have asked them as a personal favor to be nice to each of you who we send over to testify and appear before their committees so and and to be nice to us when they write those Appropriations bills and pass those laws and uh but we are great I’m really grateful you would join us CU our partnership will be critically important I want to thank president Trump for nominating me this is an extraordinary honor and a privilege uh to serve in this role uh to be here frankly uh to oversee the greatest the most effective the most talented the most experienced diplomatic core in the history of the world resides in this building and and it’s important to remember that obviously they serve our national interest and our foreign policy they also serve Americans and as a member of the Senate um we often would get calls for a brief period of time panicked calls about passports uh as you remember that era uh when everyone forgot their passport expired and their Cruise was on Saturday and it’s Friday 5:00 p.m. so we were why are you guys chuckling is that you know it’s true it’s it happened and then of course uh but we also serve Americans that sometimes find themselves overseas and lost their passport or even worse uh something terrible or tragic happened and their families are are impacted by it and so it’s important uh it’s an important task and one that I know is is is critical to our mission uh beyond that this is the face of the United States in fact if you think about it for many people on this on this planet their only interaction with America most will never travel here their only interaction with America in many cases whether they be leaders or everyday people will be the men and women who serve us abroad and do so uh with tremendous integrity and dedication they are literally the face of our country whether it’s through the aid we’ve provided or through the services I also want to say hello and is this being live streamed somewhere are people watching this in all of our missions good I want to thank them I know they can’t be with us here today and depending on where they are in the world it’s probably not as cold as it’s been at least for a Floridian so I also think the Brilliance of this organization shows by hosting these events indoors uh which uh it it it’s already showing and um we’re grateful for that as well but I want to tell you that I want to thank you all those who are serving overseas and abroad some in places that are strong and stable and others that are more tenuous and dangerous and I want to do something also special I want to also thank uh the locally employed staff the Nationals of those countries who work with us [Applause] [Music] [Applause] without without their help without their support um it would be impossible for us to conduct our mission and in many ways um years later I’ve run into people literally run into people in the United States that are either conducting business or visiting as tourists or what have you and they will tell me they were locally employed uh in our they were locally local employees of our missions abroad and as a result their love for the our country is never ending I am new this department today is my first day on the job literally um but I am not a stranger to it I’ve interacted with many of you both in my travels abroad and in our daily functions my job now is different and our job in some ways will be different in our Republic the voters decide the course of our nation both domestically and abroad and they have elected Donald J Trump as our president when it comes to foreign policy on a very clear Mission and that mission is to ensure that our foreign policy is centered on one thing and that is the advancement of our national interests which they have clearly defined through his campaign as anything that makes us stronger or safer or more prosperous and that will be our mission that will be our job across the world is to is to ensure that we have a foreign policy that advances the national interest of the United States I expect Every Nation on Earth to advance their national interests and in those instances and I hope there will be many in which our national interest in their as a line we look forward to working with them this is in many ways and again it was referenced by President Trump yesterday in his in his speech that he designs that his overriding goal for Global policy is the promotion of Peace the avoidance of conflict and no agency will more be more critical in that regard than this one in fact it’s its founding principle and purpose and that’s what we Endeavor to do to promote peace around the world because that’s in our national interest without peace it is hard to be a strong Nation a prosperous nation and and one that is better off but there will also be challenges we recognize that there will be those times unfortunately as humans interact with one another because of our nature but there will be conflict we will seek to prevent them and avoid them but never at the expense of our national security never at the expense of our national interests and never at the expense of our core values as a nation and as a people we are at the end of the day a nation founded on a powerful principle and that powerful principle is that all men are created equal because our rights come from God our creator not from our laws not from our governments and we hope the entire world can one day live under that and we will always always be strong Defenders of that principle never at the expense of our national interest never at the expense of pragmatic foreign policy never at the expense of the reality that often times in foreign policy our choices are not between a are between two a bad option and a good option sometimes in foreign relations our options are two bad ones and we’re just trying to figure out which one of them is least bad and that’s unfortunate but it is true and that’s a tough job it’s our job and we’ll seek to do it right and well that is the core mission of this agent and it will be the core Mission while Donald Trump is President and we will be effective on his behalf I also want this agency to be re and I don’t mean irre not that it’s irrelevant now but I want it to be where it belongs I want the Department of State to be at the center of how America and great gauges the world not just how we execute on it but on how we formulate it some of the brightest minds and foreign policy reside within this building and within this government and we need to ensure that we have an environment here that’s conducive to creativity to boldness to new ideas to recognizing the dynamic World in which we live one that is changing faster than it has ever changed before and we need to be ahead of it when the time comes for the principles to gather or even deputies I want the Department of State to have the best ideas and the best options available for the president and then I want us to be able to execute them better than any agency in our government that will also be a task of mine I have watched from the Congressional side from time to time administrations and both parties and and which sometimes the Department of State has been sort of relegated to a secondary role because some other agency can move faster or seems to be bolder or more creative it’s not your fault but we’re going to change that we want to be at the centerpiece we want to be at the core of how we formulate foreign policy because we’re going to have the best ideas of any agency and because we’re going to execute it better and faster and more effectively than any other agency in our government and I know we have the right team to do it there’s no other a agency in the world there’s no other agency in our government that I’d rather lead because of the talent that’s collected here in this room and those watching around the world that will be our mission and I hope we’ll be able to do it together there will be changes but the changes are not meant to be destructive they’re not meant to be punitive they’re not out of the changes will be because we need to be a 21st century agency that can move by a cliche that’s used by many at the speed of relevance but we need to move faster than we ever have because the world is changing faster than we ever have and we have to have a view that some say it’s called look around the corner but we really need to be thinking about where were we going to be in 5 7 10 or 15 years some of the issues that confront Humanity today have no precedent they have no historic precedent some of the challenges we Face have no historic precedent we can compare it to another era to another time but they’re not the same things are moving faster than ever think about how much the world has changed in the last 5 years imagine how much it will change over the next 25 years and my sincerest hope hope and my prayer is that we will as a nation be able to leave the future generations with a country and a planet safer and better than the one that was left for us and you will be a big part of achieving that goal it is an honor to be able to lead this agency I hope to do it with distinction and with Integrity working harder than anyone ever has at this role and that will not be easy because some pretty hardworking people have come before me but I know that we are up to the task and I’m glad that I’m in the job that I’m in the job on day one I was sworn in at about 9:15 I didn’t mess up the oath and uh and we’re ready to go to work and I know you are as well thank you God bless all of you God bless our country thank [Applause] you now I’ll Mo you down the stairs just like that stay with you yeah oh inspiration okay great yeah I sec yeah give me a help you have that’s now how are you good w h still a mess got is he coming through here [Music] okay carine’s you for [Music] ch this for d [Music] [Music] many I [Music] iight thanks for your patience I know right tell you they can you guys do any type of work whatsoever something make yourself look I’ve got this in my ear that makes [Applause] oh [Music]

