Sens. Coons, Gardner oped in TIME: ‘U.S. Cybersecurity Is Too Weak’

Sens: “A catastrophic [cybersecurity] attack could have widespread economic, military, health and financial implications.”

Sens: “It is time to establish a permanent Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity to provide oversight of our data breach prevention strategy and cyber activities.”

WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, authored an oped on TIME.com about bipartisan legislation they’re introducing to establish a permanent Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity.

Read the full oped below:

TIME: U.S. Cybersecurity Is Too Weak

By Chris Coons and Cory Gardner

Increasingly complex and frequent attacks require a streamlined Congressional committee

The U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election serves as yet another reminder: We face a host of emerging threats in cyberspace that jeopardize the integrity of our democratic elections, the privacy of our citizens, as well as our infrastructure, economic stability and national security.

Despite these threats, Congress’ current structure to preempt and respond to cyber attacks remains ineffective. It is time to establish a permanent Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity to provide oversight of our data breach prevention strategy and cyber activities.

According to the Congressional Research Service, at least 20 standing committees between the House of Representatives and the Senate held hearings related to cybersecurity during the 114th Congress. This has resulted in a scattered and uncoordinated response to recent cyber attacks and served as an impediment to crafting legislation to prevent and mitigate the threat, which is growing increasingly complex due to the sophistication of recent incursions and the wide range of responsible actors involved.

While an investigation into Russia’s hacks may be viewed as a catalyst for support of a committee dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity, the alarm that U.S. cybersecurity policy must be strengthened was sounded long ago.

According to a recent Government Accountability Office report, federal agencies and government contractors experienced more than 14 times the number of information security incidents in 2015 compared to 2006. In addition, the GAO noted that 19 out of the 24 major federal agencies have deficient security protocols, and only 41% of user accounts at 23 civilian agencies required secured credentials to access agency systems.

For example, in 2014, hackers affiliated with the Chinese government infiltrated the computer system of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and stole the personal information of more than 22 million current and former federal employees. With a stronger cybersecurity congressional oversight structure, our federal government agencies could have built more proactive and resilient defenses. Even if these safeguards failed, with greater congressional oversight, it may not have taken a year for OPM to disclose that its network was breached.

The OPM hack remains the largest data breach ever suffered by the federal government and should have served as a wake-up call to Congress. Less widely reported incidents, including almost daily attacks against the Pentagon, State Department and other government servers, also demonstrate the magnitude of the threat and the devastating potential consequences of future attacks.

In 2014, North Korea hacked Sony Pictures and released private information—early evidence that Pyongyang’s cyber capabilities are improving. In 2015, reports revealed that a power company operating 82 plants in 18 states was compromised for as long as two years by a foreign entity. The attackers gained enough information to remotely control more than 70 power stations from New York to California. Later that year, the world learned that Iran hacked a New York dam, an unsophisticated attack that tested the vulnerability of American infrastructure, at the same time that Tehran also targeted U.S. financial institutions.

A catastrophic attack could have widespread economic, military, health and financial implications. Therefore, the United States must develop a robust prevention and recovery policy response that can adapt to current and future technological advancements.

That’s why we are introducing legislation to create a permanent Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity. A committee with concentrated authority would be directed to complete investigations into cyber-attacks and ensure the Administration takes the necessary steps to identify cyber vulnerabilities, address emerging threats and prevent future attacks. Its members would consist of the chairmen and ranking members of all relevant committees that have jurisdiction over cyber issues, as well as a designee appointed by the chairman of each committee. The committee would have the ability to convene hearings, consider legislation and call witnesses in order to produce reports updating Congress and the American public on its progress.

There’s precedent for creating a select committee when there is a void in leadership on an issue. For example, the Senate Select Committee on Aging was created in 1961 to examine seniors’ issues prior to the passage of Medicare.

The United States has not been effective enough in deterring bad cyber actors and encouraging responsible behavior in cyber space. Americans across the country agree. According to the Pew Research Center, seven in ten Americans feel that cyber warfare represents a major threat to the United States.

The purpose of any investigation into Russia’s attempt to influence the U.S. election should not be to challenge the legitimacy of the incoming Trump administration, but rather to learn lessons that will help Congress put forth solutions to protect our democracy and the stability of our country. The committee we propose may have gained traction because of recent events, but the need for the committee extends far beyond Russia’s hacks—history proves it, and our future depends on it.

Delaware Delegation op-ed in News Journal: ‘Congressional malpractice: Repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement’

WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.), and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), authored an op-ed in the News Journal on the danger of repealing the Affordable Care Act without implementing a workable replacement. Failure to do so, they argue, will leave millions of Americans, including thousands of Delawareans, uninsured.

