What Christopher A. Coons said, and what was done

“Mr. President, one of the questions we all have to wrestle with in life is, Why do the innocent suffer? Why do the righteous find, at times, the circumstances of their lives to be so painful as to be beyond imagined?”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague and friend from the truly great State of Alaska. Our mutual friend Dan Tate, long known here as an active lobbyist, who is living with ALS, has been texting the two of us about the impact that this research has had on him and his condition and on many others.”

“Mr. President, all of us who hold the office of Senator know that we really only succeed in our service to the States which we represent because of the tireless dedication of the men and women who make up our teams, back home where we are from and here in Washington, DC.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak about my friend and colleague Lindsey Olin Graham. Now, some watching might be surprised that I would describe T5Lindsey Graham as my friend, but those who know me and know the 16 years I have spent here know that Lindsey and I traveled the world together, legislated together, served together, fought for our Nation together.”

“Mr. President, I serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. I am a proud member of the Delaware bar. I clerked for a Federal court. And in a recent confirmation hearing, I asked four different nominees to serve as Federal district court judges a simple question: What does the 22nd Amendment to the U.S.”

“Mr. President, 50 years ago this Saturday, our Nation celebrated its bicentennial--its 200th anniversary of that day on the 4th of July, in 1776, when a group of Delegates from around the then- Thirteen Colonies gathered to declare their independence from Great Britain.”

“But as you celebrate the Fourth of July, I hope you will take a moment. Think back about your childhood experiences that helped you understand what it means to be an American and that helped you confront the challenges and the opportunities we have ahead of us.”

“Mr. President, President Trump has previously announced the creation of a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded ``victims of weaponization'' slush fund. And on May 19, I questioned Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about this announced anti-weaponization fund: Specifically, would anyone convicted of assaulting police officers in or around our Capitol on January 6 be eligible for a payout from this fund?”

“Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and all budget resolution discipline that applies, I move to waive all points of order for the purposes of the pending measure.”

“Mr. President, I rise to follow the comments of my colleague from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I intend to join him in voting against any proceedings by the United States military, any action by our President to invade or occupy Cuba without authorization by the Senate, by the House, by the Congress of the United States.”

“Mr. President, today is tax day. Today is a day when millions and millions of Americans file their returns. On average, Americans spend about $270 and 13 hours preparing their taxes for filing.”

“Madam President, the business of this body today has been the so-called SAVE America Act, a legislative proposal from my colleagues in the Republican Party that is presented as a simple voter ID bill.”

“And that poll saying 87 percent support it, it is not from some leftist group; it is from FOX News. Of course, universal background checks are popular. Americans are sick of the daily tragedies of gun violence in our communities across our country.”

“Mr. President, I would like to begin by referencing the remarks of my colleague from Ohio and expressing my gratitude for the service and sacrifice of the airmen lost in action over Iraq recently.”

“Soleimani, who was the general in charge of the IRGC in his first term--General Soleimani, an evil man, whose passing I would not grieve for a moment and who had the blood of Americans on his hands.”

“Mr. President, I rise to talk about the human cost of war. There is a real and a deep and a lasting cost to every armed conflict, to every war, one paid by brave men and women around the world and by the people who love them; one also paid, all too often, by civilians, by families, by those considered collateral damage.”

“Mr. President, Mark Siegel was born in 1946 in Brooklyn, NY, and has spent more than five decades as one of the Democratic Party's most versatile and enduring figures, serving at various points as a strategist, speechwriter, academic, and international democracy advocate.”

“Mr. President, yesterday, the People's Republic of China sentenced Jimmy Lai to 20 years in a Chinese prison. His crime? Freedom. He was an outspoken, pro-democracy journalist, and he was jailed for his reporting on government.”

“Sound familiar? The administration has gone after some of our Nation's best known, longest established universities, among our very oldest--Harvard, Penn, Duke, Brown, Columbia--revoking funding, conducting investigations, shutting down partnerships, depleting their endowments, coercing compliance.”

