U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of Senator Rubio’s...
Biden-Harris Economy Is Leaving Men Behind U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) September 6, 2024 Fox News Hidden in the shadows and forgotten: That’s the only way to describe the state of male employment in this country. The percentage of men aged 25-54 who report working...
Recently, the Biden-Harris Administration implemented an expansion of nonimmigrant visas (NIV) to Cubans. Allowing the Cuban regime to benefit from visas is yet another move this administration has made to appease the Cuban dictatorship. This also puts our nation at...
Yesterday, the Brazilian Supreme Court upheld the decision to ban Brazilians from access to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. This countrywide ban raises concerns of freedom of speech and judicial overreach in Brazil. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)...
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Service (BIS) is failing to stop Communist China from accessing cutting-edge chip technology made in the United States. The Biden-Harris Administration has attempted to portray a tough stance on China publicly,...
Since October 7, 2023, our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel, has withstood various terrorist attacks from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and others. Instead of standing by Jerusalem, the Biden-Harris...
U.S. troops are making significant progress training Afghan security forces to protect the country after U.S. soldiers leave, although problems remain, Sen. Marco Rubio said Monday from Afghanistan.
The Florida Republican, who also joined other senators in visiting Pakistan, declined to estimate when U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan.
The U.S. timetable calls for withdrawing in 2014, but Rubio said that will depend on how many local governments are prepared to take over after Americans leave.
“2011 is going to be a critical year for Afghan security forces,” Rubio said by phone from Kabul. “They are going to step up and play a bigger role. We are heartened by some of the early success that we’ve seen.”
But after watching U.S., British and Jordanian troops conduct a training exercise with Afghan troops, Rubio said much more needs to be accomplished. He noted that some trainees who will have to use a Humvee to sweep for mines had never driven any vehicle before joining the military.
“They are certainly a world away from where they were,” Rubio said. “There are real challenges. What we learned is that for a significant period of time, there was no serious training effort. It will take time to ramp up.”
Rubio visited Afghanistan and Pakistan with fellow Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
The group toured a market in Nawa and Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan. The open-air market was evidence the local police force is doing better keeping the area secure.
“They’ve got a long ways to go economically and socially in the progress they have to make, but they have well-trained police officers on the ground,” Rubio said. “There is no way to overestimate how serious the challenge is. But we are headed in the right direction.”