During Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Afrikaner refugees.
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00:00Chair recognizes Representative Jackson.
00:02Thank you so much, and we acknowledge that we miss our dear colleague Conley.
00:07Thank him for his years of service.
00:09Mr. Speaker, it was 39 years ago here in Washington, D.C.
00:13I was arrested while protesting against the apartheid government in South Africa's white minority
00:19that had a non-minority white for the greater part of the latter half of the 20th century
00:27held captive, if you will, in bondage, which sanctioned racial segregation
00:32and political and economic discrimination against its black citizens.
00:36I believe your policies on South Africa at this point in your career are wrong,
00:42precisely because either you do not understand the history of the country
00:45or you have grown indifferent, and I beg that you go to your higher nature.
00:53That being said, I want to ask you about President Trump ending.
00:56U.S. government support for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
01:01that promotes fairness in hiring and helps make our national security workforce
01:06the strongest it can be.
01:08In the name of advancing an anti-woke agenda, he has given himself permission to break the law,
01:14attacking congressionally mandated efforts that have enjoined bipartisan consensus for decades.
01:20I believe not only in diversity is our strength as a country,
01:26but in fact our workforce does not reflect our population,
01:30then it merits an inquiry into what are the impediments that are leading to that outcome.
01:36Would you agree with that latter statement that diversity is our strength?
01:39I think unity is our strength.
01:42That we're a diverse nation is important.
01:43Well, those words, you would think that they were mine.
01:47They actually are recorded from you in your Senate hearing in July of 2022.
01:53Further, do you believe that following the law is important, yes or no?
01:57We follow the law every day.
01:58Okay.
01:59Well, you wear so many hats.
02:01It must be difficult to keep track of all the laws that you have supported.
02:04But yes, you did vote in favor of the bill, and I want to read a section of the bill that you did support.
02:09It's section 5403 of the 2022 NDAA requires that the State Department to strengthen recruitment of people belonging to underrepresented groups.
02:21I know Mr. Trump has asked you all not to say that as cabinet officials,
02:24and I hope you have the guts to tell the president on some matters he is simply wrong.
02:29Mandating outreach to universities, employees' affinity groups, and expanding paid student internships are among the actions.
02:38So I would like to know, do you stand by strengthening diversity within the ranks of the State Department?
02:43I stand by hiring the best people to do the job, irrespective of their background, the race, color, creed.
02:48So you're going against the very law that you had once supported, which I find highly contradictory and hypocritical.
02:54I hope that you would have the courage of your convictions, be the Marco Rubio, the senator that we knew,
03:02and not the secretary of state that is now capitulating to that of a tyrant and that of Mr. Donald Trump.
03:10At this point, I would like to yield my balance of my time to the Honorable Sarah McBride.
03:15And I thank you so much for your time.
03:18The president was elected as far as I recall.
03:20I've yielded my time, sir.