Marco Rubio Votes Against Samantha Power's UN Nomination

As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., weighed in on Tuesday to express his opposition to President Barack Obamas nomination of Samantha Power to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. Despite Rubio voting against her, Power easily cleared the committee and is expected to win a full Senate confirmation vote in the days to come.

The U.N. can play an important role in global affairs, but without reforms to ensure greater accountability and transparency, its ineffective leadership, ethical abuses, and misspending will remain rampant, Rubio said. While I appreciate Ms. Powers willingness to serve our country at the United Nations, her responses regarding the need for these key reforms have been unsatisfactory when questioned during the hearing and in subsequent correspondence. It is critical that we be able to ensure that American taxpayer dollars going to the U.N. are actually advancing our national interests. Our ambassador to the U.N. should consider this their top priority and support policies that are conducive to such reforms.

During the same Senate hearing last week, I also questioned Ms. Power about an article in which she referred to crimes committed by the U.S., Rubio added. She failed to distance herself from these statements at the hearing and offered insufficient explanation, leaving me with serious concerns about some of her views. Her responses to both the need for U.N. reforms and her previous comments about the U.S. have been unsatisfactory for such an important role, which is why I oppose her nomination.

Only one other senator voted against Power on the committee -- U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Rubio and Paul are both considered top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.