Full video of the event
(additional speaker video links below)

DENVER – Senator Cory Gardner and Mayor Michael B. Hancock joined the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) in Denver today to discuss how America’s efforts abroad spur economic growth and promote our national security.

“American leadership around the world is more important now than ever – both for our national security and economic prosperity. I have seen firsthand how development and diplomacy programs overseas help to provide stability and create opportunity here at home and abroad,” said Senator Gardner (R-CO). “Now is not the time for the U.S. to pull back; our international affairs programs are central to a stronger future for our nation and Colorado’s workers, farmers, and families.”

Welcoming a group of more than 400 Colorado leaders, Mayor Hancock shared, “The USGLC has assembled a distinguished group of Republicans and Democrats who believe the US needs to lead, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the smart thing to do. And I am proud to stand with the USGLC and its program.”

Their discussion comes as 58 percent of Americans, an all-time high, expressed support for foreign trade and voters rank foreign policy and national security as a top issue. Majorities in both parties, as well as independents, agreed that trade presents more of an opportunity than a threat to the United States.

Retired four-star General James Mattis stated, “Securing our nation requires all the tools of our national power. This means both the military and our nation’s diplomatic and development tools. During my years of service, I witnessed just how essential working together with the State Department and USAID is to promoting America’s interests abroad, preventing conflict, and countering extremism.” General Mattis served as Commander of U.S. Central Command from 2010-2013, where he oversaw U.S. military operations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia.

Ambassador Chris Hill said, “As a former diplomat, I have witnessed the critical need for American leadership across the world and particularly in places like Iraq and the Middle East. Our nation must engage with all our national tools that create stability and build peace – or risk the reversal of so much progress.” Ambassador Hill is Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and his last post was as Ambassador to Iraq from April 2009 until August 2010.

USGLC President and CEO Liz Schrayer shared, “It’s impressive to see the breadth and depth of leaders who joined us today and understand just how critical this small, but strategic investment in fighting extreme poverty is to advancing America’s interests. Coloradoans get it.”

Denver is headquarters to some of the largest global brands and organizations in the world with rapidly growing international operations in emerging markets. In 2013, Colorado exported more than $8 billion in goods and services to foreign markets, and trade supported more than one in five jobs in the state, making American global leadership a strategic issue for the Denver community.

Program participants also included senior executives from DaVita Village Trust, Lockheed Martin, and Project CURE. Event partners included the Colorado Association of Chamber and Commerce, the Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, The CELL, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Posner Center, and World Denver.

For more about the impact of international affairs on Colorado, see the USGLC Fact Sheet.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (www.usglc.org) is a broad-based influential network of 400 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic, military, and community leaders in all 50 states who support strategic investments to elevate development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world.