[VIDEO] Sen. Coons questions State Department, USAID officials on the crisis in Yemen

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today discussed the humanitarian crisis and conflict in Yemen. 

“With so many other pressing challenges in the Middle East, not just this crisis in Yemen, but also our military action against Syria over the weekend; I’m just going to echo what Senator Menendez said in the outset,” said Senator Coons. “That it is more important than ever that the administration formulate and deliver a comprehensive strategy to the Congress and the American people, so that we can better engage with, and understand, and judge what is the path forward in terms of confronting and restraining Iran’s aggressive behavior; which I think is a central cause of this ongoing conflict in Yemen, and as is a critical driver of Bashar al- Assad’s barbarism in Syria. And I will insist that we need to hear more from the President and his team represented here, by way of a comprehensive strategy in the near future.” 

Full audio and video available here. 

Senator Coons’ full Q&A is below:

Senator Coons: With so many other pressing challenges in the Middle East, not just this crisis in Yemen, but also our military action against Syria over the weekend, I’m just going to echo what Senator Menendez said in the outset: that it is more important than ever that the administration formulate and deliver a comprehensive strategy to the Congress and the American people, so that we can better engage with, and understand, and judge what is the path forward in terms of confronting and restraining Iran’s aggressive behavior; which I think is a central cause of this ongoing conflict in Yemen, and as is a critical driver of Bashar al- Assad’s barbarism in Syria. And I will insist that we need to hear more from the President and his team represented here, by way of a comprehensive strategy in the near future. But let’s today continue to drill down on some of the specifics in this particular conflict if we could. Humanitarian access, first Senator Young asked a number of questions. Admirably, he’s been very engaged on the issue of humanitarian access through ports, let me just add if I could a question about the closure of Sana’a airport. Because of military strikes led by the Saudi coalition, Sana’a airport has largely been closed to humanitarian relief and assistance, and to those who might seek to leave for medical purposes. How can we address Saudi Arabia’s legitimate security concerns around that airport, and its use for the importation of weapons, while at the same time making it possible for civilians trapped in Houthi controlled areas to get medical care, to get food, to get clean water? Ambassador Satterfield if you’d start us off. 

Ambassador Satterfield: Senator you single out exactly the reasons why Sana’a airport should be fully opened for movements in and out. Not just for humanitarian so labeled purposes, the general purposes as well. How best to assure that the genuine concerns of Saudi Arabia are met? There are a variety of regimes that have been put successfully in place to (for lack of a better word) sterilize or assure that cargos and people moving in and out of the airport are what they ought to be, without significantly diminishing the ability of the airport to function. We and the United Nations have repeatedly proposed such regimes. Some have worked partially. The airport has a greater level of operation today than it did if we go back to early and mid- November, but more needs to be done. And we believe, the mechanisms are out there. The U.N. is willing to participate in them, and we believe that they can be made to work. 

Senator Coons: Thank you for that answer, let me talk just a little bit more about water shortages as several of you have spoken to. Both the Houthis and Saudis have blocked deliveries of water to civilians and have destroyed water infrastructure, which has in are part contributed to water scarcity, to the world’s greatest cholera outbreak. Do you believe access to, and control over water is one of the drivers over the conflict in Yemen? And, how does that exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, and what can we best do to tackle the access to clean water challenges? 

Ambassador Satterfield: Senator in Yemen control over water resources is not one of the primary drivers in the conflict. Yemen is blessed with a variety of water supplies not found elsewhere in the Middle East. The problem with water, and I’ll defer to my colleague from IAD, is the elimination of reliable electricity supplies to purification of water treatments plants, appropriate sewage disposal. It’s a very basic phenomenon, but it stems from restrictions on electricity delivery, which in turn are the product of some damage to transmittal lines. But more importantly, lack of consistent supplies of affordable fuel.

Senator Coons: Mr. Jenkins… 

Deputy Assistant Administrator Jenkins: The ambassador nailed it on that one. Basically, when you see or hear in Yemen about fuel not getting to where it needs to go, that immediately correlates itself with people not being able to pump the water that they need, not being able to fuel the generators that keep the lights on in hospitals. And water is a critical, critical problem for the humanitarian situation. 

