Sen. Coons: “It’s hard to beat fear and anger and division with civility and progress and optimism, but I think that’s the message that will ultimately succeed and that’s why I keep legislating and working hard across the aisle.”
Sen. Coons on the border crisis: “We need to hold the administration accountable for the fact that they’ve created this crisis.”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning to discuss President Trump’s travel ban and the border crisis.
“President Trump, as candidate Trump, said clearly and repeatedly, he was calling for a complete and total ban on Muslims coming to this country. On his third try, he managed to get a travel ban that the Supreme Court in a narrow 5-4 ruling decided was constitutional. But just because the Supreme Court has ruled that it’s constitutional doesn’t mean that it fits with our core values,” said Senator Coons.
“One of the things that’s concerning me is he’s keeping his bad promises and breaking his good promises. So, he promised we’d all get better health care at lower cost and the opposite is happening. They tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, so the president is now tearing it down a piece at a time, now going after pre-existing condition protections. He promised he would make America safer, but he’s focusing on dividing us from our allies with this tariff fight with Canada, with Germany. You’ve got Harley-Davidson threatening to begin manufacturing more of its motorcycles overseas. So, he is injecting fear, as you say, that’s the way he’s going about campaigning, as he governs,” said Senator Coons.
“Sometimes it’s hard to beat fear and anger and division with civility and progress and optimism, but I think that’s the message that will ultimately succeed and that’s why I keep legislating and working hard across the aisle. Two different bills I’ve worked on a long time, one with Bob Corker, one with Marco Rubio, just got out of committee yesterday, on two different committees, to help Americans save for college, and to help us grow export markets around the world, and fight poverty in the developing world. I think it’s important for us to show that if we get control of the House or the Senate, that we can do things to not just keep America safe, but to bring us together and make us stronger,” said Senator Coons.
Full audio and video available here.
Excerpts from the interview:
Sen. Coons on the travel ban: Well, first I’m concerned that the president is going to use this to feed into his false narrative that Democrats aren’t concerned about keeping our country safe and strengthening our borders. Along with many other Democrats, I co-sponsored a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would invest billions of dollars in border security, in strengthening our visa systems and making sure we know who is coming and who’s leaving. So, I utterly reject the false narrative that Democrats don’t care about border security. But we also care about American values, about not tearing families apart at the border as a tool in our ongoing immigration fight. And about not accepting a blanket ban on Muslims coming to this country. President Trump, as candidate Trump, said clearly and repeatedly, he was calling for a complete and total ban on Muslims coming to this country. On his third try, he managed to get a travel ban that the Supreme Court in a narrow 5-4 ruling decided was constitutional. But just because the Supreme Court has ruled that it’s constitutional doesn’t mean that it fits with our core values. And I do think there’s ways that we can strengthen the Immigration and Nationality Act to make sure that we are complying with our most important fundamental values of nondiscrimination against people for their religion.
Sen. Coons on the Supreme Court: Well right now, we’d have real difficulty preventing the confirmation of a replacement under the president, under our current rules. The Republican majority would proceed with hearings on the Judiciary Committee and would likely proceed to a floor vote. As you know better than most folks, we’ve had hearing after hearing, week after week on the Judiciary Committee, where the long-respected rules that have prevented the minority from being run over in terms of who’s confirmed for circuit court judges have been changed. And we’re not following the blue slip the way we did for most of the last century. We’re not following long-established traditions. So, if that happens, I think we’re going to have a battle royal in the Senate about it. But at this point, it would be quite difficult for Democrats to actually block a nominee, unless there were Republicans who opposed that nominee as well.
More on President Trump: Well, what the president successfully tapped into in his 2016 campaign, was millions of Americans who felt they were on the outside, felt they weren’t respected, felt that their future, for them and their kids, wasn’t getting brighter. And he made a lot of promises. And one of the things that’s concerning me is he’s keeping his bad promises and breaking his good promises. So, he promised we’d all get better health care at lower cost and the opposite is happening. They tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, so the president is now tearing it down a piece at a time, now going after pre-existing condition protections. He promised he would make America safer, but he’s focusing on dividing us from our allies with this tariff fight with Canada, with Germany. You’ve got Harley-Davidson threatening to begin manufacturing more of its motorcycles overseas. So, he is injecting fear, as you say, that’s the way he’s going about campaigning, as he governs. And my concern is that we need a message in my party that is optimistic and that talks about how we can all do better when we are a more welcoming, optimistic, and positive society. Sometimes it’s hard to beat fear and anger and division with civility and progress and optimism, but I think that’s the message that will ultimately succeed and that’s why I keep legislating and working hard across the aisle. Two different bills I’ve worked on a long time, one with Bob Corker, one with Marco Rubio, just got out of committee yesterday, on two different committees, to help Americans save for college, and to help us grow export markets around the world, and fight poverty in the developing world. I think it’s important for us to show that if we get control of the House or the Senate, that we can do things to not just keep America safe, but to bring us together and make us stronger.
Sen. Coons on the border crisis: That’s a great question and I appreciate your raising it because we need to hold this administration accountable. First, this was a humanitarian crisis of President Trump’s creation. There was no urgent, pressing need for them to begin a zero-tolerance policy that forcibly separated parents and children, sometimes by 1,000 or 2,000 miles, except as a tool to prevent others coming to this country seeking refuge, and to get the advantages they were looking for in advancing their conservative agenda on immigration, like building the wall. It may be that easy, I don’t know. Secretary Azar testified under oath that it’s that easy, but it isn’t happening. Despite the president signing an executive order, Secretary Azar testified yesterday that there’s still 2,000 children separated from their parents.
More on the border crisis: These children have been separated all over the country. And frankly, I don’t know yet if it’s a lack of will, or a lack of resources, or a lack of time. But we need to hold the administration accountable for the fact that they’ve created this crisis. They’ve promised they’ll resolve it, and they’re not making the progress yet that they should in reuniting parents and children, and in stopping this policy, reversing this policy. As his testimony revealed yesterday, it’s unclear what will happen to those families that were separated weeks or months ago, and it’s unclear whether they might at some point renew this practice of separating parents and children.
Sen. Coons on Crowley: Well, first it’s a reminder to everyone who’s elected to pay attention to your home district. And as you well remember, I got elected in 2010 in no small part, because a well-respected, long-established statewide Republican Party leader lost in an upset primary where a very small percentage of people voted. 30,000 people voted in that primary last night. She’s a very compelling speaker, she’s got a bright future. I know Joe Crowley, he’s been a huge figure in New York politics for a long time now. And this does create a challenge in terms of future leadership in the House, in the Democratic caucus. But I think this is also an opportunity. It’s a reminder of how much energy there is out there. How many folks want to come out and get engaged and participate. We’ve got a lot of new, young, first-time candidates and I welcome that. I think that’s the kind of energy our party needs to take the majority back in the House.
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