ICYMI - An inspiring speech by our Senator, Marco Rubio

Senator Marco Rubio gave his maiden speech on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday. The speech is nearly fifteen minutes of emotional, inspirational, powerful, aren’t-you-proud-to-be-American solid awesomeness. (Is “awesomeness” a word? If not, someone needs to make it a word, just for the sole purpose of using it to describe Marco Rubio.)

If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll definitely want to take the time to watch:


YouTube | SenatorMarcoRubio | Senator Marco Rubio's Maiden Floor Speech

One of my favorite parts comes at about the eight minute mark:

If we can deliver on a few simple but important things, we have the chance to do something that's difficult to imagine is even possible: an America whose future will be greater than her past.

But sadly that's not where we are headed. We have made no progress on the issues of our time, because frankly we have too many people, in both parties, who have decided the next election is more important than the next generation.

And our lack of progress on these issues has led to something even more troubling: a growing fear that maybe these problems are too big for us to solve, too big for even America.

Well, there is no reason to be afraid. Our story, the story of America, it is not the story of a nation that never faced problems, it is the story of a nation that faced its challenges and solved them. Our story, the story of the American people, is not the story of a people who always got it right, it is the story of a people, who, in the end, got it right. We should never forget who we Americans are...

The foreign policy discussion near the end of the speech is especially powerful, centering on Rubio's poignant question, "if America declines, what nation on the Earth will take these causes as their own...if America declines, who will do all these things, and ask for nothing in return, motivated solely by the desire to make the world a better place?" Of course, the answer is "no one will, there is still no nation or institution on this planet that is able or willing to do what America has done."

If we are going to have the "new American century" of Rubio's speech, a good first step seems to be in finding, recruiting, electing, and supporting as many solid conservatives like him as possible. I continue to be filled with pride and inspiration every time I hear this man speak, and cannot wait to see what the future holds for him.

Here's Rubio's interview with Greta Van Susteren the night of his speech:


YouTube | Senator Marco Rubio Goes 'On The Record' With Greta Van Susteren

[Cross-posted at The Minority Report]