Senator Marshall: Americans are Safer Today Than They Were Two Weeks Ago

Senator Marshall Joins ABC News Live

Washington - On Monday,U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined ABC News Live to discuss Operation Absolute Resolve, emphasizing the importance of taking Maduro off the world stage and how this makes American families safer.

Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall's full interview.

On Operation Absolute Resolve:

"Well, Happy New Year to you and all your viewers. Look, we have thrown the head of the snake into jail. Every day, we lose hundreds of Americans to drug poisoning of one sort or another. And Maduro was one of the heads, one of the kingpins of one of those most powerful drug cartels, so we feel like we've cut the head of the snake off. Yes, there's a lot more work to be done here, and that's why the Trump administration has secured the border. That's why we're taking out these drug boats. So, there's more work to be done, no doubt about it."

On the pardon of the Honduran President:

"Look, I think that sometimes we talked about apples and oranges. We have a person there who's paid his price and evidently is reformed. I don't know all the details of that particular person. But here we have a very active person, a warlord, a drug lord here who's leading one of the biggest drug cartels in the in the world right now, he's working hand in glove with China, with Iran, with all these foreign terrorist organizations as well. So yes, there's more work to be done, no doubt about that. But today, Americans are safer than they were as of Friday."

On Venezuelan oil:

"Look, America is very fortunate that we're now the world's largest supplier of oil, that we're a net exporter of oil as well. And life does not happen in a vacuum. I do think it's a piece of the puzzle. This was about making Americans safer, and at the same time, this is the largest oil reserve in the world, so it's going to have a factor. I think the good news here is this can help rebuild the Venezuelan economy. Once upon a time, this is the most successful economy in South America, and I think it can be one day as well. So yes, it's a factor. But most importantly, this was a police operation to arrest an evil, illegitimate dictator who was a drug lord."

On US-Venezuela relations:

"No, absolutely not. This was absolutely a police operation. This was a law enforcement operation led by the DEA. We've taken this person out. We've nabbed him. He's now standing trial as well. We are not at war with Venezuela, just the opposite. We want to empower them. We want them to get to a free and fair election as soon as possible. We want to empower their economy. We want, number one, we want Americans to be safe, but we also want our good friends in South America to be safe as well, and we certainly don't want them controlled by China."

On President Trump's commitment to Americans' safety:

"So President Trump's main campaign promise was to secure the border and make our family safe again, and this is the next step. He secured the border. Now he's making Americans safe again. This President is focused on the safety, security, as well as prosperity of Americans. So I think this is fulfilling his campaign promises by continuing to fight the number one threat. The number one foreign threat to Americans is these drugs. I'll go back to what I said earlier. We're losing hundreds of Americans every day to drug poisoning."

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