Senator Coons: Let me ask, if I might, one last question. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, has been cited as one of the more lethal terrorist organizations in the world. Do you think AQAP is a greater threat to the United States now than it was at the beginning of the conflict back in September of 2015? Have we had any success in degrading their capabilities? And most importantly I think, from a security perspective, given the quote Senator Young just shared with us that food crises grow terrorists, what about our alignment, our strategy, our engagement might make us less secure today, as a result of the conduct of the last three years? 

Assistant Secretary Karem: Senator as you know we had a relatively sizable presence in Yemen prior to the conflict focused with the legitimate government of Yemen in going after AQAP, because of the specific threat it poses to the homeland. That presence and our activities were significantly undermined by the collapse of the government and the outbreak of civil war in 2014 and 2015. We have made strides in reconstituting our efforts through our local partnerships, first with the legitimate government of Yemen as well as with other partner forces who were on the ground. But, AQAP remains a significant threat. They have benefitted from the civil war that has created open territory and safe areas for them. But as the Emirates in particular have made progress in helping the government of Yemen maintain control in certain areas, it has denied more area to AQAP. We nevertheless have continued to have to take a number of strikes against this very significant terrorist threat, and so it remains a challenge but we are making progress. 

Senator Coons: Thank you all. Saying in conclusion, it’s clearly both in our humanitarian interest, and in our national security interest, to reach a resolution to this conflict as soon as is possible. Thank you. 

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Trump Admin responds to Sens. Coons, Portman, & King, agrees to discharge outstanding federal student loans for permanently disabled veterans

WASHINGTON – In response to efforts by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Angus King (I-Maine), the Trump Administration has announced that they will streamline student debt forgiveness for permanently disabled military veterans. 

In February of 2018, the Senators sent a letter to urge the U.S. Secretary of Education, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the Acting Commissioner of Social Security to immediately discharge outstanding federal student loans for totally and permanently disabled Americans, including veterans.

Under the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, federal student loans that are discharged by the Department of Education due to the death or total and permanent disability of a borrower or the death of a borrower’s child are no longer required to be included in the gross income of the borrower.  Therefore, loan forgiveness in these cases is tax exempt.  Now that Congress has removed the potential tax consequence associated with this type of loan forgiveness, the Senators are urging the Department to immediately begin discharging student loans for eligible individuals.  

The Senators’ letter is available here. In addition to Coons, Portman, and King, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), along with U.S. Representatives Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Peter Roskam (R-Ill.). 

“I am extremely pleased that the Trump Administration is taking action to discharge outstanding federal student loans for permanently disabled veterans,” said Senator Coons. “Nevertheless, we still urge the Administration to take action to ensure that all Americans who are totally or permanently disabled have their outstanding federal student loans immediately discharged.”

“I was pleased to learn that these loan discharges for veterans will be streamlined,” said Senator Portman. “We have worked on solving the problems facing permanently disabled student borrowers for quite some time, and while there remains work to be done, this announcement is a positive step forward.”

“No one in America who has become permanently disabled should have to endure the pain and financial hardship of a surprise tax bill on a forgiven loan – least of all our veterans,” said Senator King. “This is, simply, the right thing to do, and I hope that the Administration will extend the same compassion to others affected by this misguided policy.”

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on President Trump and the Mueller investigation: “There’s no longer the question of if he takes some action against this investigation but when”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined CNN New Day to discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller and President Trump’s decision to reject imposing a new round of Russian sanctions. 

“President Trump has had a truly puzzling and mystifying hesitation to take appropriate action against Russia. He ordered a military strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities but then hesitated and then reversed direction on advice from his most senior advisers on taking sanctions against companies that helped facilitate that deadly chemical weapons infrastructure by Syria,” said Senator Coons. “Deeply puzzling. Jim Comey in his new book out today suggest that’s he can’t answer the question whether or not the President is compromised by something the Russians have on him. It is concerning that we don’t have a clear strategy in Syria, that we don’t have a clear strategy with regards to Russia, and while I respect that the President thinks it would be better for us to have a good relationship with Russia, I think Presidents both Republican and Democrats for decades have recognized that in confronting Russia in their aggression we need to be strong first and pursue diplomacy second.” 

