Washington, D.C. – During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nominations of Reed Rubinstein to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State, Mike Huckabee to be U.S. Ambassador to the State of Israel, and Kevin Cabrera to be U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) today emphasized Utah’s enduring connection to Israel—culturally, spiritually, and diplomatically—drawing from his own experience living in a kibbutz as a young student at Brigham Young University and witnessing firsthand the signing of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty. The Senator also questioned Mr. Cabrera on Panama’s recent move to divest from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and to address Beijing’s growing influence in the region.
A transcript of the exchange can be found below, and the video file can be downloaded here.
Senator Curtis: Mr. Huckabee, I can’t imagine on one hand a more rewarding and, on the other hand, a more challenging assignment than what you’ve been given. And I’m actually very jealous. Utah has a very special relationship with Israel. I like to tease my friends with ties to Israel that until I was 18, I thought I grew up in Zion in Utah. We have Zion Park, we have a Jordan River. There’s lots of ties. One of those ties is Brigham Young University, sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that has a campus there.
And when I was 18 years old in 1979, I spent six months on that campus. At the time, the campus wasn’t built. We lived in a kibbutz, and I had the opportunity to be there the day Jimmy Carter signed the peace accord with Israel and Egypt. And I bring that up, I actually have a picture of The Jerusalem Post hanging in my office from that day to show that we can have peace. It’s hard. Some gave their lives for that Accord.
And, likewise, President Trump’s attempt on the Abraham Accords is equally noteworthy and is important. And so, it’s clear that Utah, that myself, Brigham Young University, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has this tie. And I don’t need to go into the past, but this might be a good opportunity to send a message to Utah about how you feel about our dominant faith, and I just didn’t know if you would have me carry anything back to Utahns.
The Honorable Mike Huckabee: Senator, let me be very clear, and I appreciate the question and the opportunity. The respect that I have for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is extraordinary, because I respect very much the commitment to family, to moral righteousness, to a sense of right and wrong. It’s part of what has drawn me to an understanding that Israel, in many ways, is a reflection of our own heritage and history.
It is the Judeo-Christian law that there is a right, and that there is a wrong, upon which all of Western civilization is built, but certainly our system of government. There is no country across the globe that more mirrors our own struggle and our own level of democracy than does the state of Israel. And it’s one of the reasons that it is a natural ally.
The spiritual connections between your church, mine, many churches in America, Jewish congregations, to the state of Israel is because we ultimately are people of the book. We believe the Bible, and therefore that connection is not geopolitical. It is also spiritual. And to ignore that, to deny that, would make it very difficult for us to ever understand how to go forward in a relationship with them.
Curtis: Thank you. I will certainly carry that message back to Utah, and I agree. I can’t imagine doing what I’m doing now without that, spiritual opportunity that I had to understand both Arab, Jew, and Christian in that period of my life. Brigham Young University has a center over there. It’s on the Mount of Olives. I would like to invite you to meet there on the campus as you get your feet underneath you. And if you’re okay, I’ll help broker that agreement. I think they’d love to have you there and see what they’re doing there in Jerusalem.
Huckabee: Senator, just for the record, I have been there.
Curtis: Oh, excellent. Good.
Huckabee: And it’s a beautiful, beautiful facility on the Mount of Olives and has one of the most spectacular views of the old city in all of Israel.
Curtis: Yes. And we’ll make sure there’s an organ recital on your next visit back there as you do that. As long as I’m not required to play it. Yeah.
Alright, now, switching to the Panama Canal, Mr. Cabrera. Panama has announced they’re leaving the BRI and Hong Kong companies with assets on both sides are being divested. Addressing some of our serious security concerns, what remaining issues need to be addressed regarding the PRC’s influence in the region?
The Honorable Kevin Cabrera: Thank you, Senator. I appreciate the question. And as you mentioned, in the last 60 days, we’ve made significant inroads with Secretary Rubio and President Trump in them leaving the Belt and Road Initiative and these two concessions being sold as well, which prior to that, the Panamanian government had started an audit on both.
But what I will say is it doesn’t just stop there, the influence that China has had within Panama. I think, you’ve seen it as well in cities like Cologne, where in the security grants that they’ve given for cameras in the area, you don’t know where that cloud’s information might be stored.
Who has access to it? And again, in some of their ports where they have some cranes that have been given to them by the Chinese government as well. Again, as a county commissioner, we have seen it where many times they’ll underbid these sorts of things to try to get their cranes in there by a significant amount. Because a lot of these companies are partially government.
Curtis: And only because I’m out of time, I’m going to stop you. But I would also like to put a plug in: any influence we can have in getting them to reverse their position to the PRC and be more accommodating for Taiwan, particularly, their position on the One China Principle. You know, I regret that you don’t have time to answer that, but I’d just like to lay that marker with you.
Cabrera: Thank you. And if confirmed, I look forward to working with you in your office. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator Curtis.