watch any the golf from Hawaii you know just very little bit of it how about you and live coverage from Capitol Hill expecting the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to gavel in soon for Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio’s confirmation hearing a little information about the committee with Republicans holding the majority in the Senate James R of Idaho chairs the panel and the top Democrat on the committee is jeene Shaheen of New Hampshire there are 20 additional members including two women Senators Tammy Duckworth and Jackie Rosen a handful of other confirmation hearings are also happening today we’ll be covering president-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general Pam Bondi who’s appearing before the Judiciary Committee and the intelligence committee host CIA nominee John Ratcliffe we’ll have those hearings and others for you live on cpan now that’s our free mobile video app and also later in our schedule also President Biden will give his farewell address to the nation tonight we’ll have that live at 8:00 Eastern on cpan here on cpan 3 just waiting for the Secretary of State confirmation hearing to get underway e the and live coverage from Capitol Hill expecting the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to gavel in soon for Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio’s confirmation hearing a little information about the committee with Republicans holding the majority in the Senate James Rish of Idaho chairs the panel and the top Democrat on the committee is Jean Shaheen of New Hampshire there are 20 additional members including two women Senators Tammy Duckworth and Jackie Rosen a handful of other confirmation hearings are also happening today we’ll be covering president-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general Pam Bondi who’s appearing before the Judiciary Committee and the intelligence committee host CIA nominee John Ratcliffe we’ll have those hearings and others for you live on cpan now that’s our free mobile video app and also later in our schedule also President Biden will give his farewell address to the nation tonight we have that live at 8:00 Eastern on C-Span here on C-SPAN 3 just waiting for the Secretary of State confirmation hearing to get underway okay might to he United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order this will be our first meeting obviously of the 119th Congress we want to welcome you all here this is an interesting meeting to to start uh in a moment U I’m going to have uh Senator Scott introduce uh the uh nominee here and uh we’ll we’ll proceed after that uh before we do uh I want to uh talk about some changes uh in the committee not only for this hearing but also for hearings in the future um I am significantly less tolerant than my predecessors regarding demonstrations or Communications or disruptions uh during the committee uh this place is not a place for demonstrations or Communications with members of the committee we have work to do we do the government’s work here it’s important and we have a very very limited clock every single time that we meet so as a result of that uh we’re not going to uh tolerate any type of uh disruptions Communications uh or anything like that that uh distract the committee distractions will include not only noise not only standing up not only holding up painted hands painted signs none of that will be allowed if you do that I’m going to pause the committee I’m going to ask our friends uh uh first of all my uh my faithful sergeant of arms here who’s uh uh perhaps tougher than the capital police but also the capital police to assist and uh we will pause briefly and then take up our work if you are removed uh you’ll not be permitted back into one of these public hearings for at least 12 months and uh uh that’s uh the purpose of this is as I’ve stated and it’s important work uh it’s it can’t be interrupted so with that Senator Scott uh please the floor is yours thank you Mr chairman ranking member and committee members it is an absolute honor to sit before you today to introduce my good friend fellow senator from Florida and future Secretary of State Marco Rubio also like to recognize his wonderful family is here today his wife Janette uh daughter Daniela Sister Barbara and Veronica and nephew Orlando and back home Amanda Anthony and Dominic all of us here today know that Marco is an exceptional nominee he is the perfect person to carry out president Trump’s elected president-elect Trump’s policies and to protect America’s national security and to bring peace and stability back to the Western Hemisphere the son of Cuban immigrants Marco learned at a young age about the suffering and oppression of socialism and brings valuable Knowledge from his roles here on the the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate intelligence Committee in our state of Florida we hear often from those who came to the United States to escape dangerous regimes and live the American dream that most Marco and many of us have had the opportunity to live every person we meet serves as a reminder of why the United States must always stand for freedom and democracy president Trump’s record in his first uh term was clear he unapologetically fought to protect freedom and democracy across Latin America and ended the failed Obama era appeasement policies that had created a vacuum for tyranny in the region after four years of Joe Biden president Trump will have to start that fight over but he has an incredible asset with Marco Rubio on his team Marco sees the values of our allies and Democratic leaders who will stand up to our adversaries and who will work with the United States deny footholds to communist China Iran and Russia and fight alongside America to protect our shared National Security interest and create better trade relations while the bid Administration has abandoned America’s allies President elect Trump and Sen Rubio are clear iyed and understand that where freedom and democracy exists America has strong allies and trusted trade Partners Marco has a strong record of holding the regimes in communist China Cuba Venezuela and Nicaragua accountable for their oppression and tyranny he will work with President Trump to punish communist regimes for their crimes make clear to our enemies and partners alike around most importantly Marco will always put America’s best interest first Marco congratulations you’ve served the people of Florida well has been honored to work with you as uh Senator and I will continue working together with you on issues that matter deeply to the people of Florida to our nation you’re well-deserving of this role you’ll do an incredible job I’ll be end end up being the senior senator finally I’m proud to support you and urge all my colleagues to do the same thank you well thank uh thank you very much Senator Scott uh first of all let me say as we open this first hearing uh I’m pleased to be serving alongside uh my colleague Senator Shaheen she and I have worked together over a number of years we were Governors together and came in at the same time together um and uh we uh have had actually some experience in this Regard in the small business committee where we had the same roles uh and U and so we uh were used to each other and uh we’re going to do our best to uh have a uh uh hearings and uh work of this committee on a bipartisan basis we won’t always agree obviously but we will uh do our very best to uh disagree civil and uh let the process work U as it should so with that let’s turn to the hearing today and uh I want to welcome my great friend Marco Rubio uh to this hearing uh likewise Marco and I go back a long ways uh the u i I look back at when I got to the Senate 16 years ago uh I came to this first hearing and took my seat way down there at the end and uh spent two years there and then uh that afternoon went over to the intelligence committee and uh again took my seat way down on the end down there served a couple of years and then two years later um the U by by the way when I went into the intelligence committee I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone this story before but I walked in there and uh a little nervous because you know about to learn all the deep dark secrets of the United States of America and uh uh I went in and sat down and someone came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and said Senator uh you seem to have brought an electronic device with you into this room this was in the skiff uh over in our semi secret room over in uh The Heart Building and um so uh I learned then that the intelligence committee does know a lot so I gave up my uh my uh electronic device uh two years later uh I was no longer on the end and Rubio came and joined me down at the end and sat at my left there and we went to the hearing in the morning to the Foreign Relations Committee that afternoon we went over to the intelligence committee again there he was sat down next to me on my left and as he sat down I said by the way uh he I hope you I said to him I hope you don’t have any electronic devices with you and uh he says well no you doofus there’s a big sign out there he says don’t bring any so I judged him to be a very astute person at that point in my defense that sign wasn’t there to you early they don’t give you a course of what you can and can’t bring in so anyway that was my uh that was my introduction to Mark Rubio since then uh we’ve worked together for a long time on issues and found ourselves uh almost always in violent agreement on virtually every issue we dealt with both here in the Foreign Relations Committee and on the intelligence committee and I work together closely as we were uh uh ranking member on uh and chairman on those on those two committees um there’s out out of all the issues we’ve done I can only think of one issue that we disagreed on it’s a very very small issue a very tiny issue it deals with uh intelligence so unfortunately we won’t be able to discuss it here today but Marco I have a small gift for you as you part here in your your last hearing here uh I’ll give it assuming you survive this hearing I’ll give it to you at the uh at the end of the hearing so uh welcome and uh in a moment I’m going to give you a chance uh uh to make your opening statement I’m going to talk a little bit Jean is and then uh then we’ll we’ll get to you uh unfortunately we meet at a time when America faces threats uh from nearly every corner of the world it’s no secret that hostile powers from China to Russia from North Korea to Iran have formed an authoritarian axis bent on weakening the United States sadly uh the outgoing Administration has frequently made ill-informed decisions that have empowered these adversaries from the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal to its desperate efforts to woo Iran failure to deter Russian aggression constant concessions to China and undermining support for Israel our allies question us resolve and our adversaries believe they have a free hand those days are over China Remains The most significant long-term risk to the United States the Chinese government steals American intellectual property floods our streets with fentanyl and exploits our free markets for its own gain while aggressively undermining American National Security China is no longer satisfied to undermine the United States on its own now it helps Russia Iran and North Korea CH Chinese support has enabled Russia to carry on its illegal war against Ukraine and China’s massive purchases of Iranian oil are a Lifeline to that murderous regime’s proxy wars the outgoing administration’s failure to push back on China’s aggression means that China is challenging America everywhere from Africa uh to our hemisphere in Latin America Senator Rubio has been a strong Advocate uh of tougher policies to counter China’s aggression and particularly uh in Latin America in the Middle East Israel fights a multi-front war against Iran after the brutal attack on October 7th yet the uh outgoing Administration has undermined support to Israel this has only prolonged a terrible situation in Israel and Gaza in spite of the outgoing administration’s policy Israel’s fortitude has brought Tran to its weakest point in decades president Trump and Marco both know that we need to support our Ally and return to a maximum pressure campaign against Iran at the same time Putin with the support of the CCP continues his violent assault on Ukraine Putin has escalated this war over and over again most recently by importing thousands of North Korean soldiers I’ve said repeated since the beginning of the of 2022 fullscale Invasion we need to help Ukraine end this war quickly and permanently I’m confident that if anyone can end this war it’s president Trump and Marco is the right man to help ensure it is done in a way that guarantees security and stability for Ukraine the us and our allies and prevents Russia from launching Another War unfortunately the threats to American interests don’t end there a genocide in Sudan much needed but uh still uncertain regime change in Syria human rights abuses human trafficking uh the list of challenges facing uh America is long and because of that we must uh reign in and enforce accountability at the United Nations whose agenda and wasteful practices frequently do not align with those of the United States in Asia it will be important to work with our allies in Japan Korea Taiwan and the Philippines to boost their military spending and bolster their ability to deter China we should work with Australia and the United Kingdom as part of the Aus agreement to develop and Advance military capabilities to counter Chinese coercion in the indopacific and I hope uh the state department will acknowledge the nuclear arms race our adversaries are pursuing and make the changes needed to confront this new reality further US foreign uh assistance is not charity American taxpayer dollars should only be spent to advance us interests and every penny should be scrutinized to ensure its necessity and Effectiveness in advancing our America’s interests often enormous amounts of money are spread thinly around the world and never really accomplished goals this also needs to stop a final word on the operations of the state department itself the department must refocus itself on the core mission of effective diplomacy every program office and policy at state must effectively Advance US foreign policy goals not advance Progressive ideology the outgoing Administration often undercut effective foreign policy by inserting ideological and political requirements into the fabric of personnel decisions and policy execution rather than making hires of promotions based on Merit and Effectiveness the department created a new uh created a new diversity Equity inclusion and accessibility requirements that distracted from this Mission undermined morale and created an unfair and opaque process for promotions and performance evaluations filty to Pro Progressive politics became the Benchmark for success as we look around the United States uh that view is diminishing very quickly amongst even large corporations amongst even large uh Progressive leaning corporations adherence to these goals was assured uh at the state department to a rigid enforcement structure that included senior advisers for deia in nearly every Bureau and Soviet Style Anonymous reporting portals where employees were were encouraged to denounce colleagues who would not tow the company line this must end on day one we need to return to Merit and I know Marco uh will write that ship Senator Rubio this is a long laundry list of crisises you’ve earned yourself one of the hardest jobs in America but after serving with you for so many years I’m confident you are the right person we need to take on these threats thank you very much and to my good friend Jean I yield the floor well thank you very much chairman Rish congratulations on your new role um as you point out while this may be our first Foreign Relations Committee hearing together in these new roles it’s certainly not our first time working together we came in as Governors so we like to get things done um we’ve also had the same role in 2017 on the small business committee so I look forward to working with you and to our opportunity for this committee to get a lot of work done I want to also congratulate the new members of the committee um Republicans McCormick um Danes scottt Lee Curtis and Corin and on the Democratic side Jackie Rosen nice to have you all on the committee one point that we’ve always agreed on um the chairman and I is the need to work together so this committee can function more effectively that means holding hearings it means advancing bipartisan legislation it means confirming career Foreign Service officers quickly I believe it’s in our national security interest to have our embassies fully staffed and to confirm career ambassadors with the requisite expertise which is why it was important to both of us to have Senator Rubio’s hearing as soon as possible and Senator Rubio welcome you and I have also had a good working relationship for many years I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve a secretary of state but today I want to find out a little more about what this Administration is thinking about American foreign policy and the state department in particular as I said I believe this committee has a responsibility to get your team out in the field and we hope you will send us qualified experienced and well vetted nominees I know you all already have an expert group of career Foreign Service nominees before you that was not considered under the last Congress I hope we’ll see many of those nominees resubmitted to this committee soon on policy I want to start by hearing from you on Ukraine and NATO there is strong bipartisan support as you know in the senate for Ukraine there’s a clear understanding that we can’t trust Putin and I’m concerned that if Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine he’s not going to stop president Trump has repeatedly said that he plans to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of his inauguration it’s been reported that his proposals would give away Ukrainian territory to Vladimir Putin now I can’t speak on behalf of Ukraine and president zalinski has said that he’s open to a peace agreement but I am concerned both for the Ukrainian people who have sacrificed so much about the message that abandoning Ukraine would send not just to our allies but also to our adversaries and not just Russia but to China North Korea and Iran our allies Japan South Korea Taiwan our Partnerships and alliances like AAS and NATO are all looking very closely and watching what we’re going to do I believe these alliances are one of the United States greatest assets and what happens in Ukraine also affects emerging democratic nations Civil Society movements from bellus to the Balkans to the Black Sea to Georgia it impacts us here at home as well and I know that for so many Americans this might seem like a distant War but as we know what happens in Ukraine doesn’t stay in Ukraine the war has caused food and gas prices to go up it’s affected day-to-day lives of Americans so Senator Rubio I know that in the past you’ve supported Ukraine you introduced legislation that would ban us recognition of ter territory annexed by Russia we were both co-sponsors of chairman rishia resolution recognizing Russian genocide in Ukraine but the path forward is uncertain and I hope today you will lay out some of the administration’s plans for Ukraine I’d also like to hear from you on the Middle East and Syria in particular in recent months we’ve seen the dismantling of much of Iran’s access of resistance including the fall of Assad one of Iran’s most brutal proxies one of our goals should be to get humanitarian assistance immediately to the Syrian people who have suffered for so many years and to capitalize on this historic opportunity to sideline not only Iran but Russia as we help rebuild Syria I also want to underline that whether it’s food insecurity or sexual violence that accompanies war and whether we’re talking about Sudan or Haiti or Afghanistan Ukraine or Gaza that it is women who often bear the brunt of these conflicts they should have a seat at the table when it comes to resolving them and that’s not just a sentiment it’s also backed up by data because we know that when women participate in Conflict negotiations peace is 35% more likely to last at least 15 years that’s why we passed the women peace and Security Act in 2017 it was signed into law by President Trump during his first term and I hope that in his second term we can build on this effort um it’s one of the reasons I’m pleased that we now have three women on the Foreign Relations Committee Senator Duckworth and Senator Rosen it’s the first time since I’ve been here that there’s been three women on this committee um and I’m interested to hear your vision for the state Department’s office of global women’s issues and more broadly how the administration will work to empower women and girls on the global stage as chairman Rish has said the list of challenges facing America is very long and so Senator Rubio if you’re confirmed I hope we can work together to continue to promote American interests that have we have seen around the world the importance of America’s role in the world thank you thank you Senator Shaheen U good remarks Senator Rubio uh the floor is going to be yours and hope you’ll introduce your beautiful family to start with and we’ll take it from there well thank you chairman Rish and I want to thank the ranking member as well Senator Shaheen and thank you Senator Scott for your for your introduction and um let me just say it’s a a bit surreal to be on this side of the room but you all look very distinguished uh and want you to know that yeah yeah in the uh in the 249 year history of our Republic there’s only been 71 other Americans who have served in the role that in the position that President Trump has now nominated me to occupy and I want to thank him for his confidence and uh 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 and Dominic could 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 danela 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 my sisters Barbara and Veronica my nephew Orlando are joining me here today and and to me it’s a reminder that uh 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 in May on May 27th of 1956 from Cuba and they had nothing but the dreams of better of a better life and 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 um in in the 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 and that task has gotten harder than it’s ever been and 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 then Secretary of State tasked with creating uh an an order world order a a free half as he quote in his quote out of chaos without blowing to Pieces without blowing the whole of the world into pieces in the process and in the decades that followed that Global Order served us quite well Americans incomes Rose and communities flourished alliances emerged in the Indo Pacific and Europe that led to the emergence of stability and democracy and prosperity in these regions we’ve had Forever War ever since Little Marco keep your [Music] [Music] [Music] hands back to order all right alliances emerged in the Indo Pacific and in Europe that led to 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 withed an evil empire out of the triumphalism of the end of the C Long Cold War emerged the 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 Le community that a foreign policy that served the national interest could now be replaced by one that Serv 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 isn’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 in almost religious commitment to free and unfettered trade at the expense of our national economy Shrunk the middle class left the working class and crisis collapsed our industrial capacity and has pushed critical Supply chains into the hands of adversaries and of 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 of 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 while America far too often continued to prioritize the global order above our core national interests other nations continue to act the way countries always have back order I get bilingual protests which is I think is an in cool as you know that’s a first year for for us at least in recent times all right care is a human right all right education is a human [Music] right back to order all right um so while America too often prioritize the global order above our core National interest 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 welcome 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 and lied and cheated and 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 narot terrorists and dictators and desps take advantage of open borders to drive Mass migration to traffic in women and children and to flood our communities with deadly fentel and violent criminals in Moscow and Tran and pongyang dictators Rogue States now seow chaos and instability and align with and they fund radical Terror groups then they hide behind their veto power at the United Nations security Council or the threats of nuclear war the post-war 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 of generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive and 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 and it will be impossible without a strong and a 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 the 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 solomani 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 and 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 and I am certain that today I will be asked about the of programs and the activities the Department of State carries out to address them we are a nation who was founded on the Revolutionary truth that all men are created equal and that our rights come not from man or from 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 yielded prudently and towards what 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 the most powerful Nation on the earth our wealth has never been unlimited and our power has never been infinite and placing our core National interest above all else is not isolationism it is the common sense realization that our foreign that a foreign policy centered in our national interest is not some outdated Relic since the emergence of the Modern Nation stay over two centuries ago countries acting based on what they perceive to be their core National interest that 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 more necessary than it is right now for in the end how America 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 thank either way the results the same thank you uh Senator Rio I’ve I’ve always been impressed with your uh view particularly on a 50,000 foot level of the kind of problems that uh that we Face uh in our lane and National Security Lane foreign relations and intelligence so appreciate those remarks we’re now going to start around I’m I’m going to allow 10-minute questions since this is a cabinet level position uh that doesn’t mean you have to use all 10 minutes but the 10 minutes are there and uh what I’m going to do in this hearing and what I’m going to do in future hearings is I will call on People based on seniority on the committee at the time the gavel Goes Down And if you come after that you’ll be put in line after that and we’ll go down we’ll go down the list like that um in any event uh with that uh Senator Rubio could you uh talk for a minute about uh the Russian energy Reliance I think all of us were impressed when uh the war started that uh the uh Europeans knew the necessity of cutting a cord with Russia on uh on their Reliance on Russian energy which had developed since the iron T Iron Curtain came down all of us believing that Russia would behave itself which uh turned out to be a very misplaced uh View and uh now uh with the War uh carrying on it’s going to end obviously at some point in time uh there are voices in Europe saying well we can go back to using Russian energy my view is that uh that that that’s not reasonable and it’s not appropriate and indeed I think that the Fallout from this war is going to go on for Generations uh your thoughts on the the uh energy relationship uh between Europe and Russia in the future well I’m reminded uh I believe back in 2018 uh then president Trump two occasions once at the United Nations and I think another time at a NATO conference pointed for example to Germany’s Reliance on Russian uh energy as a real vulnerability and he was snickered at I remember he was snickered at by the representatives uh of Germany at the United Nations he turned out to be 100% correct in fact that that Reliance on Russian energy was a major loss of deterrence Vladimir Putin among his many calculations one of the calculations he took in going in in Ukraine was that the Europeans would complain maybe they’d hit him with a couple sanctions they’d write some strongly worded nasty letters about him but ultimately would not be able to do anything effectively because of how much they depended on Russia and in some cases continue to depend I believe France is the third leading payer into Russian energy in in the world and I think a couple other countries in Europe follow right behind so there’s still a significant amount of dependence in that regard and that dependence on Russian energy is is a tremendous amount of Leverage that Vladimir Putin holds on his neighbors in Europe now there is some good news I think for example I I watched with great interest the uh German engineering Marvel where they’ve been able to I think by the end of this at the end of this year after they they wave permitting requirements and within nine months uh were able to open what is literally a floating uh L terminal for to allow and receive uh exports including from the United States and other places so I do think you’re seeing movement in Europe now to try to detangle itself from that level of dependence but remains a real vulnerability and and a tremendous uh piece of Leverage for Putin against his neighbors and the broader world it’s also a reminder by the way and I used to be guilty of saying this quite a bit that the Russian GDP was the size of Italy’s you know not very large I think one of the things we learned from this endeavor is that um it’s not just the size of the GDP but what it’s composed of and the Russian GDP while smaller than some other countries is largely reliant on the production of r raw materials on the energy on food production fertilizer and the like and and these are critical components of national strength and a reminder of of how important they are for us here domestically as well thank you U um I appreciate that I I do think uh two we ought to acknowledge that uh the Europeans uh did a job that uh was uh well beyond our expectations the first winter uh as they struggled through uh they they did really well as far as cutting the cord with Russia uh being as uh how hard they were tied to that let’s talk about Aus for a minute there hasn’t been much discussion about a well there hasn’t been much discussion about Aus really since the thing started a lot of us have been pressing the ad Administration to uh gear that up it has not been forthcoming um I’d uh I’d like to hear your thoughts uh on Aus uh the importance thereof and and getting this thing moving as it was intended well one one of the things we’ll have to Endeavor to see obviously there’s a tremendous amount of this that relies on the Department of Defense and other entities in government to the extent the secret the Secretary of State and the Department of State is engaged it’s something that I think you’re going to find very strong support for in this Administration um because it’s one of not I think it’s almost a blueprint in many ways of how we can create Consortium like partnership with nation states that are Allied to us to confront some of these Global challenges be it in the defense realm and the technology realm in the critical minerals realm in the sensitive Technologies and critical Technologies on for example artificial intelligence and advances and in even Quantum Computing this obviously is more defense related but it’s one example of how we can Leverage The Power of these Partnerships with allies two three countries in some cases broader and others uh to to reach outcomes and objectives such as creating a geopolitical and strategic balance in the indopacific region and Beyond so we’ll have to look at that and to see what components of whatever impediments exist can be removed by the action of the Department of State but it also reminds us that in many of these very few of these Global issues are entirely relying on the Department of State the department the department of energy the Department of Defense we have a host of other government agencies uh Commerce in many cases uh who also play a critical role in Expediting and and going through for example some of the lists of technologies that perhaps are not being transferred uh because they’ve been deemed as sensitive but in the case of our strong and close allies that’s the point right is that you want to be able to find yourself in a situation where you can accelerate partnership by making available to key allies these uh sensitive technologies that we wouldn’t want to see in the hands or developed by an adversary or unaligned country thank you I appreciate that I our view is align particularly on the excluded technology list these are our our closest and most trusted allies and unfortunately the current Administration has really been uh difficult to work with as far as getting through that excluded techn Tech uh technology list and I hope you’ll help expedite that um let me talk for a minute about the international criminal court um look I uh as you know we’ve got real problems there uh the the court originally was intended at least from our point of view to be a court that focused on uh International crimes that were committed uh by people from countries who did not have a robust uh democracy nor robust judicial system that held its own people accountable for crimes uh the Court’s gone beyond that obviously uh they are not only focusing on people who aren’t uh accountable elsewhere but they’re uh also focusing on people who come from countries that solve their own problems like the United States of America and like Israel uh the the most recent uh uh the most recent uh obvious uh uh thing that flowed from that was the indictment on the same day of Netanyahu plus a a Hamas character any court that uh that is a court of law has to be able to recognize good from bad and uh when you try to uh indict two people and and show some type of moral equivalency uh in that regard they’re just barking up the wrong tree and I think unfortunately we’re going to have to uh rein them up your thoughts on that well I think it’s done the ICC has done tremendous damage to its global credibility first of all it is going after a non-member state on the claims that I believe in fact I think just in the last 24 hours the Israeli High Court filed an appeal before the IC even though it’s not a member State and um and I saw some of the filings from the prosecutor Mr Khan was involved in that process and he argues that they have the right to go after non-members for their activities within the confines of member states in this case and I think first of all the whole premise of his prosecution is fly beyond the process of it and the precedent that itself which is a very dangerous precedent for the United States of America by the way because this is a test run this is a trial run to see can we go after a head of state from a nation that’s not a member if we can go after them and we can get it done with with regards to Israel they will apply that to the United States at some point and in fact there have been threats to do so in the past but the premise of the prosecution itself is completely and utterly flawed as you said they went ahead I think they also went after sinir when number one Sinar didn’t travel around the world he’s not with us any longer uh but he doesn’t didn’t travel around the world was at no risk of being apprehended second of all the moral equivalency piece of it was offensive let me explain and I think I don’t need to explain to this committee Hamas carried out an atrocious operation they sent a bunch of savages into Israel with the express and explicit purpose of targeting civilians they went into concerts they went into these uh music festivals they knew that there were no soldiers at the music festival they knew that these were teenagers and young families that they went into this into different communities and the kutzas and the like and they deliberately targeted civilians deliberately it was there in fact they kidnapped the ones they didn’t murder the families who they didn’t eviscerate the people whose skulls they didn’t crack open they they kidnapped and to the stay continue to hold people uh that they Innocents that they took a deliberate operation in the case of Israel responding to that attack has had to go after Hamas how can you coexist How can any nation state on the planet coexist side by side with a group of savages and like Hamas it’s they have to defend their National Security and their National interest as I pointed out in my opening statement and so there is no more and they didn’t Target civilians now sadly and unfortunately and I’m sure we’ll discuss it further some of the other questions that will come up here today one of the horrible things about war it’s a terrible thing about war and it’s why we should try to prevent it at almost every any cost is that innocent people are caught up in it and that’s true of every conflict on the planet but there is a difference between those who in the conduct of armed action deliberately Target civilians and those who do as much as they can to avoid civilians being caught up against an enemy that doesn’t wear a uniform against an enemy that hides in tunnels against an enemy that hides behind women and children and puts them at the Forefront and uses them as human Shields that’s who Hamas is there is no moral equivalency and I think the IC if they don’t drop this will find its credibility globally badly damaged and I think the United States should be very concerned because I believe this is a test run for applying it to American Service member and American leaders in the future well said I couldn’t agree with you Moren uh certainly uh the court has badly damaged its reputation and it’s going to have a long ways to go to recover from that so with that Senator Shaheen thank you Mr chairman Senator Rubio as I said in my opening statement I hope that this committee can better collaborate to swiftly confirm career Foreign Service officers these are patriotic Americans who have served under both Democratic and Republican administrations and they work to advance US National Security interest delays and vacant posts hurt America’s interest I I know you agree with that because we’ve had that conversation but will you commit to working with chairman rich and me to prioritize the advancement and confirmation of career State Department officials well the answer to that is yes but I would also point to this fact that I think we’re going to begin by prioritizing we’re going to look at what are the key issues in the world or obviously every Post in the world is important or it shouldn’t exist and then the question is which are the ones we bring to you first and those are the ones that I think are most critical so obviously I think you’ll see our nominees for the deputy posts which are critically important all the under secretaries as well and what I’ve endeavored to do is we interview and identify people and I believe I’ve U met with and interviewed most of the candidates for those top posts is I want to bring you people that are three things number one are aligned to the mission I think that’s critically important whether they be Foreign Service officers I’m not talking about political alignment I’m talking about alignment with a mission that we’ve outlined for American foreign policy which is one of the things that I think I think has hurt the state department under numerous administrations is sometimes the mission what it is the core mission of the department has not been well defined that’s that’s on our us and it’s Our obligation to Define that it’s number one aign to the mission number two the capability to do the job and I can tell you now that entire my entire service on this committee which spans 14 years we always had fellows from the Department State Mo I believe all of whom are still in the service of our country and I intend because I know them and I’ve worked with them to utilize their skill sets uh in in our in the department and um and in fact a couple who we hope will be returning home soon from foreign postings to work with us at the state department uh closer to my office but the point is that we want to have people that are highly capable both those who we bring from what they call political appointees but also those that are promoted from within the Foreign Service and then the third uh are people that we can get through the committee because time is of the essence now you may not agree with all their views whether they be Foreign Service officers or whether they’ be political but I think it’s important for and and we’re not going to exclude someone just because we think that maybe they’re going to have a rougher confirmation process in someone else but I do think it’s important that we have people in these positions as quickly as possible and having served for 14 years on that side of this room I understand that one of the things we can do to help expedite that is to bring you people that will do a good job who are qualified for the job or Mission aligned but also that uh can move through this process quickly enough so that they can be at post and begin to fulfill their duties if I have to wait a year to get them in place uh well I’m not sure on some of these issues we face today we have a year to wait um I certainly agree with that and I appreciate your focus on Mission and um qualifications because I think the committee will be looking closely at that um I want to go now to Nato because in 2023 Congress overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan cane Rubio provision prohibiting any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without Senate approval or an act of Congress will you commit to adhering to Senate approval or an act of Congress as required under that law that you authored um if president Trump attempts to withdraw the US from NATO well first let me say that President Trump has appointed an an ambassador nominee for NATO which clearly indicates uh his role to engage in that second is the law is what it is I obviously as you’ve mentioned I was a co-sponsor of the law and so it’s tough to say I’m not in support of a law that I hope to pass and that I think it’s an important role for Congress to play because frankly it’s not just about the withdrawal piece of it it’s the contributions we make towards the power of the pur still resides with the Congress now maybe um as if confirm me moving towards the executive branch I’ll I’ll I’ll become uh I’ll forget that lesson a little bit I don’t I hope not but ultimately I still recognize and understand that the power of the pur is with Congress and it’s an incredibly important power let me point on Nato one thing I think there’s a misunderstanding about it the NATO alliance is a very important Alliance I believe believe that I believe alliances can be and has been very useful without the NATO alliance there is no end of the Cold War in fact without the NATO alliance it’s quite possible that much of what today at the time today we know is the uh Europe uh would have fallen victim uh to aggression but what’s important for the United States is not just to have defense allies it’s to have capable defense allies allies who are capable of defending their region and I think there is a question to be asked I’m not stating a public policy position I’m stating a question to be asked asked and that is should the role of the United States and nato in the 21st century be the primary defense role or as a back stop to aggression with countries in the region assuming more of that responsibility by contributing more now look In fairness and I think the further east you move in Europe the more money you see spent on the military as a percentage of GDP but I think there’s been broad acknowledgement across Europe and across multiple repu uh administrations both Republican and Democrat that our NATO Partners these are rich advanced economies need to contribute more more to their own defense and ultimately to the NATO partnership as well and that’s a demand that’s been made by multiple presidents across the years and and we and and the fact that that is true has been uh revealed by what’s happened with Ukraine look at the ramp up in defense spending and the industrial capacity of multiple countries in Europe as a result of an armed conflict imagine if that capacity had been there before it quite possibly might have had a deterrent effect as well so I think it’s important that we have alliances but we have to have alliances with strong and capable part partners and and and not those who sort of viewed the US and the NATO defense agreement as an excuse to spend less on defense and more on some domestic needs we have domestic needs too these Advanced rich countries in Western Europe have enormous safety nets programs that they fund we have domestic needs as well but they’ve been able to divert or grow those programs because they don’t have to spend as much on defense as we do as a percentage of our overall economy and that Dynamic needs to change and I expect that President Trump will continue to force make that point and and as you know this committee and the Senate NATO Observer Group which I co-chair has made that point repeatedly and we are now up to 23 of the 32 NATO Nations who are meeting their um 2% of GDP and we have a number of them who are going going beyond that and it’s appropriate and I think the sentiment on this committee would be to agree with what you’re saying um but to ensure that we continue to have a strong NATO I think will be important not only to Europeans security but most important to our own security um I appreciate we talked about Ukraine I appreciate your past leadership and supporting Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty um more recently you voted against supplemental funding for Ukraine and against for giving loans for Ukraine in November loans that would be critical to Ukraine’s economic stability so can you talk about how your views on Ukraine have developed and where you are now and what you think is important for us to do in order to ensure that there is the strongest possible negotiating position um if Ukraine and Russia do get to the negotiating table sure first let me point out and although I’ll still speak to my view of the process that I voted against that bill because I said I would not vote for a bill unless it addressed the crisis at our Southern border as part of the overall Arrangement that was not done and so I voted against it that said here’s my view of a situation once this war became what we now know it is and that is a a war of attrition a stalemate a protracted conflict the dynamic on that situation has changed it has and I believe and I think that this Echoes with the president let me first Echo the president’s words and what he said in an interview about a year ago he was asked about the war in Ukraine he says I want the dying to stop I want people to stop dying I want the killing to stop and frankly I don’t know how anyone could say they don’t the destruction that Ukraine is undergoing is extraordinary it’s going to take a generation to rebuild it millions of ukrainians no longer live in Ukraine and the disruption that means how many of them are going to come back and what are they going to come back to even as I speak to you now the Ukrainian infrastructure and their energy infrastructure is being decimated in ways that are going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild over the next decades so this is an important conf and I think it should be the the official position of the United States that this war should be brought to an end and the question becomes you know what role can we play and I think the first is by making that abundantly clear and my differences with the Biden Administration throughout this process is that they never clearly delineated what the end goal of the conflict was what exactly were we funding what exactly were we putting money towards and in many occasions it sounded like however much it takes for however long it takes that is not a realistic or prudent position the truth of the matter is that in this conflict there is no way Russia takes all of Ukraine the ukrainians are too brave and fight too hard and the country is too big that’s not going to happen it’s also unrealistic to believe that somehow a nation the size of Ukraine no matter how incompetent and no matter how uh much damage the Russian Federation has suffered in as a result of this Invasion there’s no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion just given the size Dynamic I saw quote recently and I I wish I could attribute to who it was but the the quote was and I think it was very wise where they said the problem that Ukraine is facing is not that they’re running out of money that they’re running out of ukrainians there’s a size differential here that’s important now what valir Putin has done is unacceptable well there’s no doubt about it but this war has to end and I think it should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it end now what that Master Plan looks like is going to it’s going to be hard work this is not going to be an easy Endeavor um by this but it’s going to require bold diplomacy and my hope is that it could begin with some ceasefire and we’re going to have there are going in order to achieve objectives like the one that needs to occur in Ukraine it is important for everyone to be realistic there will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation but also by the ukrainians and the United States lend itself there it’s also important that there be some balance on both sides in essence it will be difficult to achieve this objective of a ceasefire and ultimately a peace settlement unless both sides have leverage Putin’s goal now is to have maximum leverage so that he can basically impose neutrality on Ukraine retrofit and come back and do this again in four or five years and that’s not an outcome I think any of us would favor by the same token I think it’s important that the ukrainians have leverage but they also will have to make concessions to reach this agreement it’s going to be very difficult this will not be easy conflicts of this nature that have historical uh underpinnings to it are going to require a lot of hard diplomacy and tough work but that’s something that needs to happen this conflict needs to end well I’m out of time but I appreciate your last comment about the importance of Leverage and it’s important for the United States to do what we can to help provide that leverage to Ukraine so that they can be in the best negotiating position possible with Russia thank you very much thank you Senator Shaheen Senator rickets thank you Mr chairman well Senator Rubio congratulations on your nomination to this very very difficult job want to thank you for your previous service in the US Senate and your willingness to take on this job should should you be confirmed and I also want to uh thank your uh family as well for their support for you to be able to be a US senator and to apply for this job at Secretary of State and I want uh also to express my gratitude to all the members of the state department we have a lot of people who choose to serve our country overseas spend time away from their friends and family and I can’t think of a more normal calling you’re taking over a a department that’s very very important to us on Sunday Jake Sullivan the president uh Biden’s National Security adviser said quote the American people are safer and the country is better off than we were four years ago let me repeat the American people are safer in the country is better off than four years ago I don’t know who believes that I don’t believe that I think the election results demonstrate the vast majority of Americans don’t believe that we don’t believe it at home inflation has hurt average American pocketbooks open border policies have put Americans at risk and I don’t believe we see it overseas in fact Senator Rubio should you be confirmed you’re being handed a job at a time when this country is in the most danger we’ve been in since World War II it’s a very dangerous time in the world and I your opening remarks demonstrate that you know that we’re not better off and we’re not safer President Biden started this with his disaster withdrawal from Afghanistan that projected weakness and an incomprehension of what it means to have a policy of deterrence Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and started the largest war in Europe since World War II after that withdrawal I believe was because he saw weakness in this Biden Administration it’s been the president’s fear of helping Ukraine that has contributed to putting them in the inable position they are today by Slow Rolling the weapons that they Ukraine’s needs to be able to defend themselves his Inc incomprehensible and incoherent policy has caused him to handcuff American liquid natural gas exports while delaying tough sanctions on the Russian oil and gas industry which as you know is the lifeblood of the Russian war machine the Middle East is equally disastrous instead of enforcing sanctions on Iran Biden naively tried to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal enabling the regime to generate a hundred billion dollar in oil revenue and I want to point out that during the Trump administration because of sanctions Iran’s foreign reserves fell from $12 billion to less than4 billion that hampered their ability to be able to fund terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and the houthis what the Biden Administration has done is allowed the Iranian regime to enrich enough weapons grade uranium to be a week or two away from having a nuclear weapon and since October 7th President Biden has not supported Israel in the way he’s needed and because of the previous mentioned money that he’s allowed the Iranians to have that has funded the terrorist groups like Hamas and hasah our allies like Israel have been attacked and we’ve been attacked directly thankfully Israel’s had the courage to stand up to these terrorists and take matters into its own hand and it’s led to the decimation of Hamas and heah but no amount of revisionist History can change the fact that this was despite the lack of support from the bid Administration not because of the support from the bid Administration and of course let’s not forget North Korea and how dangerous they have become and the fact that we are now seeing North Korean troops in Europe I thought four years ago that was unthought by anybody and of course one of the most concerning things is Biden’s weakness has emboldened the greatest adversary we have on the face of the Earth right now which is the People’s Republic of China the People’s Republic of China is the head of the stake of this aess of dictators that are challenging the United States today they are challenging our freedom our security and the Very way of life we have Beijing has had a direct hand in each of the problems I just mentioned that’s why addressing any one of them cannot be done without making sure that we are thinking about how we are deterring the People’s Republic of China when everything is a priority nothing’s a priority and Senator Rubio your top priority must be the People’s Republic of China since the election in November so this is all within the last two months the PRC has our Treasury Department including cfus continue has been described as the worst Telecom hack in US history sabotaged important undersea communication cables in Asia and Europe deployed ships to the South China Sea to harass our allies like the Philippines in their own territorial Waters simulated a naval back blockade of the Japanese islands for the first time conducted the largest naval drills in decades tarting Taiwan Taiwan and the broader Western Pacific revealed new mobile appearer suitable for a Taiwan Invasion unveiled Advanced aircraft and launched the world’s largest amphibious warship and they’ve allowed Iran to draw down and ship nearly three Bill million barrels of oil from a storage site in China it’s obvious that xiin ping is positioning his chest pieces in preparation for war he’s directed his military to be prepared to take Taiwan by 2027 and folks that’s only two years away now it’s true that that does not mean that he will invade in 2027 and it’s also true that’s not pred determined but it should be very concerning to all of us that he’s given his military that direction because time and time again dictators tell people what they’re going to do and then they go out and try and do it the only thing that dictators respond to is force strength peace through strength this was something Ronald Reagan understood a long time ago and it’s what we have to get back to in the United States xiin ping is vow to be the world dominating Power by 2049 we should take him at his word that’s what he believes he is going to try and do it’s time for us to go on the offensive and abandoned Illusions about what kind of adversary we’re face this is not a managed competition this is a competition we must win it will take more than an all of government approach it’ll take an all of society approach to be able to win this as our lead Diplomat Senator Rubio you are in a position to set the tone and that’s why I can’t think of a better pick to be the Secretary of State than you so first of all do you agree that the PRC is the biggest threat that we face as the United States uh the Communist Party of China is leads the PRC is the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted they have elements that the Soviet Union never possessed they are a technological adversary and competitor an industrial competitor an economic competitor geopolitical competitor a um scientific competitor now in every realm it’s an extraordinary challenge it’s one that I believe will Define the 21st century when they write the book about the 21st century there’s going to be some chapters in there about Putin there’s going to be some chapters in there about some of these other places but the bulk of that book about the 21st century will be not just about China but about the relationship between China and the United States and what direction it went and I think you’re alluding to it in your statement I know you have another question I don’t want to eat up all your time but I do want to say this the Chinese believe that the United States are a great power and inevitable Decline and that they are an inevitable rise now they’re going to be they already are they’re going to be a rich and powerful country and we’re going to have to deal with them the danger is that it because of our own actions in many cases a dangerous imbalance is built up in that relationship we allowed them for years to pretend that they were some developing countries so we should allow them to continue to cheat on trade and commerce we should allow them to continue to expand they lied about not militarizing and populating Island chains in the South China Sea and the like that we allowed them for years before we got serious about it to conduct grotesque human rights violations against weager Muslims as an example one of the most horrifying things happening on the planet and and for years no one talked about it which by the way not just has a human rights component to it it allows them to use slave labor to produce Goods that at the expense of the rest of the world talk about not just a horrific humanitarian crisis but an fair trade practice as well we’ve allowed them to get away with things and frankly the Chinese did what any country in the world would do given these opportunities they took advantage of it and and so I think now we’re dealing with the ramifications of it I agree 100% what you said but I remind you and I remind everyone I guess I want to make this point that much of what we need to do to confront China is here at home it’s not just abroad it’s also here at home we have to rebuild our domestic industrial capacity and we have to make sure that the United States is not riant on any single Other Nation for any of our critical Supply chains and with 4 seconds left how are you going to explain that to your average American that we need this allsize Society approach and your point exactly that we need it needs to begin here at home and it so that people from my state in Nebraska will understand and get on board if we stay on the road we’re on right now in less than 10 years virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not everything from the blood pressure medicine we take to what movies we get to watch and everything in between we will depend on China for it they have come to dominate the critical mineral industry uh uh supplies throughout the world everywhere in the world they’ve now established critical mineral rights even those who want to see more electric cars no matter where you make them those batteries are almost entirely dependent on the ability of the Chinese and the willingness of the Chinese Communist party to produce it and Export it to you so if we don’t change course we are going to live in a world where much of what matters to us on a daily basis from our security to our health will be be dependent on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not that’s an unacceptable outcome thank you Senator Rubio next is Senator mer uh thank you Mr chair and and thank you Senator Rubio and I’ve enjoyed working with you on the Congressional executive Commission on China which engages in many issues related to their treatment of of folks from the Tibetans to the wegers uh to uh their position regarding Hong Kong and Taiwan but let’s talk about Taiwan I had the chance to go to Taiwan in 20 well the year 2000 it was the second presidential election there and it was the first one where people were becoming convinced that they actually might be able to hold a a democracy I believe they’ve earned the right to have a voice in international Affairs and I also believe uh that they are at Great risk right now with the mainland China she’s she’s plan to be aggressive uh militarily towards them as as my colleague Senator Ricket just just just noted will you support your role Secretary of State uh taiwan’s right to have a voice in international Affairs participate in international forums and will you support the porcupine strategy provided uh providing that we will supply them with defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability by the way that phrase is from the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act it’s in our current law yeah let me just point out that on the Taiwan relation act and I believe of the year 2016 I was the lead Republican sponsor in reauthorizing and reinvigorating it I I think that the multiple consecutive presidential administrations of both parties are made clear that the policy of the United States for Taiwan is encapsulated not just in the Taiwan Relations Act but in the six assurances that multiple administrations including the Trump Administration and now the Biden Administration are made clear our policies with regards to your second point about International forums aan is a great example of one in which that’s being tested um they the last year at their conference the Chinese were uh able to PR prevent uh participation uh by the Taiwan any mention of Taiwan in the memorandum and then this year they’re working very hard to make sure that no one associated with T is anywhere near it so this just one more example of how they’re being excluded I would also point to the Western Hemisphere I know that sounds like half a world away but you understand this issue the majority of Nations on Earth that continue to recognize and have relations with Taiwan the vast bulk of or the plurality are within the Western Hemisphere they’ve undertaken a very aggressive action in just the last seven eight years to get these countries to flip they got Panama to flip then they got Panama to convince the Dominican Republic to flip they’ve targeted multiple other nations and Nicaragua most recently to flip so I think that’s an important thing for us to keep in mind and make a priority and I also think it’s important to recognize allies in the region like Paraguay that have not flipped and others who have stayed strong in that regard on the porking Pine strategy because I know it may sound weird to people if anyone’s watching this um uh I know what the ratings are but hopefully not high and uh but let me just say that when the porcupine strategy what it really means is you want to make the cost of invading Taiwan higher than the benefit we want to discourage that by the Chinese believing that yes could they ultim win an invasion of Taiwan but the price would be too high to pay it’s it’s basically deterrence and I think that’s critical not just to defending Taiwan to preventing a cataclysmic military intervention in in the in the indopacific and that’s what it would be and I would make one more point and again I I don’t mean to want to be alarmist about it but if you listen to Xi Jinping and it’s important when you listen to him and I say listen read don’t read the English translation that they put out because the English translation is never right you have to read the real translation on how what they actually said um in their native tongue what they’re basically saying is that this is a foundational and definitional issue for Xi Jinping personally and as a result I think we need to wrap our head around the fact that unless something dramatic changes like uh an equilibrium where they conclude that the costs of intervening in Taiwan are too high we’re going to have to deal with this before the end of this decade and so strongly support for the the porcupine strategy thank thank you and I know people in Taiwan I just don’t like saying porcupine but yes you know when I went to Taiwan in uh in November and met with the president and and other leaders uh they are extremely nervous right now and part of the reason they’re nervous is they’re concerned about how things play out in Ukraine as possibly create an incentive for for China and I I take your point about the current stalemate and the fact that there is a range of OB that are Out Of Reach for for other side but I do feel like our partnership with NATO and our continued supply of War material that enable ukrainians to keep fighting until that resolution is done is extremely important because if Ukraine collapses it will say a lot uh to China about whether we will stay the course in assisting Taiwan not to mention it will be a catastrophe for democracy and a catastrophe for the ukrainians I don’t know if you share that view well I think first of all to our goal as president Trump stated is he wants the dying to stop he wants the killing to stop so it’s very difficult to reach an accord or an agreement that begins with the ceasefire and ends with a peace un agreement unless both sides have some leverage now there’s some leverage that exists Beyond military capabilities as well we have a significant number of sanctions on the Russian Federation and they continue to to grow and be expand and other Nations do as well and that will have to be part of this conversation in terms of bringing about a peaceful resolution and then there’s the question of the long-term uh security and stability of Ukraine uh beyond the the even if the conflict were to end there there needs to be the capability of Ukraine to defend itself and it’s a point that I made back as far as 2014 when the United States under the Obama Administration chose not to provide uh weapon capabilities uh and I think we lost the turn during that I want to keep I’m going to keep rolling here for a few other questions uh one of the things China is doing is deeply engaged in transnational repression which means uh threatening people here in the United States that they will disappear or kill or or harm their family members back in China if they exercise their free rights here in our our country and also they’re seeking to repatriate uh wiggers who have escaped uh China and right now there are 48 wigers uh that are in Thailand and Thailand is on the verge of repatriating them back to uh to China will you Lobby for for Thailand to not send these wiggers back to the horror they will face uh if they’re returned yes and the good news is that Thailand is actually a very strong us partner strong historical Ally as well and so we that is an area where I think diplomacy could really achieve results because of how important that relationship and how close it is I think it’s also one more opportunity for us to remind the world of what exactly we’re talking about here this is not some obscure issue these are people who are basically being rounded up because of their ethnicity and religion and they are being put into camps they’re being put into what they call re-education centers they’re being stripped of their identity their children’s names are being changed uh it’s one of the most horrifying things that’s ever happened and they’re me and they’re being they’re being put into forced labor L literally slave labor I will say our work together on the force labor prevention act weer Force Labor uh was tremendous thank you for championing that I’m encouraging other nations including Canada Mexico and Europe to follow the the uhe rebuttable presumption strategy we put into that bill because right now if our slave labor products or China’s slave labor products are rejected here they’re shipped to Canada and we need to expand on that I want to turn to another Point uh our companies face in China often the requirement for Partnerships or location or what products they can produce or the theft of their intellectual property Meanwhile we’re helping their economy by being a major supplier of fossil gas LG to China should we be be strengthening the Chinese economy by sending them LNG well I think that uh is a good point to raise in that regard because I will tell you that is one of the things that’s going to have to be discussed in the broader relationship with China and that is it is one of the things we actually export to China they import a lot this way one of the few things that we export is uh in great capacity is these long-term contracts that are tied up either directly to China or through third countries because some of this obviously is exported to a third country who in turn uses sends it to China either as a direct sale or as a byproduct so I think that has to be on the table as a number of other measures that we have in leverage as we engage the Chinese in this geopolitical perspective I would go further and point out that the Chinese also have I believe the world’s largest Surplus refining capacity they’ve invested very heavily in that as well and that’s one more area uh where I think our energy policy will be critical and bringing some geopolitical stability to our relationship with them I know you sponsor a bill to cut off the exports I I’ve focused on China but I want to turn to humanitarian issues uh I uh by the way fully supported Israel’s ability to respond to Hamas but I am very concerned about how it has played out in terms of the massive humanitarian conditions in in Gaza will you help lead the world uh in responding to those humanitarian uh conditions and there is a proposal for a broad regional agreement that would provide security to Israel peace with all their Arab neighbors building on the Abraham Accords that in return would create a framework uh to uh have a pal or concrete steps towards a Palestinian Palestinian State I believe that’s our best bet to break this cycle of hate and war that we’ve been trapped in my entire life time uh how will you pursue breaking this cycle of hate and War and will you support humanitarian support to the to Gaza yeah so my my my first point is I am hopeful and again I’ve been here so I don’t know if any news has emerged in in our time during this hearing but I am hopeful that uh that there is an agreement in place that will bring hostages back immediately and in an exchange and in a three-phase plan that secretary blinkin sort of has outlined over the last 24 hours and that credit to both the Biden Administration and the Trump transition work side by side on helping this become about and I hope that comes about and part of that phrase part of that that deal as I understand it is it has this very tenuous but important six- week transitional period uh where it’s going to require International cooperation to bring some level of stability and administration and that could serve as assuming it works that could serve as a foundation to build upon I would also point to one more thing and that is we don’t know yet for sure but there are opportunities available now in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago whether it’s what’s happened in Lebanon whether it’s what’s happened in Syria whether it’s what hopefully will happen with the ceasefire and the the release of of hostages after horrifying detention and and unjustifiable actions by by Hamas whether it’s any of these three things are all in combination there are now factors at play in the Middle East that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities not just to provide for Israel’s security But ultimately begin to confront some of these other factors but these things again are going to be hard work and they’ll require us to take advantage of those opportunities if they exist thank you s mcar great Senator Rubio good to see you again I’m looking forward to working with you closely on many of the issues we’re going to discuss today as a senator you’ve been a strong voice for American leadership and I’m I’m really confident you’ll be a strong Secretary of State on behalf of President Trump and the American people for advancing America’s interest I I believe you’re the right man for the job when we met privately we we talked about a range of topics from China to Israel to the fate of the hostages in Gaza to energy policy we also talked about something that hits home uh here in Pennsylvania for my constituents which is the fate of Mark Fogle uh as you and I discussed Mark has been imprisoned by the Russians since 2021 I’ve had a chance to meet with his mom uh 95y old mafa she was at the butler rally with myself and president Trump in the front row when uh when he was shot we need to bring him home he he it took far too long for the state department to designate Mark as wrongfully detained by the Russian government and was really a gut punch to many of us in Pennsylvania that Mark wasn’t included in the swap last year so uh Senator uh will you commit to working with me and others in our delegation to make Mark’s return uh home a high priority absolutely and in fact I’ve been involved already I’ve met with those families as well we’ve had conversations about this and and there are two things I’d point to number one this is a ridiculous case I mean this is an American that clearly there was an order given at some level that if you see an American and you have anything you can charge them with let’s charge them and let’s collect these because we can trade them in the future for something there there’s a global market for this now and it’s one of the challenges of the 21st century there is now an active Global Market for detaining Americans wrongfully in Venezuela in Russia in China or somewhere else Iran and then using them to trade for something they want in the future and um and so I think there needs to be greater awareness put out about that reality although people are still going to travel and Americans are still a free people that have the ability to travel this is a real risk in this particular case this has nothing to do with politics no one can claim nor do they that he’s a spy or that he’s involved in a national security threat this and and so this is a case that has to be elevated and hopefully one that can be done through strong private diplomacy at a minimum is a Goodwill gesture because if they’re not willing to do this then the not to mention the broader challenges posed To Us by the what Putin is doing in Ukraine then I think the chances of improvement in us-russian relations are impossible but this is not that this would solve that problem but it is at a minimum the kind of thing you would hope to see if anyone is serious uh about improving relations especially if we can get the situation in Ukraine to to a peaceful uh standing and uh and I hope that this case will will be one that can that that we can reach a good result on good thank you uh on on the sad topic of hostages as you as you know Dean and I my my wife live in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh uh we’ve been part of a meeting with hostages in Israel and uh in in the United States is recently as last week Noah origami and Ronan and Orin and Neutra who lost their son sadly Omar recently came to visit and uh you know president Trump uh said recently all hell uh will be to pay if the hostages aren’t released if confirmed uh what what emphasis would you put on releasing those hostages in Gaza do you agree that a permanent ceasefire in Gaza must include absolutely must include the release of those hostages well it must it must include it because if it doesn’t there won’t be a ceasefire for long I mean the Israeli commitment to bringing back their civilians that’s what these are these are civilians these are not these are people these are innocent people who were targeted and have been held in horrifying conditions the health and well-being of which many of them were not we still don’t know uh but we believe there substantial number that that that are going to be released as part of this first trunch and that’s an important Point as well you know in regards to this agreement that has now been publicly reported on it’s not everyone I think there’s a first trunch of women children and people over a certain age and then a second tranch of releases of males uh that are of military age who they claim are all combatants even though they are not uh they just happen to be of a certain age but without the hostage situation resolved this situation will not be resolved it is the lynchpin of what’s happened now Hamas has been severely degraded but these people that include a number of American citizens need to be home as soon as possible and that will remain a priority in any engagement that we’re involved in with regards to not just a cease fire but some permanent peace process moving forward very good thank you uh you know since October 7th there’s been a disturbing rise in anti-Semitism prot terrorist violence in our cities on college campuses you and I uh had the opportunity to write an oped together and in that uped we called on foreign Nationals who support Haman or other terrorist organizations to lose their visas and uh and to be sent back to their home countries as Secretary of State of course you’ll be responsible for overseeing the issuance of visas how will you enforce our laws uh to ensure that we remove supporters of terrorist groups from our country listen my view on this is a one of Common Sense okay if you apply for a Visa to come into the United States and in the process of being looked at it comes to light that you’re a supporter of Hamas we wouldn’t let you in if we knew you were a supporter of Hamas we would not give you a Visa so now that you got the Visa and the and the and you’re inside the US and now we realize you’re a support of Hamas we should remove your Visa if you could not come in because you’re a support of Hamas you should not be able to stay on a Visa of you’re a supporter of Hamas that’s how I view it and and and I think that’s just an issue of Common Sense and um and we intend to be very forceful about that good thank you you know fentol is killing 4,000 pennsylvanians each year over Americans day president Trump uh campaigned on this throughout the country in Pennsylvania as did I on we have to stop that flow of fentel and of course violent criminal groups in Mexico including the halisco uh and canola cartels terrorize our communities here at home with this deadly Fentanyl and uh and the Mexican people with with endless violence as secretary will you initiate the process to designate these groups these cartels as foreign terrorist organiz gations and if so can you describe for the American people the national security tools that that unlocks that designation unlocks uh to degrade the cartels well first of all the designation of a designated terrorist foreign terrorist organization brings with it a host of things it makes it illegal to cooperate or work with them in any way or to be supportive of their Endeavors it cuts off uh access to all sorts of banking opportunities and the like around the world where it’s important to move money around now that said it probably an imperfect tool when it comes to these uh groups that you’re discussing because these are sophisticated criminal Enterprises they are terrorizing the United States but they are sophistic criminal Enterprises and they operate in the trafficking of people drugs and migrants to horrifying effect sadly they also have basically operational control over huge swaths of the Border regions between Mexico and the United States that that’s just an unfortunate fact and it’s one we’re going to have to confront with our partners in Mexico is that these sophisticated transnational terroristic organizations have operational and functional control over huge swaths of areas that border the United States of America and uh and and so whether that is the tool that we use which is maybe the appropriate one or some new one that we come up with it is important for us not just to go after these groups but to identify them and call them for what they are and that is terroristic in their nature because they are terrorizing America with mass migration and with a flow of drugs what about military force well that’s an option the Pres president has at his disposal obviously it’s not one that is in the purview of the Department of State I think president Trump is someone that never publicly discusses his options and leaves himself the flexibility to act I think there’s a lot we can and we continue to do in close partnership with our allies in Mexico I think there’s more they can do as well to confront this Challenge and my preference would be from the Department of state’s perspective my preference would be that we can work with the Mexicans on this issue cooperatively because it is impact their Nation as much as ours these sophisticated groups uh these criminal organizations don’t simply threaten America they threaten the Mexican political process in the last election you had multiple presidential candidates and other candidates to other offices assassinated you’ve had journalists targeted and assassinated for speaking out against these groups so these groups don’t simply terrorize the United States they’re terrorizing and and in some ways undermining The Mexican government and Mexican sovereignty and the health and well-being of the Mexican people and so My Hope in a perfect world is that we could work in close collaboration with Mexican authorities to take this these groups out very good thank you final question uh the Chinese Communist party as you said in your testimony has waged a deliberate campaign of economic Warfare against the United States and our allies we need to restore as president Trump has said reciprocity in that economic relationship and impose cost on Beijing for hurting American workers how can the United States counter that campaign how do you think about the economic tools that the administration can apply to cut off the flow of American Capital and technology that supports China’s geopolitical uh Ambitions well and again much of what it comes to trade and so forth in this Administration will be handled through the Department of Commerce but we’ll certainly have an economic uh under secretary and a whole entire bureaus that that will be dedicated to what we can contribute to that endeavor so I’ll just share My Views broadly on it number one I think it would make common sense to everybody that if a by and large a relationship in which their companies can do whatever they want here but we can’t do it there is a pretty unfair relationship and it’s something we’ve allowed in the past for Allied countries who were small poor and developing that cannot continue in my view and I think that’s the president’s View the second is there’s much that we need to be that needs to be done with regards here domestically I think we once again as a nation this is not a Department of State issue but once again as a nation need to prioritize the importance of our industrial capacity and our access to supply chains domestically it’s especially in key and critical Industries maybe not every industry but some key Industries we should either have a domestic capacity or an Allied capacity that’s reliable and can’t be used against us in a moment of conflict as leverage the third point I would make is we need to be actively engaged in the world as an example the Chinese own significant mineral rights and Mining rights in Argentina in Chile throughout Africa um it’s one of the reasons why the polar uh region and the Arctic region has become so critical as well in that regard is because they are are scooping up all over the world these mineral rights Port rights Etc that place us at an enormous disadvantage in the long term and it’s what I said in that short answer is we’re going to if this trend continues we are going to wind up living in a world where much of what we depend on for our security our health our safety and our economic Prosperity will largely depend on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not and that cannot be a world that we leave for our children thank you Senator Senator Coons thank you um senator I look forward to this hearing and to our service together welcome to the other side of the Das uh and welcome to your wife Janette your children your family thank you for your service I I have three questions broadly of nominees do they have the qualifications to appropriately serve do they have a policy alignment with our core national interests and do they have the integrity and character to serve uh we may have policy disagreements but we’ve had multiple areas of convergence over the time we’ve served here in the Senate together I had my folks go back and look look we’ve co-sponsored nearly 60 bills together um so I hope we can continue to find constructive ways to partner I have a number of questions to get through so I’ll try to move briskly with regards to special envoys president-elect Trump has appointed a series of special envoys focused on a wide range of areas uh and some of these I think can genuinely complement not undermine or distract from State Department’s core efforts the special Envoy for hostage Affairs for example Adam B I look forward to working with as Senator McCormack asked about there’s a number of key issues around uh hostage taking of Americans there’s a bipartisan Bill Senator rich and I have on this that we hope to work with you on Lieutenant Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia I think will be Central to achieving an outcome in Ukraine that is a lasting and secure piece and prevents further Russian aggression but others like Rick grenell for special missions and mad bulos for the Arab world concern me in terms of the potential for Mission conflict or conflict of interest um how will you work to ensure that state maintains um its Authority and encourage the administration to conduct a full vetting of any potential conflicts of interest and to ensure there’s Clarity of alignment with special onvo sure for and and thank you for the question because I think it’s a valid one uh with the exception of Mr Bulls who I don’t know uh may have met once but don’t know every one of the envoys that have been named so far is someone that I’ve worked with in the past and expect to work well well with in the future to me the expression of a special HBO is critically important where it’s most successful it’s it’s on a complex issue with a defined goal and an an expression of presidential priorities so Sudan is an example of a special Envoy and Mr Perell and the job he’s done there and this is in addition to the fact that we have an ambassador and we have other presence uh diplomatic presence there that can be very complimentary so the way this will work and how I anticipate it will work is these envoys work for the president in coordination with us uh these these are all people uh with the exception of one who I’m not disparaging I just don’t I’m not don’t know him but I’ve worked with everyone else that you’ve mentioned are people that are going to be focused on this full like a laser and they will need to do so not simply in coordination with the department and state because of subject matter expertise let’s say you reach an agreement or you reach an outcome you’re still going to need the technical support necessary to pull this s and we have a right array of experts in the Department of State that will help achieve that and and it also it’ll involve other elements of the US government so an example uh if you’re going to reach an agreement on migration say in the Western Hemisphere um that also could entail the necessity to have a conversation about trade policy and tariffs that will involve Commerce and others that’s the only way this will work and that’s how I anticipate it working I’ve agreed to co-chair with Senator Hagerty uh a commission on reform and modernization of the state department that Senator Carden created with him um we cannot in my view do more with less given the challenges um of the global moment I think we need more investment in US diplomacy and development as instruments of national power but we also need to address efficiencies uh and make sure that we are streamlining and focusing the department and supporting its Workforce the Foreign Service um how will you work to make sure that the Trump administration’s efficiency mandate will strengthen and not deplete Core State functions well first of all I think the work of this new committee that’s being set up as a result of the legislation that passed will be critical my understanding is the impediment was that not all the appointments have been made maybe that’s now changed and we eagerly await that because I do think that there are two things that are very important the first is I when we talk about efficiency the efficiency isn’t simply just saving money the efficiency is improving performance a key part of the state department is customer service we provide Consular Affairs passports visas all kinds of work around the world for Americans who are stranded or in trouble or need to get somewhere improving that experience for the America the consumer is one of the top priorities we need to have uh how can we leverage and I think under secretary blinkin has begun this work we need to build on this how can we Infuse technology Ai and the like not simply to improve the customer uh service aspects of the state department but improve the productivity if somehow through the leveraging technology appropriately we can get people at the state department to achieve three times the amount of work than they do now because it takes less time to do these tasks or frees them up to do other tasks that would be an enormous win and I hope the the commission will look at those aspects of this as well I think I understand Senator if I might move to another question um that multilateral organizations uh concern and frustrate many of us some of their actions uh have been counter to American interests but when we’ve withdrawn from multilateral organizations and in particular some un entities it’s also given an opening to our adversaries the previous Trump Administration withdrew from UNESCO the Human Rights Council the World Health Organization and I’m concerned that if we do so without thinking through the consequences um we may abandon our chance to implement our agenda around human rights around 5G standards around technical standards that matter for the 21st century do you support sustained us participation in multilateral organizations and how will you work to strengthen our leadership in those institutions in ways that prevent our adversaries from advancing their competing agendas well I I want to point back to what I said at the opening and that is our engagement in any International agreement or any International Arrangement or any International Organization has to be driven by the answer to one of three questions will our involvement in this organization make us safer make us more prosperous make us more secure it has to be justified by an American interest it just does I mean we’re in an era where we need to really it should have always been that way but now more than ever and so each of these will have uh different components to it I think there’s a second component of funding and that should the United States be funding organizations who in many cases are pursuing and or achieving outcomes that are contrary to the National interest of the United States each of these will require a serious examination as we work through and a justification to Congress about why we’re no longer funding it or we’re no longer participating I think you do point to one that I can tell you right now is one that’ll be critical for us to be engaged in and that is the setting of Standards but the setting of standards for people to understand is is not simply from these organizations it also becomes practical so throughout Africa we are now seeing the deployment of these safe City programs by Huawei now this isn’t just a commercial deal for Huawei this is the ability to ingrain itself in telecommunication of these countries and established itself as the leader in 5G and now all of the other technologies that depend of 5G additive manufacturing you know the 3D printing and so forth autonomous vehicles they will all have to be drawn to the standard set by Huawei that’s not because an international organization set it up it’s because they’ve established market dominance and it’s a concern we have in multiple parts of the global South and the developing world we need to be engaged that way as well I very much look forward to working with you on deploying the full tool set that allows us to compete in the global South including uh the development Finance Corporation something Senator Corker and I led on this committee uh and which I know you see the potential for as I come to the end of my time um I’ve worked hard with Senator Graham to get signed into law two different bills I wanted to mention the global fragility act uh which presses the Department of Defense defense department of state aid to have a common strategy in fragile States and we’ve really struggled uh to effectively Implement that uh and much more recently um the US foundation for international conservation act something that chairman McCall uh and Senator gram and Congressman Meeks and I worked on it would create a public private Foundation to address security and conservation in ungoverned and insecure spaces in the global South in South America in Africa and Southeast Asia both of these bills address the root causes of instability and facilitate coste effective uses of American dollars by encouraging engagement of the private sector in philanthropy can I count on your support to work uh as the Secretary of confirmed in the state department to implement these two laws more effectively in the coming years well and the conservation one I believe just passed right most recent just signed into law we’re getting there just in time to help you with it and it’s had strong bipartisan support on the global fragility um this has been ongoing for quite a bit at time and we’ll have to go back and check on the progress I don’t know I know there’s a 10-year plan uh there’s the five countries that we’ve identified and by the way no country likes to be identified as fragile so we have to be sensitive about how we do it but I think that’s a component we got to go back and see where we are on that 10-year planning because that’s an important way of leveraging both Economic Security and and development uh efforts in the whole of government and I think key to this is going to be not simply the Department of State but it’s that steering committee that’s supposed to meet every 3 months at the National Security Council that coordin Ates all this work is happening look laws are great programs are great but if someone’s not in charge of it someone’s not running it and someone’s not measuring at the end of those periods of time whether it’s reaching its intended in outcome uh we’re going to have a huge problem but the goal of that legislation as I recall is and believe still is we want to get ahead of this before there before a c this is about preventing crisis which is frankly is a lot cheaper and a lot better than actually dealing with crisis after the fact and and and so identifying places around the world that are in danger of becoming chaotic uncertain insecure and getting ahead of it and helping them through a variety of means to prevent that from happening and preventing those crisis from happening is going to save us a lot of headaches a lot of danger and a lot of money in closing I’ll just repeat something I’ve heard from several of my colleagues um I think that our Global Network of alliances and partners rooted in our shared values a commitment to democracy and human rights is essential to our national security and how the war in Ukraine ends and whether a peace agreement there lasts and secures Ukraine from ongoing Russian aggression is critical to our credibility and security and to sustaining that network of allies and partners I hope that’s something you strongly agree with I look forward to working with you towards that end thank you Senator Coons next up is going to be Senator danses and after that will be Senator Murphy about that time it’s going to be noon we’re going to take a short five minute uh break uh at noon not a senate 5 minutes but a for real five minute uh break uh at noon and those of you who have a seat here I’d suggest you don’t leave because uh it’s going to be difficult to claim your seat uh back if you’re here as an observer so with that Senator Danes welcome to the committee glad chman thank you Marco it’s good to have you here uh I’ve got a great view here from the dice seeing your family behind you seeing Janette Daniela the rest of Rubio family uh what a moment of great honor celebration for the Rubio culminating on Monday when your family will celebrate the one Monon anniversary of Anthony Rubio’s touchdown as a Florida Gator so um congratulations on every front proud dad oh um look you you were charged with one of the most important tasks I think the administration will have and that is advancing president Trump’s agenda representing the interest of the United States around the world I can’t think of a better nominee for Secretary of State to serve under President Trump than Marco Rubio you’ll have a lot of active conflicts we’re working together on as we think what’s going on in Ukraine Israel Sudan ongoing nuclear weapons programs in Iran the tyranny in Venezuela the new start treaty has been completely disregarded by Russia and not to mention what we have we think about strategies relates to China I could continue to list the uh the results that we saw from the Trump Administration with the Abraham ACC cours and really moving forward here with significant substantive advancement of American interests abroad but look uh this next Administration and the leadership of President Trump and your service will be extremely consequential this posting could not be more important Marco as you know Iran’s the world’s leading sponsor of Terror in 2024 Iran exported roughly 587 million barrels of oil an increase of over 10% over the prior year these illegal oil sales fund Hamas the Hezbollah terrorism the houthis the nuclear arms programs drone technology this being used right now by the Russians against Ukraine these oil sales are directly resulting in global unrest and they’re costing innocent lives Senator if confirmed what would be your goals and strategies think about addressing Iran as an adversary well you asked that question at a very interesting moment so Iran today let me two points I want to make about Iran and it’s really important when we talk about Iran I’m talking about the radical Shia clerics and not the people the people of Iran are people of an ancient civilization an ancient culture with tremendous pride in advances and I don’t know if who take great pride in their Persian Heritage and identity and I don’t know of any Nation on Earth in which there is a bigger difference between the people and those who govern them than what exists in Iran and that’s a fact that needs to be made repeatedly in no way is the clerics who run that country representative of of the people of that country and of its history and of contributions it’s made to humanity and it’s a point I wish we would continue to make Iran and that regime is at its weakest point in recent memory maybe ever their air defenses have been badly damaged their Shia Crescent that they were trying to create has been badly damaged in Lebanon in Syria where they’ve been basically forced and driven out um their economy is in shambles they now are in on somay is having 6 8 12 9 hour blackouts they are on the verge of potentially of not having done so already having to pull back on the energy subsidies that they provide people in that country that are incredibly um popular and it would be unpopular to reverse so they’re in a lot of trouble and now what we need to be wise about is the following I imagine that within that regime and I’m just saying this because of Common Sense there are two schools of thought there’s one group that’s saying now is the time when we need to find ourselves an offramp not just not going to turn into really nice guys but we’re really in trouble here we need to find an off-ramp and buy ourselves some time and then there’s another group that’s probably saying now the time now is the time to prove that we are a nuclear power or nuclear capable power enrich from 60 to 90 and press go and that’s how we’re going to buy ourselves immunity from foreign action and this is a tenuous moment in that regard but it’s one we need to acknowledge my view of it is that we should be open to any Arrangement that allows us to have safety and stability in the region but one in which we’re cleare eyed and any concessions we make to the Iranian regime we should anticipate that they will use as they have used in the past to build their weapon systems and to try to restart their sponsorship of Hezbollah and other related entities around the region because they seek to become the dominant Regional power that’s their stated goal and it’s been clear by the actions that they’ve taken I think it is interesting that in a year in which by I think by October of this year the Europeans and they call the the E3 um countries of uh the UK France and Germany ha have to confront whether they’re going to do the Snapback Provisions or not because Iran is clearly in violation of the agreement that we’re no longer a part of in fact IAA inspectors have not even been in the country since 2021 if I’m correct so I think early this week on Monday they engaged the Europeans in talking about um nuclear arrangements so whether that’s indicative of the direction they’re going on out we’re going to find out what cannot be allowed under any circumstances is a nuclear armed Iran what canot be allowed under any circumstances is an Iran and an Iranian regime that has the resources and the capability to restart and continue their sponsorship of terrorism and what cannot be allowed under any circumstances is an Iran with the military capability of threatening and destabilizing its neighbors and potentially reaching the Homeland as well both kinetically and directly and also through their surrogate groups who have long planned contingencies for attacks and let us not forget that this is a group these are individuals that have spent the last five years actively and openly plotting the assassination of the president-elect and of multiple members of previous administrations think about this for a moment when is the last time you heard that a foreign government is actively openly and admittingly seeking to assassinate the former Secretary of State the former and soon to be once again president of the United States and others and that people have been arrested for plotting that this is who we’re dealing with and anything that we do with Iran needs to be cleare eyed about who that regime is but also who those the people of Iran really are and and um because they’re not their leaders Marco thank you um shortly after the election and prior to Thanksgiving I took a quick trip over to Central Asia I discussed that with you a bit to turkistan Tajikistan in fact in the last 12 months I visited all five of the Central Asian countries in fact I was bed down speaking of Iran 20 miles from the Iranian Border in ashkabad turkistan they have the fourth largest reserves of natural gas in the world but this is a part of the world that is often neglected but such strategic importance as you’ve got Iran you’ve got uh Afghanistan Russia and certainly China as they talk about living in a submarine as they look at multiv Vector diplomacy want to engage with the United States as the Russians and Chinese are competing for their favor uh one of the first trips that that uh I made after the election the reason was Central Asia theyve not been a US senator there in 13 years 13 years to turkistan or Tajikistan very important strategically one of the first goals that the caucus that Senator Gary Peters and I create of Central Asia is to repeal the Jackson vanic label on the region and extend permanent normal tribulations with Kazakhstan and usbekistan I realize you have a lot of priorities on your plate when you will be confirmed as our secretary but I would say resending it would be a good faith indication the Jackson van requirements that Central Asia needs right now to grow my question is would you work with me in Center Peters uh to have your team work with us to remove this designation yeah and I believe the permanent removal require legislative action I don’t think Senator Murphy has a bill on that as well yours is the three countries look I think this is a relic of an era that’s passed there are some that argue that we should use it as leverage for human rights concessions or leverage to get them to go stronger in our way as opposed to Russia and the like but I think in some cases an it’s an absurd um um relic of the past I think it’s Kazakhstan who the Department of Commerce has already said is a market economy in fact I think they didn’t they hosted the the WTO ministerial just a couple years ago so just they’ve met the conditions so we will work with you on this because I think it’s important I think it’s it’s a neglected part of the world I look forward to working with Senator Murphy on this you know that C5 plus1 which is Central Asian countries plus the United States hope we can work with President Trump actually to think about maybe hosting some kind of a summit there very strategic after the withdrawal from Afghanistan uh we need more friends in Central Asia and look forward to work with you on that um in the time I have left when I when I open up my comments talked about all these conflicts around the world sometimes we forget some of the most important relationships are right in our backyard thinking about Mexico uh with the near Shoring going on at the moment a lot of production coming now uh into more of our time zone and hemisphere coming from China and so forth Laredo Texas is now the largest port in the United States I think it’s one of the underreported facts uh in in in in our country you talked about the cartels they have command and control certainly On the Border at the moment my question is you think about Mexico and you’ve been so active on Latin America and you know looking south of the United States with President Shin bomb now just coming in office what are your thoughts around how do we become uh better engaged with Mexico to help them with their issue as it relates to the the cels basically which are running the country it seems at times well and I wish we had more than 30 seconds to do it because it it’s one of those issues that I think don’t get enough attention beyond the problems look me Mexico’s economy in many ways is a very vibrant one and has made tremendous advances and continues to be a very strong Regional power they can become frustrating at times for us because they have a enshrined even in their constitution a sort of non-aligned non-interventionist foreign policy with regards to some of the abuses and so it’s been disappointing for example to see the position they’ve taken with regards to Venezuela and others by the same token our economic interests are so deeply intertwined I think there are three areas of friction the first is on trade and violations of trade agreements and so forth uh that have been laid out and some of the things that I’ve seen even as a senator from Florida uh in the agricultural sector that are going to continue to be an irritant in our relationship that we hope we can resolve the second is the security situation at the border and there I think there’s great interest and should be on the part of the Mexicans to bring this migratory problem at the border under control people forget an increasing number of cases the people crossing the border are not Mexican Nationals they are people that are transiting through Mexico and in fact in southern Mexico you have seen a significant uptick in resentment against migration by Mexicans who are bearing the the the brunt of the costs of becoming a key element of the migratory path and the third is the violence and this violence at our border has to be addressed I think they pose a threat to the United States most certainly the flooding us with the fentanyl the criminal activities occurring within the United States facilitated by these groups who have become vertically integrated these are not the Colombian cartels these transnational groups are now vertically integrated they are the suppliers all the way down to the street level and all the way up to the production level they are vertically integrated criminal Enterprises but they are also threatening the sovereignty and security of the Mexican state and as I pointed there are journalists and there are politicians who have been assassinated for standing up to these cartels and it tells you the amount of Leverage so they have over the government as a result of it so it is in their interest as well as ours that we work cooperatively to take these groups apart and that allow them to continue the reign of terror not just in the Border region of Mexico but spilling over into the United States thanks Marco uh thank you very much for the edification of the committee I’ve just been advised that there’s been a ceasefire announced in Gaza um before we all celebrate though obviously we’re all going to want to see how how that executes uh with that uh Senator Murphy you’re up and then we’re going to take that short to break uh thank you very much Mr chairman that is uh indeed good news um Senator Rubio um I want to talk to you about a topic that I think is going to be real trouble uh for you and for us National Security interests at least for the first few minutes of my time and that’s the the growing personal financial entanglement of President Trump his family and Middle East governments give you an example of what I’m talking about um for nearly eight years the Trump organization has been pursuing a real estate deal to build a hotel complex in jeda Saudi Arabia during President Trump’s first term the Trump organization actually voluntarily committed to refrain from pursuing real estate deals with foreign companies especially those that are backed by Foreign governments and so the deal didn’t go through and then it remained stalled for the entirety of the Biden Administration and then magically 30 days after the November election Saudi Arabia’s biggest construction company that’s affiliated with the government announced that the deal was going forward alongside an additional $200 million deal for a trump property in Oman now it used to be that you know somebody with these big Financial business interests would come into government and take actions like setting up a blind trust or divestment in order to make sure there was no connection between their personal financial interests and the business they were conducting in government but president Trump has just done the opposite right over the last eight years while he was in office and since he’s been out of office he and his family have become more deeply dependent on revenue from governments in the Middle East during his last presidency Middle East interest sent about $10 million to Trump properties after he left office Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner who was his primary Middle East Envoy was handed $2 billion doll in investment by the Saudis even though Audi investment board said the investment was a bad business decision um that investment actually comes up for renewal in 2026 giving the Saudis massive leverage over the Trump family and then to make matters worse first right after the election the Trump organization said that in this term the president elect’s second term it would drop its previous prohibition on doing new deals in the Middle East with PRI with private foreign companies aligned with foreign government so the Trump organization is going to be signing new business deals in the Middle East with private companies that have connections to foreign governments at the very moment that you are going to be conducting sensitive diplomacy in these countries that’s just extraordinary um never before in the history of this country has a president been I mean literally receiving cash from foreign governments and from foreign companies that are backed by Foreign governments in the middle of their term if you are I had done this as Senators we would be in violent violation of Senate ethics rule rules that’s not permitted on the Foreign Relations Committee and so I guess my question to you is is a pretty simple one um do you see how this fundamentally compromises your diplomatic efforts um do you have an issue or will you raise an issue with the president about his growing Financial connection with the governments that you’re going to be negotiating with well first of all I am not neither authorized nor in any position to give you sort of any insights into any of these Arrangements you pointed out you know you you mentioned Jared Kushner as an example he’s a priv citizen happens to be a Floridian I I don’t know what of any engagement he has in the work that’s going on now I can tell you what I know obviously I’m not in the state department yet but I can tell you as an example um the president’s Envoy to that region uh who is charged Steve woodco who was charged with being an Envoy towards reaching an accommodation between the Israelis and the Saudis has been working cooperatively and together with the bid Administration and in fact I I dare to say that all involved deserve credit for the ceasefire that the chairman has just announced but Steve Wood call has been a critical component of it and he has been involved in it from day one I think the broader consideration about whether we want to see a Saudi Israeli uh Mutual recognition and relationship would be one of the most historic developments in the history of the region for all the factors we’ve discussed here today it would be and one of the impediment to it has been this conflict and the ongoing conflict and and the lack of a ceasefire I also think it’s going to be important for the Saudis and others to be participants and postconflict stabilization efforts in Gaza and Beyond so all I can tell you is that what I’ve said from the very beginning from the opening statement and that is our foreign policy is going to be driven as president’s made abundantly clear by whether some action makes America is good is in the interest of the of the United States and our national security and that’s what it’s going to be driven by and that’s how all these policies should be judged by and that’s certainly the job that I believe I’ve been tasked with executing on well let me then simply ask you this question do do you believe believe that the President should refrain from doing new business deals with Middle East governments during his term in office well my understanding again I’m speaking out of term but my the president doesn’t manage that company his family members do and they have a right to be in the business I mean that’s the business that they’re in they’re in the real estate business they’ve been for a very long time both domestically and abroad they have properties in multiple countries so at the end of the day I I don’t know his family is entitled to continue to operate their business the fundamental question is not whether his family is involved in business the fundamental question is whether that is in any way impacting the conduct of our foreign policy in a way that’s countered to our national interest and the president’s made abundantly clear that every decision he makes and every decision we are to make at the state department should be driven by whether or not it serves the N the core National interest of the United States and that’s how I hope our policies will be judged by not what business his family is conducting while the president is here in Washington working not on his business but from the Oval Office you are you are correct that is the fundamental question whether or not a policy is being pursued in US National Security interest or due to the president’s personal financial interest that is the reason why as United States senators we are not allowed to have complicated existing Financial arrangements with foreign governments because you do not want to create the impression that there is a conflict of motivation um and and I just wished that this president appli to this incoming Administration the same rules that we hold ourselves to as United States senators um Senator Rubio um in the time I have remaining just want to tackle two other topics um one that I know is of mutual concern to you and I and that’s the um the the the need to confront China in non-military ways as they try to exert influence around the world um last time president Trump was in office he was calling for pretty massive cuts to the state Department’s budget but as you know China uses all sorts of non-kinetic tools like misinformation economic diplomacy um around the world to exert influence um I I’m I’m hopeful that you’re going to be an active voice to try to make sure that you have the tools including when it comes to combating Russian and Chinese misinformation uh to be able to confront all of the ways many of them asymmetric that China in particular but Russia as well presents challenges to us interests um just wanted to get your commitment uh to make sure to build that full comprehensive foreign policy toolkit yeah not only have I been someone concerned about foreign disinformation I’ve been the target of it from multiple uh nation states and I’ve learned over time that the best way to confront disinformation is through a flood of free speech that allows the counter points of view to be heard and understood I think where we get ourselves into trouble and we’ve learned this now and I think multiple us companies are now admitting is when we get ourselves into a position of determining what’s true and what’s not and then using the tools of government to go after that particularly when it implicates domestic entities but yes it is one of the tools that they have in their toolbox by the way it’s not just disinformation it’s Flatout influencing um nation states views of the United States large by by promoting conspiracy theories internally in other countries that undermine us and that undermine our standing whether it’s in Africa and increasingly you see it in the Western Hemisphere as well and one of the best ways to combat that is to be present to be there to show what we do and to brag about what we do one of the things that frustrates me the most is there are literally programs with the USA ID where they do not allow us to label it as made in America or a gift of the American people because it might offend someone locally I think it’s important for the world to know that the what the United States is doing to help their societies we do not do a good enough job of promoting what we have done historically and continue to do to help our fellow men around the world yeah China is spending um1 billion dollar per year on that propaganda and misinformation uh operation um they celebrate when budgets get sent up to the hill that propose big increases in military spending and giant decreases in uh the kind of tools that are available to you so uh I do look forward to working with you to make sure that uh we’ve given you that full Suite uh of tools necessary to confront our adversaries thank you Mr chairman thank you Senator Murphy we uh we’ll take this break now uh we uh I appreciate everyone getting back here in five minutes because we’ve still got a long ways to go and uh so with that we’ll uh be at ease for five minutes Senator R enters the ant may have some forms for you to sign oh yeah okay yeah heard going this way guys we’re going to the anti room Nate is that’s a lot of muscle I will hear more from secretary State nominee Marco Rubio when the committee returns from break if confirmed Senator Rubio would be responsible for maintaining diplomatic relations with some 180 countries he would also oversee 271 diplomatic posts worldwide with close to 13,000 Foreign Service officers including diplomats the Republican lawmaker has served in the US Senate since 2011 and was previously Vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee we’re expecting the hearing to continue soon live here on cban 3 talk for a minute about uh the Russian energy uh Reliance I think all of us were impressed when uh the war started that uh the uh Europeans knew the necessity of cutting a court with Russia on uh on their Reliance on Russian energy which had developed since the Iron Iron Curtain came down all of us believing that Russia would behave itself which uh turned out to be a very misplaced U View and uh now uh with the War uh carrying on it’s going to end obviously at some point in time uh there are voices in Europe saying well we can go back to using Russian energy my view is that uh that that that’s not reasonable and it’s not appropriate and indeed I think that the Fallout from this war is going to go on for Generations uh your thoughts on the the uh energy relationship uh between Europe and Russia in the future well I’m reminded uh I believe back in 2018 uh then president Trump on two occasions once at the United Nations and I think another time at a NATO conference pointed for example to Germany’s Reliance on Russian uh energy as a real vulnerability and he was snickered at I remember he was snickered at by the representatives uh of Germany at the United Nations he turned out to be 100% correct in fact that that Reliance on Russian energy was a major loss of deterrence Vladimir Putin among his many calculations one of the calculations he took in going in in Ukraine was that the Europeans would complain maybe they’d hit him with a couple sanctions they’d write some strongly worded nasty letters about him but ultimately would not be able to do anything effectively because of how much they depended on Russia and in some cases continue to depend I believe France is the third leading payer into Russian energy in in the world and I think a couple other countries in Europe follow right behind so there’s still significant amount of dependence in that regard and that dependence on Russian energy is is a tremendous amount of Leverage that Vladimir Putin holds on his neighbors in Europe now there is some good news I think for example I I watched with great interest the uh German engineering Marvel or they’ve been able to I think by the end of this at the end of this year after they they wave permitting requirements and within nine months uh were able to open what is literally a floating uh LG terminal for to allowed and receive uh exports including from the United States and other places so I do think you’re seeing movement in Europe now to try to detangle itself from that level of dependence but it remains a real vulnerability and and a tremendous uh piece of Leverage for Putin against his neighbors in the broader world it’s also a reminder by the way and I used to be guilty of saying this quite a bit that the Russian GDP was the size of Italy you know not very large I think one of the things we learned from this endeavor is that um it’s not just the size of the GDP but what it’s composed of and the Russian GDP while smaller than some other countries is largely reliant on the production of raw materials on the energy on food production fertilizer and the like and and these are critical components of national strength and a reminder of of how important they are for us here domestically as well thank you U um I appreciate that I I do think uh too we ought to acknowledge that uh the Europeans uh did a job that was uh well beyond our expectations the first winter uh as they struggled through uh they they did really well as far as cutting the cord with Russia uh being as uh how hard they were tied to that let’s talk about Aus for a minute there hasn’t been much discussion about a well there hasn’t been much discussion about Aus really since the thing started a lot of us have been pressing the ad Administration to uh gear that up it has not been forthcoming um I’d uh I’d like to hear your thoughts uh on on Aus uh the importance thereof and and getting this thing moving as it was intended well one one of the things we’ll have to Endeavor to see obviously there’s a tremendous amount of this that relies on the Department of Defense and other entities in government to the extent the secret the Secretary of State and the Department of State is engaged it’s something that I think you’re going to find very strong support for in this Administration um because it’s one of not I think it’s almost a blueprint in many ways of how we can create Consortium like partnership with nation states that are Allied to us to confront some of these Global challenges be it in the defense realm in the technology realm in the critical minerals realm in the sensitive Technologies and critical Technologies on for example artificial intelligence and advances in in even Quantum Computing this obviously is more defense related but it’s one example of how we can Leverage The Power of these Partnerships with allies two three countries in some cases broader and others uh to to reach outcomes and objectives such as creating a geopolitical and strategic balance in the Indo Pacific region and Beyond so we’ll have to look at that and to see what components of whatever impediments exist can be removed by the action of the Department of State but it also reminds us that in many of these very few of these Global issues are entirely relying on the Department of State the department the department of energy the Department of Defense we have a host of other government agencies uh Commerce in many cases uh who also play a critical role in Expediting and and going through for examp example some of the lists of technologies that perhaps are not being transferred uh because they’ve been deemed as sensitive but in the case of our strong and close allies that’s the point right is that you want to be able to find yourself in a situation where you can accelerate partnership by making available to key allies these uh sensitive technologies that we wouldn’t want to see in the hands or developed by an adversary or unaligned country thank you I appreciate that and I our view is aligned particularly on the excluded technology list these are our closest and most trusted allies and unfortunately the current Administration has really been uh difficult to work with as far as getting through that excluded techn Tech uh technology list and I hope you’ll help uh expedite that um let me talk for a minute about the international criminal court um look I uh as you know we’ve got real problems there uh the the court originally was intended at least from our point of view to be a court that focused on on uh International crimes that were committed uh by people from countries who did not have a robust uh democracy nor a robust judicial system that held its own people accountable for crimes uh the Court’s gone beyond that obviously uh they are not only focusing on people who aren’t uh accountable elsewhere but they’re uh also focusing on people who come from countries that solve their own problems like the United States of America and like Israel uh the the most recent uh uh the most recent uh obvious uh uh thing that flowed from that was the indictment on the same day of Netanyahu plus a a Hamas character any court that uh that is a court of law has to be able to recognize good from bad and uh when you try to uh indict two people and and show some type of moral equivalency uh in that regard they’re just barking up the wrong tree and I think unfortunately we’re going to have to uh rain them up your thoughts on that well I think it’s done from the icc’s done tremendous damage to its Global credibility first of all it is going after a non-member state on the claims that I believe in fact I think just in the last 24 hours the Israeli High Court filed an appeal before the IC even though it’s not a member State and um and I saw some of the filings from the prosecutor Mr Khan was involved in that process and he argues that they have the right to go after non-members for their activ ities within the confines of member states in this case and I think first of all the whole premise of his prosecution is fly beyond the process of it and the precedent that it sets which is a very dangerous precedent for the United States of America by the way because this is a test run this is a trial run to see can we go after a head of state from a nation that’s not a member if we can go after them and we can get it done with with regards to Israel they will apply that to the United States at some point and in fact there have been threats to do so in the past but the premise of the prosecution itself is completely and utterly flawed as you said they went ahead I think they also went after sinir when remember when Sinar didn’t travel around the world he’s not with us any longer uh but he doesn’t didn’t travel around the world was at no risk of being apprehended second of all the moral equivalency piece of it was offensive let me explain and I think I don’t need to explain to this committee Hamas carried out an atrocious operation they sent a bunch of savages into Israel with the express an explicit purpose of targeting civilians they went into concerts they went into these uh music festivals they knew that there were no soldiers at the music festival they knew that these were teenagers and young families that they went into this into different communities and the kutzas and the like and they deliberately targeted civilians deliberately it was their in fact they kidnapped the ones they didn’t murder the families who they didn’t eviscerate the people whose skulls they didn’t crack open they they kidnapped and to this day continue to hold people uh that they Innocents that they took a deliberate operation in the case of Israel responding to that attack had had to go after Hamas how can you coexist How can any nation state on the planet coexist side by side with a group of savages and like Hamas it’s they have to defend their National Security and their National interest as I pointed out in my opening statement and so there is no more and they didn’t Target civilians now sadly and unfortunately and I’m sure we’ll discuss it further some of the other questions that will come up here today one of the horrible things about war it’s a terrible thing about war and it’s why we should try to prevent it at almost every any cost is that innocent people are CAU up in it and that’s true of every conflict on the planet but there is a difference between those who in the conduct of armed action deliberately Target civilians and those who do as much as they can to avoid civilians being caught up against an enemy that doesn’t wear a uniform against an enemy that hides in tunnels against an enemy that hides behind women and children and puts them at the Forefront and uses them as human Shields that’s who Hamas is there is no moral equivalency and I think the ICC if they don’t drop this will find its credibility globally badly damaged and I think the United States should be very concerned because I believe this is a test run for applying it to American Service member and American leaders in the future well said I couldn’t agree with you Moren uh certainly uh the court has badly damaged its reputation and it’s going to have a long ways to go to recover from that so with that Senator Shaheen thank you Mr chairman Senator Rubio as I said in my opening statement I hope that this committee can better collaborate to swiftly confirm career foreign Serv Serv officers these are patriotic Americans who have served under both Democratic and Republican administrations and they work to advance US National Security interests delays and vacant posts hurt America’s interest I I know you agree with that because we’ve had that conversation but will you commit to working with chairman rich and me to prioritize the advancement and confirmation of career State Department officials well the answer to that is yes but I would also point to this fact that I think I think we’re going to begin by prioritizing we’re going to look at what are the key issues in the world there obviously every Post in the world is important or it shouldn’t exist and then the question is which are the ones we bring to you first and those are the ones that I think are most critical so obviously I think you’ll see our nominees for the deputy posts which are critically important all the under secretaries as well and what I’ve endeavored to do is we interview and identify people and I believe I’ve U met with and interviewed most of the candidates for those top posts is I want to bring you people that are three things number one our aligned to the mission I think that’s critically important whether they be Foreign Service officers I’m not talking about political alignment I’m talking about alignment with a mission that we’ve outlined for American foreign policy which is one of the things that I think has hurt the state department under numerous administrations is sometimes the mission what it is the core mission of the department has not been well defined that’s that’s on our us and it’s Our obligation to Define that so number one aign to the mission number two the capability to do the job and I can tell you now that entire my entire service on this committee which spands 14 years we always had fellows from the Department of State Mo I believe all of whom are still in the service of our country and I intend because I know them and I’ve worked with them to utilize their skill sets uh in in our in the department and um and in fact a couple who we hope will be returning home soon from foreign postings to work with us at the state department closer to my office but the point is that we want out people that are highly capable both those who we bring from what they call political appointees but also those that are promoted from from within the Foreign Service and then the third uh are people that we can get through the committee because time is of the essence now you may not agree with all their views whether they be Foreign Service officers or whether they be political but I think it’s important fabulous great thank you it’s a tight fit here it’s a tight sit right there you can sit right there go I’ll talk to you yeah but you can sit right there committee will come to order uh we will continue on with our 10-minute rounds of uh questions and by my list the next person up is Senator baraso uh thanks so much Mr chairman Senator Rubio congratulations I’m grateful for your willingness to serve our nation in this new new role thank you as well for your family’s commitment uh to continue with your service here to this country I think president Trump made a wonderful choice in nominating you to be Secretary of State your extensive foreign policy experience and your deep understanding of international relations I think makes you a perfect choice for the position while serving together in the Senate on this committee I’ve seen firsthand your dedication your knowledge and your commitment to our nation security uh your strategic insights your principled approach to diplom to diplomacy they’re going to serve our nation well and we do face many challenges we’ve talked about them in the pass so you have my full and unwavering support I wanted to start with China because over the years we worked closely together to counter the significant threat that China poses to Global Security and to stability the Chinese Communist Party strategy extends far beyond traditional military conflict they’re conducting an aggressive campaign aimed at weakening American leadership and reshaping the global order to serve their own interests we make no mistake China is challenging our interests all across very various domains diplomatic economic Technologic uh they’re they’re playing the long game and um I think we have to respond with equal resolve and the strategy uh it’s essential that we fully recognize the the scope of the challenge uh and develop a strategy to safeguard American interests and values on the world stage so could you talk a little bit about your approach in addressing an increasingly aggressive China and how we and our International Partners can hold China accountable well and as I uh pointed to earlier it’s an important question because I think it’s definitional to the century I really do I think the 21st century will be defined by what happens between the United States and China the Chinese have basically concluded that America is sort of a tired great power in Decline that they are on a path over the next 20 or 30 years to naturally supplant us irrespective of what happens and I think their preference is to not have any trade Andor armed conflict in the interim because I think they might interrupt what they believe is natural progression I don’t share that view I think they have some significant domestic challenges nonetheless I do think what we can’t ignore is that uh at at the current road that we’re on right now is an unbalanced relationship and that much of their growth and their progress has come at our expense not because they out compet at us but because they frankly have violated the rules that they’ve benefited from but have lived by none of its obligations so I think the first begins with a recognition that China is is and will continue to be a rich and powerful country and we will have to deal with them it’s in the interest of global peace and stability that we have to deal with them by the same token we cannot find ourselves in a situation in which we allow them to continue to flaunt the rules in order to undermine us economically and or industrially nor can we allow them to undermine our alliances and our presence in different parts of the world for example I think it is clear that on that path towards what they view as their rightful place as the world’s preeminent power they want to establish preeminence in the Indo Pacific and that has historical ramifications because or historical underpinnings because they view these smaller countries as tributary states that basically all roads lead back to Beijing and they view that unfortunately for them their neighbors do not view themselves as tributary States uh and um and this is particularly true in places like South Korea Japan Australia New Zealand but also uh Vietnam and others who some of whom have historical uh disagreements uh with China so at the core of our strategy has to be twofold number one ensuring that there is a proper geopolitical balance between the United States and China to avoid any sort of conflict that could be deeply destabilizing and worse for the world but at the same time ensuring that it doesn’t come at our expense that we don’t find ourselves in a world in which we are dependent on China or any foreign power for that matter for the raw materials that we need for the the ability to make medicine for the ability to fuel our economy the ability to feed ourselves or our people we cannot be a country that becomes dependent on foreign powers and so much of that involves not simply how we engage in the world but also what we do here domestically that is not the responsibility of Department of State but it is important for us to point to that much of What’s Happen with China much of what’s Happening Now is what we are not doing whether it’s through our own industry and the development of our own Industries or access to Raw minerals and raw resources that are critical to fueling and or building a modern economy you you talk about China playing by a different set of rules and they do the ones that we think of traditional rules but the other and I appreciate your comments uh to Senator rickets about China and even the definition of them as a developing Nation I think it’s a big problem they can’t be allowed to continue to play openly with a different set of rules in addition to the hidden rules I oppose China exploiting its status as a quote developing Nation within International organizations I think it helps them gain an additional unfair ad advantage in what you described as this unbalanced relationship China is not in any way a developing country you just mentioned they’re a rich and powerful country that’s not a developing country it’s the second largest economy in the world clearly has the financial resources and access to Capital to meet its own needs but so I think we need to end China’s preferential treatment and hold it accountable on the global stage I mean we see it in the World Bank we see it in other locations are there things that we can do and you can do as Secretary of State to try to eliminate this unfair advantage that they have it’s an open unfair Advantage yeah absolutely I think we need to first of all and I mentioned this in my opening statement we have to acknowledge that many of the global institutions that were created not just in the post-war era but the co post Cold War era have been weaponized against this and I can use a number of examples the first is you think about the national the the security Council of the United Nations which was created ostensibly for the purpose of preading pre preventing global conflict sadly two of the greatest drivers of instability in the world today hold a veto vote at the security Council it’s basically rendered the security Council almost irrelevant by the same token I would say I am not against multilateral organizations so long as that or any foreign arrangement we have serves the national interest of the United States I do not believe and the president has made this abundantly clear president Trump that under no circumstances should any foreign entity or multilateral International Organization have veto power over the National Security interests of the United States of America the second point that I would point to is that the Chinese have very aggressively played this they have figured out and it isn’t hard to figure out that even the smallest nation state has a vote at the United Nation’s general assembly and they have worked hard to not just court but ENT trap a handful of votes around the world and including in our own hemisphere if you look at the Caribbean Basin and Grenada and places like that where they go into these countries and they don’t just provide a million dollars or a billion dollars to build the stadium they also give you5 or $6 million under the table for your family and friends they do that in place after Place we’ve seen that practice as well in Africa so we need to understand that there has to be in many of these parts of the world look we’re not bribing anybody we’re not going to do that and it’s certainly illegal for American companies to do it but it’s hard to engage these countries who many cases have legitimate needs when they say the Chinese we prefer to have your stuff we prefer to have American Investment but you’re not offering any and so we’re left with the only alternative and that is to take the Chinese investment even though it comes with strong strings detached that include things like diplomacy or debt traps and expectations uh of of diplomatic cooperation at these International forums my final question has to do because you you use the phrase we need to be able to fuel our economy and I talk a little bit about about energy look people who live in forign developing nations they want to be able to fuel their economy uh as well they need a stable energy source to grow their economy to improve Lives Many of the countries you’ve traveled to and I have we’ve seen what energy poverty can do to people to make it harder for them you know we have an ability to help these countries develop a stable energy Supply but this current Administration the Biden Administration has put restrictions in place on funding of certain energy resources such as coal uh even natural gas the United States should be working to promote an all of the above energy strategy and help our friends and allies have affordable energy as opposed to what is the politically correct type of energy to be used so I believe we should be helping these these countries with energy and are you committed to ensuring the state department is promoting all forms of energy projects across the globe including oil gas coal affordable energy that will help people raise their standards a yes in fact it should be a centerpiece one of our center pieces our economic diplomacy we talked earlier I think this was Senator Coons had mentioned the work on fragile States and the the hope of preventing fragility so that states don’t collapse into some of the Havens that you now see uh where terrorism takes foot and so takes a hold and so forth one of the thing one of the things you can do to help a country become more stable and then more prosperous is access to Reliable and affordable energy and that is not that’s not simply for for everyday life that is critical if you want to build a manufacturing sector it’s going to be especially critical in a world in which all these new technologies like AI are going to require a tremendous amount of power generation that’s going to draw upon Global energy resources to begin with so absolutely it needs to be at the centerpiece and we’ll work very closely with the energy department and ensuring that it’s a centerpiece of our foreign policy thank you Mr chairman thank you uh Senator braso and next up we have Senator Booker thank you very much Mr chairman Marco the president excuse me uh Senator Rubio the president made a great decision in choosing you I’m happy to see you there you’re a thought leader in foreign policy I however don’t think most Americans know how great of a thought leader you are in NCAA NFL and high school football and uh I’m a little disappointed that you’re not uh going to be the head of the NCA right now not yet we sat in my office recently I told you uh about um uh my concerns about Africa right now Democrat Republican administrations have not prioritized the continent it is literally the fastest growing continent on Earth we now see the future by 2050 one out of every four human beings on the planet will be in the continent of Africa and because of the demographic issues we have around the globe from Europe to the United States to even China one out of every three working people on the planet will be in Africa it is Rich with arable land and critical minerals it has an economic potential that could create tremendous markets for American companies and American businesses more than this we know while it has incredible assets and opportunities a lack of focus on Africa could endanger the whole planet we know in the days of infectious diseases for example an outbreak of an infectious disease anywhere is a threat to Public Health everywhere more than that we see the climate challenges migration patterns there threaten to destabilize the Middle East and other areas Egypt for example literally is hosting millions millions of refugees in Egypt right now now my frustrations in my 12 years here is that we as a nation uh have not really PRI prioritized it we do not have ambassadors in some countries where China and Russia who understand the African uh opportunities are investing heavily I’ve gone around the world and in in my times in African countries I often encounter people that saying hey the Chinese are here where are you and it’s not just ambassadorial placements other critical positions in embassies just aren’t being filled and therefore we’re being outplayed by the Chinese and the Russians African countries and leaders have told time and time again we prefer you we’d rather deal with you we’d rather work with you and we can see by legal immigration patterns that their people would rather our way of life than the Chinese or the Russians but we are simply being outplayed in ways that we can counter if we had a real focus and a real strategy uh for engaging Africa and the impact of us engagement is real and the backbone of our diplomacy uh is that Diplomat abroad is that Secretary of State on down people saying this is a priority I said this to you in our office and I want to make it plain now that we are at a point in this country that what we do in the Senate and in in the White House and in the state department are planting seeds for the future we could reap a tremendous harvest in 10 20 years prioritizing and emphasizing our work in Africa and not to do so undermines the three points that you said at the beginning that I agree our foreign policy should be guided by what makes a safe strong strong and prosperous and the future in so many ways is Africa could you just talk to me a little bit about how you are prioritizing it how you understand the critical opportunities and the dangers of not engaging at a higher level than either the Biden Administration Trump Administration Clinton administration Bush Administration have done yeah and I’ll preface it by saying that obviously I’m not been confirmed yet president’s not in office yet there will be a national security strategy that will be that will frame much of what we do in foreign policy so what I’m going to share with you basically here today is as uh as someone who will be at that table some of the Impressions that I would share with regards to our historic involvement in Africa and also some of our challenges moving forward so the first and you’ve you’ve already highlighted um all the things about the growth that’s going to happen they’ll double in population between now and 20235 or what have you so it’s extraordinary that isn’t just an interesting number that’s also markets those are also consumers those are also places that I think provide an extraordinary opportunity properly positioned for America to become more prosperous literally more people that can afford to buy the things Americans provide both in services and goods and vice versa so I think there’s an extraordinary opportunity where I think some of our situation in Africa has fallen off has been it’s been and rightfully so heavily focused on counterterrorism and solely on counterterrorism in some places and that’s valuable and important it is very difficult for a country to progress or move forward if they are in fact a Haven you know for that that’s open and so you know the freaks come out at night and you’ve got the terrorist group groups that are operating and undermining that country so it’s not that it’s unimportant I think we’re also learning from the sahill how quickly the situation changes despite significant counterterrorism contributions each of those countries have pivoted to their great mistake grave error towards the Africa core led by Russia these are not these people are not any good at fighting counterterrorism and and and unreliable and I think the moment will come when they’ll realize that and maybe there will be a new opportunity to engage on the flip side of it if you look at loral West Africa there are real opportunities there for and in fact ongoing engagements not just on counterterrorism but on economic progress I look in the north to Morocco another place where we have already seen substantial improvements because of the Accords but also because uh phase two of that relationship that continues to build you you also talk about one thing that I don’t think has been talked about enough and and I think we hear the term as a 19th century term the impact that malaria has is not simply a Health crisis or humanitarian crisis it has deep economic crisis deep economic implications it pulls kids out of school for long periods of time and not end their lives it literally sets people in communities back and the humans and people are the greatest resource of any country and the cost benefit of an investment leveraging private Partnerships to deal with things like malaria pays extraordinary dividends of appropriately done and channeled and that is something that I think could as part of an overall approach to Africa include uh be included in things that you could argue our improving our prosperity our security thank you Senator rubben you’ve affirmed a lot of this to me in uh in our private talks I just want to make an emphasis publicly here that uh the disinformation in Africa and you’ve mentioned disinformation r large but you know for example The Washington Post published uh an article in October detailing how Russian propagandist targeted us anti-malaria programs in bino Faso the Africa Center for strategic studies reported published in March 2024 highlighted how Russia and China are leading sponsors of disinformation campaigns in Africa that are showing incredible success because we aren’t doing a coordinated plan campaign to counter their misinformation and so I’m looking forward to working with you I hope that you’ll prioritize this for the sake of America’s future um that you could be the secretary of state that says we have a vision for Africa and we’re backing it up not just from the uh Secretary of State’s office but all the way down to making sure uh key resources are invested in uh dis and countering disinformation as well as making sure that we have Personnel in uh in there it’s not a popular post as you know for many state department people we’ve got to make it that way and let people know that they’re helping to define the future of not just the United States but Humanity by by focusing on Africa I cannot let my time expire without talking about the biggest humanitarian crisis going on uh on the planet Earth right now what is happening in Sudan uh uh it it’s been uh called by our country a genocide there’s a famine being declared in areas where you’re seeing unbelievable levels of systemic uh sexual violence going on uh I travel to the Sudan border with Chad and saw humanitarian crisis like I had never seen before and I’ve been around uh the world looking at humanitarian crisis um we have a great special Envoy who you’ve already positively name checked in this uh in this uh confirmation hearing um it is so important and vital that that work continue uh and that we work for diplomatic Solutions uh there are a lot of our allies who’ve been implicated in fueling this crisis this is an opportunity to end this crisis by diplomacy uh to bring about one of the most important uh uh peace processes there are and I’m hoping that you and and uh incoming president Trump will prioritize that yeah for in in an era in which the term genocide has been misappropriated um just almost a global slander International slander this is a real genocide by its very defin this is a real genocide this is the ethnic targeting of specific groups for extermination for elimination by groups by the way that are being funded by Nations that we have alliances and Partnerships with in other parts of the world and we’ve we should Express that clearly I think in our in part of our engagement with the UAE and it’ll have to be a pragmatic engagement I mean they’re important players and what we hope to resolve in the Middle East and I think as part of that engagement we also need to raise the fact that they are openly supporting uh an entity that is carrying out a genocide and and and I think for those who are interested in going out and actually protesting a real genocide this to be the one and I just don’t see it I don’t it is morally reprehensible that that this crisis has has gets virtually no attention in our country especially because of the role we should be playing um and I I I my time is over but I I want to say this no need to respond but the other place on the planet that gets no attention that we are responsible for in our hemisphere is the crisis in Haiti as well correct I know that you know this uh intimately and again I just want to keep calling out these these moral omissions of our country uh often at least in the Press of an inability to focus our compassion empathy and understanding of our uh our our interwoven Destinies with places like Africa and places like Haiti thank you Senator thank you Senator Booker for that those are things that needed to be said having said that you you have underlined uh probably the most difficult uh crisises we have on the planet and I I think everybody’s ready to sign up on a path forward so far nobody’s laid out that path forward and you’re you’re right we have an obligation to at least try to design a path forward and when that happens I have no doubt that we’ll pull together Republicans and Democrats and As Americans to do something about this but I I’ll tell you the U identifying who are the people there that are the good guys that you can partner with is very very difficult as you know thank you thank you Senator Rubio for your comments in in that regard we will move now to senator Paul Senator Rubio congratulations on your nomination one of the questions that I’ve asked over time to secretaries of State as well as ambassadors and others from the state department is can you name for me instances where sanctions have uh changed behavior for the better I’m not going to ask you that question now I’m going to wait till you come back to ask you there is a preview of what I’ll ask you the next time but the reason I bring that up is is that I think hopefully people think of sanctions as a way of trying to modulate behavior you want better Behavior out of a country country is doing something you don’t like you’d like them to change their behavior for better through sanctions and I think it rarely works and I think we pile more on now some would say well sanctions are just to punish them and we just want you know Russia invaded Ukraine we’re just punishing them and so as punishment they kind of work I don’t I don’t think they’re deterring a Russia’s Behavior or changing it but really sanctions can have effect in a couple of ways I think the threat of a sanction the same way the threat of a tariff can have an effect on Behavior Uh but once placed I think a sanction or tariff only has effect on someone’s Behavior if you remove it now you mentioned earlier a little bit about discussing ways to unwind some of the sanctions ultimately on Russia people mentioned well we never want to let them sell energy again no you have to let people enter back into the world that’s how you’re going to get behavioral changes and it really will have to be part of the peace if there is going to be a negotiated peace the one aspect that makes us part of that war are all the sanctions and so it really should be offered up of removing that and going back to normal C uh when we can find a resolution to the war I’ll give you an example of where I think often the state department loses its sight of its Mission instead of being the department of diplomacy which I think it’s supposed to be it becomes just an extension of the Department of war and muscle and we show how strong we are through the state department but really when bellico statements come from other parts of the government I see the state department is the one that shows up and tries to still have a conversation um in in the past I think because of remarks you had been banned from travel to China uh the Ambassador that’s been nominated also has had statements that make us question whether or not he’ll be received in China if he becomes the ambassador to China when blinkin and yelen went to China recently um they decided and I’m not arguing with the goal the goal was to get China not to sell dual use parts to Russia to use in the war against Ukraine a noble goal I share the goal but they got to China and they shamed them in public and called them names and told them their terrible people and they should quit doing it I would argue that there’s another way to try to get behavioral changes um I would argue that the opposite of sanctions is trade and so we have a lot of sanctions on China if i’ had been the one going to China with the mission I would have said to China very quietly uh we may not be able to undo everything but perhaps we could undo one bit of sanctions that will enhance your economy by x amount if you will agree to quit selling dual use parts to uh to Russia and I think that’s just it’s a different look on things and I don’t think we’re getting it very often I guess my hope is that you will think about a different way of doing business other than just saying let’s sanction everybody and let’s call people names we don’t like because I don’t think it helps I think it actually makes the situation worse that doesn’t mean we curl up in a ball and just say do whatever you want but there has to be some give and take there has to be something we take back and so I guess my general question to you would be um we know a lot about the stick we know about sanctions and this and that do you see any possibility of any carrot with China to make relations better with China well let me first say indeed I’ve been strongly worded in my views of China let me just point out they’ve said mean things about me too and um I’m not sure that they’re fans of mine in that regard here my role now as a secretary of state is to lead the Diplomatic wing of the rep of the of the country and and that will involve engaging them the fact of the matter is and in a mature and prudent conversation and I would expect that they at the end of the day are also mature and prudent practitioners of foreign policy they’ve got a billion people in nuclear weapons and a large economy we have 400 million people the largest economy in the world in nuclear weap and it is in their interest our interest and the interest of the world for two great powers to be able to communicate in fact despite everything I have said I have consistently throughout my career said that it is that geopolitical balance between our countries that or imbalance developing imbalance that is the greatest risk to Global Security and and prosperity because that could quickly trigger not just the trade and and economic conflict but an armed one which could be catastrophic never in the history of mankind have two powers like the United States and China ever faced off in a global conflict and the outcome would be catastrophic and we should want to avoid it and so should they so the bottom line is this yes we are going to have to deal with China they’re they’re too big and too important in the world and they’re going to have to deal with us and my goal is that it is dealt with in a way that furthers our national interest what cannot continue to happen is that China continues to assume all of the benefits of the International System and none of its obligations all the benefits of global trade and commerce and none of its obligations your point on sanctions are important I think that one of the things that’s happened over time is we have adopted this view that we’re going to be involved in less armed conflicts which I think is a positive generally speaking right most people would agree the only other alternative left in the toolbox then is economic sanctions and while I do think that there are you can question whether it has an impact over the changing the behavior of a country it can achieve two things the first is it can deny a nation state the resources they could use to to fund more of that activity let there be no doubt if the Iranian regime had more money because of no sanctions they would have spent more money on Hezbollah and Hamas and their missile program and and the houthis and others so I do think there is value in that regard and the second is to be frank leverage when you sit down at a table let’s say we talk about Ukraine and the need to end that conflict when you get and sit at the table and the United States is involved in those conversations hopefully uh to a reach a peaceful settlement of that conflict you’re going to have to give not just get and sanctions and the release of sanctions could be a part of that assuming that the conditions are appropriate so I do think sanctions also have a role to play in that regard but I would not diminish the the part about denying resources for governments and countries to carry out nefarious uh denying them the ability to have the resources to carry out these nefarious activities I think you’re you’re right and the point is probably valid with regard to Iran probably not so much with China I don’t think we’ve denied China resources and I think uh their their resources extend beyond what we can do I think our sanctions are more you know uh prodding them but not really damaging their their economic prospects with regard to the concept of diplomacy and and how we make things better attempt to make things better I think if we have absolutes we tend to not understand really the way diplomacy has to work because it is about engagement it’s about hearing the other side it’s not about accepting their position but it’s about at least knowing what the position of the other side is with regard to uh NATO and Ukraine uh to a person the state department under the previous administration is adamant and so are many Republicans that there is absolutely no way we will ever uh say that Ukraine could be a neutral country that absolutely they will be and it is our absolute prerogative to fide anybody we want to into NATO we can say that we have the ability to do that but there are consequences to that and one of the consequences is is that at least from the Russian perspective they see that as one of the reasons why the war has developed there and so I think that if you are looking at peace you have to look at in the first you have to get to a ceasefire before you even get to real discussions but if you had a ceas fire between Russia and Ukraine I think our sanctions need to be on the table as far as negotiating the removal of them but I think also the idea of Ukraine being a neutral country as far as a military Alliance if it’s not on the table Ukraine doesn’t have that much to offer I mean Russia now occupies a good 15 20% of the country uh it’s been a big bloody war and they’ve done it in a sort of World War One fashion but I don’t think they’re going anywhere it is at a stalemate but the one thing Ukraine has to offer is they won’t become part of a military Alliance Allied against Russia um just not taking it off the table enhances our ability to negotiate and enhances Ukraine’s ability I think zelinsky’s public words have been a little less from than they had been in the past but instead I think we’ve done the opposite with our diplomacy every day it’s blinking you know beating the drums beating DRS they absolutely be in Ukraine do you think that the concept of a neutral uh Ukraine not in NATO can be part of the negotiations to end the war well obviously that’s something that will ultimately be part of any negotiation I do agree with your point that if we want to be real here for a second because I think we’ve lost the art of real reality in some of the foreign policy these are not outcomes that are almost rarely are they ideal sadly in many cases our choices in foreign policy are a choice between a bad outcome and and an even worse outcome um and that’s been true not in the modern era but throughout the history uh of of diplomacy and nation state relations in the case of conflicts such as these they invariably require concessions I don’t think it would be wise nor appropriate before we even in office or even at any public forum such as this to discuss the parameters of what those potential concessions can be for either side suffice it to say I do think to be honest with the committee and the full Senate if you want to reach agreements to end armed conflict where people are dying on a daily basis and enormous destruction is occurring and and a great potential for escalation exist on a daily basis um if we want to be honest about bringing that to an end true diplomacy will require concessions from every party engaged in those conversations that’s the nature of diplomacy and it’s best conducted directly and and in an appropriate form and and not in public and and and that can be done by the way without abandoning our core principles as a nation or our feelings as a people about what’s happened and transpired in that conflict to date Senator van holl uh thank you Mr chairman ranking member Shaheen um Senator Rubio good to see you it was great to sit down with you and talk about some of these important issues yesterday um let me just say at the outset that I uh appreciate your response to Senator Booker’s question about what’s happening in Sudan specifically as the Biden Administration uh just found that the rsf under HED is engaged in a genocide and we need to do everything we can uh to stop what’s happening there um You referred obliquely to some of our sort of Gulf Partners um who have not done what they should be doing uh one of them is the UAE and I’ve been very clear that uh the United States should not be providing military assistance to the UAE when the UAE is in turn providing military assistance to a group like the rsf that is committing a genocide uh in Sudan and I’m expecting a briefing from the Biden Administration U by the end of this week as to whether or not their commitments to President Biden to stop doing that uh have been uh fulfilled uh I want to pick up on a couple of the issues uh we discussed uh yesterday one as you know Senator Sullivan and I are the co-chairs of the bipartisan Foreign Service caucus uh We’ve passed uh a number of pieces of legislation uh through the United States uh Congress uh most recently the Foreign Service families act um as you know and we discussed yesterday you know the importance of supporting uh the men and women at the state department including uh the Foreign Service and I I appreciate your willingness to work with us in the caucus uh to continue to make sure that they have what they need to do their jobs uh effectively uh we also discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine and the importance of supporting the Ukrainian people against Putin’s aggression and I just want to say for the record I support and endorse everything that Senator Shaheen said on that score so I don’t have to go into great detail I I will say that we know that what happens in Ukraine does not stay in Ukraine and it’s not just me saying that that is what we’ve heard repeatedly from leaders in Japan leaders in South Korea and other partners of ours in the Indo uh Pacific uh region so I I hope that we will continue to focus on that because what we do know is that President G has one eye on what’s happening in Ukraine and another eye on what’s happening in Taiwan and measuring everybody’s uh response uh like you and we’ve worked on a bipartisan basis uh to try to make sure that we meet the challenge of of China um lots of important pieces of legislation that have passed but uh none yet to really rise to meeting those challenges I I do support the Biden administration’s uh ongoing uh efforts to restrict the flow of very high-end Technologies the highest end ships to China that can be used in their military we’re going to have to work successfully with our allies to do that just like the Trump Administration uh back in the day uh worked on the Huawei uh issues so my view is that we need to expand um that effort uh we also discussed uh the volatile situation in the Middle East uh you know we often talk about the importance of Shifting our Focus to China in the indopacific but we always uh seem to get draag dragged back into conflicts in the Middle East uh I want to start uh with Syria um good riddance to the murderous Assad regime uh obviously we have a stake in what comes next in Syria given the fact it’s a very volatile part of the world uh I support the very cautious engagement of the Biden Administration with HTS but we should acknowledge their very poisonous genealogy um beginning with Al-Qaeda morphing and alustra the other issue of course in Syria is that when you’ve got a situation uh like we see today today uh there are opportunities for Isis to get further back on its feet um to provide it more oxygen uh and as you know the tip of the spear in our fight against Isis has been our Syrian Kurdish Partners the SDF uh but at this moment uh president erdoan of Tura has been backing attacks of the so-called Syrian National Army um which turkey largely controls uh against our partners the Syrian Kurds which opens the door uh to a Revival of Isis uh because of the actions of the United States government um turkey has so far paused that effort uh Senator Graham and I have introduced legislation to impose sanctions on Turkey should they renew those attacks um in a aggressive way uh we talked about this I know that you recognize uh the importance of that partnership uh with the Syrian Kurds but just a very straightforward question do you agree that we should continue to support our partners the SDF in the fight against Isis yeah well absolutely not only that but I think we also need to recognize that there are implications to abandoning Partners who have a great sacrifice and threat actually jailed the Isis Fighters the one of the reasons why we were able to dismantle Isis is because they were willing to host them in jails a great personal threat to to them and obviously that situation is very tenuous I don’t want to take up a lot of your time but I do think it’s important to respond to this opportunity in Syria because it could be an opportunity I look the new people that are in charge there are not going to pass an FBI background check okay we we recognize that these are not people we know all about and their history as you said is not one that gives us comfort that said it is in the National interest of the United States if possible to have a Syria that’s no longer a playground for Isis that respects religious minorities ranging from alaways all the way to Christians that protects the Kurds and at the same time is not a vehicle through which Iran can spread its terrorism to Hezbollah and and destabilize Lebanon not to mention what’s happened in other parts not only is it in the National interest of the United States it’s in the National interest of virtually every nation state in the Middle East for to see that come about that is worth exploring there is an interesting Dynamic at play and Senator paused a moment ago about the impact of sanctions I would argue that the Caesar sanctions directly contributed to the downfall of the Assad regime in many ways we find ourselves in this interesting situation now where because it I think it was reauthorized as part of ndaa we now have these sanctions in place against the government that no longer exists but nonetheless it’s an opportunity for us to explore how we could use that tool the removal of it and others if fact the territory is fertile for these outcomes there are impediments to this that go beyond simply the new people in charge and one of them as you pointed out as erdan and what his intentions are right now there’s a very tenuous ceasefire with regards to the Kurds it’s important for that to be maintained I think it’s important to signal to erdan early including through this hearing that he they there should not be they should not view a transition in power in the US as a window in which they could take advantage of to sort of violate whatever agreements were in place right now what we want in Syria is stability so that we can explore what opportunities exists to to bring a different dynamic because it would have an impact on Lebanon on Israel on the situation in Gaza and on the broader Middle East and to walk away from an opportunity that may not come back by the way the Russians have been run out of there the Iranians have been run out of there but they are pragmatic foreign policy operators if we don’t explore these opportunities they will work their way back in there at some point and I I I agree with everything you just said and look forward to working with you on that um let me turn uh to the Israeli Palestinian conflict which we also discussed um yesterday and um we all wit the horrific October 7th Hamas Terror attacks on Israel uh We’ve also witnessed the devastation and human rights catastrophy in Gaza like you I’ve met Israeli families who lost loved ones on October 7th I’ve met with hostage families I’ve also met with Palestinian families who lost kids and uh other Innocents uh in this war so I’m was very pleased to see the announcement uh today of the ceasefire and the return of hostages let us pray that it holds and that it is implemented but of course as we discussed yesterday the the question is what happens next um and we all agree that Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza or any other uh place um we also know that for all its flaws and faults the Palestinian Authority has recognized Israel’s right to exist for the last 30 years since the Oslo Accords their security forces are trained by us uh forces they today are fighting Palestinian militants in certain parts of the West Bank uh but at the same time their funds have been restricted by the Netanyahu government today these are funds that belong to the PA we’ve seen a record increase in the number of settlements um in the West Bank and so the PA is not able to deliver on what had been the hope of Oslo which is self-determination security and dignity for both Israelis and Palestinians so you have said that the ideal uh for Way Forward recognizing that we’ve been at this for a long time is a two-state solution there are members of the Netanyahu government that today want to Annex all of the West Bank so my question is do you agree that annexation would be contrary to peace and Security in the Middle East and what is your vision going forward first let me say that yeah the idea would be that there not be conflict and the people could live side by side with one another without being in conflict and the ability to pursue Prosperity sadly and unfortunately the conditions for that to exist have not been in place for some substantial period of time I point to you as an example back in 2020 the Trump Administration offered um 58 billion about 50 billion or 58 billion to 50 billion 58 to $50 billion in investment for to the Palestinians and that included I believe 28 or 29 billion specifically for Gaza and it was rejected that that offer was made back in January of 2020 and then it pivoted over as a result of that rejection to what we now know as the Abraham Accords second I would say that Israel is a small nation who at its narrowest point is 9 mil wide it has been historically surrounded by enemies that seek their destruction Hezbollah to the north Hamas to the West uh Iran further north with nuclear weapons constantly in fact I would argue that if Israel had not been firm and strong in its response in this endeavor most recently they may very well have faced an existential threat as they continue to in many ways now here’s the good news and it’s not just about the ceasefire today although that’s very important the good news is that potentially we have had a dynamic shift in the region that has an historic opportunity if appropriately structured and pursued that changes the Dynamics of what might be possible and that we’ve discussed Syria we’ve discussed the events in Lebanon quite a bit as well the degrading of the Iranian capability which I hope will continue and hopefully the ability to reach some agreement between Israel and Saudi and Saudi Arabia on normalization and and being able to engage uh both for their Mutual Security and also economic Prosperity the the real open question for the Palestinians is who will govern who will govern in Gaza in the short term and who will ultimately govern will it be the Palestinian Authority or some other entity because it has to be someone like that was the initial goal for Gaza uh when the Israelis withdrew from there and they turned it over and they turned it over with green houses and they turned it over with all kinds of Economic Development Hamas won an election they took over and they destroyed the place and built Tunnels for terrorists to operate from so the key is not simply governance it’s who will govern you can’t turn it over to people who seek your destruction and so I I do think this is a very complex issue with and I think that’s understating it we all recognize it but I also believe that we should not underestimate the potential opportunities that now exists and it’ll take some time to fully understand what those are that perhaps open the door to things that were not open in the future but from the Israeli perspective which I fully understand it begins with their existence because you cannot coexist with armed elements at your border who seek your D destuction and evisceration as a state you just can’t no Nation on we wouldn’t tolerate it and they can’t either and it begins with having that level of security and if they do then I think there are opportunities that come about uh as a result of it those opportunities historically have not existed in recent times perhaps we living in an era where that will be the the likelihood of it is higher because of recent events unexpected events in Syria in Lebanon and other places Sarah Scott thank you chairman so I was in Miami um or highly on on Monday and uh when there’s a video uh where you were recognizing alen Garcia and Dario Fernandez and toas Regalado everybody applauded they’re so excited about your being the Secretary of State um the um uh they your homegrown son and so they’re just all excited the other thing they’re excited about is that they have somebody that is going to care about Venezuela and Cuba and Haiti and Nicaragua all the problems because you’ve been so vocal so I guess can you just go through sort of one by one and say just I mean look we know what’s so what’s what what are our options not that you know exactly what you’re going to do and a lot of these decisions will be made by somebody else anyway but what are like right now look at what’s going on in Venezuela we uh the B administrations allowed oil to flow um the um he stole the election completely violated what what Biden told him uh he would do um Maran Karina Machado probably was only alive because of your hard work making sure that Donald Trump put a tweet out you look at um you look at Cuba now we just they just dropped the state sponsor terrorism which makes no sense um we’ve got people like Jose Daniel F in prison people kids young as 14 in prison for peaceful protest so give me some of your ideas of what what is possible let’s let take one but let’s start with Haiti because in many ways it’s globally complex and I think the chairman sort of alluded to this a moment ago there’s a fundamental problem in Haiti and that there is no legitimacy of authority and I say this in recognition of the fact that some of the national police forces in Haiti have been extraordinarily Brave despite being outgunned and outmanned these guys and gals have stuck at their post and fought back against armed gangs you know when you’re when the most powerful person in any nation state is nicknamed barbecue that is not a good thing and this guy obviously is not named that for good reasons he’s not a cook these are bad these are bad gang elements that are operating within Haiti and and Have destabilized Not Just Haiti but threaten to destabilize the Dominican Republic not to mention the migratory pressure that it places on the United States on the Bahamas and on other places in the region there is no easy answer the Kenyans are there and I tell you I think they deserve a lot of credit for being willing to take on that mission in recent days missions from various other countries have arrived uh Salvador being among them uh to sort of contribute to that effort I don’t think anyone can tell you they have a master plan for how you fix that overnight I do think it does begin with stability and security you’ve got to establish some baseline security and it’s not going to come from a US military intervention so to the extent that we can encourage foreign partners and I would include foreign Partners in the Western Hemisphere who should be contributing to this effort to provide some level of stability and Security in Haiti so that you can explore the opportunities to have a transitional government that has legitimacy that can ultimately lead to the conduct of Elections and then have governing bodies in that country that can bring about a nation state that can begin to build some of the things you need in order for permanency but it’s going to take a long time and and I and I say this with sadness in my heart there have been good times and there have been bad times and worse times in Haiti but sadly there’s not really been a golden era in Haiti’s history and your heart breaks for these people and for what they’ve gone through but you also as a policy maker in the United States recognize the implic has had in our country not just in the migratory pressures it’s placed on us but as I pointed out earlier the the the threat it poses on a daily basis to destabilizing the Dominican Republic you mentioned Nicaragua it’s a very weird situation for lack of a better term um the sandinistas earlier one of the first things they did in the new year is they kicked out every nun in the country they’ve gone to war with the Catholic Church which was the last institution in the country capable of standing up to them but now they’ve begun this process of amending their fake Constitution to basically create a family Dynasty so that Ortega and his wife will now be co-presidents there’s no democracy there’s been completely wiped out they have literally put plain loads of of of opposition figures and exported them here to the United States and around the world they literally arrested anyone who signed up to run for president they arrested every single you signed up to run for president they put you in jail so it’s a big big challenge but our national interest is most challenged number one because of migratory pressure number two because the Nicaraguan regime is allowing people to fly into Nicaragua Visa free from anywhere in the world and then transit to the United States they have become the point of entry from people from all over the world because you come in without any Visa they charge you $1,000 do or whatever the going rate is today and from there you get on the migratory route and into the United States they have been direct contributors to the migratory crisis we face at our Southern border and the third is the nicaraguans basically invited the Russians to establish a military Naval presence in Nicaragua in our hemisphere that poses a threat to our national security that needs to be addressed Venezuela sadly is not governed by government it’s governed by a narcot Trafficking Organization that has empowered itself of a nation state and um we have seen I believe upwards of seven eight n million Venezuelans have just left the country more are expected to leave I was in strong disagreement with the Biden administration because they got played the way I knew they would get played they entered into negotiations with Maduro he agreed to have elections the elections were completely fake they leverage migration against us to get those concessions and now they have these General licenses where companies like Chevron are actually providing billions of dollars of money into the regime’s coffers and the regime kept none of the promises that they made so all that needs to be reexplored because in Venezuela you have the Russian presence you have a very strong Iranian presence the Iranians in fact they’re exploring or in fact they’re beginning to build drone factories for the manufacturer of Iranian drones in our own hemisphere not to mention the long practice of the Venezuelan regime of providing real but illegitimate passports to operatives for Hezbollah in our own Hemisphere and lastly and I leave it lastly to Cuba because it’s one that’s been more enduring the problem in Cuba basically is that despite being a Communist Regime and Marxism not working is that they’ve decided and they thought what they would do is that they would create this holding company it’s called Gesa it is a company that they own by the Cuban military and that holding company owns everything that makes money in Cuba if it makes money in Cuba they own it and it generates revenue for them the Miami Herald just did an expose on gasa and while you have electrical blackouts and you have all these other problems economically in Cuba gasa sitting on billions of dollars that they’ve generated for their permanency we under in 2017 the Trump Administration sanctioned gasa unfortunately the Biden Administration lifted some of those sanctions and and restrictions a couple of years ago which increased the amount of money they were able to generate through things like manipulating remittances and the like and then yesterday the Biden Administration announced they were exact resending all of the sanctions on gaso which basically the sanctions were this you can do business with an independent individual Cuban but you cannot it’s the regime that doesn’t allow it you cannot do business with anything owned by that government run entity and yesterday they lifted the sanctions on them now the new Administration is not bound by that decision but nonetheless that’s what’s in place ultimately the reality the moment of truth is arriving Cuba is literally collapsing both generationally in terms of all the young people leaving but it’s also collapsing economically they are now living on 20 21 hour rolling blackout and some days longer because Marxism doesn’t work because they’re corrupt and because they’re inept and they’re going to have a choice to make those that are in charge there do they open up to the world do they allow the individual Cuban to have control of their economic and political Destiny even though it threatens the security and stability of the regime or do they triple down and just say we’d rather be the owners and controllers of a fourth world country that’s falling apart and is losing has lost 10% of its population in the last two years and that’s that’s a dynamic that they’re facing right now I hope that they will choose the path of empowering the individual Cuban so that the individual Cuban has the ability to do with virtually every the people of virtually every other country in in the hemisphere have been able to do at least once in the last 60 years and some more than once and that is elect their leaders vote for their leaders you think about what happened here today um the Cuban people have no idea what it’s like to have an authority figure or someone in charge in power like I am as a US senator sitting here having to answer question from his colleagues and also having to have people on the back screaming and protesting against you you can’t do that to a Cuban official you can’t question their decisions the Cuban people have never been able to participate in an eon in a political process for over almost 70 years now and they they’re entitled to that as much as the people of Colombia and Argentina and Paraguay and Peru and virtually every other country in the region has enjoyed so let’s assume you have this job for you’re confirmed you had the job for four years what would your definition of success be with regards to generally your job you’re just the alignment of our foreign policy to our national interest has been defined the security prosperity of the American people and and and that’s and by the way I would Define that as success for the country what I would Define as success for the state department is not just that alignment but making the state department highly relevant again sadly and I think I’ve shared this with you in some of our meetings with many of my colleagues what has happened over the last 20 years under multiple administrations is the influence of the state department has declined at the expense of other agencies and also at the expense of National Security councils because it takes so long for the state department to take action and so increasing you stop getting invited to the meetings and you start getting they stop putting you in charge of things because it takes too long to get a result so we want the state department to be relevant again and it should be because the state department has a plethora of talented people who are subject matter experts and who have skills in diplomacy and it’s not being fully utilized because increasingly on on issue after issue we’ve seen the state department marginalized because of internal inertia because of the the way the structure works so we have to be be able to get we have to be at that table when decisions are being made and the state department has to be a source of creative ideas and effective implementation so I would Define making the state department relevant again in the setting of our foreign policy as critical and I think that’s something that maybe is not as perceived by the general public as it is by those of us who watch it on a daily basis thank you thanks Senator Rosen well thank you chairman Rish ranking member Shaheen for holding this hearing and for welcoming me to the committee you know I’m joining this committee a challenging time for the global Community from conflicts with Iranian proxies in the Middle East to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine growing tensions with China a genocide in Sudan and so much more and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find bip partis and solutions to these problems and I also want to thank you Senator Rubio your family that’s here and those that couldn’t be here for working with me over the last six years and your service to our nation and I’d like to congratulate you again on your nomination and I’m going to move on I just want to make a quick statement because ensuring the United States remains a steadfast supporter of Israel I know is one of your top priorities and one of mine and throughout your time in the Senate you’ve been one of Israel’s most unwavering supporters I want to thank you for supporting Israel I look forward to working with you to ensure that the US Israel security partnership remains Ironclad and that our friendship remains unconditional and I want to thank you for your response to Senator McCormack’s hostage question uh we all hope since we’ve been in this hearing that uh there’s news maybe of an imminent agreement being reached to free I hope all the hostages we hope to hear that confirmation soon but NE nevertheless these issues must remain a top priority for the committee going forward so I’m going to just move over to talking about Abraham Accord speaking of going forward because despite the immense challenges that you’ve addressed posed by October 7th um the Abraham Accords have ushered in new forms of cooperation between Israel and countries in the Middle East and North Africa as one of the founders and co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Abraham Accords caucus I firmly believe the US should continue building on the Accords by deepening peop to people ties soft diplomacy if you will and widening the circle of Partnerships with Israel to new countries so Senator Rubio I know you’ve touched on this uh briefly but if confirmed how will you support the growth of the Abraham Accords to new countries generally and specifically um maybe try to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia well thank you I think those are important points a couple things that have come up here as a result of this the first is and I point this again because we just don’t know it’s a new development but I think we are we should not underestimate or understate the potential historic opportunities that exists right now with what’s happened very unexpectedly for most in Syria what’s happened in Lebanon um what’s uh what the weakening of Iran and if its Shia Crescent of destabilization in the region these are extraordinary opportunities that I think lend themselves to an Era of uh diminishing insecurity not total the elimination of it but enough security that it opens the door for agreement on other topics critical to that is the Saudi normal the potential of the Saudi normalization with with Israel and I think that has brought of a part broader context of the ab Accords I think would be historic in nature and I think provide extraordinary benefits to the world and help bring a level of stability and peace to an area that frankly has not had it one could say for thousands of years but certainly in my lifetime you talk about what we could do to build on it I think the most important part of any arrangement of countries that enter into these agreements that historically have been difficult is there has to be a benefit to it they have to perceive that there’s a benefit to it particularly among themselves like what is the benefit to a country what benefits will Saudi Arabia derive from being in recognition of Israel and vice versa and I could think of a variety of things whether it’s uh advances in what their their investments in high high tech and how Saudi Arabia wants to diversify its own economy uh the ability of of in Cross Investments and also frankly of security because for the foreseeable future I think most anticipate that there will be a mutual threat from Tyron it may not be openly stated as a military Alliance but it’s certainly a security certainly one that I think they both have a mutual interest in and which I think the us could be a very strong partner in providing those assurances as well so I do think there’s a real opportunity to expand it and it won’t be without irritant there’s no doubt about it there won’t be without irritance that we we’re still going to have some issues with UAE or Saudi Arabia but we also have be pragmatic enough to understand what an En enormous achievement it would be if in fact not just you get a ceasefire but you actually that leads to the opening the opportunity of a Saudi Israeli um uh partnership and and and Joint recognition what that would mean to the region is historic and and you’ve talked about potential opportunities going forward and we talk about maybe not just with other countries but how does a private sector get involved in creating normal building and sustaining the normalization in area areas of water insecurity power insecurity Health Care technology we know that there are ways that that we can do this they have been doing it um how does a private sector uh feed into this I think from a iomic and development perspective they’re the lynchpin of it I think one of the things that could come about as a result of an agreement between the Saudis and the Israelis is that companies and institutions in both countries would now be open and able to invest in Andor partner in the economies of each other so the Israelis as an example have made extraordinary advances in agricultural production uh because of geographic constraints they’ve had to be incredibly creative and nonetheless have been able to and I think the Saudis would benefit from that greatly likewise I think that we know as a startup Nation the the technological uh capabilities and advances that the private sector has made in Israel and that I think would be a great interest to the Saudis and partnership in Reverse is I think some of the energy resources that Saudi Arabia could provide some of the financing for projects that they work together on the lynchpin of all of these is private sector engagement but without the governmental imprator without the government creating the pathways for that to be possible because of recognition because of diplomatic relations that’s what opens that because those Zone exists that hasn’t been able to happen this would open the door for that and I think be transformative thank you I want to continue a little bit on this theme because of course a lot of this uh um also has a Nexus with combating anti-Semitism and of course anti-Semitism domestically and abroad uh I probably founded the Senate the first ever Senate bip parts and task force to combating anti-Semitism you and I have done a lot of work there you’re a member of the task force and we work closely with the special Envoy office at the State Department we know that Global rates of anti-Semitism they are Skyrocket skyrocketing excuse me it’s critical the White House ures the special Envoy in their office is sufficiently staffed supported and resourced so I know we’ve talked about this um in our meeting and of course like I said we worked on this um before can I have your commitment that you’ll work with the White House to do two things quickly nominate a qualified candidate to be special Envoy quickly and qualified we really need to get um somebody on board yes and and I think it needs to be someone that as as we’ve discussed uh also enjoys uh broad support across different sectors but the key ultimately there was a I don’t know if it was a study or a survey or something that came out yesterday but it showed something that’s really disturbing I think it said 60% of people on Earth hold anti-semitic views according to this poll or in 60% of the countries but I think it’s a 60% look unfortunately bigotry and hatred has been a part of human nature from the very beginning but anti-Semitism is a unique uh Danger The Suffering that it inflicted on the world historically but in the last century is unimaginable and can never be allowed to be repeated and it’s something that we should make sure we’re constantly speaking out against and identifying for what it is I think the US’s role as a leader in speaking out in that regard is indispensible and we need to be forceful about it at every one of the things that’s most troubling is what seems to me that many one of the things that’s undermining the legitimacy of many of our International organisms is they become Havens for anti-semitic activity um that oftentimes is disguised as anti-israel but I believe is frankly anti-semitic and of course we’ve seen incidents of that in the United States as well we cannot ignore uh what anti-Semitism has cost Humanity in the past because if that lesson is forgotten it will very quickly repeat itself uh in in every in potentially in every region on the planet thank thank you I want to just quickly a yes or no we know you’ve talked a lot about how important deputies are in Mission sets of different things we know that if we don’t have a deputy Envoy in place uh they keep the uh they keep the wheels turning they keep the organization going for the uh waiting for the special Envoy to be confirmed uh do I have your commitment that we’ll quickly put in a deputy Envoy to make sure that the work can continue until yeah we’ll work to do that as soon as possible thank you um I wanted to oh I only have 56 at 56 minutes I do not have 56 minutes I have 56 seconds that would be a little crazy um I know that um the first Trump Administration created the women’s global global development Prosperity initiative it was the first ho of government initiative to promote women’s economic empowerment um dedicated Global resourcing for this activ for these activities as secretary will you commit to continuing to expand on the wgdp initiative and uh if so in what ways and and that was a high prior of Ivanka Trump who’s no longer going to be in government but was at the time and she worked on that very much and I’m I was a supporter of it then and look forward to being a supporter and and of it now uh if confirmed thank you and we got that 56 minutes went awfully fast there you go I yield back Mr you yield back all eight seconds yes Senator Corin thank you Mr chairman I can barely see you down there I know it’s I I was there one time I they had to extend the Das so Senator Curtis and I could actually sit with the big at the big boys and girls table so U Senator Rubio it’s great to see you I have complete confidence in your ability to lead the state department uh I think it’s a inspired choice and uh you couldn’t be better prepared for that job I do want to ask you a few questions uh some of which I know Senator Cruz is here as well he and I share a concern about Mexico you’ve heard some concerns particularly about the cartel activity but I want to talk to you about water 1944 uh there was a water treaty between the United States and Mexico and we have had chronic problems getting Mexico to uh cooperate and release the water that’s been absolutely critical to the life and the the livelihood of our agriculture community in the Rio Grand Valley and elsewhere we’ve had the U I’ve talked to secretary blinkin about this we’ve written letters we’ve done everything we know how to do but I would just like to get your commitment to work with us to try to just simply get Mexico to live up to its requirements under the treaty and if they won’t do it voluntarily to look for leverage and ways we can uh persuade them to do what they already have a legal obligation to do which is to release water on a timely basis absolutely and I think one of the reasons why we need to do that is twofold the first is because it has real implications uh not just for the State of Texas but broadly for the United States but uh the second is because I think this become part of a pattern and I would argue part of a pattern in a number of international Arrangements but in particular International arrangements with Mexico in which you can strike any deal you want or sign any document you want but if you’re not willing to prioritize its enforcement you are encouraging others to get away with the same thing and at the same time you’re undermining the willingness of people to commit to enter into agreements in the future and this has become a we’ve seen it with usmca frankly we’ve seen it with a variety of other commitments that have been made by Partners in other parts of the world and we’re seeing it with this treaty where there is a treaty they have obligations under it and they don’t seek to meet it and it’s part of the broader challenge that I alluded to in my opening statement which is we’ve entered this era where we’ve entered into all these International Arrangements but often times they’ been weaponized either through non-compliance or through creative reinterpretation and that extends to trade all the way down to treaties such as this speaking of Mexico I know that in different quarters we’ve had people suggest or that that the cartels be identified as a foreign terrorist uh organization and U as I’ve looked into that I it feels like the right thing to do because of course the cartels are wreaking havoc and misery and death and destruction not only here in the United States but also in Mexico but I worry a little bit about some of the unintended consequences uh for for example does that create some new category of Asylum perhaps for people who claim that they are victims of Cel activity that otherwise wouldn’t exist um what’s your view about the designation well and I I think this question was asked earlier so I’ll tell you what I said um the first is that they most certainly are terroristic in their nature they terrorize Mexicans they terrorize on the US side they are involved in the trafficking of of women and children labor and both labor and sex trafficking deadly fentel as you and drugs large as you can imagine um and I think you know pose a grave danger in the process of trafficking people trafficking terrorists into the United States so they are terroristic in nature what I said was that whether it’s that designation or some new designation that we create it is important that they be identified for what they are I also pointed to something you just alluded to and in your question and that is they pose a grave risk to Mexican sovereignty as well we have seen multip journalists and politicians and candidates assassinated murdered in Mexico by cartels because either they’re not the cartel’s chosen candidate or there are journalists that’s spoken out against the cartels and you find yourself murdered and I don’t think we should underestimate and I hope the Mexicans doite the amount of Leverage that they have created Over The Mexican government and in some parts of Mexico they are in fact have operational control of territories particularly near the US Mexican border so this is something that I hope we can hope work with jointly and cooperatively with the Mexicans to address because it’s in their interest as well as ours ultimately I do not think I speak out of term when I say that you can expect president Trump will do whatever it takes to secure the United States of America and the American people from the threat that they pose but it is my sincerest hope and frankly I think the most productive uh outcome would be if we could do so in Partnership and cooperation with the government of Mexico who I know shares many of our concerns well that certainly is our should be our first choice but I have the same confidence you have that President Trump will send a very clear message and follow that up with decisive action uh to persuade Mexico to do what it is in its best interest and um because it’s uh it’s an intolerable situation right on our Southern border we can’t get a divorce we got to make the marriage work somehow and it’s h but it’s a troubled marriage shall shall I uh to continue the analogy let me talk to you briefly about the foreign agent registration act which is within the jurisdiction of this committee this is something I’ve been concerned about for some time because we have lobbyists that work here in Washington DC that actually represent foreign Nations that unbeknownst to members of Congress they’re actually advocating not on behalf of of the American people and American interest but on behalf of the interest of foreign Nations now there is a a loophole called the lobbyist disclosure act which is frankly weak sauce when it comes to providing the kind of transparency that we need anytime somebody shows up in your office and uh is advocating for something purporting to represent American interests but in fact is there motivated by and being paid by a foreign interest to Advocate their interest is that something that you uh would be willing to work with us to uh uh further reform and refine yes and as you know from our time serving together on the intelligence committee as well it’s something we we spent a lot of time talking and thinking about as well and I would raise three points the first is look the straight up the high some foreign government hires a lobbyist you know that because they’re registered and we’re aware of it the second is more nefarious and that is that you hire someone through a cutout a third party without aware of the fact that they are in fact being paid by a foreign entity um and sometimes dressed up as an American uh interest uh when in fact it’s furthering the interest of a foreign entity um and then the third and it’s one that I don’t think gets talked about enough and it isn’t covered by this law but needs to be said is some of the most effective and vociferous lobbyist on behalf of Chinese interests in the United States for a long time was your corporations who had a pretty good deal going in China with regards to manufacturing and the like and would come here and argue in favor of outcomes and policies that favored China and by the way China would weaponize this openly they would in fact bring in CEOs of corporate America and encourage them to go back and talk to your member of Congress and tell them they better not do that because if they do companies like yours are not going to do very well in China and that was weaponized against us too is that’s not illegal but it’s most certainly troubling and something we need to have our eyes open to as well as we move forward well that’s a perfect segue into my last question and this has to do with outbound investment transparency as you know the Senate has passed legislation providing for a reporting requirement for American companies who are investing in China it’s not a Prohibition it’s a merely a disclosure requirement because the unique circumstances that you’re well aware of that China provides there is no division between civilian U civilians or the private sector and government under Chinese law the private sector so-called private sector is required to share any and all information that might be of use to the people’s Liberation Army or to the Chinese intelligence uh U intelligence agencies and um it is not a stretch to say that due to the tactics of people like uh or strategies really of people like ding Xiao ping who said hide your motives and buy your time we’ve seen massive us investment in China with which has not only helped them rebuild their economy which is is fine uh but more ominously rearm their military and modernize their military so that they become a threat not only to their neighbors in the region but to World Peace um you we can all imagine a nightmare in which uh in which China decides to to take Taiwan which president Chi said he’s committed to do so I think it just makes sense for us to to have more transparency so that as policy makers we can then figure out what is the right policy I could care less whether American companies want to build more Burger Kings or Starbucks in China but I do care if American companies are investing in dual-purpose technology or in ways that U would undermine the National Security of the United States do you share that concern absolutely and in fact I shared it Beyond just simply what you’ve discussed this was a few years ago when the Thrift Savings Plan the re reement 401K basically for federal workers was investing in funds that going directly to Chinese military use so you think about it there were people serving in the armed forces of the United States whose retirement funds were being invested in companies that were building the weapons designed to one day blow the ship that they served on even the indopacific and in the case of other private sectors you’re right every sector is not created equal in terms of the threat they pose to our country but at a minimum we should have insight into whether American Investment dollars be the institutional or individual are going through the funding of activities designed to undermine the United States of America that’s a core National Security interest thank you and godp speed Senator Kane thank you Mr chair ranking member Shaheen welcome the opportunity to work with you in this Congress Senator Rubio congratulations on your nomination um if if you’re watching the hearing you probably notice Senators coming in and out and most people understand why that is but for those who don’t um we a lot of other hearings a lot of other responsibilities we get in a queue and kind of know when our questioning time is coming up I decided that I would show up I’ll be at 11 minutes late um and stay U because this is so important uh to the country and to me um but I think for those of you who have watched this hearing that was gaveled in at 10 what you’ve seen as a nominee who is extremely well prepared we’re used to seeing nominees who know a lot about a couple of things and sometimes who know very little about virtually everything everything but I think you’ve seen a hearing with a nominee who agree or disagree with the points he’s made he’s not talking out of a briefing book he’s not having a thumb through a binder to decide how to answer a particular question uh I’ve always been struck in working with Senator Rubio on this committee since I came to the senate in January of 2013 that he has a very well-developed sense of the world and a passionate interest in all corners of it I was particularly happy that he was nominated for two reasons one we have worked together significantly on legislation touching many different areas over the years and one was referred to by Senator Shaheen uh legislation to send a clear message that NATO and and the US participation in NATO was not just simply an executive priority that could come and go depending upon the Article 2 commander-in-chief but it was also something so important that Congress would say that the membership of the United States and NATO is something that Congress would want to weigh on in on should there ever be um a decision by an executive that we should back out of NATO and I think sending that message from Congress has been a very important thing that has led to a NATO that is expanding Finland and Sweden where the polling would have been di Minimus 10 years ago for joining NATO are now in uh and I think a strong message from Congress as part of that obviously the fear of Russia is a huge part of it but a strong message of congressional support as part of it I’m particularly proud that the Virginia National Guard has now struck a deal under the state partnership program where we are partners with the military in Finland a very capable military in the first exercises of the Virginia guard with the Finnish military will start next month I’m very excited about that the second reason I was particularly gratified to see Senator Rubio nominated for this position is he cares about the Americas I cast my first vote in a presidential election in 19 1976 I have not seen a single Administration Democratic or republican that has devoted enough attention to the Americas um we devote attention to it in a time of Crisis and then move our attention elsewhere it seems like secretaries of State have often thought that the world only has an East West axis and not a north south axis and Senator Booker addressed that with the his questions around the attention that should be paid by the United States to Africa I feel that very strongly about the Americas I don’t have to ask Senator Rubio questions to gauge his interest and attention level everyone who comes before the committee tells us they’re really interested in the Americas only to find that they end up spending all their time somewhere else I don’t have to ask that question of this nominee to know that he has a passion about the Nations that are are nearest neighbors a passion about the Nations who are so connected to us in our cultural roots and in our Family Ties and it is so important not just because China and other nations are now getting into the area I don’t want to I don’t want to have a new Monroe Doctrine that we only care about it to keep Europe out of it we only care about it to keep China out of it we ought to be paying attention because we’re connected to these nations and things will go better for us if things go better for them so to you Senator Rubi I’m very very happy that you’re nominated for this position um two comments than a couple of than one particular question um one the status of career ambassadors I think it is a norm for every Administration to ask ambassadors to Tender their resignations and it is certainly the norm for the political ambassadors to be politely let go the day that the new Administration comes into place and I think that’s an expectation that everybody has we get that for the career ambassadors that are in place they have been asked to Tender their resignations to the incoming Administration and that’s normal but I would hope that the administration would consider if their career keeping him in place until their successors ready because to swap out a career Ambassador for a career charer does not Advance our ability in any way to operate in Nations there is a cache that coming that comes with being a confirmed Ambassador that really helps you with continuity and diplomacy in these nations so I know that that’s a decision that the president makes but I hope as you have a conversation with the National Security and diplomacy team you might encourage the administration yes you’re going to replace the politicals with career chares but don’t replace the career ambassadors unless you’re until tell you’re ready to put somebody in place which we know can often take quite a while for the administration to even forward nominees much less the time to get through the committee process that would be a comment then second is more for colleagues really rather than for Senator Rubio um one thing I’ve tried to be consistent on in my service on this committee is fight against unilateral executive application of military power unless it’s in pure instances of imminent self-defense active self-defense or self-defense against imminent hostilities and I have been able to get this committee to pass significant War Powers resolutions under three different presidents now President Obama a Democrat President Biden a Democrat and president Trump a Republican and I just wanted to assure everybody that I’m going to continue to be a stickler that the nation shouldn’t be at War without a vote of Congress except in the instances of imminent self-defense and I will do that because I have done that under presidents of both parties and I’ll continue Senator Rubio now to the question and you alluded to this very briefly in in one of the comments that you made about the nation of Paraguay not only do we not devote enough attention to the Americas but when we do we devote attention to the headaches and the headaches abound in the Americas and elsewhere and so we’ve talked about Haiti a problem we’ve talked about Venezuela a problem um but so often we don’t pay attention to lift up Elevate provide resources to celebrate the nations in the Americas that are doing things right and so when I travel through the region and I’m sure you’ve heard the same thing I hear these nations that are doing things right why won’t you pay attention to us Ecuador threw out a pro-china government put a pro US Government all they wanted all they wanted was a trade deal we want to be closer to the United States we’re the only nation on the Pacific coast of the Americas doesn’t have a trade deal with the United States this Administration I’ve been critical about the Biden Administration didn’t do anything to advance that cause talk to us about some of the nations in the Americas that you think are doing things right and what we ought to do to help those Nations because we’ll be much more likely to spread the right if there are other nations in the region that are doing better and better and better than if we’re just trying to lecture people about how to improve well Ju Just as a general matter one of the things that’s always struck me is that the region and maybe this is true in other parts of the world as well particularly in the region it’s almost better to be America’s adversary or enemy than friend because there’s the the the impact of friendship or the benefits of friendship are not tangibly clear to a lot of them and and you you know I’ve seen that Express time and again over multiple years and it’s easy to play attention to a headache you’re going to sanction you know some country that’s not acting in anti-American ways but the people that are sort of doing it the right way or want to be cooperative they’re ignored and the countries that are doing it the right way are ignored so I think there are a number of countries that right now as we speak and I and I always say this with caution because I may not mention one country and they say well they left us out but I just want to point to a few that I think are present present and clear for us you mention what with Ecuador Ecuador is actually left out of cfta because at the the time the people in charge didn’t want to be a part of anything with us um they’re facing some real security threats that are unique to Ecuador’s history and they’re facing these threats because you’ve got violence and gangs coming over from the Colombian border and then pushing up through Ecuador as a Transit country but they bring with it the turf fights and the gangs and and to the point where last year there was a real threat to the stability of the government where they took over television stations and and things of this these armed elements did and there’s a lot we can do and have done but can do not a lot we’re not talking about a lot of money we’re not even talking about money in many cases just equipment to help them at least restore some sense of stability the other thing that Ecuador these are just off topics but I think they’re all relevant Ecuador faces a very significant challenge with illegal fishing off their coasts by Chinese fishing fleets who violate their territorial waters on a on an almost daily basis and massive quantities and it’s an ecological crisis as well on top of it that’s a country that can use our help tremendously I think about the Dominican Republic people don’t talk about the Dominican Republic enough and they face a real challenge because of Haiti and the instability next door they were also one of the countries that emerged from Co the fastest and not just because of the tourism return quicker there and they’ve really been able to do some positive things I think Argentina I know people some have not met the president of AR the new president of Argentina this this is a serious well-trained Economist I would not if you sit down and talk to him for a few minutes he has real clear ideas about Economic Development and is doing some really necessary things in terms terms of restructuring the direction of Argentine economics in a way that I think is very positive can I can I just say to Every Other Nation out there that thinks you’re a good guy he was about to mention you but my time has expired but please focus on the good guys and let’s help them do better and better and better and be good examples in the region thank you thank you excellent point Senator ke excellent point Senator Curtis welcome to the committee thank you Mr chairman ranking member it’s great to be with you today great to be on this committee uh Senator Rubio uh for the last seven years from a distance of about 600 feet that’s what separates the house chamber and the Senate chamber I’ve watched and admired your work uh from a distance and on a few uh but very fortunate times I’ve had the chance to actually be wind at your back on some of your work supporting Taiwan and protecting Hong Kong dissidents uh as we work together on some legislation now in a in a Twist of events I sit not far from where you once sat and there’s another symbolic feet 600 feet between us between the state department and the Senate and I’m excited to work with you in your new role and I would like to continue to be wind at your back on a lot of issues and none more important to me than China and if you remember really nothing else about our short interchange today please know that that’s very important to me and and and I hope to work with you on what I do the aggression of China and in many ways their their Global push for military and economic Supremacy and I think is a threat in many ways China is imposing uh it’s what they call China One principle on the world uh which is very different than you know from our our China policy can you kind of describe how we can push back on that and and and how we need to to make sure we’re shaping that conversation yeah and well the first is to understand that the one China policy is and the US policy towards the issue of Taiwan has been consistent and reaffirmed by every Administration since 1979 and it is the combination of the Taiwan relations act with the six assurances that make clear that the United States we’re not going to pressure Taiwan into any Arrangement we’re not going to tell you when we’re going to stop if ever we made no commitment to not helping them in their National Defense um we’re not going to force any outcomes and frankly we are going to do everything and we reject any effort to coers intimidate Andor forcibly uh Drive Taiwan to do whatever China wants them to do and that’s been our position and that will continue that was the position under President Trump’s first Administration I anticipated will continue to be in the second Administration I think within that context it’s important for us to find every opportunity possible to allow Taiwan to engage in international forums uh where important issues are discussed and they’re not represented irrespective of what China claims about one China principle they’re not represented and so the views there need to be uh need to be made they need to have an opportunity in these forums to be made clear but but I think stability is critically important here here’s the one thing I would point to here with regards to stability if the Chinese are in fact serious about stabilizing us China relations and finding Avenues of which we can be cooperated and avoid conflict then they will not do anything rash or irrational when it comes to Taiwan or the Philippines for that matter the actions they are taking now are deeply destabilizing they are forcing us to take counteractions because we have commitments to the Philippines and we have commitments to Taiwan that intend to keep and so if they want to destabilize the relationship or they want to at least create some pathway for stabilization of our relationship with them even as we remain engaged in global competition and in some cases uh more adversarial than others they really need to stop messing around with Taiwan and with the Philippines because it’s it’s it’s forcing us to focus our attention in ways we prefer not to have to As a matter of Interest I actually lived in Taiwan in August of 1979 3 months after that act that you referred to and and um I think you’re very accurate I I think for a minute about Europe and there’s some countries it feels like in in Europe because of their presence Poland Czech Republic and baltics that are more in tune uh with this issue but as a whole it feels like some European nations are in denial of some of the things you’ve just said you talk a little bit about how we work with our NATO friends over there and how we get them to appreciate this and actually play a part in this well I think in the case of of NATO I think I would expand it to really talk about the European Union and the EU which I think is increasingly every single day climbing to the realization of the threat that China’s mercantilist policies and unfair trade policies are posing to them they are flooding the European market with their cheaper electric cars are attempting to do so there’s a dispute now about the importation of aluminum on sector after sector you seeing the EU confronting the reality by the same token you know that there like many countries around the world including ours to some extent there’s a quandry involved there’s there is an inter meshing economic relations uh that you can’t just walk away from but you also recognize the the long-term threat that Chinese practices are having on your economic lives and so I think that’s an area in in which the Europeans are in some more than others are increasingly aware and willing to be more forceful Italy has been willing to lean into it more than perhaps some other countries in the region hopefully that will continue to change on the security front look an event in the indopacific say let’s leave Taiwan out of it for a moment and say it’s the Philippines okay in the last 48 hours there’s this massive I don’t even know how to describe it but this massive ship that the Chinese have built that’s like headed towards the Philippines and the Philippines feels threatened by it rightfully so we’ve seen this on a daily basis with the harassment and so forth but on a daily basis if God forbid there is some miscommunication or some inadvertent conflict emerges there and we have obligations to them the impact that will have on the entire Globe the impact that it will have on the entire globe is enormous and that includes Europe so they have a selfish vested interest in seeking for the Chinese to curb their behaviors I would also point to the Europeans that what CH what the Russians have done with Ukraine would not have been possible without the assistance of China whether it’s the sharing of technology or Aid in evading sanctions or selling their oil and secondary markets Chi the Chinese have been hidden but clear to everyone watching Partners in the Russian Endeavor yeah and the Europeans know this and they need to be continually reminded of it because it reveals the nature of who we’re dealing with that was actually my next question so I’m I’m going to skip that one but thank you for addressing that I want to turn to Hong Kong I mentioned I lived over in that area and I actually remember as a young man in the the 1980s um shopping for a camera in Hong Kong um as a businessman in the 2000s I I I tried to sell my product over there in Hong Kong I’ve been over there a number of times as a tourist and and just enjoyed that beautiful city and unfortunately today none of that as possible as a matter of fact I I actually have a warrant for my arrest over there because of the work in the house that I’ve done over there C can you talk a little bit about um the role there and and what’s even worse is Hong Kong’s now playing a role in facilitating sanctions evasion and moneya laundering and uh can you can you address that issue and well I think it’s important to take 30 seconds down memory lane Hong Kong was turned over by the UK with a strong set of assurances that it would remain autonomous and independent it would be governed by the Chinese but independent they would have a democracy they would be free enterprise they would be left alone in essence they would you know that’s the promises they made they have violated every over time they violated every promise that is that is they basically broke the deal just like they lied about all the island chains that they said they weren’t going to populate and militarize and they have done so as well and so today we cannot consider Hong Kong to truly be autonomous anymore it it is not it is now under the full control especially on National Security matters of Chinese authorities and it should not be surprising to us that these deeply rooted banking institutions that are in Hong Kong who long has served as Financial capital on the global scale are not be now being used to the benefit of the Communist party and to evade Global sanctions and I think there has to be a growing recognition of that I also think it’s important to remind those sectors and finance that are still involved there that the Chinese National Security know that’s not been implemented in Hong Kong allows them if they don’t like what you’re doing to basically Trump up any charges they want go into your office offices raid the boxes see all of your files threaten to jail you and they’ve done so in some cases so it’s no longer a hospitable place for people to conduct Financial activity so I think we’d have to call it for what it is the notion that Hong Kong is now some autonomous uh entity that operates within China’s system but independent of it and the decisions they make is a complete work of fiction yeah and I I I hate to uh I want one more quick question but I also want to point out uh before we go on how good it could have been for Hong Kong and China had they kept that that agreement I think that’ been a whole lot better for China last question as we run out of time obviously there’s a lot of conversation about Panama in the news can you talk about the Chinese influence in the pan pan what Americans should know well let me tell you I actually didn’t print a lot I mean things to read like verbatim here but there’s one that I thought was interesting that I wanted to share and I’m not going to put it out there for everybody but the whole thing but maybe I’ll submit it for the record but I just went through this thing with Panama on the canal is not new I visited there it was 2016 I think I’ve consistently seen people Express concern about it and it’s encapsuled here in quote after quote let me tell you the former US ambassador who served uh under President Obama said the Chinese see in Panama what we saw in Panama throughout the 20th century a maritine and Aviation Logistics Hub um the just immediate past head of us of Southern command General Laura Richardson said I was just in Pan about a month ago and flying along the Panama Canal and looking at the state-owned Enterprises from the People’s Republic of China on each side of the Panama Canal they look like civilian companies of or state-owned Enterprises that could be used for dual use and could be quickly changed over to a military capability we see uh questions that were asked uh in the um by the ranking member in the house China select committee where W he asked a witness and they agreed that in a time of conflict China could use its presence on both ends of the conect now as a choke point against the United States in a conflict situation so the the concerns about Panama have been expressed by people on both sides of the aisle for at least the entire time that I’ve been in the United States Senate and they’ve only accelerated further this is a very legitimate issue that we Face there and I think there’s a I’m not prepared to answer this question because I haven’t looked at the legal research behind it yet but I’m compelled to suspect that an argument could be made that the terms under which that Canal were turned over have been violated because while technically sovereignty over the canal has not been turned over to a foreign power in reality a foreign power today possesses through their companies which we know are not independent the ability to turn the canal into a chop point in a moment of conflict and that is a direct threat to the National interest and security of the United States and it’s particularly guling given the fact that we paid for it and that 5,000 Americans died making it that said Panama’s a great partner on a lot of other issues and I hope we can resolve this issue of the canal and of its security and also continue to work with them cooperatively on a host of issues we share in common including what to do with uh migration Senator I’m out of out of time thank you so much thank you and Senator Ru I think that you’re right about doing an analysis of the turnover documents but I think even before that we ought to do an analysis of the original documents that went into place because they were very strong documents uh given giving us uh control over a five mile wide on each side of the canal path and was very specific so I I think it a legal analysis beginning to end is uh is is critical uh Senator Shotz thank you chair thank you ranking member um Senator Rubio nice to see you again thanks for taking the time with me and thank you for being willing to serve um I want to start with the Pacific Islands as you know it’s an area focus of mine and the Indo Pacific is look we’ve been through several administ ations and they all say the same thing they all talk about the future being in the Indo Pacific and that it’s the most important region in the world that continues to be true uh my concern is that specifically when people talk about the indopacific they’re mostly talking about China they may be taking talking about other East Asian countries but there’s very little conversation about Pacific island nations and we’ve got some we got some uh auspicious things happening but we’ve also got some challenges in front of us um the the embassy and kiraboss is stalled um the Solomon Islands as you know are sort of contemplating uh um making themselves available for PRC military forces so we passed the compact of free association it’s a bit of a mixed bag and I’d like to just hear your theory of the case here about how to uh have some continuity obviously it’s a new Administration it’s going to be a new state department but I think some of the things that have happened over the last four uh and even eight years in terms of Pacific Island relationships have been good for the United States of America so give me your theory of the case not generally Indo Asia Pacific but specifically these small island nations with whom we want stronger ties sure so I think the first obviously is the ability to engage bilaterally with each of these individual nation states you know and and um uh and that opportunity is already there I think we should continue to build on it and it’s important and bears great fruit I think the second and it’s an open question which I certainly want the state department to look at and I think policy makers on the hill need to consider as well is you know we have we are dialogue Partners in the Pacific island forum and the question is whether we are fully utilizing that ability to be at the table uh in that Forum now you know that that Forum includes Australia and New Zealand which are bigger than some of these but not less important elements of it and look I think our expectations of the Forum is um and and they’ve had some internal friction with some of the member states you know about how who’s going to lead it and how the succession so we hope they can work that out but it’s an existing form which I think could potentially as a dialogue partner provide us the ability to not just engage bilaterally with the individual nation states but also collectively and we may not agree on 100 million things but there might be some things we can do through that Forum at a minimum have a presence at it at a higher left level that that that um that shows our level of commitment and interest has been elevated even further and then ultimately some real deliverables I I I do think that given again we keep saying they’re small but they you know they’re important important both because of geographic location their presence in international forums and I do think that whether it’s the uh Millennium challenge Grant whether it’s through um the uh successor to opic there are opportunities as well to leverage some private sector engagement from the American side and the US side or broader North American side on some of the whether it’s energy needs or uh resiliency needs or other development projects that they may have so I think we have to explore that both bilaterally with individuals by ensuring that we have people there but also explore whether we are fully utilizing the the Pacific island Forum as a dialogue partner to its full effect and you and you know that China engages in debt trap diplomacy which which um can be effective for their their their needs but it’s usually you know people get figured out eventually and I think one of the areas where we can provide something that there’s no other country that can provide is in the resilient space and in in a severe weather context we’re really the only folks that really know how to prepare for respond to and rebuild uh from disaster so you know the United States Navy has always been helpful uh in this context but that’s something we should uh continue to focus on staying in the Pacific and I’m glad you mentioned the Philippines you know my theory of the case here is that not that China has decided that its risk appetite is higher but rather that the things that they are doing are not so risky at all and that’s that’s because we have not been in a position to impose consequences and I think one of the places where we have a good and growing partnership and obviously bilateral um economic and treaty obligations is the Philippines and um in in addition to the enhanced defense cooperation agreement in in in addition to the lon Corridor economic Partnerships I’m just wondering how you see that um growing democracy one of our best allies on the planet it um how you see that as strategically important for the United States well I think it’s important first of all it’s always been strategically important for the United States obviously our military presence there diminished greatly as a result of uh some of the decisions that were made within the Philippines but now you see a willingness to see us return look we’re not looking to militarize the Philippines and then this is not we should I think it would be a mistake to solely view it as a security Arrangement there are long uh ties between the United States and Philippines the date back to 1899 in the Spanish American War and uh you know and and so I think it’s important to build on that as well I think there are real economic opportunities that we should be exploring and so it’s one that we need to show us Commitment if I’ll be frank I think where this kind of fell off was and I don’t I’m not getting involved in internal Filipino politics but I’m telling you during dette it was a little tougher to work with them and obviously there’s some issue going on there internally as well I’ll leave that to their electorate and their politics to solve so I think to the extent that over the last few years you have seen a reinvigoration of American interests it’s not simply driven by the fact that the Chinese are harassing them it’s also driven by the fact that there’s been a more welcoming attitude towards our posture and our position there and that’s one that when that opportunity presents itself we should embrace but then we need it to show results so that it becomes enduring in essence when your engagement with a country leads to Economic Development whether it’s outbound us investment in the Philippines or or what have you then that becomes enduring then it makes it difficult no matter who’s in charge to walk away from the alliance because the alliance is more than just military and a military presence it also involves jobs and businesses and investment and Economic Opportunity and we need look we need to look for ways to emphasize that I think it would be a a mistake to Simply view it as a military or defense Alliance absolutely and coming from Hawaii it’s the peopl to people Ties That is the foundation of the of the relationship for sure I want to talk to you a little bit about our our approach on the on the Korean Peninsula uh and I’m going to say something rather provocative um I think our North Korea policy is broken um I think it’s broken on a bipartisan basis I think um see vid as a fantasy I think that um the non-proliferation community wants to hold on to it for reasons related to other countries and non-pro priorities but it’s clear to me that it’s not working 10 years ago you have been laughed out of the room for suggesting that North Korea was able to develop maneuverable Hypersonic Warheads solid fuel icbms submarine launch ballistic missiles but all of that has happened 40 launches in 2024 and more launches yesterday so I just like you I know you’re a hawk I know you’ve been a strong supporter of sanctions I never have opposed a sanction um against North Korea in my life but I just think that we need to look at this thing realistically and say whatever it is that we have been doing it’s not working the these guys keep getting more and more capable and whatever sacrifices they are making internally in terms of the suffering of their people um they got the technical P capacity like I remember 10 years ago being told well they can do this but they can’t do a nuclear tip oh they can range Guam but they can’t range Hawaii oh they can range Hawaii but they can’t range the continent that they keep meeting and exceeding every technical Mark that we think they can’t make and we are attached to a policy that is basically it doesn’t appear to be slowing them down in the least so is there an appetite for rethinking of this in my view totally failed policy well I think there has to be an appetite for very serious look at broader North Korean policies and so I think it would be difficult for me today to come here and tell you this is going to be the official United State’s position on it moving forward because I do think because of the factors you’ve just pointed to there’s some things some we have have to look at in a broader perspective now to his credit president Trump and look I I’ll be frank I was one of the people that was very skeptical about it but he sort of reached out to Kim Jong-un walked away from negotiations twice ultimately didn’t reach something enduring but here’s what he did able to achieve in that engagement is he stopped testing the missiles that didn’t solve the that didn’t stop the development of the program but at least it calmed the situation quite a bit I think what you’re alluding to and I’m not saying this is going to be the policy of the United States because that policy set by the president and ideally set through a process that involves a bunch of stakeholders rethinking and being creative about it but I do think what you’re pointing to is the following you have a 40-some year old dictator who has to figure out how to hold down to power for the rest of his life he views nuclear weapons as his insurance policy to stay in power despite it means so much to him that no amount of sanctions has deterred him from developing that capability and in fact has not even kept him from having the resources to develop it um unfortunately uh recent events now also have them engaged in conflicts beyond the Korean peninsula in fact providing troops and weaponry to the Russians and their effort in Ukraine and um and so all of this so all of this needs to be taken in conjunction and looking at the policy and seeing what can we now do that destabilizes that situation that lowers the risk of an inadvertent War be between South Korea and North Korea maybe including Japan at this point and ultimately the United States be how what can we do to prevent a crisis without encouraging other nation states to pursue their own nuclear weapons program that’s the that’s the solution we’d like to get to and I just didn’t bring it in my folder today because we’re not ready to De but it’s important and you got to involve the committee and they you know this is this certainly multi- agency multilateral the president has to drive some of this but I think none of this is possible without an acknowledgement of uh more than a decade of bipartisan failure in this space and so if we can at least start with the premise that whatever we’re doing right now is not working we can start to work uh on something else thank you thank you thank you uh Senator Cruz thank you Mr chairman and and I got to say boy that sounds good Mr chairman that as good as it sounds to me thank you well congratulations and I’m looking forward to the next two years working together thank you and to Senator Rubio let me say congratulations to you as well we’re going to miss you on this committee we’re going to miss you in the Senate but you’re going to do an extraordinary job uh at at Foggy Bottom and I will say if if uh they capture you and tie you up in the basement we we will send a team to pull you out um you know as I look back over the last four years of the Biden Harris Administration there are a lot of policies that have done a lot of damage domestic policies economic policies but I think all of th those pale compared to the damage that has been done to National Security and foreign policy over the last four years over the last four years this Administration is systematically undermined and abandon our allies and it has systematically shown weakness and appeasement to our enemies and the consequence has been disastrous we’ve gone from four years ago peace and prosperity to today a situation with Wars across the globe and every enemy of America stronger than they were when this Administration came into office I am confident the incoming Administration is going to change that direction I am confident that President Trump and the White House and you as Secretary of State are going to shift us back to where we should be which is standing by our friends and allies and standing up to our enemies uh do you agree with that assessment is that what you intend to do as Secretary of State well let me say first the foreign policy of the United States will be set by the president and my job is to advise on it and ultimately to execute I think the president’s been abundantly clear and that is his policy is going to be driven about making America safer stronger and more prosperous as I said in my opening statement everything the state department does every policy every program every dollar it spends every initiative it takes has to answer three questions does it make us safer does it make us stronger or does it make us more prosperous and if it doesn’t if the answer is not yes to one of those three you’re going to have a hard time moving that forward because that’s the priority that the president and that’s the priority that by the way voters gave this president when they elected him you point to a number of things that I think are critically important and that and and let me I’ll phrase it a different way but I think we’re saying the same thing we have lost deterrence in multiple theaters around the world so as an example and I use this as a small scale example but it’s really an important one I I think the year was uh 2020 2019 the Vagner group tried to get cute and came after some of Americans Americans operating in Syria and Fire from the sky rain down on them and that group was pushed back pretty hard that’s deterrence at that they they threatened us and they knew what the response would be I recall the consternation here and in other places when solomani met his demise but I can tell you it impacted Iranian behavior for a substantial period of time no matter how tough they talked it impacted their behavior I think it’s important to reestablish deterrence and to the extent that that’s been lost for a variety of of reasons the lack of deterrence is an invitation to war the lack of deterrence is an invitation to hostility it prevents the very thing that we hope to achieve which is peace and stability in the world and and um and I do think we’ve lost deterrence um and I think in some ways it contributed to what happened in Ukraine an item I know is very close to you and and you’ve worked very on and we talked earlier today about is energy dependence I recall president Trump at both a NATO Summit and at the United Nations and I recall the United Nations one in particular president Trump said Germany is dependent entirely going to be left dependent on China on on Russia for its energy and they laughed at him there were diplomats in the hall that were snickering that’s exactly what happened it is one of the reasons why Putin believed he could invade Europe is because Europe would not push back because they depended on him so much for energy now Europe is to be congratulated they have moved very swiftly particularly the Germans to diversify their energy resources but I one could argue that we may never have had that Invasion had that dependent not existed because maybe he would have thought the the European response would have been more forceful than than than he anticipated so I I do think reestablishing deterrence and strength is important because it prevents war and it gives us leverage and diplomacy which where we hope to solve 99.9% of the global disagreements we hope to solve through diplomacy not through armed conflict I I think that’s very well said uh and and and I want to give several specific examples number one you and I are the only two Cuban American Senators you’re about to leave me as a lonely Soul member of the Cuban American caucus thank you for that Marco um and re Cubans it’s they always call it a conspiracy so now I have no one to play dominoes with but uh look issues of Cuba both you and I share family stories uh of parents who who fled oppression and came here seeking Freedom uh as you know as you talked about earlier today uh this week the administration delisted Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism I think it was an absolutely shameful and Reckless decision I think it was a political decision on the way out I think it was designed to hamstring the incoming Administration uh I I I am unequivocal that I think the Cuban government are evil communist bastards uh given your a new job I suspect you might be slightly less forceful in saying so and and slightly more diplomatic but but I I know you’re hard on the question uh but let me ask ask you this do you believe Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorist without a question and I’ll tell you why number one the farc which is you know elements of the farc and the Ali for that matter in Colombia these are narcot terrorist organizations and have been they started out as ideological organizations and now figured out they’re Marxist but they want to make money selling cocaine so they’ve done that they they have had the full support of the Cuban regime throughout their entire existence we know that Cuba has been friendly towards Hamas and Hezbollah openly friendly towards Hamas and Hezbollah we know as well that the Cuban regime for example hosts not one but two countries Espionage stations within their national territory 90 miles from the shores of the United States um and provide valuable insights and cooperate with these elements we know that they have strong ties to Iran as well um and and and and the terrorist elements associated with them and we know know for a fact that there are fugitives of American Justice fugitives of American Justice including cop killers and others who are actively hosted in Cuba and protected from the longarm and American Justice by the Cuban regime so there is zero doubt in my mind that they meet all the qualifications for being a state sponsor of terrorism well uh it is clear you’re going to be confirmed to this position you’re going to be confirmed with an overwhelming bipartisan vote I think it is likely you’ll be confirmed on January 20th on the first day the president is sworn in uh when you are confirmed I think it is also likely I hope on that very first day you will reverse that determination you may not feel prepared to make that commitment now uh but is there anything you want to say on that well I would just say again I don’t want to speak ahead of the administrations these decisions as I said the set president sets our foreign policy and my job is to execute it that’s how our system of government works I would just remind anyone on this recent deal with Cuba that just happened over the last 12 hours nothing that was agreed to is irreversible or binding on the new Administration and um I think people know my feelings and I think they know what the president’s feelings have been about these issues when he was president previously and um nothing that the Biden Administration has agreed to in the last 12 or 18 hours binds the next Administration which starts on Monday good let’s turn to Israel uh in the last four years this Administration has the been the most anti-israel Administration we have ever seen they have systematically undermined the government of Israel particularly at a time of war the Biden State Department secretly asked other parts of the administration to suspend anti-terrorism sanctions so they could pour unaccountable hundreds of millions of dollars into the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip they refused to implement mandatory Congressional sanctions against Hamas terrorists for using human Shields they made incredible efforts to secretly circumvent mandatory uh Congressional uh prohibitions on money going to the Palestinian Authority because of the PA’s support for pay to slay even after October 7th they secretly poured millions and even cash from American taxpayers into Hamas controlled areas meanwhile they secretly implemented boycotts of Jews living in Judea and Samaria through the development Finance Corporation and bational Science and Technology foundations they secretly manufactured files used to impose crippling Financial s SS on Israeli Jews and refused to provide those files to members of Congress those sanctions were renewed just yesterday I have every confidence that President Trump and you will reverse these policies broadly and specifically but I’d like to ask you about some of them quickly can you commit to ending anti-terrorism sanctions waivers related to Palestinian terrorism and implementing sanctions against those terrorists yes can you commit to ending discriminatory policies including Biden ad administration’s secret boycott policies against Jews in Judea and Samaria yes and can you commit to reversing the discriminatory sanctions against Jews living in Judea and Samaria again yes I think that the policy of a again without speaking out of turn I’m confident in saying that President Trump’s Administration will continue to be perhaps the most pro-israel Administration in American history and the final question you and I talked at Great length about the 1944 water treaty with Mexico Mexico is in violation of that treaty it is doing enormous damage to South Texas farmers and ranchers there experiencing drought as the Secretary of State tell me what the state department can do to encourage and and incentivize Mexico to comply with the treaty and provide the water that they are obligated to provide to the people of South Texas I think raise it in every engagement we will be engaged with Mexican Partners we have to engage with the Mexican Government and it’s important to elevate it and raise it at every one of those engagements and I don’t just mean like sending a letter or somebody sending an email just mentioning it I’m saying Mak it a priority and it’s a priority not just because it matters to Texas it’s a priority because these International agreements and Arrangements only work if they’re complied with and if they’re not complied with and it becomes habitual other nations believe they can begin to violate them as well it undermines this entire commitment to multilateral uh agreements and so forth and I think it’s in the crevices of those agreements whether it’s begin they’ve been in place for a long time and no one’s paying attention anymore or it just doesn’t matter enough and you ignore it because you don’t want to dest stabilize the rest of your relationship but it encourage it to happen more and more it is not the only irritant we have in our bilateral relationship with them and in our agreements I imagine they have some with us as well but it’s one that needs to be prioritized and raised consistently as a priority not just as an aster or a footnote thank you and you’re going to do great thank you thank you Senator Cruz Senator Duckworth thank you uh Mr chairman I just want to say Senator Rubio uh I want to start off by noting for the record that um when I first got to the Senate and I was in my first year and you just uh run for president and I didn’t think you would know who I was I was pregnant with my uh daughter and trying to change Senate rules so that I could bring her onto the floor so I could do my job and vote because I can’t come through the normal back door to vote because there’s stairs there and it’s not accessible for Wheelchairs and I remember in the middle of that battle um rolling through the senate floor to vote and I heard Tammy Duckworth from across the Senate chambers and you came running down from the top back of the Senate chambers to tell me I’m with you I will support you you have the right to vote and I will support you being able to bring your daughter your child onto the floor when she’s born and I want to thank you for that kindness because you did speak to your leadership about it and it was a moment of true bipartisanship but also as parents and as someone who was new to the Senate I was extremely grateful to you for that kindness I think what I exactly said is what’s the big deal this place is already full of babies exactly exactly um so I want to touch on a topic we discussed last month um uh uh thank you for sitting down with me I always appreciate the opportunity to sit down uh with nominees uh um uh uh I I I appreciate also your earlier response to Senator McCormick about Americans detained abroad and your commitment to tackling this headon as you and I also discussed last month I appreciate your attention and commitment to addressing the case of illinoisans in particular that we discuss as well thank you for that um another topic uh uh you already touched on some of the issues in the indopacific particularly around the PRC and then the PR dprk but I’d like to dive back into the issue of Assan and and Assan Nations uh since coming to the Senate I make a point of visiting southeast Asia annually to reinforce our friends and partners there uh and those that we want to become our friends and partners there that the United States and particularly those of us in the Senate care deeply about these long-standing historic relation relationships and making sure that uh those relationships live up to their potential and as you know respect for aan centrality has been a core part of our foreign policy in that region in fact the first Trump administration’s indopacific strategy correctly emphasized Assan centrality as an important principle unfortunately not all of President Trump’s nominees this time seems to grasp importance or in fact know what assen is yesterday I was distinctly unimpressed when questioning Secretary of Defense nominee Heth then he could not mention a single nation in Assan uh particularly shameful when we have at least two major non-nato allies in the block um one of which Thailand uh is the longest uh treaty Alliance that the United States has at over 190 years long what can you share with us today about how you would approach Assan as a whole and with individual member states through capitalize on some of the key opportunities and challenges facing the region I know you’ve spoken about the Philippines but can you sure build on that sure I see the first thing is the the group’s utility Begins by the fact that through its 10 members they’ve also I believe have five or maybe it’s six free trade agreements now with neighboring countries as well look though though we have to be very pragmatic in our approach and and how we prioritize it I think the group will always struggle to coordinate unanimity on the issue of their relationship with China okay if you look at the Continental La Myanmar um Cambodia because of their Geographic presence because of History they lean a little bit more in the Chinese Direction and other countries do not I think it would be a mistake for us to sort of make it as a condition of our engagement with ason to say You must pick a side and you must pick a side now are you with them are you with us I think what I can safely say is that the overwhelming and vast majority of the nation states in Asana if not maybe all do not want to live in a region in which China is the predominant power and they are viewed as tributary States to Beijing and welcome us engagement in the region as both an economic and defense counterweight and so I think we need to view this is it would be a mistake to go in with sort of a cold war mentality of pick aide and pick aide now I think the broader approach is to say they have a vested interest in us being involved we have a vested interest as a indopacific nation in involving ourselves through this forum and finding opportunities both holistically through the 10 Nations and individually through whatever bilateral opportunities present itself earlier be you may not have been here but I was asked a question about Thailand and there is a a group of Wagers that that are in Thailand that they’re saying may be deported and I said this is one of our strongest longest uh relationships in in in the region and maybe one of the longest and strongest in the world and that’s where these relationships really come to Bear not to browbeat them in a public form but through strong diplomacy and using the benefit of that relationship to go to a Thailand and see if we can’t get them to not Deport these people into the hands of of of Chinese authorities knowing the atrocities that have been committed so that’s a value added to this relationship that is a bilateral relationship we have with Thailand it’s not the one we’re going to have with every country in the region but I do think the Forum serves as a useful uh platform for us to be able to engage the region and individually these countries you so you would agree with what what the first Trump Administration uh emphasized which is that Assan centrality and I think this is something that the new assian chair Malaysia under prime minister anoa I is saying with the mandani uh uh uh concept which is growing that cohesion within asan itself and in dealing with the organization while we continue to pursue those bilateral relationships but the stronger asan can be cohesively as a unit uh allows them to better deal with countries like Myanmar for example and and and and allows us to better have those relations with them and also for them cohesively to try to stand up to outside forces one of the things that I think and I think you saw this in the first Trump term we’ll probably see again is to the extent you see production sort of moving CH from China to other countries some of these countries stand to benefit from that assuming they themselves are not the target of some um tariff or what have you but but I think there are benefits there in that regard I would imagine that there are also some concerns they would share with us about maybe some of our other policies economic or otherwise but I do think it’s an opportunity that provides uh some real Economic Development benefit opportunities for a number of the countries in aan we would hope all of them certainly some more than others because of alignment of interests uh what I do think is we have to be realistic and I just want to reiterate this because I think sometimes we go into these things viewing them with a lens of NATO or something else this this the the key component to understand is we are probably never going to have sort of a overwhelming majority consensus on the role China is going to play but I do think you could argue that the vast majority of countries in this form if not all do not want to live in a region in which China is the predominant overwhelming power and they all are viewed as sort of tributary States they are not interested in that and they view the United States as a very logical and welcome economic and defense counterweight to that yeah and and I do think that uh uh even the the mainland aan Nations uh that uh as you uh in your words that lean more towards China um have suffered uh uh if you look at what happens with water we talked a lot about Mexico and water into Texas but also with the Mong River uh in aan with with the 10 that China has built up river is now affecting uh water and also uh aable lands further down the river and and is initiatives like the two rivers initiative which marries the Mississippi River which is two-thirds of the border of my home state along with the makong river is a way for us to build some of these relationships and bring in American expertise uh uh a different place uh where we can also provide expertise is international disability rights uh we have been working with asien on on developing disability rights and and a cohesive approach to it um in Asian but I think on an international scale whether it’s Asian or Ukraine as they rebuild I do think that disability uh awareness uh rebuilding Ukraine uh to become more accessible uh promoting disability rights around the world is something that is uh a way that we can engage with the rest of the world as well love to hear from you um I this to disability rights around the world and I say this uh you know sadly it’s going to be of critical importance to Nations that are emerging from conflict where we know modern conflict uh uh people are injured in ways that are now survivable but leave them for the rest of their lives with permanent disability is and and so I think it’s going to be in the case from a very practical perspective in the case of Ukraine it’s going to be valuable because there are people that have been injured in that conflict that for the rest of their lives are going to have to deal with that and it’s conducive the other thing we we’ve discussed is our diplomatic uh facilities around the world and whether they are and understand that the number one job the reason why we have embassies and consulates yes we represent us interests in that country but its number one obligation is to support Americans if you lose your passport if God forbid you go to jail whatever it may be that we have a presence there that can support Americans abroad and it was stunning for me in our conversation to learn that there are a number of these uh locations around the world that are not accessible to Americans with Disabilities that needed to access them so it’s something that we would have to look we be interested in looking at as well to make sure that just from our core obligation we’re able to fulfill it and also it keeps many of your own uh staff members who may have disabilities from serving in some of these overseas missions uh as you said highly trained High well- qualified Regional expert subject man experts may not be able to serve in some of these embassies where uh they can’t access it’s not accessible for them so I thank you for bringing that up and I will yied back my nine seconds Mr chairman oh thank you so much so generous thank you um thank you very much Senator duor those are important points last but not least welcome back Senator Lee to the committee and uh appreciate you’ve had your work cut out for you today and your new role as chairman of your committee but uh the floor is yours thank you thank you Mr chairman and uh thank you Senator Rubio for your willingness to serve in this position I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that you were you are likely to be confirmed that’s my prediction I I I can’t speak for others but I I believe that nonetheless and it’s it’s a Bittersweet moment um I’m back on the committee after 12 years of being away from it you and I came to this committee and to the Senate at the same time but in our late 30s the youngest members of the Senate at the time although you have me by exactly seven days uh 7even days older notwithstanding the fact that you were the older between us you’ve got all of your hair and it’s not a single gray hair in there um but I I’ve deeply enjoyed working with you as a as a colleague and getting to know you as a friend uh we have kids that are about the same age and I’ve watched yours uh grow and it’s just been a delight getting to know you Janette and your kids and I hope that’ll continue but I’ll miss having you here not only is my Spanish teacher not only as my source of uh Bible insights and my source of comedic material but also for your great insights on foreign policy domestic policy and everything else we do here uh you’ve just been great to work with and you will be missed in the very likely event that you are confirmed let’s talk first about uh the Western Hemisphere an issue that I know is near and dear to your heart and mine um and we’ll start with the Panama Canal president Trump has recently talked a little bit about the fact that um there are some questions arising about the status of the Panama Canal when we look to the to the treaty at issue the treaty concerning the permanent neutrality and operation of the Panama Canal um we’re reminded that some things maybe aren’t quite as they should be there right now given that the Chinese now control major ports at the entry and the exit to the canal it seems um appropriate to say that there’s at least an open question there’s some doubt as to whether the canal remains neutral would you agree with that assessment yeah and yes here’s the challenge number one is look I want to be clear about something the Panamanian government particularly its current office holders are R friendly to the United States and very cooperative and we want that to continue and I want to bifurcate that from the broader issue of the P Canal now I am not president Trump is not inventing this this is something that’s existed now for the at least a decade in my service here I took a trip to Panama in 2017 when on that trip to Panama in 2017 it was the central issue we discussed about the canal and that is that Chinese companies control Port facilities at both ends of the canal the East and the west and the concerns among military officials and security officials including in Panama at that point that that could one day be used as a choke point to impede Commerce in a moment of conflict that’s going back to that but I earlier to before you got here and I don’t want to have to dig through this folder to find it again but basically cited that the how the immediate past head of Southern command just retired General Richardson said she flew over the canal looked down and saw those Chinese Port facilities and said those look like dual use facilities that in the moment of conflict could be weaponized against us the bipartisan China commission over in the house last year had testimony and and and hearings on this issue and members of both parties expressed concern the former ambassador to Panama that’s under President Obama has expressed those concerns this is a legitimate issue that needs to be confronted this the second point is the one you touched upon and that is look could an argument be made and I’m not prepared to answer it yet because it’s something we’re going to have to study very carefully but I think I have an inkling of I know where this is going to head can an argument be made that they basically have the Chinese basically have effective control of the canal anytime they want because if they order a Chinese company that controls the ports to shut it down or impede our Transit they will have to do so there is no independent Chinese companies they all exist because they’ve been identified as national champions they’re supported by the Chinese government and if you don’t do what they want they find a new CEO and you end up being replaced and removed so they’re on the complete control of their government this is a legitimate question and one that Senator Rich had some insight as well he mentioned that in in passing that needs to be looked at this is not a joke the Panama Canal issue is a very serious serious one and so the the mere potentiality of that the the ability to exercise that control even until such time as as they do do it as they do shut it down is a concern is it not well I I listened 48 hours ago to FBI director Ray in one of his exit interviews he gave to the press and he said the Chinese are embedded in our in our utilities and critical infrastructure now he didn’t say every single day they’re shutting off the power in the United States he said that if there’s a conflict they’re embedded and they could shut off the power in key places we’ve all identified that as a threat the fact that you can do it you don’t have to do it every day no one’s claiming that the Chinese are shutting down the canal every day what the claim is the very legitimate concern is that if these companies control both ends of that canal in a time of conflict and the Chinese tell them shut it down and don’t let the US go through there we got a big big problem a big economic problem and a big National Security and defense problem the ability to do it alone is a threat we shouldn’t ignore it it isn’t a joke it’s a legitimate issue and it needs to be solved excellent and that feeds right into the next thing I wanted to ask you about which um just involves areas of dual use capabilities throughout uh the Western Hemisphere um you know ports infrastructure critical minerals and so forth we we’ve had um policies from the Biden Administration involving the supercilious use of uh untargeted foreign aid and sort of U cultural coercion in in order to persuade them to or in an effort to coer uh some of these countries to adopt policies that are contrary to their established cultural norms um you abortion rights LGBT policies and curriculum and so forth that probably hasn’t helped uh in in this uh conflict in this still somewhat soft conflict in which uh many of these countries are opening their doors to China I I can’t imagine that will have helped how will your approach uh to Chinese incursion in the Western Hemisphere be different from those of the current Administration well there are a couple points the first is the Chinese incursion in the hemisphere involves number one investment of dollars like as an example they go into some country they say here’s $5 million or $10 million to build a stadium um but in exchange you have to let us build out your three you know your your 5G network using hway safe cities and the like and by the here’s a couple million dollars for you and your friends is a bribe okay that’s their first level of Engagement they go in and they and then some ways they create deals that are that you can not possibly pay back so now you’ve got a debt that you can’t pay back and they have you trapped and now they’ve got your vote at the UN and your cooperation on X Y andz and that’s H that happened in Panama by the way in 2016 2017 that was well understood that part of the Investments they made in Panama were conditioned upon Panama’s ability to convince the Dominican Republic and other countries to flip the recog recognition away from Taiwan that happened so that’s number one the second element of their involvement is they go into a country and a Chinese company will buy up the lithium mines or access to the rare earth minerals in these long-term contracts and that exists in Allied countries the argentines times will tell you there are a number of business deals that the Chinese and Chinese companies have gotten a hold of in Argentina that even if they wanted to back away they can’t get out of the deals because the way they were structured so that’s number two and then number three is their presence the Chinese are actively involved in a military military installations in the Western Hemisphere on the island of Cuba 90 mi from our Shores only a few hundred miles from where space force operates and in NASA and Cape canaval only a few miles from mcdill where we have Central Command and Special Operations Command only a few miles from Southern command only a few miles from egund Air Force Base and the the test range we have out in the Gulf of Mexico all of these things this is real and it’s operating right off the coast of the United States they have a presence in our region so we have to acknowledge that this is happening and then we have to be present and have counters to each of these Andor there has to be consequences for each of these uh fortunately uh the United States has strong relationships in multiple key countries in the region and I think we have the opportunity to build upon that and won’t and and in ways that can attract the sort of investment that they would rather have than the Chinese investment but right now it’s not available it’s not happening there is no American alternative to what the Chinese are offering so hopefully we can provide the openings for that indeed and I I appreciate your enthusiasm and thoughtfulness uh in providing that answer um no you touch on another issue when you reference the significance of agreements made by prior administrations obviously the Javier mle Administration in Argentina wouldn’t have been as likely to enter into those arrangements U as his predecessor was the United States we have to keep this in mind the constitution of course allocates uh the treaty making and binding power and spreads it out between two branches the president can enter into a treaty can sign a treaty but that treaty uh isn’t ratified unless two-thirds of the Senate does it so it it flips the usual legislative process because it’s a different type of of legislation would you agree with me that that type of arrangement uh which is submission of a treaty after the president has entered into it after the president has signed it the submission of that treaty to the senate for ratification and the ultimate ratification by the Senate is a necessary precondition for an international agreement to be binding on the United States of America to be binding beyond the administration that entered into it this was the case of the jcpoa which was being sold to people as a treaty but it wasn’t and the reason why it was a political agreement it’s basically a political Arrangement between the current Administration and the regime in Iran and that that’s why president Trump had the authority to pull us out of it when he did I think what’s important to understand about treaties in general and we’ talked about treaties here today with Mexico we’ve there’s a number of other treaties that people may not be aware of every treaty by definition okay is a surrender of sovereignty at some level as a nation but you do it and you enter into it why why do you enter into a treaty even though you’re surrendering some sovereignty because you’ve concluded that that surrender and the benefit of it to the National interest or the National Security far outweighs the surrender of sovereignty and the consequences of it and that is why it’s so critical that the Senate be involved in that deliberation because an individual Administration may get that calculus wrong but when you have this overwhelming majority that concludes that it it too agrees that that surrender of sovereignty matches is exceeded by the benefit of the treaty now you know you have some you’ve increased your chances of have something that’s good and makes sense and so um you know I agree with your with your view of it and um and I think um you know that’s the way I I would hope we would pursue Arrangements in the future if we enter into any that’s why it takes two-thirds thank you so much uh Senator Rubio thank you Mr chairman Senator Rubio we know you have an appointment at the White House at 3:00 uh Senator Shaheen has one brief question for you I have a couple of brief remarks and then we’ll get you on your way yeah thank you Senator Rubio I think that was a very impressive display of your knowledge of the global situation but the one area that you mentioned but we haven’t really talked about is the Arctic and given what’s happening in the Arctic and China’s designs on the Arctic can you just speak to um what you think are posture ought to be with respect to the Arctic well we’re an Arctic power the Russians legitimate Arctic power the Chinese are not they they’re whether they’re near Arctic power or I don’t know what the term they came up with to give an excuse for them to be up there I think frankly I know you didn’t ask me this question but it’s one I welcome the ability to talk about and some of his discussion with Greenland putting aside all the things that are going on in the media I think we need to understand that green Lim is strategically important to the United States and to the West for very long time in fact in 1941 at the outbreak of World War II the United States was signed up as a protectorate even though the the Denmark was had been occupied you think back into the N I think Harry Truman tried to buy Denmark Harry Truman had made an effort to try to buy for like $100 million he was rebuffed and then uh the US has maintained through a mutual defense agreement there the opportunity to base itself to have military bases and it had them for a while why the reason why is because of War it’s located geographically yes the the the access to the minerals on Greenland are critically important but as more navigable space is opening up in the Arctic particular this Northern passage that goes from Russia to China Russia to Asia and could cut transit times by as much as 40% the Arctic is going to become incredibly critical and so we have to have a presence there we have to have a presence there not just saying okay we have a base we have 200 people or we have a flag flying we have we have to have the ability for example to have the ships that can navigate on the naval level and keep those shipping lanes open if in fact they’re being threatened we have to have Partners along the Arctic region that will join us in ensuring that the Arctic region is open for free and flow of navigation as these as these passages open up because global trade is in many ways going to be infused by it um we have positions within the state department that I think in the past have been diminished or people just haven’t paid a lot of attention to I just had this conversation the other day with Senator marowski that all of a sudden I think people are interested in serving in Arctic Affairs and and and an Arctic posts because this issue of Greenland has opened our eyes to the broader Geographic importance of the Arctic region which long has been a curiosity or something people have not talked about but I think now we have the opportunity to see it for what it is and that is one if not the most important one of the most critical parts of the world over the next 50 to 100 years will be whether there’s going to be freedom of navig in the Arctic and um and what that will mean for global trade and commerce you thank you uh I’m going to order that uh Senator Rubio’s responses written responses to the questions regarding uh his relationship with his committee be filed for the record I’m also going to order that the written that the letters uh in support of Senator Rubio’s confirmation be entered in the record and finally I want to say thank you Senator Rubio for providing us with the benefit of your testimony responses and your your knowledge was outstanding this committee takes oversight of US foreign assistance extremely seriously uh you know well that transparency and accountably accountability are Paramount to that end I want to flag for you my work with the office of the Inspector General on the state Department’s Bureau for Global Health security and diplomacy pepar and the Biden administrations failure to uphold longstanding United States laws protecting life in global Health assistance in addition to my request for an investigation I’ve been holding over a billion dollars in US foreign assistance since uh September of last year and will continue to do so until I can be sure that not one single American Tax dollar will be used to perform or promote over abortions overseas as that is required uh by US law I look forward to working with you on this in addition to the many issues that we discussed here today uh finally I will uh uh note for the information of members of the committee that the record will remain open until tomorrow Thursday January 16th at 1: p.m uh for members to submit questions for the record thank you God bless you we wish you well committee’s ajour this way good tonight President Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office he’s expected to reflect on his more than 50 years of public service and his hopes for the future of the country in a tradition that dates back to George Washington this will be President Biden’s first

