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Sen. Rubio: Political Theater In Washington Gets In The Way Of Problem Solving

Bill Bennett: “Is it a serious place? Do you regard the Senate as a serious place? I remember Edmund Burke said he found the French Revolution to be a chaos of levity and ferocity, both at the same time. How do you find the Senate?”

Senator Rubio: “I think there are serious people here. I’m not sure the process is always about solving problems. I think a lot of times it’s about winning elections, and there’s clearly a place for that, but I think winning elections should be the by-product of your work – not the purpose of it. And I think too often the politics here drives everything. You know, we’re about to see the absurd political theater of bringing something for a vote. The perfect example is, you know, the leadership here in the Senate, the Democrat leadership has announced that they’re going to – they haven’t even offered their own budget yet – but they’re going to bring up the Ryan budget. To them, it’s about political theater. You know, the way this process should normally work is if they’ve got a better idea, they need to offer that and propose that, and they’re not going to do that, at least it doesn’t appear like they’re serious about doing that. We’ll see, maybe they’ll change. But the point is, there’s a lot of theater and a lot of political posturing, and I think it gets in the way of problem solving.”

Sen. Rubio: The Administration Should Be A Stronger Advocate For Change In Syria

Bennett: “Middle East – did we lose an opportunity to do something about Syria because of our involvement in Libya, and was that a mistake, or have we not foregone that opportunity?”

Senator Rubio: “You know, the U.S. is big enough and powerful enough to walk and chew gum at the same time. I mean, they’re all the same cause. At the end of the day, it’s about people in the Middle East that are tired, Arabs in particular, that are tired of living under corrupt, decrepit, backward regimes, and they’re standing up for themselves. Syria is a place that we can continue to have a voice. I think we’ve taken too long. I think the fact that the administration continues to hold out hope that somehow Assad is going to be a reformer is not the right way to go. I intend, along with a couple of my colleagues this week, to introduce a resolution here in the Senate to act on this issue. And my hope is that this policy will move quickly on voicing support for those on the ground there in Syria who are trying, in a peaceful way, to bring about change to their country. And I think the world has to be so disappointed, I think, that this administration has not been more forceful in speaking out on behalf of freedom and democracy throughout the region, including places like Bahrain.”