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Clinton presidency would take US back to past

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US Republican Senator Marco Rubio and a candidate for the 2016 presidential elections has denounced former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a leader from the past whose time is over.

The first-term senator from Florida entered the race for the White House on Monday, presenting him as a next-generation leader ready to take the United States into a “new American century.”

“We Americans are proud of our history, but our country has always been about the future,” Rubio said on Monday in Miami.

“Before us now is the opportunity to author the greatest chapter yet in the amazing story of America. We can’t do that by going back to the leaders and ideas of the past. We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them.”

Taking a direct swipe at Clinton, who announced her candidacy on Sunday, Rubio said, “Yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday.

“Yesterday is over and we’re never going back,” he added.

Clinton, the former US senator and first lady announced on Sunday that she was running for the White House.

“I’m running for president,” the 67-year-old said in a video on her campaign website, officially launching a vigorous effort to secure the Democratic nomination for the 2016 elections, seven years after a bitter defeat to Barack Obama.

Rubio, known as an opportunist within the Republican Party circles, also targeted his onetime political mentor, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is expected to announce his US presidential aspirations soon.

Former Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush

Many observers believed that if Bush would decide to run for president, Rubio would sit out, but the 43-year-old Cuban American politician made his intentions clear on Monday.

“I’ve heard some suggest that I should step aside and wait my turn, but I cannot,” Rubio said. “I believe our very identity as a nation is at stake and I can make a difference as president.”

“The time has come for our generation to lead the way toward a new American century,” he continued.

Rubio, who has recently emerged as a strong supporter of Israel and an opponent of Iran, said the United States must abandon the Obama administration’s drive to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran over its nuclear energy program, and renew its commitment to Israel and strengthen the military.

“If America accepts the mantle of global leadership … then our nation will be safer, the world more stable, and our people more prosperous,” Rubio said.

Rubio is reportedly attempting to tie Israel to a controversial bill that would prevent President Barack Obama from lifting sanctions against Iran until Congress reviews a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

The Floridian lawmaker is pushing for an amendment that would make “recognition of Israel” part of the legislation, sponsored by Senators Bob Corker and Robert Menendez.

Under Rubio’s proposal, Iran would have to publicly recognize the Israeli regime, as demanded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on the Corker-Menendez bill.

The Obama administration wants the Republican-dominated Congress to postpone any vote on the Iran nuclear agreement until at least June 30, the deadline for negotiators to reach a final accord.

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