[AUDIO] Sen. Coons: Trump administration needs a strategy in Syria, must work with Congress, U.S. allies

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined WILM Radio in Delaware to discuss foreign policy. 

“American engagement in the Middle East is risky and uncertain, and what I think we need next out of the administration and Congress is for the administration to work with us, to define a strategy for our counter-ISIS campaign in Iraq and Syria, for our confrontation with North Korea, and for our confrontation with Assad, and get approval from Congress,” said Senator Coons.

Full audio available here. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Senator Coons on his day in Delaware: A busy day in Delaware today. I’m on my way to visit the PBF Refinery; later today I’ll be visiting a rapidly expanding biopharma company here in Wilmington. Yesterday, I was visiting with a great group of University of Delaware students who are part of the first ever Delaware Innovation Fellows class, and I talked with a whole class of Padua Academy students. It was an interesting day. I’d like if I could start with just one thing. The Congressional Delegation is going to have another one of our job fairs. This one is down at the beach; it’s at the Atlantic Sands Hotel. It’s going to be Thursday, April 13, and it’s going to run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and we have more than 38 employers who are hiring for 500 jobs. These are seasonal, part-time, and full-time. Anybody who’s listening who is looking for work this summer, or who is looking for work permanently and is willing to go and work in Sussex, I think these are some great opportunities. Some of the jobs are throughout the state, either with state or federal agencies, or with companies in Kent or Sussex. We also have three different organizations that will be there to help folks how to interview, how to write your resume, how to get the job you’re looking for. I appreciate the chance to share with folks that we’re doing another on of our Congressional Delegation free job fairs on Thursday, April 13.

Senator Coons on his quote from yesterday, “if you’re going into a big fight, bring some big friends”: Well, as a guy who is vertically challenged, you know, I always think that way because we’ve got an aircraft carrier strike task force steaming towards North Korea; President Trump launched a cruise missile strike against Syria, and in both cases, the countries that we’re entering into a conflict with–Syria and North Korea–have very powerful allies in Russia and in China. And my comment there that was I think on a CNN interview was simply to say that, in the course of the campaign, now-President Trump said a couple of things that suggested that NATO and Japan and South Korea were not vital allies and that they should pay up. If we’re heading into confrontations with Russia and China, I think it’s more important than ever that we embrace our allies and engage them in the road towards these potential very real confrontations with two other significant adversaries.  

More on foreign policy: I am concerned. I just heard from my wife this morning, a family friend has been deployed to Syria. We have hundreds of Americans, men and women, in the armed forces on the ground in Syria, in the fight against ISIS. We’ve got thousands in Iraq and, of course, we have close to 10,000 still serving in Afghanistan. These are dangerous and uncertain situations. To rephrase something that was said often about the Obama administration, we tried all three different approaches over the years. In Iraq, President Bush championed an invasion where we invaded, knocked over a dictator, occupied the country, and it was a mess. In Libya, under President Obama, we didn’t invade, but we knocked over a dictator, and it was a mess. And in Syria, we did neither, we neither invaded nor attacked, and it was a mess. So, frankly, that is just a reminder that American engagement in the Middle East is risky and uncertain, and what I think we need next out of the administration and Congress is for the administration to work with us, to define a strategy for our counter-ISIS campaign in Iraq and Syria, for our confrontation with North Korea, and for our confrontation with Assad, and get approval from Congress. Congress needs to do its job, we need to step up and declare war against ISIS. Something that I urged us to do when President Obama was stepping up our military campaign against ISIS. I just want to make sure that I’ve been clear, that’s a consistent position for me. 

Senator Coons on the problem with declaring war against ISIS: I don’t think there is a problem. I think Congress needs to step forward and do that. The larger challenge is that we couldn’t come to agreement on the Foreign Relations Committee. While Obama was president, many Republicans had questions of sort of his wisdom and leadership, and there were many Democrats who didn’t want to authorize any new conflicts. We were able to get a group of four to six of us to agree, but we weren’t sure we had the votes to get it out of Committee. And ultimately, Chairman Corker persuaded many of us that it would be worse for the men and women of our armed forces to have the Senate fail to authorize the ongoing conflict. Now, we have a new president, a new situation. I think we should take another run at it. And I frankly am going to be pushing my Democratic colleagues to step forward and make it clear under what circumstances they’re going to support the war against ISIS that we’re already in, has already been underway for more than two years.

Senator Coons on Nikki Haley: I’ll tell you, I was impressed with her speech at the UN Security Council right after the chemical gas attack. It was forceful, it was engaging, and I’m encouraged. So, I’ll tell you that in my personal meeting with her, I came away convinced that she had very little subject matter knowledge about global affairs, but she had real experience as a governor and was engaging and clearly she is someone who is learning quickly on the job. I’ll give her B on the job, and that’s an upgrade from what I thought after our initial meeting. And, honestly, I am hopeful that she’s going to be a strong UN Ambassador and a strong part of the team, because we need strong representation at the UN, we need a strong diplomatic team. This is exactly the wrong time for us to slash the budget that supports our diplomats. Tillerson’s meeting in Russia today with probably Lavrov and Putin and Nikki Haley keeps representing us at the UN, they both need support to do their jobs well.

