“I think President Trump made a wonderful choice in nominating you to be Secretary of State… You have my full and unwavering support.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso reaffirmed his support for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of State. Sens. Barrasso and Rubio discussed holding China accountable, ending its unfair exploitation of international organizations, and the importance of promoting all-of-the-above energy projects worldwide.
Senator Rubio’s confirmation hearing was held today in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
On Support for Sen. Rubio’s Confirmation:
“Senator Rubio, congratulations. I’m grateful for your willingness to serve our nation in this new role. Thank you as well for your family’s commitment 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 make 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’s security. Your strategic insights, your principled approach to diplomacy, they’re going to serve our nation well. And we do face many challenges – we’ve talked about them in the past.
“You have my full and unwavering support.”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks on his support for Sen. Rubio.
On Holding Accountable an Increasingly Aggressive China:
“I wanted to start with China, because over the years, we’ve worked closely together to counter the significant threat that China poses to global security and to stability.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s 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. Make no mistake, China is challenging our interests all across various domains – diplomatic, economic, technologic – they’re playing the long game, and I think we have to respond with equal resolve and strategy.
“It’s essential that we fully recognize the scope of the challenge 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?”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks on holding China accountable.
On Eliminating China’s Unfair Advantage:
“You talk about China playing by a different set of rules, and they do… 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 ‘developing nation’ within international organizations. I think it helps them gain an additional unfair advantage in what you described as this unbalanced relationship.
“China is not in any way a developing country. You just mentioned they are a rich and powerful country. That’s not a developing country. It’s the second largest economy in the world. It clearly has the financial resources and access to capital to meet its own needs, 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 that you can do as Secretary of State, to try to eliminate this unfair advantage that they have? It’s an open, unfair advantage.”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks on China’s unfair advantage.
On Promoting All-Of-The-Above Energy Projects Worldwide:
“You used the phrase, we need to be able to ‘fuel our economy’ – I’ll talk a little bit about energy.
“Look, people who live in poor and developing nations, they want to be able to fuel their economy as well. They need a stable energy source to grow their economy, to improve lives. In 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.
“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, 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 countries with energy.
“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 of living?”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks on promoting all-of-the-above energy worldwide.
###