Cory Mills Defends Trump Accepting Plane From Qatar: 'Nothing More Than A Reason' For Dems 'To Complain'

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At today's House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) defended President Trump.

Transcript

00:00Representative Mills is recognized. Thank you Mr. Chairman. First I can tell you

00:04I won't be reclaiming any time. Secretary, I will make sure that you have the

00:08opportunity to answer questions. I think that you've done an amazing job. I think

00:12that well before you actually became Secretary when you were sitting in the

00:16Senate you proved yourself as a leader in foreign affairs. I can remember you

00:20and I when we were campaigning in 22 together we were at an event with Ron

00:24DeSantis in my district and we sat and talked about foreign policy and you're

00:28the one most knowledgeable people I've ever met with so thank you for stepping

00:31up to the challenge. I also want to go ahead and rebut a couple of things

00:35because I believe as you do that history an understanding of history and the

00:40understanding of our seven articles 27 amendments in our Constitution is what

00:43makes you a good legislator and a good member of the federal government. They

00:47keep talking about this 400 million dollar plane gift to Qatar and you tried

00:52to answer this multiple times but I want to paint some history here. In 1945 US

00:57President FDR gifted Douglas DC-3 to King Abdul Aziz which marked the beginning of

01:02a civil aviation in Saudi Arabia. This airplane is nothing more than a reason

01:07to complain about the president that knows how to advance US interests and it's

01:11actually more about trying to conflate optics with actual outcomes. This is a

01:16long-standing history and so I just want to go ahead and let people know what

01:20that actually is. Now as you know I was one of the first members of Congress to go to

01:24Syria after the fall of the Assad regime met with the incoming and transitional

01:30government with al-Shara, with al-Shabani and with his transitional government. I

01:34absolutely support the idea of lifting the sanctions on a conditions metrics base

01:40which is allowing them to not only rebuild Syria because for those of us who

01:45understand history the road to Damascus travels through Baghdad we know

01:48there's twin and sister cities and we know that the stability of Syria ultimately

01:54impacts the outcome in the stability of the region. I think that what al-Shara has

01:59done to show inclusivity and plurality is commendable in the beginning. I mean he

02:04has one of his ministers who is a female Alawite who I spoke with who said I have

02:08full authorization not just window dressing. He has actually talked about the

02:13plurality and inclusiveness of the government and its elections to guarantee that the

02:17the Druze, the Alawites, the Christians, the Muslims, and all who are there will

02:21actually be a part of the incoming government and elections. He's also

02:25working with Israel to speak right now where he's blocking weapons transports

02:29through Syria into Lebanon from Hashtel Shaabi, the Iraq-Iranian-backed militia to

02:34try and make attacks against Iran. He's working with Iraq and the United States

02:39and the CTS teams to help combat ISIS, Daesh, to guarantee that they are still

02:44weakened but also guaranteeing that he's pushed Iran out to make sure it's not a

02:47proxy state. It's a historical moment for Syria. 50-plus years the Russians have

02:53had a stronghold under the Assad regime and I commend you on your support for

02:57this and also the Caesar Act when it passed. Secretary Rubio, I have a question

03:03with regards to Iran. We understand that the nuclear negotiations are going on

03:08there's much to be done but could you give us some of the highlights to what

03:12these metrics and conditions will be in the administration to guarantee that not

03:18only do we see a Iran that is free of nuclear weapons but a potential change and

03:23fall of the Iranian regime. Well anytime these negotiations are ongoing you want

03:28to be delicate about you say publicly because it could upend them and obviously

03:31I remind everybody that no matter the nature of their government in foreign

03:35relations the people on the other side are in politics too and so they have their

03:39own balances that they need to have in terms of what they say publicly. What I

03:43think has been abundantly clear and the president said is number one Iran will

03:46never have a nuclear weapon and he's discussed that there's one way to do it

03:50which is not an ideal way and the other way to do it is for Iran to agree to a

03:53deal. What is a deal that does not allow Iran to get to a nuclear weapon? It is a

03:57deal that doesn't just say we commit not to getting to a nuclear weapon and

04:00taking them at their word but ensure that they do not have the capacity the

04:04continued capacity to enrich. If they can enrich then you are basically a

04:09threshold nuclear power that at any time kill accelerate that process and get

04:13to that point. So that is the goal of these negotiations to create an incentive

04:16model where they give up their enrichment capability they will receive some

04:20sanctions relief commensurate with it. That's the hope. That's what we're

04:25working on because the alternative would be something far more destructive and we

04:28seek to avoid that if possible. Thank you Mr. Secretary and obviously to stop the

04:32funding of the proxy militias like Houthis, like Hamas, like others which I know that

04:36you've been adamant about. I want to switch to Brazil if I may. Mr. Secretary as

04:40you're certainly aware the alarming human rights decline in Brazil. We've seen

04:44pervasive censorship, political persecution targeting the entire opposition

04:47including journalists and ordinary citizens and what they're now doing is an

04:50eminent politically motivated imprisonment of former President Bolsonaro. This

04:55crackdown has extended beyond Brazil's borders impacting individuals on U.S.

04:58soil. The 2023 Financial Times article actually talked about this. What do you

05:04intend to do and would you be looking at Supreme Court justice sanctioning of

05:08Alexandra de Morris under the Global Magnitsky Act? That is under review right

05:12now and it's a great great possibility that will happen. Thank you so much Mr.

05:15Secretary with that I yield back.

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