Full audio and video available here. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Sen. Coons on Cohen: It doesn’t directly affect the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in to potential Russian collusion into the 2016 election or potential obstruction of justice by the President or folks in the Trump campaign organization. What it does do, I think is pose serious legal risk for the President as every law student knows, attorney-client privilege is very important. It’s a fundamental principal of our legal system, but if there’s evidence that an attorney is engaged in or concealing crime or fraud that attorney-client privilege can be pierced and that’s what happened here. The Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s office will be moving forward on this investigation and any resulting prosecution and given that President Trump before he was elected had decades of a tabloid existence in New York back and forth, lots of different changes in marital status or allegations and that his personal lawyer was described as ‘Mr. Fix It’ I would think he might face significant legal risk. 

Sen. Coons on Mueller: I’m very concerned. I know many of my Republican colleagues are confident that the President won’t take this very serious and very unwise step, but I’m encouraged that Senator Tillis, Senator Graham have joined with Senator Booker and me to introduce a simple bill, what I call an ounce of prevention bill that would prevent a constitutional crisis. 

More on Mueller: Well, it takes existing Department of Justice regulations that prohibit the firing of the special counsel for anything other than just cause and it makes that into statute and clarifies what the relief would be if the special counsel were fired, it would freeze his work product and give him ten days to appeal to a three-judge panel and if they decided he was improperly fired, he could be reinstated to resume leading the investigation. 

More on Mueller: It is now going to get a hearing — it had a hearing last fall. It’s now on the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee which I think is a big step forward and I think this is going to become a subject of intense discussion between colleagues. I spoke to several Republican colleagues over the weekend and I think they see as I see, that the President’s tempo after the Michael Cohen raid has changed significantly and there’s no longer the question of if he takes some action against this investigation but when. Whether it’s firing Rod Rosenstein or trying to pressure the attorney general to resign or doing something more direct right at the special counsel. 

Sen. Coons on sanctions: That is the million-dollar question. Since he was a candidate, as long as he has been President, President Trump has had a truly puzzling and mystifying hesitation to take appropriate action against Russia. He ordered a military strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities but then hesitated and then reversed direction on advice from his most senior advisers on taking sanctions against companies that helped facilitate that deadly chemical weapons infrastructure by Syria. Deeply puzzling. Jim Comey in his new book out today suggest that’s he can’t answer the question whether or not the President is compromised by something the Russians have on him. It is concerning that we don’t have a clear strategy in Syria, that we don’t have a clear strategy with regards to Russia, and while I respect that the President thinks it would be better for us to have a good relationship with Russia, I think Presidents both Republican and Democrats for decades have recognized that in confronting Russia in their aggression we need to be strong first and pursue diplomacy second. 

Sen. Coons on Nikki Haley: Well, it’s another example of the disconcerting disconnect between some of the President’s most senior advisers and what the President himself chooses to with regards to Russia. This isn’t the first time this is happened. I’ll remind you, just three weeks ago that the President was publicly saying we should pull out of Syria, the change in direction, that’s a whipsaw from we’re about to withdraw from this country to we are launching military attacks on it and later today, all senators are going to be briefed by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on what’s happened in Syria but although we will press for it, I will ask for it, I don’t expect to hear a coherent strategy for what to do with Syria. This puts us at risk. It’s important that we have a coherent strategy from this administration about where we’re going not just in Syria but with regards to Russia and Iran and North Korea. 

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Senator Coons’ statement on U.S. strikes in Syria

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement. 

“On one hand, I’m encouraged to see the Administration send a clear message that President Assad’s murder of his own people with chemical weapons will not be tolerated. On the other, last night’s strikes directed by President Trump do not appear to be based on a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the many sides of the conflict in Syria. 

“I urge President Trump to explain his objectives in Syria to Congress and the American people. Should the achievement of those goals require additional US military action, the President must seek congressional authorization for the use of military force against the Assad regime.”

