U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is making foreign policy experience a major component of his bid for president, will address the Council on Foreign Relations next week what is being billed as his first policy address since announcing his run.
The council, a bipartisan foreign policy think tank, will host Rubio Wednesday, May 13, in New York to “discuss the role of the United States in the twenty-first century.”
The platform is a prominent one for foreign policy issues, which the first-term senator from West Miami, Fla., has emphasized since arriving in Washington in 2011.
In addition to issues of prime importance to his Florida constituency – the thaw in relations with Cuba, the ongoing unrest in Venezuela, and Latin America in general – Rubio has taken a leading role in criticizing the White House’s preliminary nuclear deal with Iran.
Rubio is a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and is chairman of its Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women’s Issues.
Rubio announced his presidential run last month, and while the Republican field is crowded – and getting more crowded by the day – Rubio has moved up sharply in early polls. Political pundits have long considered him a top-tier candidate, and in recent weeks his public support has stated to catch up with that assessment.