###

Senator Coons’ statement on the passing of Mr. Eugene Lang

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement on the passing of Mr. Eugene Lang:

“I’m deeply saddened by the passing of my friend and mentor, Eugene Lang. Gene was a visionary with a talent for persuading people to dream big and do more for others. A son of immigrants, Gene’s own improbable story of success in business and life began through a scholarship opportunity that allowed him to go to Swarthmore College, a gift he later paid forward many times over. With a sharp mind, a striking wit, and a tireless work ethic, Gene built a successful business licensing inventions and technology around the world before turning to his true calling: making a difference in the lives of others.

“Gene’s extraordinary promise of a college scholarship to an entire class of middle school students from Harlem in 1981 was the stuff of legend. Gene went on to build the ‘I Have a Dream’ Foundation, a nationwide network of more than a hundred local chapters. The power of his vision and his passion for giving kids from tough schools and hard neighborhoods a genuine chance in life was infectious. My own life was changed by Gene from the moment I first met him in 1988. He inspired me to launch an ‘I Have a Dream’ Foundation chapter in my hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, and I later worked for Gene at the organization’s national office in New York and served on the national board for a decade. Through his demanding and inspiring leadership, Gene attracted an amazing constellation of supporters to his cause. I count among my closest friends the sponsors, staff, project coordinators, and Dreamers I met through him. 

“Gene’s vision of a country where an opportunity for higher education is available to all continues to motivate and inspire me, and so many more across our nation. I’ll miss him greatly, and am thinking of his family during this difficult time.” 

###

ICYMI: Sen. Coons in Brookings’ “Order from Chaos” blog: Are we at war with Russia?

WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, last Thursday, April 6, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke at The Brookings Institution and engaged in a discussion with Brookings President Strobe Talbott on the topic of whether the United States is at war with Russia. The senator’s full remarks were posted in Brookings’ “Order from Chaos” blog. The blog post also includes the video of the speech and question-and-answer session with Mr. Talbott.

 

ORDER FROM CHAOS

Are we at war with Russia?

Chris Coons

Friday, April 7, 2017 

In 1950, a National Intelligence Estimate delivered to President Harry Truman outlined two goals of the Soviet Union. First, “destruction of working unity among the Western countries and thereby isolation of the United States.” Second, “alienating the Western people from their governments” to undermine the strength of the Western democracies.

Nearly 70 years later, the Cold War is over, communism is widely discredited, and the international arena has fundamentally changed. Yet the regime of Vladimir Putin is achieving today what the Soviet Union set out to do in 1950, as described in that memo. It is destroying unity in the West, isolating the United States, and alienating the Western people from our governments.

Today, I’ll discuss the campaign the Russian government is waging against the United States and our European allies. This is not a new Cold War—it is a new type of war, one that is undeclared and waged using unconventional tools.

I am gravely concerned the United States is failing to see this challenge clearly and to respond effectively, and I think it’s important that I offer several specific suggestions for how Congress can take action.

Click here to read the Senator’s complete remarks on The Brookings Institution’s “Order from Chaos” blog.

 

###

[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on CNN: “If you’re going into a big fight, bring some big friends”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined CNN New Day to discuss the ramifications of U.S. missile strikes in Syria.

“The situation in Syria is complex and dangerous,” said Senator Coons. “First, this is not the time to significantly cut our investment in diplomacy and development and humanitarian aid, because navigating our way through the very complex crises in Syria and Iraq is going to be difficult and expensive, and if we’re not prepared for a diplomatic solution and a development solution, once we retake the cities of Mosul and Raqqa, then we’re simply going to repeat some of the mistakes of the past.

“[I]f you’re going into a big fight, bring some big friends,” said Senator Coons. “So, continuing to close the gaps created with our vital allies in NATO and across Europe by President Trump’s irresponsible statements as a candidate is urgent work to be done by members of Congress, by members of the administration, and by our senior diplomats.

“President Trump needs to come to Congress and work with us to get an authorization for the use of military force so that we’re doing our job under the Constitution and clarifying what we’ve approved going into in Syria, to do so requires a strategy. We need to hear a strategy – it may get you a great bump in the polls, it may be brush back Xi Jinping and the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, it may push back on Assad for a few days or weeks to launch a bunch of cruise missiles, but that’s not the same thing as having a strategy,” said Senator Coons. “We need to work out a strategy and we need to do our job and authorize this use of force.”

Full audio and video available here. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Senator Coons on Syria: Well, I do think it was appropriate for there to be forceful and prompt action against Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons once again against his own people. We’ve just passed the sixth anniversary of this brutal war by Assad against his own people. More than 400,000 Syrians have died and millions have been turned into refugees either within their own country, the region, or the rest of the world. But, the next steps are going to be exceptionally difficult. 