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons presses Pompeo on the world’s lack of trust and confidence in President Trump’s leadership in world affairs

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today questioned Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

“I would like to introduce to the record an article from the Pew Research Center which reflects trends that other surveys of the world and world leaders have also revealed,” said Senator Coons.“The Center’s 2017 annual survey looked at global levels of confidence of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and their confidence that they would do the right thing for the world. And it was striking that for the first time there’s been real slippage. Are you concerned to see polls such as this that for the first time ever say more people around the world or more leaders around the world trust Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to lead the world in the right direction more than under Donald Trump’s leadership?”

Full audio and video available here. 

Senator Coons’ second round of questioning is below:

Sen. Coons: Thank you Chairman Corker, and thank you Director Pompeo. Those same topics we had a constructive conversation yesterday and I am confident that you would be a good advocate for the career professionals of the State Department and USAID and so rather than focus on some of the management and budget and so forth I’m going to focus on areas where I still got some unresolved questions and would rather have a more pointed exchange. But I wanted to make sure I recognize that I think that you’ve got clarity about the importance of the mission and the role, and deep respect for the professionals that carry out this job. You said in your prepared statement that representing America also requires promoting America’s ideals, values, and priorities to those who ultimately determine the trajectory of geopolitics. The voters and citizens of the world. And I agree with you. Mr. Chairman, I would like to introduce to the record an article from the Pew Research Center which reflects trends that other surveys of the world and world leaders have also revealed. The Center’s 2017 annual survey looked at global levels of confidence of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and their confidence that they would do the right thing for the world. And it was striking that for the first time there’s been real slippage. Are you concerned to see polls such as this that for the first time ever say more people around the world or more leaders around the world trust Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to lead the world in the right direction more than under Donald Trump’s leadership?

Pompeo: Senator, I definitely want people to understand accurately. It’s not an attempt to deceive, but rather to accurately have the people of the world understand the beacon of democracy that the United States of America is. I talked just a moment ago with Senator Portman about misinformation and the capacity to move that around the world. We diligently need to make sure that that doesn’t have an impact, and I don’t know, I couldn’t tell you the depths of the poll, and I don’t know of it, but it is the case that there are actors of the world that are seeking to achieve exactly the perception that you laid out there. And we need to make sure that we’re doing all that we can to counter that perception of the United States.

Sen. Coons: I’m sure that you’d agree that the United States has and promotes quite different values than China.  

Pompeo: Deeply, deeply. 

Sen. Coons: And, so I’m interested in both what your strategy would be for investing in the resources needed to push back on this difference. And what role do you think our values should play both in our bilateral relationship with China and in how we engage in the world. I’ve had a concern that over the last fifteen months our values weren’t as front and center as our interests more narrowly understood. How do we change that in our bilateral relationship with China and more broadly around the world? 

Pompeo: I believe that our values drive off and drive we see sometimes we see people characterize our interests as being in juxtaposition or in conflict with our values. That may well from time to time be the case. But, I think most often, Senator that actually our values drive those interests. We should be unashamed about that. We should speak to the reason we operate the way we do. We should defend American values every place we go. That means, with respect to China, perhaps, but certainly with respect to other nations, hard conversations. Somedays perhaps, Senator, tradeoffs as well. We do end up having to deal with unsavory characters from time to time to achieve an outcome that we deem important to American national security. But we should never do that to the exclusively, that is we should never put away this American vision for the things that make societies most successful and people be able to achieve what it is that they seek, that we should be proud of that, and we should always have that as part of the discussion. 

Sen. Coons: I think that’s a vision that doesn’t just tolerate, but celebrates our differences. And as co-chair of the Senate Human Rights Caucus with Senator Tillis I’m concerned about how we make sure that we make that celebration of difference a piece of our foreign policy. I’d be interested in whether you’d think that LGBTQ rights are human rights, and whether you would advocate for them as a piece of a broader agenda of advocating for diversity, and what your strategy is from preventing partners like Turkey, and Egypt and the Philippines that have genuinely slid on their respect and recognition for rights as broadly understood from moving further away from our core values. 

