US CONGRESS · SITTING

Christopher A. Coons

Senator for Delaware · Democratic · United States

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“And we locked arms and said, after lots of calls for support and help, that we were determined to get this passed and sent to the President's desk for his signature before we left for the next month, before it expired tomorrow, because at the end of the day, the urgency, the necessity of hope in the face of this dread disease, is the sing…”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗

“And it is a wonderful reminder that, even in the midst of struggle and tragedy, life goes on; that the blessing of birth and creation continues.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗

“Mr. President, thank you to my dear friend the Senator from Alaska, Senator Murkowski, and to all the ALS advocates out there who have reached out to both of us--to us, to our families, to our staff, to our friends. ALS is the cruelest disease I know.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗

“I think all of us remember the Ice Bucket Challenge--one of the first YouTube or TikTok sensations that seemed to me to be purely good in that it challenged people to douse themselves with ice water in order to raise the visibility of the urgency of investing in ALS research.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗

“And as senior appropriators, I suspect we can commit that we will do everything in our power to ensure those funds are actually delivered. This is a small but real bipartisan miracle of partnership, of effort, and of investment in hope.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗

“We, frankly, get a lot of good done here, and often that good goes unremarked. But I cannot thank enough my friend and colleague Senator Murkowski for her tireless dedication to moving ACT for ALS for its reauthorization, as she just detailed.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗

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“I cannot thank you enough--all the advocates who reached out to us; the chair and ranking member of the HELP Committee, who helped make this possible; the staff who have supported Senator Murkowski and me in this work; and my dear friend Senator Murkowski from Alaska--for this day that is worthy of celebration. Thank you.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“And as senior appropriators, I suspect we can commit that we will do everything in our power to ensure those funds are actually delivered. This is a small but real bipartisan miracle of partnership, of effort, and of investment in hope. At the end of the day, I struggle with understanding how a just God can impose on good people the suffering of this disease, but I know that our calling is to offer hope in the face of that suffering, and to celebrate those who continue to live bravely with purpose and with love, even in the face of this dreaded disease.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“And we locked arms and said, after lots of calls for support and help, that we were determined to get this passed and sent to the President's desk for his signature before we left for the next month, before it expired tomorrow, because at the end of the day, the urgency, the necessity of hope in the face of this dread disease, is the single biggest gift we can give to families living with ALS. This year, 700 people have gained access to experimental NIH treatments, 1,200 people are enrolled in a landmark genetic study of the origins and causes of ALS, thousands of lives have been changed and made better, and tens of thousands of families have been given hope where previously there was none. So, today, we can say that we have done it again because of you: $100 million a year is authorized for ALS research for the next 5 years.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“We, frankly, get a lot of good done here, and often that good goes unremarked. But I cannot thank enough my friend and colleague Senator Murkowski for her tireless dedication to moving ACT for ALS for its reauthorization, as she just detailed. Our partners, Congressman Calvert and Congressman Quigley, got it done in the House and sent it to us. But there were small but important differences between the version in the Senate and version in the House. Our challenge here is to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“And it is a wonderful reminder that, even in the midst of struggle and tragedy, life goes on; that the blessing of birth and creation continues. And I just have to say, of all the people who have witnessed to me about what faith can mean in the face of adversity, Jack has shown better than anyone I have known what it means to be a good husband and father. So forgive me. When we first began, advocates were asking us if we could find appropriations for $10 million--$10 million--for ALS research, to bring the hope that Senator Murkowski is talking about. This year, we got $115 million appropriated for ALS research. Now, we often ask ourselves--at least I ask myself: What are we doing here? What are we getting done in the late night votes, in the endless partisan swirl, in the bickering and the fighting, outside and inside.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“I think all of us remember the Ice Bucket Challenge--one of the first YouTube or TikTok sensations that seemed to me to be purely good in that it challenged people to douse themselves with ice water in order to raise the visibility of the urgency of investing in ALS research. I know Senator Murkowski and I are grateful for Brian Wallach and his wife Sandra, who founded I AM ALS after Brian was diagnosed in 2017-- someone who was a skilled and talented advocate and lobbyist and leader here in Washington who made purpose out of pain. And, as have so many others with ALS, refusing to go quietly into the night, he began coming to the Hill, documenting in a daily way his struggles, his courage, his success in the face of ALS, and engaged both of us and got us to help launch the ALS Caucus here in the Senate.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, thank you to my dear friend the Senator from Alaska, Senator Murkowski, and to all the ALS advocates out there who have reached out to both of us--to us, to our families, to our staff, to our friends. ALS is the cruelest disease I know. It slowly and steadily and relentlessly robs someone of their ability to control their muscles, to be themselves, to live their lives, to engage with their families, to carry out their careers, and to share their blessings with others around them. While they remain fully conscious and present, they lose their capacity to button their buttons, to drive a car, to speak, to do the things they were born and meant to do. It is an awful, terrible disease. It is colloquially known as Lou Gehrig's disease. We know people whose lives have been touched directly by it.”
