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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Fox & Friends to discuss supply chain disruptions and the growing national security threats caused by the border crisis. See below for highlights and watch the full interview here.

On the record backlog of cargo ships at ports across the country and the possibility of re-routing ships through the Panama Canal: 
 
“I think in the short-term the answer is, yes, [we can reroute through the Panama Canal]. I think in the long-term, one of the things we should be working on — strategically — is bringing more of this production to places where they make things out of Asia, out of China, and to the United States if possible. But, if not, we have plenty of countries in this hemisphere that could use jobs. 
 
“Imagine if we had a bunch of factories that couldn’t be in America, but could be in Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, or in the Dominican Republic. It would create jobs, people wouldn’t have to leave those countries. They wouldn’t have to turn themselves over to these trafficking networks that abuse them as they bring them to the United States. It would bring products a lot closer to the United States. In terms of getting it in through ports like Florida, where we have multiple ports in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and in Jacksonville that are open and others that are ready to go. 
 
“A lot of this that is happening in California is the state of California’s fault. Their laws basically say if you’re an independent trucker, most truckers are independent, you can’t work in California, you have to be an employee of a company. Why would an independent trucker that lives in Texas, become an employee of a company in California and then pay the exorbitant income taxes in California for every day they work shipping in California. They have decided, ‘look, I’m not putting up with that hassle.’” 
 
On the Biden Administration’s dismissive response to Americans suffering from supply chain disruptions: 
 
“I hope they continue to say that, because they’re going to suffer devastating losses in the next election — not just for being oblivious and incompetent, but for insulting [Americans’] intelligence.
 
“The reason why they can’t take this thing head on is because California is basically the model woke state. Every crazy left-wing idea in America is being implemented or has been implemented in California. So if you want to look at what [the Biden Administration wants] to turn America into, look at what [the] California state government has done. 
 
“And that’s their base. They raise a lot of money out of there, they have a lot of activism out of there. Joe Biden can’t take these people on, that’s the base of the Democratic party. Those are the people that knock on doors and send $50 checks in the mail or online to their candidates. They can’t take these people on, no matter how crazy they get — they have to come up with some ridiculous excuse for why it’s not a problem.”
 
On recent reports that terrorist groups are headed to the unsecured Southern border by way of Panama: 
 
“I heard the same thing, a few weeks ago, from the Foreign Minister of Panama. So it’s pretty consistent. What happens is this, Panama is kind of like the chokepoint after the Darién Gap crossing over from South America. Migrants, some of whom have been living in these other countries — Chile, Colombia — for many years, now have decided,  ‘I’m going make a move,’ [and they] move toward the United States. Panama is the first country on that route that actually stops people and assesses who they are and takes biometrics, and so forth. So you’re going to catch people.
 
“And they’re coming from all over the world. We’re talking about tens of thousands of people that are en route, as we speak, across multiple countries in the Western Hemisphere, and they’d all have to come through Panama as they try to come to the United States.
 
“And the administration knows it, and there is tremendous frustration. In fact, I’ve heard that [the Biden Administration has] threatened government leaders in Panama not to complain too much, to stop talking about this, to stop making a big deal out of this or there are going to be consequences for countries’ relationship. They’ve told them to stay quiet and stop talking about it.”