In Senate speech, GOP’s Marco Rubio calls for new ‘American century’

Marco Rubio, the Florida senator and Republican rising star, delivered his inaugural speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, calling for a new “American century” in which innovation kick-starts a new era of economic prosperity.

Rubio, elected last November, has been in office for more than six months, but Tuesday was the day set aside for the traditional “maiden” speech, his formal debut in the chamber. The Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio, at just 40, is already viewed as a serious candidate for the 2012 vice presidential nomination.

In the speech, which invoked Rubio hero Ronald Reagan in both name and in spirit, the senator declared the United States to be at a “turning point.”

“We will either bring on another American century, or we are doomed to witness America’s decline. Another American century is fully within our reach because there is nothing wrong with our people. The American people haven’t forgotten how to start a business. The American people haven’t run out of good ideas,” Rubio said.

“We Americans are as great as we have ever been. But our government is broken. And it is keeping us from doing what we have done better than any people in the history of the world: Create jobs and prosperity.”

Elected on a platform of slashing government spending, Rubio called for a simplified tax code and a reduced regulatory regime. And while Rubio originally came to prominence via the “tea party” movement in Florida, he has since suggested a greater interest in foreign affairs than many of his peers.

In that vein, he spoke of the United States’ expansive role in the world.

“America is still the only watchman on the wall of world freedom. And there is still no one to take our place,” he said. “What will the world look like if America declines? Well, today people all over the world are forced to accept the familiar lie that the price of security is our liberty. If America declines, who will serve as living proof that liberty, security and prosperity can all exist together?”

Watch the entire speech here: