U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Hero

No wonder Gov. Rick Scott spends so much time in Miami. Why wouldn't he want the state to spend $77 million to dredge a deeper Port of Miami? For a governor who promised 700,000 jobs in seven years, Miami is Paradise Found. It's a spark waiting for tinder.

Especially since last week when U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio upped Miami's stakes.

Rubio announced Tuesday that he will lead Republicans on the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Global Narcotics Affairs -- all under the umbrella of the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He also has been named to the Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection;  the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs; and the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

All this is a bigger deal than it sounds. It gives the Sunshine State one more seat at the table, particularly in dealing with U.S. policy in Latin America.

More important, it puts Florida up on a stage, a platform, where Latin America and the countries of the Caribbean can see us.

It's a part of the world where, in a very short period of time, Rubio has won friends and gained considerable respect. The political philosophy he espouses is the philosophy they embrace.

As the governor looks to entice new companies and encourage business expansion, Rubio becomes another trump card Florida has to play, and he knows it.

Miami already has impressive credentials as the financial capital of Latin America and the Caribbean. As of Dec. 31, 2010, it had --

• 38 state-licensed foreign bank agencies with $12.5 billion in deposits
• 13 Edge Act banks with $7 billion in deposits
• 59 commercial banks and 11 thrift institutions with $38.8 billion in deposits
• more than 500 multinational corporations
• 61 foreign consulate offices
• 25 foreign trade offices
• 40 binational chambers of commerce.

South Florida is the cruise ship capital of the world, Miami International is the third largest U.S. airport for international passengers and if Scott succeeds in convincing the Legislature to fund the port deepening, within three years untold thousands of tons of goods will be loaded and unloaded at the Port of Miami.

The reasons for Latin American and Caribbean businesses to expand in Florida are growing, with a United States senator from the Sunshine State who speaks their language literally and figuratively.

“The United States’ economy and security are inextricably linked to this hemisphere’s future,” said Rubio. “As the gateway to the Americas, Florida in particular benefits enormously from robust commercial, cultural and family ties to Latin America.”

While it's true, Rubio is only a back bencher in the upper chamber, just a rookie, foreign leaders like Presidents Sebastian Pinera of Chile, Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica and Rafael Correa of Ecuador have already remarked admiringly on the Florida junior senator's star quality. In a television interview last week, Chile's Pinera described Rubio as "an emerging political leader of considerable substance in Washington."

Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a harsh critic of the Castro regime, has the House side covered for Florida. She chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, and is joined there by fellow Republicans Connie Mack, Gus Bilirakis and David Rivera. Democrats Ted Deutch and Frederica Wilson are on board, too.