“Mr. President, when we began this year's appropriations process, the task before us seemed almost impossible. It has been many, many years since we have completed the full appropriations process, and there were lots of challenges in a divided nation and a divided Congress.”

“The CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation is one Peter Marocco, known to all of us, who watched how DOGE came in and tore up most of our foreign assistance organizations.”

“Mr. President, today I would like to commemorate the visit to the United States of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the second-largest Christian Church in the world which boasts 300 million faithful.”

“Mr. President, today is the anniversary of the election of President Trump in 2024, and, today, the shutdown of our Federal Government is officially the longest it has ever been--36 days--because we can't come to agreement between our parties and our Chambers.”

“Mr. President, I am grateful to my colleagues who have spoken this evening about the critical answer we should be giving to the question: Who is my neighbor?”

“Mr. President, I have a brief question for this body before I proceed to my motion: What is it that keeps our Nation secure? It is millions of Armed Forces, Active-Duty Reserves, National Guard, civilians supporting them, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the intelligence Agencies; they are keeping us safe now, like all Federal employees, not knowing when they will get another paycheck.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to address the moment that we are in here in the U.S. Senate. We are about to proceed to a vote on a motion that the majority leader has laid on the floor.”

“So many things have happened this year that it is tough to keep track, but the combination of them has led to a reduction in trust between our two caucuses--trust that is essential to having an understanding and an agreement to move forward.”

“Madam President, I am asking why we are here--why we are here on the floor of the Senate as the hours tick down to the end of the Federal fiscal year and the shutdown of the Federal Government.”

“Mr. President, ``Jesus wept.'' ``Jesus wept.'' Most of us who grew up in Bible-believing households know this is the shortest verse in all of Scripture and, in some ways, the most powerful--one that haunts me. ``Jesus wept'' in John, the 11th chapter, 35th verse, because he had come too late, seemingly, to save the life of Lazarus.”

“Colleagues, the ugly truth about this so-called Big Beautiful Bill is that it will kick 17 million Americans off their healthcare. This bill cuts almost $1 trillion from Medicaid and other healthcare programs by tying people up in redtape.”

“Mr. President, having just viewed a video of my friend and colleague Senator Alex Padilla being manhandled, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed after identifying himself as Senator Alex Padilla and attempting to ask a question of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in Los Angeles, I am shaken, I am angry, and I am gravely concerned about our path forward in this body and our Nation.”

“In nations around the world that I have visited on your behalf as a Senator, people yearning for freedom and people recently free have come and spoken about how much the American example means to them.”

“Madam President, in 100 days, in 100 days, what can a President accomplish? In the last 100 days, President Trump has made Americans less safe, less prosperous, and less free.”

“Madam President, I get a lot of questions from my constituents. Delawareans raise a lot of issues, whether they are stopping me at the Wawa, talking to me on the train, knocking on my door.”

“The badly outdated Social Security computer system has a problem with birth dates, and it automatically adds a reference point in certain date errors that is 150 years ago.”

“Madam President, today I would like to talk about MG Michael R. Berry of the Delaware National Guard. Major General Berry is recommended for the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his exemplary meritorious service as the Adjutant General (TAG) for the Delaware National Guard (DENG).”

“Mr. President, I rise to bring the attention of this body to a broken promise by our President. Our President promised, in the campaign and recently in an address to all of us here in Congress, to make America affordable again; to deal with the high prices of groceries, of fruits and vegetables, of housing, of housing supplies, of energy--to deal with high prices.”

“Is the Senator familiar with Rory Badger of Delaware? Is the Senator familiar with my guest to the speech to a joint session of Congress delivered by President Trump just a few weeks ago?”

“To my colleague and friend from the great State of New Jersey, I simply am asking the question: Are you familiar with a marine from Seaford, DE? His name is Rory Badger.”

“To my good friend and colleague, as we transition to comments about the economy, are you familiar with the very first time that Jesus stood in his home synagogue in Nazareth to preach?”