well from one political restart to another this one on the other side of the Atlantic in the United States president-elect Trump’s cabinet is taking shape with the promise to do what Trump the candidate said that he would do as Trump the president and that means getting tough on illegal immigration Trump says that he plans to name Thomas Homan acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement homman was known as The Border Zar in the first Trump Administration Trump is also expected to name Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Secretary of State now if confirmed ribia would become the first Latino to serve as America’s top Diplomat he is fantastic Marco come on up come on up as Donald Trump campaigned across the country one of the key establishment figures within his movement was Florida Senator Marco Rubio I think they love you a lot Rubio was once considered a potential pick to be Trump’s vice president before the president-elect settled on JD Vance the son of Cuban immigrants Senator Rubio has been a vocal critic of the Havana regime as well as the leftists running Venezuela as the vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee he’s been an outspoken critic of China seeing it as an economic and security threat to the US could the Chinese government through its ownership of bite dance could the could they use Tik Tok to control data on millions of users on Ukraine Rubio opposed Russia’s Invasion but this year he voted against a major US Aid package for K in line with Trump’s stated ambition to untangle the US from overseas conflicts the overall alignment between Rubio and his potential next boss is a major turnaround from their relationship in the past during the 2016 Republican primary Rubio was scathing about Trump he began to unmask the true nature of the Front Runners so far in this race 5 days ago we began to explain to the American people that Donald Trump is a con artist but a lot can change in the political world and in this case bygones are now bygones as the world watches to see what US foreign policy will look like over the next four years all right let’s go now to Mike Cobert he’s a US politics and digital democracy Analyst at the European University viadrina Mike was also part of our us election night coverage good to see you Mike let me just start by asking what do you make of Rubio as a possible US Secretary of State yeah so of course Trump will still have the ultimate say in the direction of US foreign policy but but Rubio of course is going to be the man in the mo in the room meeting foreign leaders and doing the actual work of of representing the United States in high level negotiations and and kind of strategic alliances and remember that the the the Rubio or whoever who becomes the secretary of state is also going to be in charge of managing thousands of diplomats and civil servants around the world and I would imagine that many of those people would have been highly concerned when the election outcome came in and I would think that they would be somewhat more relieved this morning to see that it’s Rubio um as the name that’s being mentioned particularly you know rather than someone from kind of outside of Washington politics for example you know someone from the the Maga world I think these people would have would have struggled to work under those circumstances um and yes so this this position is obviously really important and and often seen as the most important um cabinet pick well we know that Rubio has had a pro Trump epiphany of late and we also know about Trump’s demand of total loyalty I mean is that the most important qualification for anyone who wants to be in his cabinet so I think we’ve long known that Donald Trump is is willing to be flexible on on policy positions on on various different things as long as you kind of swear a an oath of loyalty to him and I think if we look at the confirmed appointees so far I think we can see that that that strongly agrees with this this assessment so we’ve got six confirmed positions so far plus another two that we kind of strongly uh assume and of those six that we’ve seen as as being confirmed I I would I think you could make an argument that all six of them are kind of trump loyalist so that’s Susie WS who’s been named as the chief of staff Steven Miller who’s been named as the Deputy Chief of Staff for policy Tom homman as the borders are Lee zelden as the Environmental Protection Agency uh Michael Waltz as the National Security advisor and then Elise stefanic as the ambassador to the United Nations all of these people to varying degrees have had their policy disagreements with Trump over the years and I think the same can be said clearly from the from the clip there of Rubio but what they’ve done is they’ve decided no we will we will put our loyalty to Trump ahead of whatever other concerns we have and and they therefore they’ve been rewarded and I have to ask you about the billionaire Elon Musk now we don’t know if he’s going to have an official role in this new Administration we do know that he reportedly sat in on a call with Ukraine’s president last week I mean could he also play a role in US foreign policy so I think at this point Elon Musk is is going to play some kind of a role in US foreign policy whether or not he has an official position so obviously he’s he’s the head of SpaceX which operates starlink um and gives him this kind of technological and and Global strategic importance um as we see most obviously in the Ukraine example um starink has really been a crucial uh way of maintaining communication networks in the country um during the the the war um and so his decision making regarding staring who already had um quasi diplomatic effects um and there’s been kind of discussion or suggestions about whether he would allow continue to allow starlink um to continue to operate and and essentially he’s become a key stakeholder um who can really apply pressure um and potentially influence outcomes and he may even prefer not to have an official government role because that might kind of um remove any kind of constraints or protocols around him particular when we think here of his other corporate interests as well so it might be that musk prefers a non like an unofficial government role basically yeah that would also mean that he would not um have to get approval by the US Senate which would take the politics out of it let me ask you about Trump the candidate and Trump the president-elect while he was running for office he was very vocal and loud about almost everything but since being reelected Trump has largely been absent from the public eye what’s your read on that so I wouldn’t take too much away from that I wouldn’t I wouldn’t infer too much there by all accounts there has been a lot of activity at maralago we’ve seen a lot of important people coming and going um and he’s really been busy kind of taking meetings and shaping his team um we know that you know in 2016 much of the conservative movement was skeptical as to whether or not Trump could could really win the election um and I think there was a much looser plan putting in place and we saw kind of a huge amount of staff turnover in that and potentially connected to it I think that’s very different this time this time there was a clear plan we saw that from organizations like the Heritage Foundation with their project 2025 plan and this time there was a a strong expectation that Trump could win um and so what we’re seeing now is is those plans rapidly being put into to action but I also imagine he’s also just very tired after what has been a very intense campaign and remember this is a man we’re talking about here who turned 78 earlier this year that’s right the oldest man elected to the office of US president we can’t forget that political analyst Mike Coburn Mike as always we appreciate your analysis thank you great to me to you again thanks