Senate29 September 2026Source ↗
“It was my honor to make small contributions to this great work by Senators Cantwell and Cruz, who have demonstrated what is possible in this body when folks bend their will toward something that matters to hundreds of millions of Americans but that is complicated and has lots of competing interests and lots of challenging issues at stake. I look forward to working with my friends and colleagues in the House to ensure this bill gets passed and signed into law. I yield the floor.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I just wanted to briefly add my comments this evening to thank Senator Cantwell and Senator Cruz. They have shown how two Senators from very different backgrounds, different regions, and different political values can work together tirelessly to hammer out a bipartisan solution that tonight won 77 votes on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I want to specifically thank my chief counsel James Barton, who helped me get up to speed on this issue and make modest contributions at the early stages of this legislation, and to thank the staff of Senators Cantwell and Cruz for their tireless work on this over many cups of Cuban coffee, over many late-night conversations, over lots of texts and emails and meetings.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“At the end of the day, the chaos that has been caused by transfers, by eligibility, by uncertainty about the future, and by the destruction of conferences will be lessened by this bill. There is, for all of us who are fans of college athletics, a moment and an urgency to act, and this bill, this bipartisan bill, deserves passage in this body today. I yield the floor.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“It is supported by the players unions that are professional--the National Basketball Players Association, the NFL Players Association--and by the DI, DII, and DIII NCAA Student- Athlete Advisory Committee chairs. It is my hope that we will soon vote on an amendment offered by my colleagues Senators Durbin and Baldwin that will clarify the intention of this bill, that will make it clear that State law claims don't conflict with this bill and survive and that student-athletes can sue schools, conferences, and the NCAA for misconduct. At the end of the day, when we gather as families later this fall at Thanksgiving, I don't know about your family, but mine will avoid painful and difficult conversations about political differences, religious differences, or even who likes which stuffing, but we will gather to watch college sports.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“If these aren't provided, if colleges make these promises and don't keep them, you can sue as a college athlete. This bill does not solve the question of collective bargaining. I support collective bargaining. I think we should have collective bargaining to protect the rights of college athletes. This bill is silent on that question. It also explicitly protects a majority of current lawsuits that have been filed and that will continue to go forward. In a few moments, it is my hope that we will lock in a whole series of amendment votes, and one of the amendments would make perfectly clear the protections that are already in this bill for allowing future lawsuits--lawsuits based on State tort claims that don't conflict with this bill, for things like hazing or abuse or CTE injury.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“In some ways, most importantly, it enshrined in statute revenue sharing and NIL compensation--name, image, and likeness compensation--for college athletes. It more than doubles money currently available for athletic programs to share with student-athletes, and it has a $5 million fund for women's and Olympic sports. As I have said, there are a number of protections for college athletes on the field. One that hasn't been mentioned much here is return-to-play decisions that, when made, have to be made by a medical professional whose responsibility is to the athlete--not by the coach, not by the athletic director. All the things I just cited--the scholarship protection, the healthcare protection, the return-to-play decision, the transparency and certification of agents--there are new Federal private rights of action, the ability to sue.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“What about the opportunity to play an Olympic sport or play DII or DIII? What about future care for a lifelong injury? All of those and more are protected in this bill. One of the things that brought me to supporting this bill was the rough-hewn bipartisan compromise, which is the essence of what legislating here is, that provides a 10-year guarantee to finish out the scholarship that drew a young athlete to a school regardless of changing a major or leaving for a few years or having an injury; wraparound healthcare for the 5 years they are playing and for 5 years after playing for any injury related to college sports; and then lifetime medical trusts; and then last, registration, certification, and transparency for agents and a cap on the rate they can charge. This bill makes all of those protections real.”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“Madam President, I rise today to speak about the Protect College Sports Act as one of the 10 cosponsors of this bill. A question I asked myself when I first got involved in this issue, now some time ago, was, since I didn't play college sports myself: What would I want if my child or the child of a good friend of mine were playing college sports? What would I hope for for them in terms of protections-- protection from people pretending to be agents showing up at the home of a family with a really capable, really promising young athlete but who have no experience in negotiations? What would I want in terms of protection from agents? What about their ability to continue their college education if they get recruited to a promising school as a promising athlete but three games into the season, they tear their ACL?”