Full op-ed below:

News Journal: Congressional malpractice: Repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement

By Chris Coons, Tom Carper, and Lisa Blunt Rochester

In the nearly seven years since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law, Americans have seen a few patterns emerge. On the positive end of the spectrum, every year we’ve seen more Americans gain health insurance, slower rises in overall health care costs and the ongoing implementation of vital consumer protections that put the American people before insurance companies.

Those trends have paid off: Nearly twenty million more Americans, including 38,000 Delawareans, have gained access to high-quality, comprehensive health care coverage since 2010.

But we’ve seen less inspiring trends as well – not least of which is a steady stream of misinformation and obstruction from some Republicans in Congress. Rather than work with Democrats to improve the ACA or develop an alternative plan of their own, many Republicans have spent the last six years working to repeal it more than 60 times.

Now, a week before President-elect Trump is sworn into office, the American people are set to face the consequences of Republicans’ malpractice. They want to try to repeal the ACA, yet again, without any plan to replace it.

Each of us entered Congress at a different point in the fight for high-quality health care. Senator Carper was serving in the U.S. Senate and was a primary architect of a number of the law’s provisions and has continued to call on Republicans and Democrats to work together and improve it. Senator Coons was elected to the Senate less than a year after it was signed into law and has consistently supported it and worked to improve it. And now, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester has been sworn into a House of Representatives controlled by a Republican majority more determined than ever to cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance.

All three of us have long acknowledged the Affordable Care Act is not perfect. We’ve worked tirelessly with our colleagues to try to find Republican partners willing to work together to fix the parts of the bill that need fixing. We’ve never found any takers.

Earlier this month, Senator Carper and Senator Coons joined a number of our Democratic colleagues from across the country in a letter to Republican Senate leadership expressing our concerns with their plans to use a fast-track budget process to jam through a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

As we wrote in the letter, repealing this law will have immediate negative impacts on the people we represent and the economy as a whole. We know there is more to do to improve the health care system in our country and agree that there are serious challenges that must be addressed.

We have long supported commonsense changes and improvements to the Affordable Care Act to ensure affordability and access for more Americans and have been ready and willing to work with anyone to improve the existing law for our constituents. This includes changes to the law that would address the growing costs of health insurance deductibles and making it easier for small businesses to be able to offer affordable options to their employees, which Senator Coons has sought to do by increasing tax credits for small businesses and pursuing common sense regulatory reforms. And we also need to make sure that there is more competition in the marketplace, especially for a small state like Delaware.

The American people deserve a constructive bipartisan conversation about improvements we know need to be made to our health care system, and that will require time for the two sides to work together. Any proposed changes must protect the parts of law that have helped Delawareans access critically needed health care.

But as we point out in the letter, outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act means that an estimated 30 million people would lose their health coverage, doubling the rate of uninsured, endangering Delawareans’ access to needed health care services and exposing them and their families to new financial risks if they become ill. More than 80 percent of those who would become uninsured are in working-class families.

It’s also not just those who directly get coverage on the exchange or through Medicaid expansion in Delaware who stand to lose under repeal. More than a half million people in Delaware are covered through employer-sponsored insurance plans. These plans have also benefited from the ACA, specifically from provisions that prohibit annual lifetime limits, allow young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26 and require insurers to offer free preventive care services and spend at least 80 cents of each premium dollar on health care or care improvements, rather than overhead costs. Delaware has also moved towards a more efficient and value-based delivery of health care that improves health outcomes and reduces costs. All of these protections and progress are at risk under ACA repeal.

Undermining the U.S. health care system through outright repeal would also hurt our economy. Health care comprises one-sixth of the nation’s economic activity, meaning that a hasty repeal vote with no clear plan for replacing the law will inject tremendous uncertainty into the American economy and lead to higher health care costs for all Delawareans. And in an economy where women are increasingly becoming breadwinners for their families, cost and gender discrimination protections would be thrown out the window, placing undue and unfair burdens on working-class mothers and their families. That’s bad for Delaware workers and bad for Delaware businesses. Congress should be trying to reduce economic uncertainty, not exacerbate it.

As we wrote to Republican leadership in the Senate, here’s the bottom line: We’re still committed to improving the ACA, and if you come to the table with constructive ideas that put Americans’ health care before partisan politics, we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

But by pushing an immediate repeal through a partisan reconciliation process, we won’t have the opportunity to work together and build on common ground. By moving forward with no plan in place for the future of our health care system, those who support repeal assume the responsibility of mitigating the unnecessary and avoidable chaos this will create. As your representatives in Congress, we’ll fight these misguided efforts every step of the way.