Senator Coons on whether the U.S. would turn a blind eye if Assad utilized barrel bombs: I disagree with that statement. It’s because of the chemical weapons convention that many around the world have condemned Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people, but I don’t really see the difference. Dropping a barrel bomb on a school or a hospital, or on a refugee camp as he’s done is every bit as heinous as using chemical weapons. Bashar al-Assad has used every single weapon of war from scud missiles to cluster bombs to poison gas to starvation as a tool of war to mass torture; he has done horrific and unspeakable things against his own people. And, I’ll remind you the Trump administration and his senior leadership as recently as two weeks ago were saying that we have to just accept Assad as the ongoing leader of Syria and let his own people work it out because our primary focus needs to be ISIS. The situation in Syria is complex and dangerous. A few simple points here if I might. First, this is not the time to significantly cut our investment in diplomacy and development and humanitarian aid, because navigating our way through the very complex crises in Syria and Iraq is going to be difficult and expensive, and if we’re not prepared for a diplomatic solution and a development solution, once we retake the cities of Mosul and Raqqa, then we’re simply going to repeat some of the mistakes of the past. Second, if you’re going into a big fight, bring some big friends. So, continuing to close the gaps created with our vital allies in NATO and across Europe by President Trump’s irresponsible statements as a candidate is urgent work to be done by members of Congress, by members of the administration and by our senior diplomats. Last, President Trump needs to come to Congress and work with us to get an authorization for the use of military force so that we’re doing our job under the Constitution and clarifying what we’ve approved going into in Syria, to do so requires a strategy. We need to hear a strategy – it may get you a great bump in the polls, it may be brush back Xi Jinping and the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, it may push back on Assad for a few days or weeks to launch a bunch of cruise missiles, but that’s not the same thing as having a strategy. We need to work out a strategy and we need to do our job and authorize this use of force.

Senator Coons on what he would be willing to authorize: First, we’ve got hundreds of Americans on the ground engaged in the fight against ISIS. I’ve been saying for years, as have other members of the Foreign Relations Committee, Democrats and Republicans, that we need an AUMF and a strategy against ISIS. That’s the war we’re actively engaged in. We have thousands of Americans engaged in the fight against ISIS, on the ground in Iraq; and, I’ll remind you, they’re very exposed. As we take more action against Assad, his supporters, Iran and Russia, may well take action against Americans in the battlefield and so the strategy for what we’re doing, we need to take that into account. 

More on Assad: First, I think Assad is a war criminal, and we need a path to getting him removed. But, because we have allowed Russia to take a significant role in his defense, there is no path toward the removal of Assad without intense negotiations and clarity with Russia about what our intentions are. So, first, the Trump administration needs to make up its own mind, President Trump needs to decide how far he is willing to go to push Russia and Iran. At some point, international pressure will succeed in persuading Putin that clinging to Assad, defending Assad, is not in his strategic, long-term best interest. But his immediate response to this strike has been to double down on Assad and if we know anything about Putin, it’s that he’s a stubborn and exceptionally aggressive man so my hope is that Secretary of State Tillerson who is meeting with the foreign minister of Russia in Moscow today is beginning that process, clarifying what our red lines are and what we are willing to do with Russia in terms of sanctions on Syria or on Russia, in terms of building an international coalition to ratchet up the pressure on Assad. 

Senator Coons on U.S. Navy strike group heading towards Korean peninsula: Well, I think the major audience that Trump had in mind for his missile strike was sitting right next to him this weekend at Mar-A-Lago, President Xi Jinping of China, was meeting with President Trump to talk about North Korea. And while it’s important for China to take more ownership of the problem of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, that’s going to take time. And saber-rattling against North Korea is probably not going to resolve that situation in the next couple of weeks. Again, this is exactly the wrong time to significantly cut our investment in diplomacy. 

###

Senators Collins, Coons Lead Effort to Preserve 60 Vote Threshold for Legislation

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Chris Coons (D-DE) led a bipartisan group of 61 Senators in writing to Senate leadership, urging them to preserve the 60 vote threshold for legislation.  “This letter demonstrates that a majority of the Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, can come together to protect an important tradition of the Senate that recognizes the rights of the minority and makes bipartisan legislation more likely,” said Senator Collins. “After the contentious and polarized debate of the past few weeks, I am hopeful that this letter indicates a new determination by a bipartisan group of more than 60 Senators to move forward to solve the pressing problems facing our nation.” “Democrats want the Senate to work, and we are willing to partner with our colleagues across the aisle if we can get things done for the American people,” said Senator Coons. “We have a long way to go to heal the wounds between our two parties, but this letter is a small first step towards that important goal.” Senators Collins and Coons’ letter was signed by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), John McCain (R-AZ), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Luther Strange (R-AL), Richard Burr (R-NC), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Warner (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Bob Casey (D-PA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Boozman (R-AR), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Thune (R-SD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Michael Enzi (R-WY), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Dean Heller (R-NV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Jon Tester (D-MT), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Todd Young (R-IN), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ). Read the signed letter HERE. The full text of the letter is below: The Honorable Mitch McConnell                    The Honorable Charles E. Schumer Majority Leader                                               Democratic Leader United States Senate                                        United States Senate Washington, DC 20510                                   Washington, DC 20510 Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Democratic Leader Schumer: We are writing to urge you to support our efforts to preserve existing rules, practices, and traditions as they pertain to the right of Members to engage in extended debate on legislation before the United States Senate. Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations. Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor. We are mindful of the unique role the Senate plays in the legislative process, and we are steadfastly committed to ensuring that this great American institution continues to serve as the world’s greatest deliberative body. Therefore, we are asking you to join us in opposing any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full, robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future. Sincerely,

Sen. Coons Week Ahead Schedule for April 4, 2017

Monday, April 10 at 8 a.m. – The Senator will meet with students from University of Delaware’s Horn Program in Entrepreneurship who are the first class of Delaware Innovation Fellows. The Delaware Innovation Fellowship is a new selective enrichment program for creative, innovative and entrepreneurial students from 27 different majors. Participating students spend four years engaged in the Delaware community developing new solutions to important societal, environmental and business problems. Venture Development Center, 132 E. Delaware Ave. Newark DE. Open to press. Contact Brian P. Cunningham at 302.573.6054 or brian_cunningham@coons.senate.gov.