AND SO THAT IS WHY TONIGHT GROUNDED BY THE LESSONS OF OUR HISTORY BUT INSPIRED BY THE PROMISE OF OUR FUTURE, I BECAME AMERICAN CENTURY. WELL, NOW THE TIME HAS COME FOR OUR GENERATION TO LEAD THE WAY TOWARDS A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY. [ APPLAUSE ] >> MARCO! MARCO! MARCO! >> IF WE REFORM OUR TAX CODE AND CONTROL SPENDING AND MODERNIZE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS AND REPEAL OR REPLACE OBAMACARE, IF WE DO THOOES THINGS — [ APPLAUSE ] IF WE DO THESE THINGS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL CREATE MILLIONS OF BETTER PAYING MODERN JOBS. IF WE CREATE A 21st CENTURY SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION THAT PROVIDES WORKING AMERICANS THE CHANCE TO ACQUIRE THE SKILLS THEY NEED THAT NO LONGER GRADUATE STUDENTS WITH MOUNTAINS OF DEBT AND DEGREES THAT DO NOT LEAD TO JOBS — EX [ APPLAUSE ] AND THAT GRADUATES MORE STUDENTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL READY TO WORK. THEN OUR PEOPLE WILL BE PREPARED TO SEIZE THEIR OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS NEW ECONOMY. MR[ APPLAUSE ] IF WE REMEMBER — IF WE REMEMBER THAT THE FAMILY, NOT THE GOVERNMENT, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INSTITUTION IN OUR SOCIETY. [ APPLAUSE ] IF WE REMEMBER THAT ALL HUMAN LIFE DESERVES PROTECTION OF OUR LAWS. [ APPLAUSE ] AND IF WE REMEMBER THAT ALL PARENTS DESERVE TO CHOOSE THE EDUCATION THAT’S RIGHT FOR THEIR CHILDREN, THEN WE WILL HAVE A STRONG PEOPLE AND A STRONG NATION. [ APPLAUSE ] AND IF AMERICA ONCE AGAIN ACCEPTS THE MANTLE OF GLOBAL LE LEADERSHIP. BY ABANDONING THIS ADMINISTRATION’S DANGEROUS CONCESSIONS TO IRAN AND ITS HOSTILITY TO ISRAEL. [ APPLAUSE ] BY REVERSING THE WHO WILL OWE ING OUT OF OUR MILITARY, WHICH BY GIVING THE MEN AND WOMEN THE RESOURCES, THE CARE, AND THE GRATITUDE THAT THEY DESERVE. [ APPLAUSE ] BY NO LONGER BEING PASSIVE IN THE FACE OF CHINESE AND RUSSIAN AGGRESSION. AND BY ENDING THE NEAR TOTAL DISREGARD FOR THE EROSION OF DEMOCRACY AND GENERATIONAL CHOICE ABOUT WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY WE WILL BE. NOW JUST YESTERDAY A LEADER FROM YESTERDAY — [ BOOING ] — BEGAN A CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT BY PROMISING TO TAKE US BACK TO YESTERDAY. YESTERDAY IS OVER. [ APPLAUSE ] AND WE’RE NEVER GOING BACK. YOU SEE, WE AMERICANS ARE PROUD OF OUR HISTORY, BUT OUR COUNTRY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT THE F FUTURE. AND BEFORE US NOW IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO AUTHOR THE GREATEST CHAPTER YET IN THE AMAZING STORY OF AMERICA. BUT WE CAN’T DO THAT BY GOING BACK TO THE LEADERS AND IDEAS OF THE PAST. WE MUST CHANGE THE DECISIONS WE ARE MAK