Chris Coons has represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate since 2010. Tom Carper is the Senior Senator from Delaware. Lisa Blunt Rochester is the first woman and the first African-American to represent Delaware in Congress.

Senator Coons meets with U.N. Ambassador nominee Governor Nikki Haley

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today met with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, President-elect Trump’s nominee for the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. 

Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks following his meeting with Governor Nikki Haley:

“My concern is that our adversaries in the United Nations are represented by very seasoned, very capable, very sharp-edged diplomats, and this is not the Model U.N. This is the real U.N., in the same way that being President is not a reality T.V. show. This is real life. And so I’m hoping for some clear and strong answers tomorrow to a number of questions I asked today.”

“It is a huge portfolio. To be Ambassador to the U.N. means literally to have to understand the interests and priorities of concerns of over one hundred and ninety nations…I understand she would have a steep learning curve, but I think the U.N. is a place where we can’t afford to have an Ambassador who is learning on the job.”

“One thing Governor Haley said that I found encouraging was that she’d been assured by the President-elect that the U.N. Ambassador would be a Cabinet-level official who would participate in National Security Council deliberations. That’s not always been the case, and I do think that strengthens her role in the foreign policy-national security team in the Trump Administration should she be confirmed.”

“She sees value in the U.N.’s important and difficult work in peacekeeping and in refugees. She sees NATO as a critical alliance, and she does not trust Vladimir Putin and thinks that we should be suspicious of and push back on Russian aggression and hold them accountable for their actions in Crimea and Syria. I pointed out to her that those statements are sharply in contrast to what the President-elect has said and continues to say. She explained how she hopes that the foreign policy and national security team will be able to help shape and inform the President-elect’s views…and I found that very encouraging.

“I would far rather have a strong-willed, capable elected leader with experience at the state level who says those things than someone who has been a diplomat for thirty years and says ‘oh, I’ll do whatever Donald Trump says.’”

“I admire her leadership as Governor of South Carolina during the extremely difficult massacre, in which Dylan Roof murdered a whole number of innocent South Carolinians. And her leadership in the weeks and months that followed in removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state capital and bringing together very disparate voices and views from among South Carolinians. I am hopeful that we will have a constructive confirmation hearing tomorrow.”

[VIDEO]: Sen Coons: “Still weighing my vote” on Rex Tillerson

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on MSNBC to discuss the upcoming vote on President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. Coons also discussed Russia’s attack on the U.S. election.

Full audio and video of the interview are available here: http://bit.ly/2jteFpp

Excerpts from the interview below:

“It is clear that [Rex Tillerson] is well experienced, that he is seasoned, that he has traveled around the world extensively, he knows world leaders, and he gave some strong and firm answers. Answers that really differed from President-elect Trump’s positions on the JCPOA, on the Paris Climate Agreement, on the importance of NATO, and that was encouraging. But on human rights and on climate change, in response to withering questions from Senator Rubio and others, he didn’t do so well. So I frankly think that his confirmation is uncertain at this point and is largely in the hands of a few undecided members.”

“Mr. Tillerson and I actually had a very constructive hour and a half meeting the week before his confirmation hearing. I am still weighing my vote on that.”

“It’s my real hope that President-elect Trump will distance himself from these outrageous accusations by Vladimir Putin. We have a bipartisan Senatorial investigation underway right now by the intelligence committee into whether or not there were inappropriate ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government led by Vladimir Putin.”

“A year ago when Vladimir Putin sat down with a group of his senior leaders at the Kremlin and sketched out the idea that they might somehow be able to undermine the strength and the durability of American democracy, our alliance with NATO, our closeness with the EU, they couldn’t have imagined they could succeed this much. To have a public dispute between our President-elect and the outgoing head of the CIA, to have so much tension and discord between the United States, Angela Merkel, NATO, EU, just caused over the last few days by some of the reckless and irresponsible tweets by the President-elect.”

Senate Judiciary Democrats to Jeff Sessions: Don’t Block Russia Hack Investigation

Washington—U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and all committee Democrats today called on Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), nominee for attorney general, to allow investigations of Russia hacking to proceed and to recuse himself from those proceedings.

The letter poses two questions to Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the nominee to become attorney general:

“Will you commit not to impede or shut down any FBI or Justice Department investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election?”

“Will you commit to recuse yourself from any FBI or Justice Department investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election?”

