Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson praised President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state nominee, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, on Wednesday.
Johnson sits on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which held an hours-long confirmation hearing Wednesday for Tillerson.
The Wisconsin senator, who served as CEO of a plastics company in Wisconsin before being elected to the U.S. Senate, praised the former CEO for his business experience.
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“I come from the private sector, I think that kind of perspective is sorely needed,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we have enough people from the private sector.”
Johnson also said he believes Tillerson‘s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be an asset to the State Department. Exxon did business with the Russian government when Tillerson was CEO.
Other senators pressed Tillerson on his Russian connections, including Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.
“People who oppose Vladimir Putin end up dead all over the world,” Rubio said.
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