how does vice president Rubio sound to you it doesn’t has a kind of a ring to it no I absolutely think I’d say no I wouldn’t want to be vice president in 2012 of course you would have a lot more power as vice president potentially he can deny it all he wants I’m not going to be the Vice Presidential nominee but I’m always flattered when people bring it up I think they but there’s no denying that a lot of people think Senator Marco Rubio today his name is Mitt Romney the next president of the United States could be Mitt Romney’s running mate he barely been in the Senate 2 years you’re 41 years old yeah you’re 41 years old do you think you’re qualified to be a Heartbeat Away from the presidency well look I have a job now and I’m certainly feel like I’m qualified to be in the United States Senate like anything you do in life you learn so certainly I feel that I’m better prepared to be in the Senate today than I was a year ago Senator Marco Rubio maybe he’s seen as too young for this election cycle but in Marco Rubio many conservatives not to mention Tea Party reporters have a new hero and I promise I V for thank you I appreciate it thank you one who is personable seemingly unflappable and could wind up helping to broaden the Republican base with Hispanic voters you’ve been called the Tea Party Senator first of all do you like that name I have no problem being associated with the tea party but I can only tell you what I stand for and I think the things I stand for and I think the things the Republican Party should and does stand for are very mainstream positions those positions are strongly conservative Right Down the Line so where do you stand on abortion rights I’m pro-life I I believe life begins at conception where do you stand on Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act I think it should be repealed and replaced what about entitlement reform I think it’s essential I want to save Medicare my mom’s on Medicare so what is this that’s me I I think I was in 12th grade or 11th grade when they put the new sidewalks in I guess I wrote our name on there Rubio under standing Marco Rubio requires a visit to West Miami the heavily immigrant Cuban Community where he spent most of his childhood he still lives there in a modest house with his wife Janette and their four young children Rubio’s parents came from Cuba to the US in 1956 his mother’s jobs ranged from hotel made to Kmart stock clerk his father struggled to find Steady work his whole life you know he wanted to be a businessman he wanted to own his own business and just never cot worked out for them ended up becoming a bartender and really at some point in their lives it became the purpose of their lives to just give their kids the chance to do all the things they wanted to do but couldn’t do I’ve always felt driven to do the things they couldn’t but in high school and college Rubio was less interested in studying more interested in football I wasn’t a standout but I enjoyed it and I I would have been in the NFL had it not been for my lack of size speed and talent finally he buckled down and got a law degree he married Janette dubes whom he met in college and then he jumped into politics winning a seat on the west Miami city commission I used to sit where did I sit I thought I sat right here one of his early victories getting trees planted on a street that had been left bare it’s a sense of possibilities that he says he’s still carries only now on a bigger stage I’d love again to feel like I did that day when those trees were going in ground only this time we saved Medicare only this time we balanced our budget only this time you know we found a way to make our tax code normal he served in the Florida State House of Representatives becoming one of the youngest speakers ever but there were some missteps along the way at one point he claimed his parents fled Cuba after Castro took over I wish I would have known the data I would have gotten it right I would have said they came before Castro but so you weren’t trying to exaggerate your biography I don’t know how what that adds to the biography I mean and I maybe some in the media nationally that analyzed this don’t fully understand it but here in Miami among Cuban Exiles the fact that they came in 1956 doesn’t change anything for anyone and then there were the questions about his use of a Florida State Republican party credit card to pay for personal expenses he paid the charges and says it was all a careless mistake and now I have to spend all my time explaining how I use the card instead of talking about public policy so it’s my fault you know and obviously I learned that lesson then came the chance to run for US Senate which led to some interesting discussions at home Janette you’re not a real big fan of politics are you no I’m not a political person this is a great beginning Rubio was up against Florida’s popular Governor Charlie Christ but behind in the money and in the polls he convened a meeting at his house he was strongly considering dropping out it was Janette spoke up I didn’t I didn’t agree at that point at that moment I didn’t agree you know first of all something that we don’t teach our kids once we start something you do it you know and he really wanted to do something to make a difference and and so therefore once we got on that road we’re going to stick to it guess my question is why did you need your wife to tell you that why didn’t you know that yourself um well because I’m the was I was the one that was afraid he stayed in the race portraying his opponent as too liberal with help from a hug that Chris famously gave to President Obama in Florida Rubio W now these are just three examples now he spends many week days in Washington while his family is home in Miami is that tough having him in Washington most of the week I’m used to it but it’s not easy you know it’s not easy when I have to do things with the kids activities homework you know it’s like being a single mom during the week yeah it is it’s like being a single mom it is thanks for making me feel good guys I apprciate but he does spend time with his family on weekends go get water their faith is an important part of their life Rubio was born Catholic but when his parents briefly moved to Las Vegas in 1979 they joined the Mormon church so you grew up Catholic then you were Mormon for 3 years then you came back and were catholic again and now you go to a Baptist Church well yeah a church that’s affiliated with a Southern Baptist convention but people are going to say wow that’s interesting both yeah and that’s the that’s the so at some point about two you never you never stopped being a Catholic I never stopped being a Catholic you’re not going to mass every Sunday we do absolutely but you’re going to a Baptist Church well we go to mass every Sunday and we also go to Christ Fellowship uh quite regular yeah we go to both I’m honored and I’m privileged to be here with you today and Rubio’s story is about to get a lot more attention with a tour promoting his new autobiography as the son of Cuban immigrants he brings a unique voice to a heated debate within the Republican party let’s talk about the Hispanic vote does the Republican Party have a problem with Hispanics I think it has work to do it makes no sense to expel talented young people on Friday President Obama made that work harder easing federal laws to allow young undocumented immigrants to stay in the country without facing deportation the move largely undercut legislation that Rubio was planning to unveil Rubio has been walking a fine line on immigration his tea party affiliation and refusal to condemn Arizona’s tough immigration law for example have put him at odds with many Hispanic groups but Rubio says Hispanics are worried about more than just one issue Americans of Hispanic descent do not wake up in the morning every day and talk about immigration for the next 18 hours I mean they have jobs they worry about their families economic future they have to pay student loans they have payroll to make if they have a small business latest polls show President Obama up by more than 40 points over Romney among Hispanics which clearly begs the question one more time are you being vetted by Mitt Romney’s campaign well I’m not going to discuss the the process then and that shouldn’t take it as a yes or a no would you like to be president someday I’ve never thought about wanting to be a specific job in politics come on no seriously you guys think the TR this is it’s good for your heart but then we visited Rubio’s favorite West Miami Bakery and the folks there who have served Marco Rubio plenty of pastries seem to have no doubt about where their favorite son might be headed one day 11:00 do you think someday you can send the pastries to the White House oh yes I know I will before I go I know I will

