Marco Rubio

And yet here I am, reminded by my own story that both our histories and our fates will always be linked.

Together, we rebuilt a shattered continent in the wake of two devastating world wars.

When we found ourselves divided once again by the Iron Curtain, the Free West linked arms with the courageous dissidents struggling against tyranny in the East to defeat Soviet communism.

We have fought against each other, then reconciled, then fought, then reconciled again.

And we have bled and died side by side on battlefields.

from Kapyong to Kandahar.

Together, we can re-industrialize our economies and rebuild our capacity to defend our people.

But the work of this new alliance should not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past.

It should also be focused on together advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century.

We want allies who can defend themselves so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength.

This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame.

We want allies who are proud of their culture and of their heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization and who, together with us, are willing and able to defend it.

Mass migration is not, was not, isn't some fringe concern of little consequence.

It was and continues to be a crisis, which is transforming and destabilizing societies all across the West.

The fundamental question we must answer at the outset

is what exactly are we defending?

Because armies do not fight for abstractions.

Armies fight for a people.

Armies fight for a nation.

Armies fight for a way of life.