“And if not, I offer to repeat it because I think it speaks to this moment. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

“I had suspected that that might be the case, given that my colleague from New Jersey has dedicated his night to standing tall and fighting hard to make sure that the people of the United States know what is going on.”

“To my colleague, I ask the question: Are you familiar with the cuts that have been imposed on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, suspending hundreds of millions of meals to Americans in need and the justification for that being offered?”

“To my colleague from New Jersey, I ask the question: Are you familiar with when, whether, and why NATO has invoked article 4 and how the service and the sacrifice that followed reinforces exactly the point I believe my colleague was beginning to speak to, which is the common cause and the common purpose shown by all of our NATO allies in America's greatest moment of need in recent decades after the attacks of 9/11?”

“To my colleague, are you aware which of our European NATO allies lost per capita the highest number of their soldiers in combat serving alongside American servicemembers, a nation I visited, a nation whose servicemembers I visited, a nation that is today aggrieved by comments made recently?”

“Is my colleague aware that broadly distributed across our NATO allies is service and sacrifice, including the loss of their troops in combat and that every single loss in combat was a loss of great service and sacrifice by our NATO allies?”

“Is my colleague familiar with the testimony of Gen. Jim Mattis, a decorated four-star Marine Corps general who served as Secretary of Defense in the previous Trump administration who testified about what the consequences would be if we were to defund development and diplomacy?”

“Does my colleague have an opinion about whether it strengthens or harms America in our national security to have an earned reputation as a nation of compassion, a nation that comes to the aid of those suffering through humanitarian disasters, a nation of compassion that provides healthcare and access for retirement in decency, a nation that cares for the least of these on the margins of the world and that has a just and inclusive society at home?”

“Mr. President, Putin will only stop when we stop him. That piece of wisdom was shared with me on a trip to Europe by a former colleague, Senator McCain, and it seems to me to predict what has now unfolded over the last 3 years.”

“Mr. President, today, Tuesday March 4, is the 100th anniversary of the Probation Act of 1925. The act created our Nation's Federal probation system and, for the first time, authorized Federal judges to impose a sentence of probation as an alternative to incarceration.”

“I will make that motion in just a moment, but let me, first, just explain what this is and why I am doing it. Next week, President Trump has announced plans to impose 25-percent tariffs on products coming into the United States from Mexico and Canada, our No. 1 and No. 2 trading partners.”

“Mr. President and colleagues, unvetted and unaccountable DOGE agents have seized control of government systems and databases that contain vast troves of personally identifying, sensitive information about nearly every American--financial data, health data, Social Security numbers, home addresses.”

“Mr. President, trust--trust is at the very center of our national security: the trust that we share with allies and partners around the world; the trust that the American people have in us and in our armed services and in our intelligence services; the trust that vital allies have that causes them to share with us information about threats, challenges, opportunities.”

“Mr. President, I have joined my colleagues on the floor today. We have held the floor all night speaking out against the nomination of Russell Vought to lead the OMB, the most powerful Federal Agency you have never heard of, because it has the power to suspend payments, to direct funding, to cut things off, or to make funding flow.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in speaking against Russell Vought, who has been nominated to run the most powerful and important Federal organization you never heard of, the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB.”

“Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 51, which was submitted earlier today; further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.”

“Mr. President, if I might, one of my own pressing concerns I have raised with colleagues here on the floor tonight is that even in cases where Secretary Rubio has given a waiver to try to keep programs like PEPFAR going, money is not flowing.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to address the chaos that has been caused by this week's disastrous, unprecedented, and unconstitutional funding freeze directive. Then-Candidate Trump said on the first night of the Republican National Convention: Starting on day one, we will drive down prices and make America affordable again.”

“Mr. President, we are about to consider two amendments to the Laken Riley Act. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to amendment No. 23, which would strike section 3 of the Laken Riley Act.”

“Madam President, I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment, which would focus and streamline this bill and make more likely its passage. Many of us who have served here for many Congresses regret the falling away of the frequency of amendments intended to improve the bill.”