Senate28 September 2026Source ↗
“This isn't about political party or even what team you cheer for. It is about the future of young Americans who will engage and entertain and motivate all of us as we watch them throughout the year compete, but it will also protect. So my hope is that we will pass this bill before we adjourn because it will strengthen the path to college through sports. When our families gather at Thanksgiving this year, I hope the conversation is about the bright future of American college sports, which have been protected by a strong bipartisan compromise. I yield the floor.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“Lastly--and I thought this was incredible--is wraparound healthcare coverage while in school; 5 years of postgraduate coverage for any sports-related injuries and a lifetime medical trust for any serious injury that develops later in life, like brain trauma or brain injury. These protections are available for all NCAA student-athletes--all, a half a million, not just the few in the highest visibility, highest revenue programs. So there are a few things that aren't in this bill. It keeps the door open for future collective bargaining. It does provide a new private right of action--the opportunity to sue, to protect yourself and enforce your rights that are created under this statute. And there is a new student-athlete ombudsman to make sure that athletes understand their rights and how to pursue their remedies.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“In the State of Iowa--and I note my colleague has just joined me, and I will conclude in a few minutes here--when there is a game between the Cyclones and the Hawkeyes, that is a big weekend. In many of the States in our country, college football contests are bigger than elections, and in some ways, as I said at the beginning, that is a welcome diversion from the work we do here. I wanted to briefly explain my focus in working on negotiating this bill and why I strongly support it and think it is a great outcome. I looked at it as if I had a child who was playing college sports. What would I want them to get in terms of protection? compensation? transparency? This bill enshrines the name, image, likeness--or NIL-- compensation in law.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“I went to a small liberal arts college where a majority of the student body played a varsity sport, and it changed the culture of campus. It engaged all sides of a person to be able to compete athletically and excel academically. To stem the current crisis in college sports, to stabilize the field, and to give us an opportunity to move forward, Senators Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz--the chair and the ranking of the Commerce Committee--have worked tirelessly together. One of my main points today is to congratulate them and their staff for their amazing work on this. I have been honored to join with them and with Senator Schmitt in putting together and advancing the Protect College Sports Act. Last week, it got 77 votes in this Chamber, and you might have noticed it is rare for there to be anything genuinely bipartisan.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“Georgia Tech eliminated swimming. Cal Poly cut back on swimming. Grand Canyon, a nationally ranked men's volleyball program, has been eliminated. I have a dozen more in front of me. When we lose these opportunities for college athletes, we lose something that is uniquely American. There are more than 500,000 college student-athletes, but in the rest of the world, this isn't a thing. In Europe and in Asia, the experience of going to college, to a university, doesn't include everybody coming into a huge stadium and cheering on their world-class basketball team or football team. That just doesn't happen. And what are the advantages of playing college sports? You learn about resilience, about toughness, about team play, about strategy. In the United States, a majority of the women who are C-suite executives played college sports.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“Things like rugby or wrestling, rowing or track get supported in their facilities, in their coaches, in their training from the revenue of the big sports--football and basketball--that draw a lot of eyeballs and a lot of support. Now it is not working. Schools like the University of Delaware and Delaware State University have reached out to me to say they are spending more than they can sustain to recruit and retain talent, to develop their team, to invest in their facilities, and with student- athletes transferring every year, it is really hard to build a culture and to coach a team. So, to find the money to chase athletes, coaches, and facilities, universities have begun cutting sports, and they have begun with women's sports and Olympic sports. There are so many examples. Washington State cut most of their track and field program.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“We have heard from coaches and fans and players that this transfer portal being open endlessly without consequence, the cloud of agents hovering over and driving this behavior, the unreliability of coaches and their transferring in the middle of the season, and the lack of clear standards around eligibility--meaning, some as old as 27, 28, 29 go pro or play in Europe and then come back--has changed a lot of the core of the college sports experience. One of the real positives is that college student-athletes, after years of litigation, have won the right to their fair share of the significant revenue generated by a few college sports, mostly football and basketball; but now that there are endless changes in transfer and eligibility and terms and conditions of play, college sports are in crisis.