WASHINGTON – Yesterday evening, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) spoke on the Senate floor about the Senate Republicans’ tax bill that was passed late Friday night.
“It seems to me that while the Bible, the New Testament, and the Torah teach these things about God's deep preference that we would be kind to one another, that we would care for one another, that we would support those in need around us, that doesn't inevitably lead to one party's position or another, it doesn't inventively lead to one clear economic theory or policy than another, but it does say that before we take dramatic action that will reset the ground for a generation that I believe will inevitably lead to a loss of security and stability and opportunity for those in need in our country, we should have reflected,” said Senator Coons.
“In moving this bill forward, we have failed in our must fundamental call to hear each other, to work together, and to be mindful that we do not cause harm to those in our society who look to us to make the future brighter, to open the doors of opportunity wider, and to listen to some of the most ancient and profound voices in the traditions that laid the foundation of this free society: that we legislate worst when we legislate against the least of our brethren,” said Senator Coons.
Full audio and video available here.
Senator Coons’ full speech, as delivered, is below:
Mr. President, when we were last here together, it was roughly 2:00AM Saturday morning. As this Chamber took up and passed by a very narrow margin, I believe 41 to 49, one of the biggest, broadest, most comprehensive pieces of financial legislation likely in our lifetimes.
The last time this Congress took up and passed comprehensive tax reform, I was 21 years old. It has been a long time since a bill of this scope and reach and impact has been considered, debated, and passed in this chamber. And I wanted to give some reflections this evening on what happened very early Saturday morning and what it means.
First, it did not have to be this way. That bill passed on a straight party-line vote. Not one Democrat voted for it and all but one Republican Senator voted for it. I joined more than a dozen of my colleagues in a press conference I think two weeks ago saying we wanted to work across the aisle and we were trying, yet getting no opportunity to do so.
Weeks and weeks ago, a group of us put out a letter to our colleagues saying we wanted to work together on tax reform that would make our country more competitive, that would deal with some of the long unaddressed issues in our tax code, yet be fiscally responsible.
And, right up until Saturday, I was working with a group of Republicans and Democrats to try and find a way to move forward on tax reform that would not blow up our deficit and debt, give real tax relief to middle-class Americans, and significantly reduce the corporate tax rate. Yet, alas we came up short.
I wanted to give just a few moments of reflection on how I see the tax bill that ultimately moved through this Chamber last week.
First, on the process. The idea that you do your best work at something like 2:00AM in the morning, adopting a nearly 500 page piece of legislation without anyone having had the chance to really read it and understand it I think defies common sense.
Second, the idea that the best legislating is done by one party only I think has been proven to be incorrect. Whether it's big pieces of legislation done only by Democrats or big pieces done only by Republicans, part of the point of this Chamber and the balance and the separation of powers that our Founders crafted into the Constitution was the idea that when we listen to each other and compromise, we produce better legislation, better laws, better justice.
But last, I wanted to just talk for a moment about the values that underlie not just this process, but this outcome, this bill.
Because, in speeches and comments, in debates here on the floor, and in materials put out over the last two weeks, there has been lots and lots of talk about financial matters, about percentages, about numbers, about the Joint Committee on Taxation or the Congressional Budget Office, there has been lots of jargon and lots of insider talk that has frankly left a cloud that has made it difficult for most Americans to understand what was at stake and what was at work in the steady progress towards that partisan passage of the tax bill so early on Saturday morning.
Let's talk for a moment if we could about the human values implicated by this bill. Let's talk less about fiscal jargon and financial details and more about where it will land.
I'm sure, Mr. President, it comes of no surprise to you that ultimately I voted against the bill. I was willing to do bipartisan tax reform that would allow President Trump to meet his expressed goal of delivering a Christmas gift to the American people, in particular to the American middle-class.
Yet, I wasn't willing to sign off on a bill that will add a trillion dollars to our national debt and lay the groundwork we are already hearing for calls to slash Medicare and Medicaid and where once this Christmas package is opened, the middle-class will realize its real impact is the steady increase of the tax burden on them and the steady decrease over years ahead of critical, vital federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid that have made such a difference to so many in need over so long.
For reasons that elude me, most of this country was not actively engaged in this tax debate. I got about 230 calls from Delaware last Friday, 200 opposed and 20 in favor, so 10 to 1 against. But I didn't hear from folks who might have understood and might have spoken up about the long-term grinding impact this tax bill would have on those in real need in our country. And I wanted to take a moment here on the floor and reflect on something that happened late last week on the Budget Committee as they were marking up the bill.
As several dozen clergymen, men and women of different faiths, gathered together outside in a moment of civil disobedience. A few of them, friends of mine, were arrested, arrested in a cry they had hoped would be heard to express their concern about the impact of this tax bill on the poor and needy in our nation.
I stand tonight as a Senator, I stand tonight as someone who represents Delaware, I stand tonight as someone who is elected not to serve one particular faith tradition, but who is deeply informed by my faith tradition. And the gospel that I read and the gospel according to Luke: "Jesus said he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor." And I just wanted to stand here for a moment and say while the gospel is good news to the poor, this tax bill surely is not.
Some of the best known simple passages in the New Testament of the Christian Bible say you cannot serve both God and wealth, and in Jesus' call in Matthew 25: " In is much as you did this to the least of these you did it unto me."
But, this preference for the poor, this focus on the least among us is not new to the so-called New Testament, it's deeply rooted in Torah and in the Judeo-Christian values that underlies all of Christianity.
In proverbs the Torah teaches: "Those who oppress the poor insult their maker." And in Deuteronomy Chapter 15, it teaches: "You should open your hand to the poor and needy, the neighbor in your land."
And last, it seems to me that while the Bible, the New Testament, and the Torah teach these things about God's deep preference that we would be kind to one another, that we would care for one another, that we would support those in need around us, that doesn't inevitably lead to one party's position or another, it doesn't inventively lead to one clear economic theory or policy than another, but it does say that before we take dramatic action that will reset the ground for a generation that I believe will inevitably lead to a loss of security and stability and opportunity for those in need in our country, we should have reflected.
We should have listened to each other. We should have respected the greatest traditions of this country that say that we are most America, we are most Americans, when we open the doors of opportunity to all, when we create chances for those who are struggling amongst us to have a brighter future and as I searched through what I understood of this 500 page bill thrust upon us late on a Friday night, marked up and voted early on a Saturday morning, I found none of that.
I found an incredibly expensive bill that even some titans of industry have said will add little to the growth of this economy and much to the burden of debt of this country.
I know people of good faith on both sides have differing views about the impact of this bill, but I for one felt called tonight to come to this floor and say I think we have made not just a mistake of fiscal policy, but I think in moving this bill forward we have failed in our must fundamental call to hear each other, to work together, and to be mindful that we do not cause harm to those in our society who look to us to make the future brighter, to open the doors of opportunity wider, and to listen to some of the most ancient and profound voices in the traditions that laid the foundation of this free society: that we legislate worst when we legislate against the least of our brethren.
Thank you. With that, Mr. President I yield the floor.
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