U.S. Senator Katie Britt Questions Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Iran, Cuba During Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee hearing reviewing the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget request for the Department of State, where she questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Senator focused her questions on how the Trump Administration is handling the ongoing conflict in Iran and placing maximum pressure on Cuba.

Senator Britt began by recognizing the United States military personnel overseas, including the Alabamians who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation: "I want to begin by thanking the brave service members of the U.S. military who participated in the recent operations in Iran. I want to honor the memory of the 13 service members who lost their lives, including three Alabamians, Major Alex Klinner, Major Ariana Savino, and Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt. I know that all of Alabama and our country stands with me to honor their bravery and their ultimate sacrifice."

The Senator then noted the successes of the United States disarming Iran's military capabilities, asking Secretary Rubio, "Can you talk to me about how this administration's maximum pressure strategy and approach towards Iran has actually weakened Iran and its terrorist proxies, and ultimately made the United States more safe and secure?"

Secretary Rubio responded saying, "I would start with the what the purpose of Epic Fury was, and that is to deny them the conventional shield of missiles and drones and naval vessels and air defenses that would have allowed them to act with impunity, including on a nuclear weapon… And today, Iran has no navy, it has no air force, its air defenses are severely degraded, which gives us freedom of operation in the future, if that contingency arises. They've lost a substantial percentage of their missile launchers and not just of their missiles, but other missile launchers. And most importantly, they've lost a substantial percentage of their defense industrial base …

"They also don't have the money to rebuild that industrial base rapidly, because they don't have the funds … we are enforcing sanctions. We had a bunch of sanctions on the books, some of which were not being enforced. In fact, for the first time that I can recall, the US has actually seized Iranian oil vessels in the Indo-Pacific, 5 or 6 of them, and denied them the revenue from those vessels, although they have many more that are still out there now."

Secretary Rubio continued by discussing the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, noting, "Where we stand today, unfortunately, is they have decided to mine the Straits of Hormuz and shoot drones at ships that move without their permission or paying a toll. The only ships they will allow to move through freely are their ships. There is no way that they're going to illegally, unlawfully close the Strait… and not pay a price for it …

"Now where we'd like to get to is where they agree they're going to open the Strait like they were supposed to when the ceasefire was agreed to. We would lift the blockade and they would agree, as part of all of this… to sit down and negotiate an agreement that disposes of the highly enriched uranium, that limits and or prohibits their enrichment program, and in return, they would be able to have some, not all, but some of the sanctions that they are facing for their nuclear program potentially waived or reduced, but that would be only depending on what they give…"

Senator Britt also questioned Secretary Rubio about negotiations with Iran and a potential interim agreement, asking whether the U.S. is considering relieving financial pressure on Iran and confirming that a central focus of negotiations with Iran is giving up its stockpile of highly-enriched uranium.

In her last line of questioning, Senator Britt shifted to asking about the Trump Administration's posture towards Cuba: "Speaking of the maximum pressure strategy, you recently announced new sanctions, as you discussed earlier on Cuba's military industrial enterprise and its leaders and its state-owned natural resource companies. Cuba's communist regime has been a long-time threat to our entire hemisphere, a destabilizing force, as you put it in your remarks. Public reporting states that Cuba has purchased attack drones from Russia and from China, and also hosts intelligence officers from Iran, China and Russia. I appreciate President Trump's decisive actions with regards to protecting U.S. national security and these sanctions, and your continued efforts to address the threats that are posed by [Cuba] …

"Can you speak briefly as to why this maximum pressure campaign is so important and how it can ultimately provide for a new Cuba, one that provides freedom and prosperity both to the people of Cuba and a safer hemisphere?"

Secretary of Rubio responded, "Well, what's unique about these sanctions is that they're against a conglomerate that generates revenue in Cuba and none of, it not a single penny of it, goes to benefit the Cuban people, none of it because it's not part of the treasury …

"For example, the government of Cuba cannot go and audit where guys are spending its money or how much money they've made. It is almost a government within a government, a state within a state. And that's what we are targeting. Because, instead of that going to this conglomerate, that's what the Cuban people should be allowed to do. They should be allowed to own their small independent businesses … This is a country that literally, you know, doesn't, doesn't invest in their own energy plants and never has. Meanwhile, they're sitting on $18 billion in this conglomerate of assets that they should be using to benefit the Cuban people and they are not, so those sanctions are targeted at this conglomerate."

You can view the full line of questioning here.

###