Pompeo: I think there were three questions there, Senator, let me try, I deeply believe that LGBTQ persons have every right that every other person in the world would have. We have many countries in the world that don’t honor that, that don’t reflect that, that behave, that conduct heinous activity against those persons. We have a responsibility when we’re dealing with these countries to do our best to have an impact, to make them recognize the fundamental dignity of every human being that we do here in the United States.

Sen. Coons: Last question if I might Mr. Chairman. There was some exchange you had previously of statements you made as an elected official right after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, and whether that sends a message to America’s Muslims, the community within our country and the leaders around the world that you’ll need to work with as a chief diplomat. Just tell me something about who the leaders are in the Muslim world you’ll be willing to work closely with and what priority you would place on changing that perception of your views given by a few statements that as we discussed yesterday that you think were taken out of context. I think it’s important to have a sense on the record of the view of the religion of Islam and of our partnerships in the Muslim world.

Pompeo: Let me try and do that. But let me try and give evidence, I’ve worked with our intelligence partners throughout a broad range of Muslim-majority countries. I’ve worked with them closely, we’ve done very difficult things together. It would be difficult to chase some of them down, but I think that if you could speak to them you’d find that the view that you suggested that some have seen from that remark, that would be very different to them. I think that they have come to understand that I honor their religion, that I honor their commitment to that. Where it causes some of the challenges as you asked in your previous question, we’ve tried to push back even at the lowly intelligence level, we’ve taken on some of these human rights issues in a crisp and square way. I assure you that I’ll continue to do that if I’m confirmed into this new position as well. 

Sen. Coons: Thank you for your answers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

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Bipartisan, bicameral bill from Sens. Coons, Graham, Gillibrand & Reps. Panetta, Gallagher addresses cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the defense supply chain

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Congressmen Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Mike Gallagher (R-WI), today introduced the Enhance Cybersecurity for Small Manufacturers Act, which gives the Department of Defense and MEP program additional tools to help small manufacturers in the defense supply chain eliminate potentially significant cybersecurity risks. 

As of December 2017, Department of Defense suppliers must comply with new, tougher cybersecurity requirements to ensure information relevant to defense manufacturing supply chains is protected. 

The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program interacted with over 1,000 small manufacturers regarding the Department of Defense’s cybersecurity requirements. This outreach by the MEP program revealed a significant lack of awareness of the new cybersecurity requirements among small manufacturers in the defense supply chain and a deficiency of financial and technical resources required to manage cybersecurity risks. 

If cybersecurity vulnerabilities remain unaddressed, defense supply chains face a higher likelihood of serious and exploitable vulnerabilities, as well as a substantial reduction in the number of suppliers compliant with Department of Defense requirements, and therefore ineligible to provide products and services to the Department of Defense.  

The bill will help small manufacturers by: 

• Requiring the dissemination of cybersecurity resources to raise awareness of new requirements and best practices in order to address a widespread lack of awareness of cybersecurity threats among small manufacturers in the defense industrial supply chain. 
• Authorizing MEPs to conduct voluntary self-assessments of small manufacturers in order to understand operating environments, cybersecurity requirements, and existing vulnerabilities.
• Authorizing MEPs to help small manufacturers implement security measures that are adequate to protect sensitive defense information if vulnerabilities are uncovered. 

“Small manufacturers are essential to the defense supply chain,” said Senator Coons. “I’m very concerned that many of these manufacturers have not been able to implement the Department of Defense’s new cybersecurity requirements. The MEP program is well-positioned to help these manufacturers. This bill provides the Department of Defense and MEPs with the tools to ensure we’re closing any vulnerabilities that could harm our national security.” 

“Robust cyber security requirements are essential to protecting our national security and defense industrial base.  We need to ensure the small and medium-sized manufacturers in the defense supply chain implement stronger cybersecurity protections,” said Senator Graham. “This legislation will provide the technical resources they need as they continue to work to protect our nation and interests.”

“New York’s small manufacturers play an important role in the defense supply chain, yet they face significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities that threaten our national security and limit these companies’ opportunities for selling their high-quality goods and services to the government,” said Senator Gillibrand. “We must ensure that our small manufacturers have the necessary resources to protect our country’s defense information and minimize their risk of cyberattacks. The Enhance Cybersecurity for Small Manufacturers Act would help provide the critical assistance needed for addressing these existing gaps in our cybersecurity.”  