Monday, April 10 at 9:15 a.m. – The Senator will visit students at Padua Academy and participate in an open forum with the school community to discuss civic engagement and women’s issues. Open to press. Contact Brian P. Cunningham at 302.573-6054 or brian_cunningham@coons.senate.gov.

Tuesday, April 11 at 12:30 p.m. – Senators Carper and Coons, along with University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis and Delaware Department of Transportation representatives will hold a press event discussing how President Trump’s budget cuts will impact Delaware. Funds for UD’s STAR campus from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant for the Newark Train Station are under threat in the President’s budget proposal. STAR Campus, 540 S College Ave, Newark, DE. Open to press. Contact Brian P. Cunningham at 302.685.2795 or brian_cunningham@coons.senate.gov

Tuesday, April 11 at 3:30 p.m. — The Senator will visit Incyte Corporation in Wilmington. Incyte is a pharmaceutical and biosciences company that employs about 450 people in Delaware, with an average salary of about $120,000.

Wednesday, April 12 at 9 a.m. — The Senator will meet with AmeriCorps volunteers at Great Oaks Charter School. Great Oaks Tutor Corps are one of the largest concentration of AmeriCorps service members in the state, where they contribute to the high-dosage tutoring that Great Oaks Charter uses to prepare students for college success. Great Oaks Charter, 1200 North French Street, Wilmington, DE.

Wednesday, April 12 at 10 a.m. — Sen. Coons will attend a Vision to Learn event with Governor John Carney and Mayor Michael Purzycki. Vision to Learn distributes free glasses to schoolchildren with a mobile vision clinic and professional volunteers. In 2014 the group chose Delaware as the first state in a nationwide effort to show how close collaboration with state government, healthcare providers, and school districts can meet the vision needs of low-income children, and have so far helped nearly 4,000 students. Kuumba Academy and Great Oaks Charter, 1200 North French Street, Wilmington, DE. Open to press. Contact Brian P. Cunningham at 302.685.2795 or brian_cunningham@coons.senate.gov.

###

[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on Morning Joe: “Frankly there is no clear strategy right now for how we’re going to both confront Assad and defeat ISIS”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss U.S. missile strikes in Syria and the ramifications of the Senate Republicans’ utilization of the ‘nuclear option’.

“One of my real hopes is that the steps taken by President Trump and the significant challenges facing us in the world will bring us together. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee operates in a fairly bipartisan way and has strong bipartisan leadership, and one of the unintended consequences of a Trump presidency may be to make the Senate great again. In Foreign Relations, we can and should step up to our Constitutional role to insist on a declaration of war and an authorization of the use of military force and to help shape strategy, because frankly there is no clear strategy right now for how we’re going to both confront Assad and defeat ISIS,” said Senator Coons.

Full audio and video available here.

Excerpts from the interview:

Senator Coons on the nuclear option: I think this was a sad day for the Senate, and each party has a deeply felt sense of grievance. Democrats feel that Judge Merrick Garland was badly mistreated and that seven months of denial of a hearing or a vote was the equivalent of a partisan filibuster. Republicans are deeply aggrieved that Judge Gorsuch was the subject of a partisan filibuster and the resolution is that the opportunity for any future filibusters is now gone against Supreme Court nominees. 

Senator Coons on future filibusters and nominees: I spent time in the last two weeks with a dozen senators, both Republicans and Democrats, trying to come to an agreement, similar to what the gang of 14 was able to do. Susan Collins was a terrific partner in doing this work and, on my side, Senators Bennet and King. In the end, we just don’t have enough trust at this point for us to be able to get past this point. What I’m hopeful we’ll see today and over the next couple of weeks is a strong bipartisan commitment to defend the legislative filibuster, the thing that makes the Senate the Senate and not the House. 

More on the filibuster: That’s something Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon has been advocating for and he just demonstrated this week exactly how painful it could be.  He did a 15-hour filibuster, held the floor the entire night. It would be something that many members of the Senate would then hesitate to ever invoke cloture or prevent cloture. 

Senator Coons on US strategy in Syria: One of my real hopes is that the steps taken by President Trump and the significant challenges facing us in the world will bring us together. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee operates in a fairly bipartisan way and has strong bipartisan leadership, and one of the unintended consequences of a Trump presidency may be to make the Senate great again. In Foreign Relations, we can and should step up to our Constitutional role to insist on a declaration of war and an authorization of the use of military force and to help shape strategy, because frankly there is no clear strategy right now for how we’re going to both confront Assad and defeat ISIS.

