WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after President-elect Trump announced his intent to nominate Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as Secretary of State:
“Rex Tillerson has decades of experience doing business internationally. Business experience, though valuable, is different from fighting for the interests of the United States, which must include fighting for democracy, for human rights, and a free press.
“Given Mr. Tillerson's long friendship with Vladimir Putin and the President-elect's flippant dismissal of clear evidence that Russia sought to influence our presidential election, this nomination further calls into question the President-elect's foreign policy principles. Russia is not a business partner -- it is an adversary of the United States working hard to undermine democratic values around the world.
“The Senate Foreign Relations Committee owes it to the American people to conduct thorough, detailed confirmation hearings on Mr. Tillerson’s nomination.”