“Small and midsize manufacturers are critical components of the national security innovation base,” said Congressman Panetta. “These businesses face distinct cybersecurity challenges related to national security. This bipartisan, bicameral bill empowers the nationwide network of Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers to deliver proven, comprehensive cybersecurity solutions to U.S. manufacturers, fueling economic growth, advancing American industry, and strengthening national security.” 

“Some of our nation’s most innovative companies are located in places like Northeast Wisconsin, and they have a vital role to play in helping strengthen our national defense. This important bill both increases supply chain security and makes it easier to bring local innovation into our defense industrial base.” said Congressman Gallagher. 

“The American Small Manufacturers Coalition strongly supports this bill. Cybersecurity is a critical issue for our defense supply chain and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership is in a key position to support our defense industrial base. This bill allows the MEP program to work with defense suppliers to rapidly deploy shared cybersecurity services, best practices and resources to enable them to prevent future attacks,” said Carrie Hines, President & CEO, American Small Manufacturers Coalition.

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons presses Pompeo on what he would do if Mueller is fired

Sen. Coons: I’m convinced that if the President were to fire the Special Counsel, or to interfere with his investigation by firing Rod Rosenstein with the intention to then interfere and shut down this investigation, that it would put the rule of law genuinely at risk. If that were the case, and if that happened, would you resign your post as Secretary of State in order to demonstrate that we are a nation of laws, not of men?

Pompeo: Senator, I haven’t given that question any thought. My instincts tell me no… 

Sen. Coons: Well, Director Pompeo, I’d urge you to give it some thought. Many of us are giving it some real thought.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today questioned Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo at his nomination hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I am optimistic you would follow through in your commitment to fight for the State Department, for USAID, for resources and personnel. I think many of us have heard over the past fifteen months real concerns about management, morale, budget cuts, at the State Department and USAID, and I am optimistic you would fight for those professionals and you would respect their service. I’m also well aware you have a strong and close relationship with the President, and as we discussed I think a key role for America’s chief diplomat is to advance not just our narrow interests, our security or economic interests, but to also see our values as being a key part of those interests. And I hope that you will both advise the President and on occasion stand up to him. If he is doing things with which you disagree, and that you will ensure that he considers the vital role of diplomacy in responding to the threats we face around the world,” said Senator Coons.

Video and audio are available here.  

Sen. Coons: Thank you director Pompeo for your willingness to stop forward and once again to serve our country: to your family and to you for what has been a long career of public service in the United States military, as an elected official, as Director of the CIA, and now for this position. I appreciated the conversation we had yesterday and the opportunity to follow up on some of the issues we discussed. And I am optimistic you would follow through in your commitment to fight for the State Department, for USAID, for resources and personnel. I think many of us have heard over the past fifteen months real concerns about management, morale, budget cuts, at the State Department and USAID, and I am optimistic you would fight for those professionals and you would respect their service. I’m also well aware you have a strong and close relationship with the President, and as we discussed I think a key role for America’s chief diplomat is to advance not just our narrow interests, our security or economic interests, but to also see our values as being a key part of those interests. And I hope that you will both advise the President and on occasion stand up to him. If he is doing things with which you disagree, and that you will ensure that he considers the vital role of diplomacy in responding to the threats we face around the world. So, let me just follow up if I might for a moment on a line of questioning two of my colleagues pursued. You are a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. I couldn’t get into Harvard, I went to Yale Law School. And as such, I would assume you agree that rule of law is absolutely essential to the values that define our democracy. Is that correct? 

Pompeo: Senator, I only spoke publicly six, five, times as CIA director. Each time I spoke I probably I spoke to, and maybe there’s an exception– but each time I spoke at some length about the importance of the rule of law at the CIA. How we were a creature of law, and how if we didn’t do that the fundamental failure that that would lead to. I believed it as CIA Director, I’ve believed it all my life, and I’ll believe it as the Secretary of State if I’m confirmed as well, Senator. 