Senator Coons on whether the House Intelligence Committee has a chance to regain its credibility: I’m hopeful that that’s what’s going to happen. There are members of the House Intelligence Committee I spoke with, too, yesterday, who recognize that, their role in oversight, that their role as an equal chamber of the Congress with the Senate was really compromised by Congressman Nunes. And so I think they’re eager to step forward and demonstrate they can be responsible. I’m encouraged by how the Senate Intelligence Committee is progressing in a bipartisan way. Frankly, many of my colleagues have already called for a newly created independent commission or a special committee. That would take us off track for six months while legislation is passed, new staff is put in place, new procedures set up. I think we need to focus on the functioning committee that we have, the Senate Intelligence Committee that’s making progress in this important investigation to get to the bottom of all the allegations about potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the interference in our last election. 

###

[VIDEO] Sen. Coons: “I have come over time to regret…changing the rules…in 2013…I anticipate that many of my colleagues will come to regret the decisions and actions taken today”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered remarks on the Senate floor in response to Senate Republicans’ utilization of the ‘nuclear option’ to ensure the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

Full audio and video of Senator Coons’ remarks are available here.

Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks: 

As I look around at what just happened on this Senate floor, I am sick with regret. So I rise now to speak in defense of the Senate. 

As I look around at what just happened on this floor, with too little discussion of its lasting consequences and too little visible concern or emotion, I must ask the question: where are we headed? 

I for one will say that I have come over time to regret joining my Democratic colleagues in changing the rules for lower court nominations and confirmations in 2013. Of course, I could give an entire speech on the obstruction that led us to that point. I could document the Republican and Democratic deeds and misdeeds of the last Congress and the Congress before that and the decade before that. As my more seasoned and senior colleagues demonstrated in the Judiciary Committee deliberations, those who have served here longest know best the record of grievance of Congresses and decades past. And I anticipate that many of my colleagues will come to regret the decisions and actions taken today and tomorrow in this Congress and in Congresses ahead. And, instead of focusing on that shared regret, I want to work together not to continue to tear down the traditions and rules of the Senate, but to find ways to strengthen and fortify and sustain them. 

Senators of both sides told me we could not find a durable compromise because we do not trust each other anymore. If we can’t trust each other anymore, then are there any big problems facing this country, which we can address and solve?

We did not get here overnight. We have become increasingly polarized. How can we work together to repair this lack of trust so we can face the very real challenges that face our nation?

Senator Coons’ remarks, as delivered, are below:

Mr. President, today is a day when many senators are speaking about Judge Gorsuch and about the Supreme Court. And as I think many know in the last week, in the Judiciary Committee hearings, and in other settings, I have announced I will vote against Judge Gorsuch on the final vote tomorrow, and I believe I have made my reasons for my opposition clear. I have thoroughly reviewed and considered Judge Gorsuch’s record and where he fits within American jurisprudence, and I have no second thoughts about my decision. 

But, as I look around at what just happened on this Senate floor, I am sick with regret. So I rise now to speak in defense of the Senate. 

The Senate has been hailed by many, including our nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Gorsuch, as the world’s greatest deliberative body. And yet today I think one more blow has been struck at that title and reality. The late Senator Robert Byrd who served in this chamber for 51 years would famously remind new senators that, in war and in peace, the Senate has been the sure refuge and protector of the rights of the states and of a political minority. 

Of course, although Senator Byrd was the longest serving senator, as a Delawarean, I grew up in the tradition of Senator Joe Biden, a 36-year veteran of this body, who left its ranks only to ascend to the vice presidency and spend eight more years as its presiding officer. 

Since I had the honor of assuming Senator Biden’s former seat, I have committed to following his example of working across the aisle. Through Republican and Democratic administrations with whomever is willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work for the American people. And I know my colleagues share in this foundational commitment to serve our constituents and country. 

But, as I look around at what just happened on this floor, with too little discussion of its lasting consequences and too little visible concern or emotion, I must ask the question: where are we headed? 

You can’t see it, but around this chamber are white marble statues, busts, of former presiding officers, of former vice presidents of the United States. There in the halls outside this chamber, up in the upper levels inside this chamber in the galleries, and all the former vice presidents are memorialized in these white marble busts. And former vice president, Adlai Stevenson, the grandfather of the Illinois governor who ran for president in the middle of the 20th century; former Vice President Adlai Stevenson said when he delivered his farewell address to the Senate on his last day in office as the presiding officer of the Senate in 1897, said and I quote, “it must not be forgotten that the rules governing this body are founded deep in human experience. They are the results of centuries of tireless effort to conserve, to render stable and secure, the rights and liberties, which have been achieved through conflict. By its rules, the Senate wisely fixes the limits to its own power. Of those who clamor against the Senate and its mode of procedure, it can truly be said that they know not what they do. In this chamber alone are preserved without restraint two essentials of wise legislation and good government: the right of amendment and of debate.” 

It was exactly that right, those rules that were assaulted today, but have been under assault for a long time. In recent days, I have reached out to my Republican and Democratic colleagues trying to see if there was some way we could reach a reliable, consensus agreement to safeguard these institutional values and avoid the events of today and tomorrow. 

I told my colleagues I was not ready to end debate on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination until we could chart a course for the Senate to move forward on a bipartisan basis when considering future Supreme Court nominations. I think for us to get to any constructive conversation about moving this Senate forward requires owning the role that all of us, each of us, have played over our time here, whether a few years or decades, in bringing us to this point. 

