Senator Coons questions Secretary of State nominee Senator Marco Rubio about strengthening U.S. global leadership, maintaining multilateral engagement under Trump administration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) questioned President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), at his confirmation hearing today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he pushed Rubio on his plans to sustain U.S. global leadership, including multilateral engagement, and his approach to working with presidential Special Envoys.

At today's hearing, Senator Coons spoke positively about his tenure serving with Rubio in the Senate and asked questions regarding Rubio's vision as Secretary of State. Senator Coons underscored the importance of Rubio continuing U.S. leadership in multilateral organizations as a pillar of global engagement and national security. He also expressed concerns related to the last Trump administration's withdrawal from the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Human Rights Council, and the World Health Organization, noting how such extreme moves provided opportunities for U.S. adversaries to advance their competing agendas in those forums.

Senator Coons also questioned Rubio on President-elect Trump's early appointment of multiple Special Envoys, who have been tasked with handling several diplomatic hotspots around the world. Specifically, Senator Coons asked Rubio how the administration plans to make the vetting and appointment of Special Envoys transparent and ensure they do not detract from the State Department's traditional jurisdiction.

A video and partial transcript of Senator Coons' comments are available below.

WATCH HERE.

Senator Coons: President-elect Trump has appointed a series of Special Envoys focused on a wide range of areas, 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 Boehler - I look forward to working with. Senator [Dave] McCormick [R-Pa.] asked about - there's a number of key issues around hostage-taking of Americans. There's a bipartisan bill Senator [Jim] Risch [R-Idaho] and I have on this that we hope to work with you on. 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 peace and prevents further Russian aggression. But others,like Rick Grenell [as Special Envoy] for Special Missions and Massad Boulos [as Senior Advisor] for the Arab world, concern me in terms of the potential for mission conflict or conflict of interest. How will you work to ensure that State maintains 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 Envoys?

Senator Rubio: Sure, and thank you for the question, because I think it's a valid one. With the exception of Mr. Boulos, who I don't know - 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 with in the future. To me, the expression of a Special Envoy is critically important; where it's most successful, it sits on a complex issue with a defined goal and an expression of presidential priorities. So, Sudan is an example of a Special Envoy, and Mr. [Tom] Perriello 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, 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. …

Senator Coons: [M]ultilateral organizations concern and frustrate many of us; some of their actions have been counter to American interests, but when we've withdrawn from multilateral organizations, and in particular, some U.N. 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, 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 U.S. 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?

Senator Rubio: Well, 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 different components to it. I think there's a second component of funding, and that is, 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. …

Senator Coons: In closing, I'll just repeat something I've heard from several of my colleagues. 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.