Full text of the letter follows:

January 17, 2017

Dear Senator Sessions:

As the Committee considers your pending nomination to be Attorney General, we write to seek answers to two questions regarding an important development that occurred too late for the Committee to fully address it during your appearance before the Committee on January 10.

Specifically, on the evening of January 10, CNN reported that President Obama and President-elect Trump were briefed recently by the intelligence community about unconfirmed allegations that Russia may have “compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.” The briefing reportedly also included unconfirmed allegations that there was “a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.” Senator Franken asked you during the hearing about this breaking news but you responded that you “have no information about this matter” and were “just not able to give you any comment on it at this time.” We understand that you may have been unaware of this news report at the time, which is why we would like to give you another opportunity to respond.

All Americans should agree that Russian interference in our nation’s democratic processes is a matter of grave national importance. As a result, some of us have called for an independent commission or a select committee of Congress to investigate. But at a minimum, these allegations must be fully investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department, especially in light of the recent assessment by the intelligence community that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered a campaign to influence the outcome of our presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor.

Prior to the publication of the CNN report on January 10, Senator Whitehouse asked you, “[w]ill the Department of Justice and the FBI under your administration be allowed to continue to investigate the Russian connection even if it leads to the Trump campaign and Trump interests and associates?” You answered, “if there are laws violated and they can be prosecuted, then, of course, you will have to handle that in an appropriate way.” Your response did not answer whether, if confirmed as Attorney General, you would impede or shut down a Justice Department or FBI investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election or allow the investigation to continue. The need for you to answer this question directly has only grown in light of the CNN report’s alarming allegations. Accordingly, please answer the following question:

1. 1. Will you commit not to impede or shut down any FBI or Justice Department investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Additionally, Senator Durbin asked you prior to the publication of the CNN report whether you would recuse yourself from an FBI investigation into Russian involvement with the election and the Trump campaign. You responded that you “would review it and try to do the right thing as to whether or not it should stay within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General or not.” In light of the CNN report’s allegations, which you have now had time to review, please answer the following question:

1. 2. Will you commit to recuse yourself from any FBI or Justice Department investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election?

Thank you for your attention to these important questions. We look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

Patrick Leahy

United States Senator

Richard J. Durbin

United States Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse

United States Senator

Amy Klobuchar

United States Senator

Al Franken

United States Senator

Christopher A. Coons

United States Senator

Richard Blumenthal

United States Senator

Mazie Hirono

United States Senator

Senator Coons’ statement on President-elect Trump’s comments on NATO

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s comments on NATO this weekend: 

“President-elect Trump’s comments on NATO this weekend should concern all Americans as deeply as his words shock and unsettle our allies. For nearly 70 years, NATO has served as an essential foundation for freedom and stability at home and around the world. Unlike what the President-elect says, NATO is not obsolete — it is a critical means of resisting Russian aggression and upholding democratic values. If he has any doubt about NATO’s importance, the President-elect should spend less time tweeting compliments to Vladimir Putin and more time studying the consequences of Russia’s authoritarian, destabilizing behavior. Our NATO allies, who came to the United States’ defense after we were attacked on 9/11 , deserve nothing less than unwavering American leadership at the helm of the most important military alliance on earth.”

Senator Coons Announces Opposition to Senator Sessions’ Nomination for Attorney General

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement announcing his opposition to President-elect Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.):

“After reviewing Senator Sessions’ decades-long record and participating in a thorough Judiciary Committee hearing, and after also hearing from many Delawareans, I have decided that I will vote against President-elect Trump’s nomination of Senator Sessions to serve as our nation’s next Attorney General.

“I have served alongside Senator Sessions for six years, and during that time, we have worked together constructively on several criminal justice issues, including support for local law enforcement, reauthorization of the Victims of Child Abuse Act and restoration of funding to the Federal Public Defender Service.  On many more issues, however, including several that are core to my view of justice, Senator Sessions has vigorously opposed bipartisan reform efforts. 

“Any President deserves some latitude in picking nominees who support their principles, but on many important issues, including voting rights, civil rights, sentencing reform, LGBT rights, domestic violence protections, immigration reform, religious freedom, civil liberties, and torture, Senator Sessions has actively opposed bipartisan efforts to advance justice.  While I believe Senator Sessions will uphold the law, even those he disagrees with, the role of Attorney General is bigger than that.  I am concerned that Senator Sessions’ record as a prosecutor and an elected official demonstrates that on too many occasions he did not take action when there was an opportunity to stand up for the vulnerable, promote civil rights, or advance justice.  