I for one will say that I have come over time to regret joining my Democratic colleagues in changing the rules for lower court nominations and confirmations in 2013. Of course, I could give an entire speech on the obstruction that led us to that point. I could document the Republican and Democratic deeds and misdeeds of the last Congress and the Congress before that and the decade before that. As my more seasoned and senior colleagues demonstrated in the Judiciary Committee deliberations, those who have served here longest know best the record of grievance of Congresses and decades past. And I anticipate that many of my colleagues will come to regret the decisions and actions taken today and tomorrow in this Congress and in Congresses ahead. And, instead of focusing on that shared regret, I want to work together not to continue to tear down the traditions and rules of the Senate, but to find ways to strengthen and fortify and sustain them. 

I worked to try and find a solution to get past this moment on the brink. I wanted to ensure our next Supreme Court nominee would be the product of bipartisan consultation and consensus as was safeguarded for years by the potential of a 60-vote margin. 

I wanted certainty that the voice of the minority would still be heard as next vacancies arise. Among many, this effort to forge consensus was met with hopelessness or even hostility. 

And back home, thousands of constituents called my office urging a vote against Gorsuch and urging I support the filibuster and some even urged me to stop talking about any sort of deal. In fact, back home in Delaware, some national groups ran ads against me when there was even a rumor of a hint that there might be conversations about avoiding this outcome. 

There were senators on both sides of the aisle that told me that an agreement was impossible. They said any agreement is based on trust. And we simply do not trust each other anymore. 

Given the events of the last years, the disrespect and mistreatment of Merrick Garland, the course of the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, I can understand how there is a raw wound right now in this chamber where each side feels the other has mistreated a good and honorable and capable nominee for the Supreme Court. 

But, let me say my last point again. Senators of both sides told me we could not find a durable compromise because we do not trust each other anymore. If we can’t trust each other anymore, then are there any big problems facing this country, which we can address and solve?

This morning, I gave an address at The Brookings Institution about the threat that Russia poses to our democracy, to our allies, to our national security, and to the endurance of our republic. If that threat is not something that deserves determined, bipartisan effort, I don’t know what is. 

There are many threats to our future that I could lay out today, but let me simply emphasize, that in the absence of trust, this body cannot play its intended Constitutional role. And without trust, we will not rebuild what is necessary to sustain this body.

Now, everyone likes to point the finger at the other side as the source of this distress. The reality is there is abundant blame to go around. Folks like to remember the good old days when Justice Scalia was confirmed by this body ninety-eight to zero. When Justice Ginsburg was confirmed ninety-six to three.

But if we look at our five most recent nominees to the Supreme Court that got votes, you can see a clear trend. Nine senators, all Republicans, voted against Justice Breyer. Then twenty-two senators voted against Justice Roberts. Then forty-two senators, mostly Democrats, voted against Justice Alito. For President Obama’s nominees, Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, more than thirty Republicans opposed each one. Only nine Republican senators voted for Sotomayor, and only five Republicans voted for Justice Kagan. 

We have been on this trajectory — both parties — for some time. Then, of course, we have Chief Judge Merrick Garland, the first Supreme Court nominee in American history to be denied a hearing and a vote, and we have Judge Gorsuch, the first to be the object of a partisan filibuster on this floor. 

We did not get here overnight. We have become increasingly polarized. How can we work together to repair this lack of trust so we can face the very real challenges that face our nation?

My own attempts of recent days, although I was blessed to be joined by senators of good will and good faith and great skill in both parties, were ultimately not successful. I wish I had engaged sooner and more forcefully, I wish I had been clearer with my colleagues how determined I was to seek a result. But this doesn’t mean I’m disappointed that I tried. And it also doesn’t mean I am going to stop.

I am not going to stop trying to fix the damage that has been done, trying to find a better pathway forward. And I ask my colleagues, if you know what you have done today, then what will we do tomorrow? How can we avoid the further deepening, corrosive partisanship in this body? What past mistakes can each of us own up to? What steps can we take to mend these old wounds? And what more can we do to move forward together?

We sometimes talk about the dysfunction of this body as if it is external to us, as if we bear no accountability for it. But, at the end of the day, here we are. One hundred men and women sent to represent fifty states of this republic and 325 million people. And, in many ways, we have all let them down today. 

I can tell you, Mr. President, what I am going to do tomorrow. I commit to working with anyone who wants to join to me to try to strengthen and save the rules and traditions of this body and its effectiveness as an absolutely essential part of the Constitutional order for which so many have fought and died. It is what all of our predecessors would have wanted.

Thank you, Mr. President. With that, I yield the floor.

 

###

REMARKS AS PREPARED: Sen. Coons’ speech at Brookings: Are we headed for a crisis with Russia?

WASHINGTON – This morning U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the remarks below and is engaging in a Q&A at The Brookings Institution on how Russian interference in European elections represents the next front in its campaign to undermine Western democracy.  The event is being moderated by Brookings President Strobe Talbott and webcast on the Brookings website here.

Senator Coons’ remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:

 

REMARKS TO THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

“ARE WE HEADED FOR A CRISIS WITH RUSSIA?”

Sen. Chris Coons

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Strobe, thank you for your 15 years of leadership here at Brookings. This institution and the public policy conversations in Washington are stronger because of your long career in public service. I look forward to our discussion.