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“He led the University of Delaware to the FCS championship. He set 20 school records, and then he went on to be the Super Bowl MVP with the Baltimore Ravens. Today, that story would not happen. Today, transfers to and from colleges, particularly in football, are happening at an unbelievable pace. My favorite team Notre Dame has played two other teams in the last 3 weeks wherein a majority of their players had just transferred in.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I don't know about your family, but when mine gathers for Thanksgiving every year, regardless of political view, faith, politics, region, what brings us together is college sports. Somewhere between passing the turkey and catching up on each other's lives, we turn on the TV, and, usually, there are a couple of games going on. This points to something that I think is relevant at this moment: College sports are uniquely American and help bring Americans together. More than 1,000 American colleges and universities have teams of all kinds, playing everything from soccer and rugby to rowing and badminton. Twenty years ago, a young quarterback named Joe Flacco played for the University of Delaware. He transferred there for the chance to become a starter and become part of a growing and winning team.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“But for today in this body, I am grateful for a chance to celebrate a significant step forward, a unanimous action by this Chamber, and the delivery of hope to so many around our Nation and our world. I yield the floor.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“But I have to say that I am the luckiest man in the world to have the blessing of the great, enduring friendship of a colleague and partner from Alaska; of the steady and reliable and motivating input of so many advocates and cared-for people living with this dread disease; and the lifelong partnership and friendship of an amazing man, Dr. Jack Flynn. In a determined effort to deliver hope and change, Senator Murkowski and I and all of us in this ALS Caucus are determined to get this bill to the President's desk, signed into law, and to deliver another generation of medical research to get us closer to that day when no one--no one--has to face the diagnosis or live with ALS and it will be a chapter in our history, not a threat for our future.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“There are today 1,200 people living with ALS enrolled in a landmark genetic study, and there have been significant steps forward in experimental treatments. Dr. Sabrina Paganoni of Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute said: We are at a turning point because we have a greater awareness of ALS, more funding for research than ever before, and more treatments in development than ever before. When Lou Gehrig gave a speech announcing his retirement from baseball, he concluded by saying: I am the luckiest guy in the world. Many saw that as a bitter irony because he left an outstanding career in baseball to struggle and suffer through an ultimately terminal disease.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“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. He most recently texted me: NIH and FDA have done exceptional work. The ACT for ALS bill that we helped get passed 5 years ago and that we are now reauthorizing--I will remind you that initially, advocates were seeking $10 million. Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014? They were seeking $10 million in Federal medical research. This year, it was $115 million. In total over the years since we have passed this legislation through this Chamber, $391 million has been invested.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“Through all of this, I have had an incredible partner and advocate, a dear friend--the senior Senator from the State of Alaska, my colleague Senator Lisa Murkowski. We are the cochairs of the Senate ALS Caucus, and I am blessed to have her with me on the floor today as we announce the next step forward in our work together on ALS.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“Through some of the visits to my office, I have gotten to know some amazing people: Craig and Kristen Colby of Delaware; Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya; Dan Tate, whom I knew from college. My engagement in trying to tackle the ravages of ALS began earlier. A dear friend from Newark, DE, Alex Snyder-Mackler--his father Scott lived with and then died from ALS; my chief of staff lost his father to ALS; and my brother lost his best friend. And now today, my best friend from growing up, Dr. Jack Flynn, is bravely living through what has been a tragic and difficult diagnosis and a steadily worsening condition. When you meet someone with ALS, they are always accompanied by someone by their side who knows every detail, who helps them to eat, to talk, to live, to communicate. And they are looking for ways to make meaning out of their suffering.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“Senate, I have been blessed by visit after visit from families going from office to office to ask not for themselves, not to lessen their pain or their suffering or their challenges but to try and turn their experience into a positive investment for others, lots of different families with lots of different challenges--mostly medical--sometimes the parents of children taken hostage in other countries or veterans who didn't get the benefits they were entitled to but often families whose loved ones or who they themselves are suffering with cancer, with Parkinson's, or with ALS. Today, I am coming to the floor to celebrate a great and enduring friendship and partnership that has helped to make a difference in this dread disease.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“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? And how does one make purpose out of pain? Of all the diseases that afflict mankind, ALS is one of the most cruel. It robs someone of their ability to speak, to walk, to move, to care for themselves, yet leaves them completely present and conscious. Over the 16 years that I have served here in the U.S.”
