WASHINGTON — (AP) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday painted a dark vision of the consequences of America's "unbalanced relationship" with China, echoing President-elect Donald Trump's anti-globalist rhetoric as he vies to be confirmed as his secretary of state.
While touching on issues plaguing the Middle East, Latin America and eastern Europe, Rubio focused much of his five-hour Senate confirmation hearing warning that without swift and substantive policy shifts, China will remain the “biggest threat” to American prosperity in the 21st Century.
“If we don’t change course, we are going to live in the world where much of what matters to us on a daily basis from our security to our health will be dependent on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not,” Rubio testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Asked about NATO, the 75-year-old security organization that Trump has repeatedly criticized, Rubio affirmed its value, calling it a "very important alliance." But Rubio endorsed Trump's view that some European allies should be contributing more to their collective defense, adding that the U.S. must decide whether it wants "a primary defense role" or to be a "backstop" against aggression.
The 53-year-old Republican made the case against China and other U.S. adversaries to his colleagues on the Foreign Relations panel where he served for 14 years. He received a warm welcome from both sides of the aisle, making jokes about how “surreal” it was to be on the other side of the dais.
"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,” Rubio joked as part of his opening statement.
But in between the niceties, Rubio blamed America's vulnerability to China on the shift to globalism, which he says “is now a weapon being used against us.” He said the U.S. must begin placing “our core national interests above all else."
It's a remarkable opening salvo from Rubio, who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants and who, if confirmed, would become the first Latino to serve as the nation's top diplomat.
The confirmation hearing begins a new chapter in the political career of the third-term senator, whose relationship with Trump has evolved over the last decade. Once rivals trading schoolyard insults as they campaigned for president in 2016, the two men became close allies as Trump campaigned for another White House term last year.
Rubio first came to Washington as part of the "tea party" wave in 2010 and once advocated for allowing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. But like other Republicans, Rubio's views on immigration have shifted toward the hardline stance of Trump, who has pledged to aggressively pursue deportations once he takes office on Monday.
Unlike many of Trump's Cabinet selections, Rubio is expected to easily win confirmation, notching support not only from Republicans but also Democrats who endorse him as a "responsible" pick to represent the U.S. abroad. Many expect he will be among the first of Trump's Cabinet picks approved.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, who served alongside Rubio on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he has high hopes that the Florida Republican will reject the isolationist approach of other Trump allies.
“I think Marco is a hawk, but he’s also an internationalist, and I think the challenge for him will be to maintain the long bipartisan tradition of America being indispensable in world affairs," the Hawaii lawmaker told The Associated Press. "And there are people in the Trump world who want us to run away from being the leaders of the free world. And I’m hoping that Marco’s instincts towards American strength will win the day.”
Rubio's approach to foreign affairs is grounded in his years of service on the Foreign Relations committee and the Senate Intelligence panel. In his speeches and writings, he's delivered increasingly stern warnings about growing military and economic threats to the United States.
If confirmed, Rubio will become the leader of U.S. foreign policy — though his role will surely remain secondary to Trump, who relishes the global stage and frequently uses the bully pulpit against America's allies.
Even before taking office, Trump has stirred angst in foreign capitals by threatening to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland and suggesting he will pressure Canada to become the nation’s 51st state.
When asked about the canal Wednesday, Rubio testified that while he hasn’t “looked at the legal research,” he is “compelled to suspect that an argument could be made that the terms under which that canal were turned over has been violated.”
But, he added, that “Panama is a great partner in a lot of other issues and I hope we can resolve this issue."
A Biden administration decision to rescind Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism with just days left in office is likely to have irked Rubio, who has long supported tough sanctions on the communist-run island.
When asked by Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas, if he believed Cuba should have remained on that list, Rubio replied: "without a question." He also indicated that the new administration would reverse plans by the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the state of sponsor of terrorism list.
“Nothing that the Biden administration has agreed to in the last 12 or 18 hours binds the next administration, which starts on Monday,” Rubio said.
Secretaries of state have played a key role in formulating the foreign policy of the country since its founding, starting with the first one, Thomas Jefferson, who served in the top Cabinet position under President George Washington.
Since then, Jefferson, as well as his 19th century successors James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan, have all gone on to be elected president.
More recent secretaries of state have been less successful in their political ambitions, including John Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential election to President George W. Bush before becoming the top diplomat, and Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 election to Trump.
The most successful secretaries of state have been known for their closeness to the presidents whom they serve, notably James Baker under George H.W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice under George W. Bush and, to some extent, Clinton under Barack Obama.
Like Clinton, Rubio was once a political rival to the president-elect who nominated them. However, the Clinton-Obama relationship during the 2008 Democratic primaries was not nearly as hostile as that between Trump and Rubio in the 2016 GOP primaries, which was marked by name-calling and personal insults.
Trump had an acrimonious relationship with his first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Trump fired him from the position via a social media post less than two years into his term.
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Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
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