Senator Senator Rubio thank you thank you all for being here today uh secretary kry the Administration has publicly stated that you expect this deal is going to be rejected by majorities in in both houses of Congress you said that while winning approval of Congress would be nice your goal is basically to convince enough Democrats to support the deal so that you can avoid avoid an override of president’s veto so as far as the administration’s concerned this is a a done deal but I do think it’s important for the world and especially for Iran to understand that as far as the American sanctions are concerned this is a deal whose survival is not guaranteed beyond the term of the current president and by the way I personally hope that the next president is someone who will Who will remove the National Security waiver and reimpose the Congressional sanctions that were passed by Congress uh because this deal is fundamentally interrup flawed I believe it weakens our national security and it makes the world a more dangerous place and throughout this process by the way this Administration in my opinion is repeatedly capitulated on some important items the examples are endless it begins by allowing a perception to be created that we were pressing for anywhere anytime inspections and now denying that that was ever part of the process or ever promised and I understand all the disputes about the terms but clearly there was a perception created among my colleagues in both sides of the aisle that we were pressing for anywhere anytime inspections including of potential covert sites then the Snapback sanctions I think are also Hollow we have this complicated 24-day arbitration process that Iran is going to test and exploit over and over again they realize this by the way that they know that once the international sanctions are gone they’ll be impossible to snap back as your Iranian counterpart Mr zarif has bragged quote once the structure of the sanctions collapse it would be impossible to reconstruct it he also bragged earlier this week by the way that incremental violations of the agreement would not be prosecuted no matter what happens Iran will keep the more than billions of dollars it is going to receive receive upfront basically as a signing bonus Iran will be allowed to continue to develop longrange ballistic missiles icbms that know only one purpose and that is for nuclear warfare and uh and so all these promises they’re making about never pursuing a weapon they are all revealed as lies when they are developing a longrange rocket capable of reaching this very room one day not so far off in the future there’s only one reason to develop those Rockets that’s to put a nuclear warhead on them by the way the deal also allows the arm embargo to eventually end on terrorism this deal provides billions possibly hundreds of billions to a regime that according to the Director of National Intelligence directly threatens the interests of the United States and our allies and lastly nothing in the deal holds Iran to account on human rights quite the opposite the Iranian regime is being rewarded for its atrocious human rights record I know that you said that you’ve brought up the American hostages in every negotiation and I I think we all thank you for that but for the families of Americans who are missing or detained in Iran such as that of my constituent Robert levenson this deal has brought no new information regarding their loved ones whereabouts this deal does nothing for Washington Post reporter Jason Jason ran whose Brother Ali is with us here in this room today in fact you personally met and negotiated with an Iranian official who when pressed on Jason’s case lied to the world he lied to the World by saying we don’t jail people for their opinions this deal does nothing from Marine Corps Sergeant Amir hekmati who dictated a letter from Evan prison that said quote secretary kery sits politely with the Iranians shaking hands and offering large economic concessions to save them from economic meltdown unquote as Iran adds hostages does nothing for pastor s abedini whose only crime was practicing his religion in fact the only people this deal does anything for directly are the Iranian officials who want to continue to jail and execute their people who hate Israel and seek to wipe the Jewish state and its people from the face of the planet who want to spread Mayhem throughout the Middle East and continue to help Assad Slaughter the Syrian people and perhaps kill some Americans and Israelis while they’re at it secretary K I do not fault you for trying to engage in diplomacy and striking a deal with Iran I don’t I do fault the president for striking a terrible deal with Iran I hope enough of my Democratic colleagues can be persuaded to vote against this deal and prevent the president from executing executing it but even if this deal narrow avoids Congressional defeat because we can’t get to that veto proof majority the Iranian regime in the world should know that this deal this deal is your deal with Iran I mean yours meaning this Administration and the next president is under no legal or moral obligation to live up to it the Iranian regime in the world should know that the majority of members of this Congress do not support this deal and that the deal could go away on the day President Obama leaves office and in that realm I wanted to ask about this if you today are a company that after this deal is signed go into Iran and build a manufacturing facility and then the next president of the United States lifts the National Security waiver or Iran violates the deal do the S obviously do the sanctions apply against that facility moving forward in essence if I go in if a company goes into Iran now after this deal builds a manufacturing facility of any kind they build car batteries and then Iran violates the deal and the sanctions kick back in will that facility be able to continue to operate without facing sanctions Senator um if a company acts uh to go in to do business with Iran while the sanctions are lifting that would be permitted if Iran violates the deal and if the sanctions snap back they would not be able to continue doing things that are in violation of the sanctions okay so the reason why it’s important it’s important for companies anywhere in the world to know that whatever investment they make in Iran they are risking it and in essence they are betting on the hope that Iran never violates the deal and they are also hoping that the next president of the United States does not reimpose us Congressional sanctions by which they would become a sanctioned entity I have one more specific question about the deal there’s a section titled nuclear security and the document states that those who negotiated the deal are prepared to cooperate with Iran on the implementation of nuclear security guidelines and best practices there’s a provision 10.2 it reads cooperation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against and respond to nuclear security threats including sabotage as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical Protection Systems here’s my question if Israel decides it doesn’t like this deal and it wants to sabotage an Iranian nuclear program or facility does this deal does this deal that we have just signed obligate us to help Iran defend itself against Israeli Sab sabotage or for that matter the sabotage of any other country in the world the uh I I believe that that that refers to things like physical security and safeguards I think all of our options and those of our allies and friends would remain in place well I guess that’s my point if if Israel conducts an air strike against a physical facility does this deal the way I read it does it require us to help Iran protect and respond to that threat uh no it does not no the the the purpose of that is to be able to have longer term guarantees as we enter a world and which cyber warfare is increasingly a concern for everybody that if you are going to have a nuclear capacities you clearly want to be able to make sure that those are adequately protected but I I can assure you we will coordinate in every possible way with Israel with respect to Israel’s concern so if Israel conducts a Cyber attack against the Iranian nuclear program are we obligated to help them defend themselves against the Israeli Cyber attack I know I assure you that we will be coordinating very very closely with Israel as we do on every aspect of Israel’s security and that’s not how I read this well I don’t see any way I don’t see any way possible that we will be in conflict with Israel with respect to what we might want to do there and I think we just have to wait until we get to that point but I do think Senator you know I listened to a long list of uh your your objections here about it but um there’s no alternative that you or anybody else has proposed as to what you I sure have secretary caring I have and I am confident that the next president of the United States will have enough common sense that if this is being applied properly if it’s being implemented fully they’re not just going to arbitrarily end it they might want to engage and find a way if they think there’s some way to strengthen or do something but I cannot see somebody just arbitrarily deciding let’s go back to where we were where they’re completely free to do whatever they want without any inspections without any input without any restraints without any insight I don’t think any president would do that well even and the status quo was they already in violation before you signed this deal Iran was already in violation of existing mandates and restrictions including things they had signed on to in the past and this deal brings them back into compliance Senator that is exactly the purpose of this deal well this deal brings they have to live up to it and if they don’t live up to it every option we have today is on the table so we don’t lose anything here but we the way we lose is by rejecting the deal because then you have no restraints you have no sanctions you have no Insight you have no inspectors you have no dimin of their centrifuges you have no reduction of their of their uh stockpile and if you want to just conveniently forget the fact that they had enough fisal material to build 10 to 12 bombs that’s the threat to Israel I mean if you go back to that without any alternative other than what uh you know most people think is going to be the alternative which is confrontation nobody has a plan that is articulated that is reasonable as to how you are going to strengthen this do something more when the supreme leader of Iran and the president of Iran and others believe they’ve signed an agreement with the world and the rest of the world thinks it’s a good agreement now if you think the Ayatollah is going to come back and negotiate again with an American that’s fantasy you’re never going to see that because we will if proven we’re not trustworthy we got 535 secretaries of State you can’t deal with anybody and that’s going to undo a whole bunch of efforts and a whole bunch of things that matter to people in the world that’s what’s at stake here thank