In 1950, a National Intelligence Estimate delivered to President Harry Truman outlined two goals of the Soviet Union.

First, “destruction of working unity among the Western countries and thereby isolation of the United States.”

Second, “alienating the Western people from their governments” to undermine the strength of the Western democracies.

Nearly seventy years later, the Cold War is over, communism is widely discredited, and the international arena has fundamentally changed. Yet the regime of Vladimir Putin is achieving today what the Soviet Union set out to do in 1950, as described in that memo. It is destroying unity in the West, isolating the United States, and alienating the Western people from our governments.

Today, I’ll discuss the campaign the Russian government is waging against the United States and our European allies. This is not a new Cold War – it is a new type of war, one that is undeclared and waged using unconventional tools.

I am gravely concerned the United States is failing to see this challenge clearly and to respond effectively, and I think it’s important that I offer several specific suggestions for how Congress can take action.

Since World War II, the set of norms, alliances, and institutions that we know as the “American-led liberal international order” has helped preserve peace in Europe and stability around the world.

This order isn’t just good for the world – it’s good for the United States. It has allowed the American economy to grow. It has enabled democracy to spread. It has provided a framework for U.S. engagement and multilateral initiatives around the world. And it has strengthened fundamental democratic values like the rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, pluralism, and human rights.

We don’t fight for the liberal world order, for our allies, and for these values as an act of charity. A world committed to democracy and the rule of law is, I’m convinced, a more stable and prosperous world in which Americans are safer and more economically secure.

Vladimir Putin, however, does not support the liberal world order or the values that sustain it. He perceives it as fundamentally unfair to Russia and hostile to its interests.

Throughout Europe, Putin seeks to undermine the order through overt aggression – such as his armed interventions in Ukraine in 2014 and Georgia in 2008 – and through other means, such as disinformation, subversion, and support for illiberal and authoritarian parties. Putin’s regime benefits directly from the election of European leaders who support narrow-minded nationalism and share its opposition to a cohesive European Union and a strong NATO.

But that’s not the Putin regime’s only goal. Through propaganda campaigns that spread misinformation, it also seeks to create a climate of confusion, doubt, and uncertainty to undermine trust in institutions and in the concept of democracy itself.

Russia knows it can’t compete with the United States or our European allies on a level playing field of free markets, democratic elections, and the rule of law. That’s why it is following a strategy based on a so-called “hybrid war” approach outlined in the “Gerasimov Doctrine,” a 2013 paper written by Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. His doctrine boldly proclaims that in the modern world the lines between war and peace are blurred and conflicts often are undeclared.

This doctrine says, and I quote, “The very ‘rules of war’ have changed. The role of nonmilitary means of achieving political and strategic goals has grown, and, in many cases, they have exceeded the power of weapons in their effectiveness.”

A key component of the Gerasimov approach is exploiting an enemy’s weaknesses. It argues, and I quote, “No matter what forces the enemy has, no matter how well-developed his forces and means of armed conflict may be, forms and methods for overcoming them can be found. He will always have vulnerabilities, and that means [that] adequate means of opposing him exist.”

Russia has enthusiastically – and, so far, somewhat successfully – employed the Gerasimov Doctrine by waging a covert and undeclared hybrid war on the West, using propaganda, economic statecraft, energy supplies, corruption, information warfare, and support for opposition parties.

This undeclared, but very real, “war” has already come to the United States. It has undermined Americans’ trust in our institutions, in each other, and in the very credibility of our democracy. War, as nineteenth-century Prussian strategist Carl Von Clausewitz said, is politics by other means. But this conflict is not limited to the United States. Today, the front in this war is European elections.

Across Europe, low levels of economic growth, rising income inequality, and a massive influx of refugees have sowed divisions and created conditions of instability and fear. This destabilized climate makes European nations particularly susceptible to Russian subversion that appeals to and inflames nationalism, xenophobia, and populism. Last August, I saw this reality firsthand during a bipartisan congressional delegation I led to the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Estonia.

Putin continues to move aggressively to exploit Europe’s political vulnerabilities. As predicted in the January 2017 report by the U.S. intelligence community, the tactics employed in our own election are today on display in France, where Russia is actively supporting the presidential campaign of the National Front and seeking to undermine Emmanuel Macron, the surging independent candidate, through a series of fake stories created and distributed by Russian online “trolls” and propaganda networks like Russia Today, or RT, and Sputnik International. The Putin regime is employing similar tactics across Europe, from Germany and the Netherlands to Austria, Italy, and even the U.K.

The rise of far-right, authoritarian, anti-immigrant parties threatens the very existence of the European Union and America’s own well-being. Trade in goods and services between the U.S. and EU exceeds a trillion dollars a year, so any instability on the European continent can and likely will have a direct economic impact on the United States.

But the national security consequences of a weaker EU could be even more profound. A fragile European Union may revitalize national rivalries, sparking the type of division that could spell the end of sanctions against Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea. Under this scenario, Russia would have free rein to expand its power, particularly in Eastern Europe, where Putin has his sights set on sovereign nations he believes are part of Russia’s sphere of influence, what it has long called the “near abroad.”

Make no mistake: the Putin regime has launched an undeclared war on the international order that has preserved peace and stability in the United States and Europe since World War II. In light of this challenge, let me suggest five concrete ways Congress must respond.