Sen. Coons: Well, and I think you made a strong statement that if confirmed it would be the seventh time you’d raise your hand and swear an oath to the Constitution. So, let me just go back to a line of questioning. President Trump describes Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation as an attack on what we all stand for. And he has repeatedly threatened to fire Robert Mueller. He’s threatened the investigation, he’s threatened the Attorney General in his tweets in ways I find troubling. Do you believe Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation is an attack on our country and all we stand for? 

Pompeo: Senator, I hope you’ll take this the right way. As the Director of the CIA, I have been involved in that investigation. I’ve worked with Senators Burr and Warner and with Congressmen on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I have been a participant in Special Counsel Mueller’s activity. I think anything I say, with respect, I want to avoid that today, I apologize that I can’t speak more fully than that. But I hope you’ll respect the fact that everything that I was asked to do in my role as CIA director related to any investigation I’ve done with as much thoroughness, as much depth, and as much alacrity as our organization could achieve.

Sen. Coons: I’m convinced that if the President were to fire the Special Counsel, or to interfere with his investigation by firing Rod Rosenstein with the intention to then interfere with and shut down this investigation, that it would put the rule of law genuinely at risk. If that were the case, and if that happened, would you resign your post as Secretary of State in order to demonstrate that we are a nation of laws, not of men? 

Pompeo: Senator, I haven’t given that question any thought. My instincts tell me no. My instincts tell me that my obligation to serve as America’s senior diplomat will be more important at increased times of political domestic turmoil. We’ve seen this in America before, right? It wouldn’t be the first time there’s been enormous political turmoil. My recollection of history is that previous Secretaries of State stayed the course, continued to do their work, continued to do the requirements statutory and constitutional that they had. Having not given it a great deal of thought, I’m confident that that’s the path I would take. 

Sen. Coons: Well, Director Pompeo, I’d urge you to give it some thought. Many of us are giving it some real thought. And have had to do so for months. And I think it is regrettable that we’re in a place where we’re seriously discussing this rather than diving into the policy questions that face us around the world. But I think there are moments when our values and what we do teaches to the world. And whether the right course is to resign, or to engage and speak out against it, and to counsel against, and to then work to restore the rule of law we could debate. But I think it’s vital to have as our chief diplomat someone who understands our values as I believe you do, and is willing to fight for them like taking dramatic steps like a resignation in order to signal vigorous disapproval of what the President’s done or might do. Let me move on to another area if I might. When discussing Saddam Hussein, President Trump has said, and I quote, “He is a bad guy. A really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them their rights, they didn’t talk, they were terrorists, it was over.” And while we could debate whether Saddam Hussein was a good guy or a bad guy, I think it’s important this is another example much like something we discussed, the president of the Philippines and his conduct where challenging an ally, or challenging the historical record on behalf of our rights is important and our values. So, to what extent do you think that actions that curtail human rights and erode processes like due process and the rule of law by foreign governments actually fuels instability, strengthens terrorist threats. That when we are perceived as being on the side of a quick and violent result, rather than the rule of law and a just result, it actually makes us less safe. 

Pompeo: Senator, I think I agree, if I understood the premise of your question correctly I think I agree with it as laid out but I’ll try and repeat it for you and see if I got it right. I agree. American behavior matters, the way that we behave around the world, our activities, the things we choose to do and not to do matter, they are reflective. I, one of the best memories I’ve had so far as CIA Director is that I was with a partner intelligence service leader who’d been at this a lot longer than I had and we were walking in a dusty place. And CIA had done great work alongside them, they’d been a great partner for us as well. He turned to me and said, “Do you know the most important thing that America has done for my team? It’s great that you give us some help, it’s great that you teach us some technology, and some tools, the most important thing you’ve done for us is set an example: CIA officers performing professionally, having boundaries, existing under the rule of law, communicating, all the professional behavior that your officers have exhibited has been the most important thing that you’ve done for our organization, you’ve made us better.” So, to your point, I think that’s an example where put aside the policy or work we did, substantive work we did, it was America’s norms that were had proven truly valuable to this foreign partner. I was incredibly proud to be the director. 

