Marco Rubio Aids Nancy Reagan and Praises the Gipper

On Tuesday night, Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and he offered warm words of praise for that conservative icon.Before giving the speech, Rubio came in with former first lady Nancy Reagan. Mrs. Reagan, who is now 90, had a fall and Floridas junior senator helped her recover.

During his speech, Rubio praised both of the Reagans.

Mrs. Reagan, thank you for this opportunity. And in a moment Ill talk a little about what this opportunity means to me in general, but let me just say it is one of the highest privileges and honors Ive ever had to be able to come here and speak in this place, said Rubio. And earlier today I was able to walk through here, and not just to see the exhibits but to meet the people, some from all over the world, that were touched by the extraordinary life of an extraordinary man. The contributions that he made to this country were tremendous, but the contributions he made to the world were even greater. And in just an hour and a half of walking through here and meeting people who had been touched by those contributions, it reminded me what a privilege it is that I would get to stand here today and speak to all of you from a place like this, and I am honored beyond any words that I could use to describe it and I thank you for this invitation. Thank you.

In fact I have a distinct honor, because not many people can say that the only two people I have ever walked down the aisle with are here today. One is my wife Jeanette and the other is Mrs. Reagan, continued Rubio. I tell people all the time that I was born and raised in Ronald Reagans America. I was raised in Ronald Reagans America. He was elected when I was in fourth grade and he left -- he left office when I was in high school. Those are very important years, fourth grade through high school; they were the years that formed so much of what today ... I believe and know to be true about the world and about our nation.

Ronald Reagans era can be defined, No. 1 in most peoples mind, by the Cold War and by the end of it. And by the strong principles he stood for. Ronald Reagan didnt just believe that the Soviet Union and communism could fail, he believed it was inevitably destined to fail. And that it was our obligation to accelerate that process. That all we had to do was be America and that that would happen, said Rubio. And that defined his presidency. And that defined Ronald Reagans America in the time that I lived. The time that I grew up during that era.

There was something else, though, that defined the Reagan presidency and that was defining the proper role of government. He did that better than any American has done ever before, said Rubio. And I stand before you --it has always been important for Americans and America to do that --but I stand here before you today, all of us gathered here today, at a time when defining the proper role of government is as important as it has ever been.