“Today, the battle for equality continues in America, and our Attorney General cannot simply watch the march of history pass him by.  After carefully reviewing and considering his 30 years of public service, I do not believe that Sen. Sessions has taken sufficient action to demonstrate his commitment to lead the Department of Justice’s important work for all Americans.”

Sen. Coons on Tillerson: “I’ve frankly been reflecting on if not Mr. Tillerson, who else might President-elect Trump choose”

WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined MSNBC’s “Hardball” last night to discuss answers received in the confirmation hearing for Rex Tillerson and share his views on future U.S.-Russian relations. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Sen. Coons on how he will vote: “I haven’t made up my mind yet, Chris. I have been reflecting on a number of answers he gave that were positive, but really different from what President-elect Trump has said, both in the campaign and in recent days. I’ve frankly been reflecting on if not Mr. Tillerson, who else might President-elect Trump chose. He conducted a sort of celebrity apprentice review process to come up with a nominee for Secretary of State and he seriously considered Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton, and I try to imagine how they would have fared in today’s confirmation hearing.”

Sen. Coons on why Russia is a focus of our foreign policy: “Because they carried out a cyber-attack on our election. Because they’ve been carrying out aggression against Ukraine and threatening our NATO allies in Europe, undermining our Western European allies, and have engaged in what, I think, also are war crimes in Syria. So it’s a fairly assertive, aggressive Russia under Vladimir Putin.” 

Sen. Coons on possible alliance with Russia: “An alliance I think would be overstating it. What Mr. Tillerson said today, and I would agree with this point, is that Russia is our adversary, but there are certain areas where we could be partners: nuclear non-proliferation, fighting against terrorism, working to improve some of our relations with the rest of the world. I think we are going to face a very difficult menu for President-elect Trump. He’s got problems from North Korea to the South China Sea, from global warming to the real challenges containing Iran, and I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of bandwidth for them to focus.”

Carper, Coons Introduce Budget Amendment to Protect Health Care for 11 Million Americans

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) joined 25 colleagues in introducing an amendment to secure health coverage for 11 million Americans who receive it through Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Thirty-one states—most with Republican governors—and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid to cover individuals up to 138% of the federal poverty level ($11,880 individual income; $20,160 for family of three) and, for the first time, extended eligibility to 11 million low-income adults. States that have expanded Medicaid stand to see 11 million people lose their coverage.

The amendment would establish a budget point of order to prevent any legislation that increases the overall number of uninsured, decreases enrollment in Medicaid in expansion states, or leads to any increase in state spending on Medicaid.

“Medicaid is one of our country’s most critical safety-net programs that millions of our most vulnerable Americans rely on each day for quality health care,” said Senator Carper. “Through the state Medicaid expansion funding in the Affordable Care Act, over 11 million Americans gained access to health care, many for the first time in their life. This amendment will safeguard their health coverage and ensure that any action taken by Congress to reform our health care system does not increase the number of uninsured under Medicaid and create an unfair burden on our states. We must uphold our moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable members of our communities, and make every attempt to provide badly needed peace of mind to the millions of Americans who are concerned about the future of their health care today.”

“I’m proud to join with Senator Carper to protect the health care of Americans who were finally able to sign up for insurance because their state expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act,” said Senator Coons. “These Americans shouldn’t have to worry about losing their health coverage at any second, so I urge my colleagues to do what’s right and support our efforts to protect the health care of millions.”

In Delaware, repealing Medicaid expansion would result in more than 11,000 people losing their coverage. The financial impact to Delaware would be $2.7 billion in lost federal Medicaid funding over the next ten years. The state’s uninsured rate dropped has dropped to an historic low of 5.9% as a result of the ACA, which included Medicaid expansion.

The amendment is co-sponsored by Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia have expanded Medicaid through ACA.

Senator Coons’ statement on President-elect Trump’s press conference

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) released the following statement after President-elect Donald Trump held his first press conference in over five months:

“Today’s press conference from the President-elect provided only new questions and no real answers.

“Let’s be clear: the President-elect’s legal maneuver announced today does not come close to sufficiently addressing his serious potential conflicts of interest. If he were sincere about absolving himself of these issues while in office, he could start by fully divesting from his company and releasing his tax returns.

“The President-elect also continued to show a lack of understanding of our country’s relationship with Russia. Saying that ‘we’ll work something out’ with Russia is not a policy. President-elect Trump needs to fully acknowledge Russia’s attack on our democracy and see Russia for what it is: an adversary who has worked to undermine democracy in Europe and now in the United States.”