SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Today, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) hosted a conversation with Senator John Curtis (R-UT), “America and the World: How Utah Wins,” bringing together more than 600 veteran, business, community, farmer, and faith leaders and more than 11K viewers tuning in online. The conversation underscored the state’s deep-rooted international outlook and the local benefits of U.S. global leadership, where international engagement supports 1 in 5 jobs in Utah and drives more than $17 billion in exports annually.

Senator Curtis emphasized the importance of strategic international assistance to outcompete our rivals: “Putin is not our friend… [and] We were losing to China…. we have to be smarter and we have to be better, and that’s why we’ve got to reevaluate every dollar, use U.S. innovation to solve these problems and figure out how to have the influence that we want to have overseas…. [But] on our worst day, everybody still wants to be us.”

“It was really impressive seeing the overwhelming appreciation Senator Curtis’ constituents expressed today for his leadership on American global leadership,” said USGLC President & CEO Liz Schrayer. “He was clear-eyed that America wins at home when America leads in the world, including effective international assistance programs like PEPFAR, GAVI and others, as policymakers continue their review. It was a tour de force listening to the Senator cover a wide range of foreign policy issues from Ukraine to Taiwan to the Western Hemisphere, and how they relate to Utah’s national and economic security.”

Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward, Jr. USN (Ret.) SEAL, underscored the national security value of international assistance: “The competitive advantage we have today we cannot lose, and it’s captured in one word: trust…I don’t think China will ever match us on trust… And because of the U.S. aid programs, the engagement we had—everywhere you went as an American in the Middle East, in the early 70s, you were embraced, you were respected.”

The panel also included Candi Wolff, Managing Director and Head of Global Government Affairs, Citi who highlighted the economic case for global engagement: “It’s in those public private partnerships that leverage U.S. business and U.S. capital…and that creates broader economic opportunity and gives the ability for the US to leverage its role in the world…that’s really where we begin to engage with Utah businesses, with extending our trade and our investment so that we can help support others and create economic environments…where Utah and Americans can thrive.”

Watch the full event here.