By MATTHEW LEE and ELLEN KNICKMEYER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Democratic senators sparred Tuesday over the Trump administration’s foreign policies, ranging from Ukraine and Russia to the Middle East, Latin America, the slashing of the U.S. foreign assistance budget and refugee admissions.

Rubio defended the administration’s decisions to his former colleagues during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, his first since being confirmed on President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day.

He said “America is back” and claimed four months of foreign-policy achievements, even as many of them remain frustratingly inconclusive. Among them are the resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine into peace talks and efforts to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

America’s top diplomat praised agreements with El Salvador and other Latin American countries to accept migrant deportees, saying “secure borders, safe communities and zero tolerance for criminal cartels are once again the guiding principles of our foreign policy.”

He also rejected assertions that massive cuts to his department’s budget would hurt America’s standing abroad. Instead, he said the cuts would actually improve the U.S. reputation internationally.

Hearing opens with a joke, then turns serious

Committee Chairman Jim Risch opened the hearing with praise for Trump’s changes and spending cuts and welcomed what he called the administration’s promising nuclear talks with Iran.

Risch also noted what he jokingly called “modest disagreement” with Democratic lawmakers, who used Tuesday’s hearing to confront Rubio about Trump administration moves.

Ranking Democratic member Jeanne Shaheen argued that the Trump administration has “eviscerated six decades of foreign-policy investments” and given China openings around the world.

“I urge you to stand up to the extremists of the administration,” the New Hampshire senator said.

Other Democrats excoriated the administration for its suspension of the refugee admissions program, particularly while allowing white Afrikaners from South Africa to enter the country.

Some Republicans also warned about drastic foreign assistance cuts, including former Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins. They expressed concern that the U.S. is being outmaneuvered by its rivals internationally after the elimination of thousands of aid programs.

“The basic functions that soft power provides are extremely important,” McConnell told Rubio at a second hearing later in the day before the Senate Appropriations Committee. “You get a whole lot of friends for not much money.”

Rubio says the US is encouraging but not threatening Israel on Gaza aid

Rubio told the Appropriations Committee that the Trump administration is encouraging but not threatening Israel to resume humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza.

He said the U.S. is not following the lead of several European countries that have imposed sanctions or warned of actions against Israel amid the dearth of assistance reaching vulnerable Palestinians. However, he said U.S. officials have stressed in discussions with the Israelis that aid is urgently needed for civilians in Gaza who are suffering during Israel’s military operation against Hamas.

“We’re not prepared to respond the way these countries have,” but the U.S. has engaged with Israel in the last few days about “the need to resume humanitarian aid,” Rubio said. “We anticipate that those flows will increase over the next few days and weeks — it’s important that that be achieved.”

And Rubio acknowledged that the administration was approaching foreign governments about taking mass numbers of civilians from Gaza but insisted that any Palestinians leaving would be “voluntary.”

“There’s no deportation,” Rubio said. “We’ve asked countries preliminarily whether they will be open to accepting people not as a permanent solution, but as a bridge to reconstruction” in Gaza.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., condemned it as a “strategy of forced migration.”

Also on the Middle East, Rubio said the administration has pushed ahead with attempts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and promote stability in Syria.

He stressed the importance of U.S. engagement with Syria, saying that otherwise, he fears the interim government there could be weeks or months away from a “potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions.”

Rubio’s comments addressed Trump’s pledge to lift sanctions burdening Syria’s new transitional government, which is led by a former militant chief who led the overthrow of the country’s longtime oppressive leader, Bashar Assad, late last year. The U.S. sanctions were imposed under Assad.

Rubio and senators clash over white South Africans entering the country

In two particularly contentious exchanges, Kaine and Van Hollen demanded answers on the decision to suspend overall refugee admissions but to exempt Afrikaners based on what they called “specious” claims that they have been subjected to massive discrimination by the South African government. Rubio gave no ground.

In one tense exchange, Kaine pressed Rubio to say whether there should be a different refugee policy based on skin color.

“I’m not the one arguing that,” Rubio said. “Apparently, you are, because you don’t like the fact they’re white.”

“The United States has a right to pick and choose who we allow into the United States,” he said. “If there is a subset of people that are easier to vet, who we have a better understanding of who they are and what they’re going to do when they come here, they’re going to receive preference.”

He added: “There are a lot of sad stories around the world, millions and millions of people around the world. It’s heartbreaking, but we cannot assume millions and millions of people around the world. No country can.”