on the road Republican Marco Rubio launching his White House bid in a big way at Miami’s Freedom Tower i sat down with the 43-year old first term senator at his best miami home just hours before kickoff speech as to why he wants to be President I think this country is at a generational moment where needs to decide not what party at once in charge but what kind of country are we going to want to be moving forward but why you I realize that every country in the world has rich people and I’m glad we have rich people in America too but what makes us unique is that this is the one place on earth but millions and millions of people who aren’t rich still own a home are able to save for retirement able to leave the kids better off to themselves and I think if we ever lose that we stop being special our next president of the United States has to be someone who understands that is passionate about it and as a plan to revive it and expand it to reach more people than ever whether you called Hillary Clinton in one word yesterday does that mean well one of the challenges we have today in this country is we are trying to fix 21st century problems with 20th century ideas right so we have people from yesterday leaders that are still grounded in the 20th century who think it would just pour more money into our existing higher education system he will get a 21st century result isn’t true anymore she says she wants to run to be the champion of everyday Americans where are you running because her ideas to help everyday Americans were not have everyday Americans I’ve got to ask you about Jeb Bush she’s been described as your mentor he was governor when you were Speaker of the House you said when we were running percentage we would defer if he wanted the Senate seat why not refer to her from time in my life and my career and the country was at a different moment at that point I think today were even further along into the 21st century but not our policies and I just feel uniquely called to at least lend my voice to this effort and I think we’re going to be successful Jeb is my friend they still my friend he will continue to be was to continue to be friends I have tremendous admiration for him I’m not running against him be fair and again so I don’t agree with that I think it’s important understand I’m not running against Jeb Bush and I hope he’s not running against me we are competing for the same job you have a birthday tribute to Jeb Bush where you talked about in the Senate but you would often ask yourself what would Jeb do sure but we’re asking yourself that I shouldn’t people choosing look I and I think the Jeb Bush continues to be a model for people in terms of how you approach public policy but we’ve reached a moment now not just in my career but in the historic country so I believe needs of I demands the future has an agenda for that future and I feel uniquely qualified all for that and that’s why I’m running for president what would it mean for America to see the first ratinho president well I I don’t know I mean I haven’t viewed my candidacy in that right I’m sure it would be an important moment for a lot of people not just for Americans of Hispanic descent but for anyone who comes from families like mine senator thank you thank you you know even though it doesn’t agree with President Obama much he did write that he teared up at President Obama’s when he won because it would have meant to see the first african-american president are you going to have more with Rubio and his wife in the last half hour here we spent some time with his films left for little kids as well if you doing sunday night along with millions of other fans my wife and I are going to be watching the premiere of season 5 of Game of Thrones on HBO and the British actor Kit Harington is one of the breakout stars of the series one of my favorite characters he plays Jon Snow who’s passionate about defending humans from some rather unsavory characters and kid is here with us in times square this morning great to meet you especially after having watched you for so many seasons bekommen when my wife saw that you were on the show this morning I got a text that said Jon Snow with about 75 ! that so you have said that this is going to be a particularly wild season but this is a show with a high high body count so how could this season be particularly wild yeah we have to keep upping the bar that’s the hard thing with the Charlotte started season one with a high body count yeah big shots and twist so it’s a kind of matter of howdy

