Sen. Marco Rubio urged Oklahoma Republicans to back his 2016 presidential campaign so that "together we can create a new American century."
"If we make our time one of a growing economy, not a growing government; of opportunity for all, not for a few; of American leadership, not American retreat; then we will be on our way to a new American century," the first-term Florida senator said in a video broadcast at the
Southern Republican Leadership Summit in Oklahoma City.
Rubio was in Washington for Senate votes on legislation that would grant President Barack Obama fast-track trade authority and extend the Patriot Act and the broad data-collection programs of the National Security Agency that it authorizes.
The senator is among 11 declared presidential candidates and undeclared hopefuls speaking at the three-day summit, which began Thursday. Similar events have been held in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Iowa in recent weeks.
Rubio, who announced his candidacy last month, said that the "new American century" included widespread reforms in education, national security — and smaller government.
"If we create a new higher education system that teaches the new skills needed for the new economy, a system that caters to all of our people — from the busy single mom to the struggling young American to the older adult in need of new training — a system that graduates our people with degrees that lead to jobs without debt that shackles them for decades . . .
"If we do these things, we will be on our way to a new American century," Rubio said.
He continued: "If we acknowledge that family, not government, is the most important institution in society — that what happens in your house and my house can be every bit as important to America's future as what happens in the White House, then we will be on our way to a new American century."
"Working together, we can achieve all of this in our time," Rubio said. "This is not just a dream. This is the American dream — and it will be as real in this century as it was in the last."
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