Senators Coons, Corker discuss their recent trip to the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in Uganda
Sen. Coons on Putin: “He’s only going to stop when we stop him”
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Morning Joe with Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to discuss their recent visit to the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in Uganda, where more than 270,000 people reside after fleeing violence and famine in South Sudan.
“To actually hold a child whose mother has just come out of weeks of fleeing violence in South Sudan and to see them get to a safe place, to help feed them for the first time, and to look in the eyes of refugees is a very powerful experience. This was on Good Friday, and one of the main reasons we continue to feed the world is because it's the right thing to do, but the more important thing is it actually helps keep us safer by preventing fragile states from becoming failed states, and by teaching the world about our values, and I’m grateful that Chairman Corker and I have a bill that would help taxpayer dollars to go farther in more efficiently delivering our food aid to the world.”
Audio and video available here.
Additional excerpts from the interview:
Senator Coons on Russia: "Putin's Russia is an aggressor, an adversary and across all these different areas, I think he's only going to stop when we stop him. And I think the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Ben Cardin, has put together strong bipartisan legislation. We’ve also had great hearings and have stepped up to some of the other challenges facing our security like Iran's destabilizing actions in the Middle East. I think you'll see a number of bills come through our committee. In the last Congress, we were productive legislatively on improving foreign assistance, on improving health security and food security in the developing world. In this Congress, I think you'll see us step up and really confront the challenges of an aggressive Russia and Iran."
Senator Coons on how helpful he thinks China will be with North Korea: "This really is in President XI's interest and China is the sole lifeline for North Korea. They are critically dependent on Chinese support. So our continuing to strengthen and bring closer our long and enduring ties with South Korea and Japan and engaging with China and making this more their problem than our problem is the only path forward that I see in the short term. We have to have a credible military plan, but frankly, pulling together our allies in the region, with China, to impose significant sanctions on North Korea, to make them an international pariah and to circle the pressure on them is the most likely next step. I think that's what we'll hear at the White House tomorrow from the Trump administration."
Senator Coons on President Trump’s calls with foreign leaders: "I think that President Trump should be relying more on the career professionals in the State Department who often have deep knowledge of particular countries. Our NATO ally Turkey that is a key player in the region and is essential to our strategy in Syria, but where Erdo?an is increasingly tilting toward an authoritarian streak, I’m not sure I would have had the president congratulate him, and given the conduct of his government internally. I do think he'll do a better job the more he relies on not just his immediate inner circle but also the nonpartisan career professionals of the Foreign Service."