Senate6 August 2026Source ↗
“He has demonstrated remarkable wisdom and talent, insight into politics, and I am confident his future is bright, and we will someday see him back here. The next chapter of his life includes becoming a lawyer and using the skills and the talent of a lawyer to change lives, to help those whom the law does not protect, and to advocate for justice at a time when that is really at risk in our Nation. Jose, the office will simply not be the same without you, but you leave us better. We all will carry a piece of your heart, your humor, your kindness, and your insight. And you won't be free of us either because you are a friend and a member of our family for life. You are the best of what DC should be, someone here truly to do good and to make a difference, and I hope you know that you have. I yield the floor.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“He takes the time to get up early, get that extra cup of coffee, get in to talk to the interns early, get them doughnuts, be generous with his time and advice, and make our office a great place to be. The most important accolade, of course, comes not from me but from my wife Annie, who literally said Jose is one of the most ``thoughtful and kind people'' we know. I know he will be an inspiration to his 11- month-old niece Valentina. I know his parents Jose and Marisela are so proud of him. They need to know that you raised a remarkable young man. I know they will be thrilled to have him back in California as he returns to attend Stanford Law School this fall. I believe there is nothing this promising young man cannot do.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“From one of our former interns, they said: In a role where Jose had to be everywhere and do everything, he still spent the time to get to know each of us and make sure our internship was special. And he has been so good at it that they then come and work for us full time in our office. From one of his colleagues in my office here in Washington: In any crisis, you know you can call Jose and he will just take care of it. Not only will he take care of it, but you know you have a friend through all of it. Jose, you have served with selflessness, kindness, dedication, even joy. You are someone who is willing to put in the hard work, to work 14, 16, 18 hours a day. When we are here all night for vote-arama, he is the one who is with me at 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“diligence, determination, insight, hard work, humor, trust, kindness. Jose has all of these and more. When he initially got the job offer, he drove without stopping from San Diego to DC, just a first sign of the intensity of his commitment to this work. I have watched him grow from being a right-out-of-college 22-year-old to someone whose advice and counsel on a daily basis are key to me and how I do my job. He is often the first person I see in the morning and the last person I see at night. And he is incredibly humble and would never take credit for all the contributions he has made to my team and my office, which is why I thought it was important to get it on the record so that in the future he could not deny that he was well-regarded, well-respected, and made a significant impact.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Thank you for sharing your warmth. Thank you for sharing what you have done for Delaware for so long. You are loved across our DC and Delaware teams and will be dearly missed. I hope you get to spend more time now with your children Ben and Sarah, with your grandchildren Asher and Carter, with your dog Nico. You are the best of Delaware, a proud Padua alumna with a passion for service, family, kindness, and democracy. I cannot wait to hear about the adventures ahead, and thank you for your service. Tribute to Jose Estrada Mr. President, I want to take some time today to also speak about someone who has been the heart of my team here in Washington, Jose Estrada. My wife and I have come to view Jose not just as a colleague, an employee, but a friend, a member of our extended family. What makes for an incredible public servant?”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“She handles it with incredible skill, making sure that the folks who call my office are heard and their concerns are conveyed, and, if possible, that they leave better understanding what it is they called in about because, let's be blunt, sometimes these calls are motivated by seeing something on cable TV that maybe isn't exactly true. And so in a gentle but positive way, she asks persistent questions and guides my constituents to better insight. When I have asked others in the office, they have said this: I can't imagine a better person to represent you, Chris, to your constituents. Even over the phone, you get a sense of Marie's heart and warmth, and there is no one more dedicated, not just for the fight of democracy but for the values of Chris Coons and his office. So, Marie, thank you. Thank you for sharing your kindness.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“They are a welcomed and appreciated gift but a reminder of the example of her kindness and her generosity to others. That is the word that came up most often when I asked others who have served with her for now 5 years in my office: What do you think of when you think of Marie? Kind, someone who gives great, big, warm hugs, who, even if she is having a hard day, asks: ``How is your day,'' someone with contagious positivity, someone who every day has to answer call after call after call from constituents who more often than not are calling to complain. And Marie doesn't just answer the phone, she listens. She doesn't just listen, she engages. She doesn't just engage, she educates.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“When I have asked folks for what they associate with Marie, one word came up over and over: mushrooms. Now, that might surprise you if you are not from where I am from, but just on the northern border of Delaware is the center of mushroom horticulture in North America, and because of Marie's family connection to some of the leaders in the mushroom industry, every year she brings a pallet at Thanksgiving of boxes of mushrooms and won't let anyone go without accepting one. Being as I am a little picky about the Ethics Committee on which I serve, I initially tried to reject these gifts of mushrooms, to donate them to the food bank, or give them to someone else. And yet, like so much of Marie's hospitality and kindness, they just kept coming.