First, members of both political parties must understand the type of conflict in which we are engaged. To again paraphrase Clausewitz, we must first establish the kind of war on which our adversary has embarked.

I’ve heard many people say we’re in a “new” Cold War with Russia, but that’s false. As I mentioned earlier, the nature of our current competition with Russia is different from previous conflicts. That means that we cannot pursue the policy prescriptions of the past. If we only build up our traditional military capabilities and seek to contain Russia through force, without defending against its propaganda, cyberattacks, and information warfare, we will lose this conflict.

To successfully contain and respond to Russia, the understanding and buy-in of the American people are vital. According to a March 29th CBS News poll, only half of all Americans believe Russia actually interfered in our presidential election. Even more dangerously, perceptions of Russian influence in our election split along party lines. This is alarming, particularly after the entire U.S. intelligence community made it clear that Russia intervened in our electoral process. This profound and unsettling domestic division makes an effective and unified American response more difficult but also more urgent.

So, the first thing Congress must do is comprehend the nature of our conflict with Russia and ensure the American people share that understanding.

The second step Congress must take is to maintain sanctions against Russia. One bipartisan bill, the Counteracting Russian Hostilities Act, led by Democratic Senator Ben Cardin and Republican Senator John McCain, would authorize new sanctions against Russia for its aggression. The bill would also support civil society, pro-democracy, and anti-corruption activists in Russia and across Europe.

Another bipartisan bill, the Russia Review Act, introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, would require that Congress weigh in before President Trump could relax sanctions against Russia. Majority Leader McConnell should bring both bills to the Senate floor, where I believe they will pass with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The third step Congress must take is to provide support to our Eastern European partners by backing brave reformers in states like Ukraine and promoting economic development in countries like Georgia.

Moscow is attempting to export corruption to its neighbors to expand its influence. By helping our partners continue their fight to root out corruption, and by demonstrating that people in Eastern Europe are better off as a result of being able to do business with the European Union and the United States, we can mitigate Russia’s sway over these societies.

Fourth, all American elected officials should publically, privately, and repeatedly reassure our allies that the American people support NATO and the European Union, as well as increased U.S. troop rotations through Central and Eastern Europe.

This brings me to the final step Congress should take: fully fund programs that promote a more stable and prosperous world. As recent protests in Russia demonstrate, Vladimir Putin does not speak for all of the Russian people. But he has infiltrated and subverted Russian institutions to the extent that no one in Russia has the power to constrain him, even though many brave Russians continue to try. Only the United States and our allies can counter his aggressive aims.

That’s why, as a member of the Senate Appropriations committee, I am working with my colleagues to fund the European Reassurance Initiative to strengthen NATO, and to support existing USAID programs intended to bolster free and fair elections across Europe and to counter Russian influence. Our ongoing support for independent, objective journalism like the Broadcasting Board of Governors – specifically Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and Voice of America – is vital to this effort. Another important step is the creation of a new fund that specifically targets the Russian government’s aggressive and subversive actions, which Senator Graham suggested at a recent Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Each of the five congressional actions I’ve outlined fits well within a bipartisan policymaking tradition of supporting our allies and punishing the Russian government when it breaks the rules or threatens our security.

Until Russia makes absolutely clear that it intends to act as a responsible, law-abiding nation, we must spare no effort to push back against its aggression to avoid the very scenario that you, Strobe, warned of in a recent New Yorker article: “a dog-eat-dog world with constant instability and conflict.”           

In the 1950 memo to President Truman that I mentioned at the outset of this speech, the intelligence community wrote, “Moscow may be hoping… to frighten the West and reduce our will to resist.” Today, the European Union is faltering, Americans are fighting amongst ourselves, and Russia is interfering ever more brazenly in other nations’ affairs. If President Truman could see us today, he would demand that we summon the will to resist. 

I’ve long said it’s vital for the Congress to play a more constructive role in U.S. foreign policy. Without meaningful leadership from the executive branch on the issues I discussed today, it’s even more critical that Congress do so. Thank you.

###

Sen. Coons’ statement on US missile strikes in Syria

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after the United States conducted missile strikes in Syria.

“The images we saw earlier this week of Syrian children and adults who were brutally murdered and poisoned by their own government were not only heartbreaking and horrifying, they were a call to action for the global community.  

“While I’m encouraged that the Trump Administration has felt compelled to act forcefully in Syria against the Assad regime, I’m gravely concerned that the United States is engaging further militarily in Syria without a well-thought-out, comprehensive plan.  Frankly, the President’s actions today generate more questions than answers.

“Chief among those questions is whether President Trump plans to work with Congress to address the ongoing crisis in Syria and to seek proper authorization for further use of military force.  I’ve called repeatedly on the Obama Administration and now the Trump Administration to stop Assad and end the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and in 2013, I voted to authorize former President Obama to use force to punish Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people.  Coordination and openness with Congress is more important than ever, and President Trump must seek an authorization for the use of military force from Congress, especially if this attack signals an intention to consider launching a campaign against Assad. 

“President Trump has steadily increased the number of American troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria engaged in the fight against ISIS.  This strike against Syria further complicates our engagement there.  Those troops, their families, and the American people deserve to know our plan for conducting, paying for, and concluding our involvement in this volatile region.”

###