Sen. Coons: I’m glad to hear that example and hear you repeat our shared commitment to the rule of law as a core American value, but I do think that we are at a time when we are going to have to confront questions about what we are willing to do in order to demonstrate our fealty to the rule of law as a foundational principal of our country. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on bipartisan bill to protect Special Counsel Mueller

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-author of the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, today spoke at a Judiciary Committee business meeting on the legislation’s positive, bipartisan momentum. 

Audio and video available here. 

Senator Coons’ full statement is below:

“Thank you, Senator [Blumenthal]. Both you, Senator Graham, and Senator Tillis have been great to work with, Senator Booker, and we introduced the bipartisan bill yesterday, the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act. It harmonizes previous bills, which Senators Blumenthal and Whitehouse were also engaged with. I just want to thank you for your diligent and good work on this and I want to thank the Chairman for his engagement and express my hope, my strong feeling, that any amendments should be bipartisan in nature and advance our objective of protecting the independence of the special counsel. I am very optimistic we will make progress in resolving this this week and I look forward to having the chance to talk with colleagues about how we can move this forward. Thank you.”

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Sens. Graham, Coons, Tillis, Booker introduce merged legislation, the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will introduce the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act.

The new legislation merges two parallel efforts into one unified, bipartisan bill. In August of 2017, Senators Tillis and Coons introduced the Special Counsel Integrity Act, S. 1741, and Senators Graham and Booker introduced the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act, S. 1735. The bipartisan legislation introduced today harmonizes the Coons-Tillis bill and the Graham-Booker bill.  

The Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act:

• Codifies existing Department of Justice regulations to ensure that the Special Counsel can only be fired for good cause by a senior Justice Department official, and the reason must be provided in writing.  
• Provides the Special Counsel a 10-day window in which he can seek expedited judicial review of his removal to determine whether the firing was for good cause.  If the firing is ultimately determined to have violated the good-cause requirement, the removal will not take effect.   
• Preserves the staffing, documents, and materials of the investigation while the matter is pending.

“Special counsels must act within boundaries, but they must also be protected. Our bill allows judicial review of any decision to terminate a special counsel to make sure it’s done for the reasons cited in the regulation rather than political motivation. I think this will serve the country well. I look forward to working with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to make this law,” said Senator Graham.

“This is a time when all of us—Republicans and Democrats—need to stand up and make it clear that we are committed to the rule of law in this country,” said Senator Coons. “We need to ensure not only that Special Counsel Mueller can complete his work without interference, but that special counsels in future investigations can, too.” 

“This compromise bipartisan bill helps ensure that special counsels – present or future – have the independence they need to conduct fair and impartial investigations,” said Senator Tillis. “The integrity and independence of special counsel investigations are vital to reaffirming the American people’s confidence in our nation’s rule of law.” 

“A nation of laws cannot exist if the people tasked with enforcing them are subjected to political interference or intimidation from the President,” said Senator Booker. “The Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act will install a needed check and ensure that Special Counsel Mueller and his team – and any future special counsels — are able to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead. Congress must act to advance this bipartisan legislation as soon as possible without any further delay.”

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Sen. Coons leads bipartisan Senate delegation to Niger, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso

Washington, D.C. –  Last week, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led a bipartisan Senate delegation to Niger, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. The Senators participated in bilateral meetings with heads of state and senior government officials, including President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso, and senior ministers from the government of South Africa. The delegation reaffirmed bipartisan support for strong ties between the United States and Africa, examined political transitions in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and assessed U.S. development and security assistance to Burkina Faso and Niger.

Senator Coons was joined by U.S. Senators Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

“At a time when the United States faces no shortage of international challenges from nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran to increased assertiveness from Russia and China, we cannot afford to ignore the critical challenges and opportunities that we face in Africa, a continent where targeted investments can have an outsized impact,” said Senator Coons.“Particularly as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee prepares to consider the nomination of Mike Pompeo to be the next Secretary of State, this trip was a timely opportunity to hear directly from officials in each country about important issues from security and terrorism to the successes and failures of U.S. foreign policy across the continent.  The clearest lesson from this trip was a simple one: we need more American engagement in Africa, not less, and I will continue pushing the Trump Administration to deepen and strengthen ties across the continent.”

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