SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you for having me here. There'll be a lot to talk about today. And I just want to remind everybody, our foreign policy is one that's solely focused on the national interest of the United States of America - on the defense of our country, both its military defense and our security, but also our economic security and the vibrancy of our economy, our sovereignty, and our future.
We believe that America should lead the world, and I believe that we are and will have a very good story to tell about that. American leadership, however, should always be on behalf of the American interest. I say this because I think over a period of time in our foreign policy, we lost focus on that. The reality of it is that our foreign policy, first and foremost, must always be what is in the national interest of the United States of America. And determining the national interest oftentimes requires us to make pragmatic decisions. Sometimes in foreign policy, the choices are not between a good choice and a bad choice; it's between two less-than-ideal choices and you're trying to figure out which one of these two choices is the one that is best for the United States and least harmful to our interests. And that plays out every single day.
That said, we remain the world's sole global superpower - the most powerful country on Earth. We have the largest economy; we have the most formidable and powerful military ever known to man, by the way; our dollar remains the reserve currency of the world; our language is used extensively throughout the world to transact all sorts of business and many of our engagements. But all of this means very little if that power is not used to protect the people who built it, the people who it is meant to protect.
I also remind everybody the United States Government is not a charity. We are not here to play social worker. We are here to win. We are here to win on behalf of the American people and on behalf of the national interest - to win for our country, to win for the people of America, to win for the things that are important for our future. And that's what we exist to do. The State Department exists to carry out the foreign policy of the United States both in diplomacy and in aid in a way that furthers the national interest and helps the American people. And it's guided every decision that's been made since January of 2025.
I'd give you - a perfect example is in our own Western Hemisphere, an area that this committee and many of its members long argued, as I did, has long been neglected and not been paid attention to. We now have in this hemisphere a coalition of friendly countries - over a dozen - who have aligned to work on not just the issues of security that we all have in common, but also economic prosperity that go hand in hand. It's an amazing story that basically, other than Nicaragua, other than Cuba, obviously other than Venezuela remains with some challenges, and of course Brazil, although they're in the midst of an election cycle, and to some extent the current government in Colombia as well - at least the president's been problematic - but generally speaking, it is now a region filled with American allies, American-friendly leaders, and an America-friendly direction. Now, obviously we have to operationalize that into action after 20 years of neglect in which China and other global powers have intruded in our Western Hemisphere to the detriment not just of American national interests, but to the detriment, in our view, of the people of those countries as well.
So these are important achievements and one that I'm very happy about. I'm also happy about the way we've transformed foreign aid. In any transition, there will be bumps in the road, but largely speaking, if you think about how those programs that existed in the past were failing us, the old model had to be replaced. And the foreign assistance that remains is being brought under the strategic direction of the State Department. So we're not just providing money; we are also seeking outcomes. It's not just how much money you spend on a program, it's whether you're getting outcomes from it, but it's also being guided through - with our strategic view in mind. And that means that we are able to provide aid not just all over the world but specifically targeted at those most in need and those places around the world most important to the national interest of the United States. That will remain our guiding principle; that's been our guiding principle in our reforms.
So the - I would just - I mean, there's - we can get into a lot of these details in our questions. The bottom line is that all this and more is a reflection of this belief that I outlined at the outset, and that is that foreign policy cannot be separated from economic policy, from border policy, from energy policy, from any of these other spheres that are critical to our national interest. A country that cannot build ships or produce medicine or control immigration or access vital resources cannot defend its people, cannot defend its interests, and cannot defend its way of life.
So our foreign policy continues to be reoriented around the real foundations of national strength. This budget is yet another step, I believe, in that direction. Obviously the appropriators here will have a huge say on the outcome of what that budget ultimately looks like, as we don't anticipate that for the first time in modern history Congress will just take up our budget and pass it; we think it'll go through some substantial reforms along the way, and we look forward to engaging you like we did last year to produce what we think is a very good spending bill at that time.
So anyways, I look forward to your questions. At least that's what it says here. I'm not sure if I really look forward to your questions. I look forward to probably half your questions. Thank you. (Laughter.)