[Applause] thank you thank you very much thank you let me first start by saying this is a lot better than the last time I did one of these in Miami let me uh let me Begin by telling you a few moments ago I I got off the phone with the congressman Murphy and I congratulated him on a good race uh Congressman Murphy’s a young man with a bright future and I thanked him for his willingness to step forward in public service guys running for office is hard putting your name on the ballot is hard and I congratulate him and his family and I look forward to seeing the ways he is going to serve our country in the future I want to begin by acknowledging what I always do and that is absolutely you should P Patrick did ran a great race all the glory and the praise belongs to my Creator to God from my personal faith my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ he has carried us in uh every moment of our life in the good times and the difficult ones and the twists and turns and there’s been a number of twists and turns this year and so I always acknowledge God and I thank God because the greatest blessing he’s given me after the opportunity to be a citizen of the greatest nation on Earth is an extraordinary woman to share my life with my wife Janette and my four children I’m so grateful [Applause] for we we had a great campaign team and I wish I could mention all of their names there’s so many great people but I do want to acknowledge someone who came here and helped us run this campaign and did a phenomenal job there is no one better in the country right now in my opinion at running these things than the person who ran mine is name is Clint Reed and I want to thank him for his work he did fantastic work I want to thank the staff in my Senate Office I can’t tell you how many people came up to me and said you know I’m not a republican but I’m going to vote for you because you guys helped me you helped me with a social security claim you helped me with an issue at the VA and that’s the work we do we are honored to do it and that is the people that work in my offices in Washington and all across Florida we have the best Senate staff in America and I’m grateful to them and of course I want to thank the the people of this extraordinary state for giving me another opportunity to continue to serve them in the United States Senate this is an extraordinary place Florida it is the collection of all the things that make us the greatest nation on Earth of people who have lived here for decades of the descendants of slaves of the children of immigrants Florida is America and I’m it’s such an honor to be able to represent this extraordinary State I want to say a few words in Spanish because I know people get their news in Spanish a lot of people that voted for me learned about me in Spanish [Applause] [Applause] Ric colia looo we have been through an interesting year as a nation and we aate the results of tonight’s election but here’s what I know for sure here’s what I’m here’s what I um here’s what I know there is still no Nation on Earth that I would rather be despite all of our challenges there is no country and there is no people on this planet that I would play trade places with I am glad that I’m an American in the 21st century America’s going to be okay we will turn this country around I have faith I know God is not done with America yet he has great plans for our [Music] people in the days and weeks to come I hope that we as a people here in Florida I hope we will set the example in this great state that while we can disagree on issues we cannot share a country where people hate each other because of their political affiliations we cannot move forward as a nation if we cannot have enlightened debates about tough issues you can disagree with someone without hating them and you can disagree with them without delegitimizing their point of view that doesn’t mean that our diversity will not continue to divide us on critical issues it does mean that there is no way for this nation to move forward if we leave anyone behind and so I hope that I and my colleagues as we return to work in Washington DC can set a better example of how political discourse should exist in this country and I know people feel betrayed and you have a right to every major institution in our society has failed us the media the government big business Wall Street Academia they’ve all failed us and so people are so frustrated and angry but we must channel that anger and frustration into something positive let us move us let it move us forward as energy to confront and solve our challenges and our problems America has never had an easy era Florida has never had an easy era our state has always confronted great challenges and so too has our people and yet in each generation Americans have step forward to confront their challenges and embrace their opportunities and now the time for has come for us to do the same I believe with all my heart that if we do what needs to be done in the years to come that my children and yours will be the freest and the most prosperous Americans that have ever lived but we must start now for while we still have time to get this right we do not have forever I will close by saying that while I have the belief that the decisions we make in government are important I know that in the end America will not be saved by politicians I hope that we as a nation will return to Our Roots as a people and as a nation respecting our diversity but understanding that ultimately what unites us as a people is the common dream and the common hope of a better life and that we can only achieve that if we all achieve that and I hope that God gives me the opportunity and the voice to move forward and I’ll close with this I hope this nation tonight irrespective of the outcome for president that we will all say a prayer for our great country because as the ancient words of scripture tell us unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain who build and unless the Lord guard the city in vain does the guard keep watch let us work together God bless this great nation thank you for the opportunity to continue to serve God bless all of you and God bless Florida thank you thank you very much thank you thank you

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog

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New Secretary Of State Marco Rubio’s Senate Confirmation Hearing

Study Guide: U.S. Foreign Policy & Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Short Answer Quiz

Essay Questions

Glossary of Key Terms

Rubio’s Foreign Policy Priorities

Rubio on US Foreign Policy

FAQ: US Foreign Policy Under Secretary Marco Rubio

Rubio’s Second Term: A Trump Administration Timeline

Rubio’s Confirmation as Secretary of State

Trump’s America First Foreign Policy

US-China Relations: Competition, Cooperation, and Conflict

The War in Ukraine: Causes, Actors, and Potential Resolutions

TikTok, National Security, and a 90-Day Window

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New Secretary Of State Marco Rubio’s Senate Confirmation Hearing

Study Guide: U.S. Foreign Policy & Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Short Answer Quiz

Essay Questions

Glossary of Key Terms

Rubio’s Foreign Policy Priorities

Rubio on US Foreign Policy

FAQ: US Foreign Policy Under Secretary Marco Rubio

Rubio’s Second Term: A Trump Administration Timeline

Rubio’s Confirmation as Secretary of State

Trump’s America First Foreign Policy

US-China Relations: Competition, Cooperation, and Conflict

The War in Ukraine: Causes, Actors, and Potential Resolutions

TikTok, National Security, and a 90-Day Window

The Original Text

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