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“But today I want to take some time out to thank and recognize the heart of my team in Delaware, someone whom I have long admired and whose service I greatly appreciate, Marie Cordivano. What does it take to run a political campaign, to run a political party, to run a Senate office? It takes someone like Marie. I have known her so long I feel like she has been in my office for decades, but it has really only been 5 years that she has been a full-time part of my Senate office, but I have known her since I first ran. She is the heartbeat of the Delaware Democratic Party and, in many ways, of my office in Wilmington, DE. She brings so much to her service to her job: kindness, hospitality, a charitable and upbeat spirit, a passion for serving others, a lifelong Democrat, someone who is because she believes in helping others.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“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. While we may be the face or the voice on television--it is our name on the bills; it is our name on the door--it is really the folks who make up our teams that make it possible for us to make a difference every day for the people we represent. I am blessed to represent a million Delawareans. And I know that I could not do that job at all, let alone well, without the gift and the blessing of the service of roughly 50 people.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“And I join them in offering my deep and heartfelt condolences. I am just so grateful--I am just so grateful--that my last memory of him is of him in his best place, seeing a pathway toward accomplishing yet another big goal. And as we walked back to the hotel, he turned to me and he said: I never dreamed--I never imagined--I would get to be a U.S. Senator. And I hope you, Chris Coons, won't give up on it because it is a great place. It is a great institution. Change is going to come, and we are going to get a lot of great things done together. Well, my friend, I look forward to doing those things in your honor. I yield the floor. ____________________”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“Let me close by saying to everyone who worked for Lindsey--and I have known many of you over the years--to his sister Darline, to his extended friends and family in South Carolina, know that even though he and I fought like hell on many occasions, it was like fighting with a brother--someone, although he changed and moved and at times we had great difficulties in distance, I always knew in the end, in his heart, he loved this Nation. He loved this institution. He loved South Carolina. And he loved the people he represented. My predecessor in this seat--Senator, then-Vice President, then- President--Joe Biden was close with Lindsey. They, too, had their moments, their fights, their falling out. But President Biden has also said that he and Dr. Biden are praying for Lindsey's family and all who worked with him and knew him.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“That was the source of his joy in his final days. He was so excited, when we spoke, about going into Kyiv, about giving the good news to Zelenskyy, about coming back here this week and passing this bill John, before him--Senator McCain, before him--and Senator Graham, often after, said: Putin will only stop when we stop him. I believed that then. I believe it now. For someone who worked so hard and for so long on our Nation's best interests, I think the least we could do to honor Lindsey Graham's memory is to take up and pass in this Senate the legislation for which he worked and fought so long.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“And we will redouble our efforts to make real the dream that he and I wrote together to create a conservation foundation that will secure ungoverned spaces--South America and in Africa and Southeast Asia--and shut down jihadist groups and extremist groups and conserve and protect wildlife and open spaces for the future. It requires just one signature from Secretary Rubio. I hope that this body will take up and reauthorize our Global Fragility Act based on lessons learned over years together going to difficult and dangerous and remote places and looking at what was working and not working, places where our response was overmilitarized or where our response was discoordinated or where our response was too little, too late. And I certainly hope that we will take up and pass the Graham- Blumenthal bill to impose real costs on Putin.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“But part of why that attack had happened was this process of negotiating Saudi recognition of Israel and Israeli recognition of Palestinian self-governance, and an American guarantee to the Saudis was so close to conclusion, was making real progress, that Hamas chose that moment to strike. Lindsey never stopped trying to make that happen, not when Biden was President, not now that Trump is President. And at a formal dinner we were at together in Ankara at the NATO summit, he stood up and made the case again. I hope that my colleagues will look on the history of this man who couldn't believe he had the honor and the blessing of serving here in the Senate, a man with a mercurial temper, a man of incredible humor, and a man with a tireless work ethic who served our Nation in the Air Force and who served our country in the Senate.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“I have many, many other stories of moments, tense moments with heads of state, moments with a group of Senators trying to hammer out a big bill on immigration or infrastructure where Lindsey's humor, his irreverent, often inappropriate, but hysterical humor broke the ice and brought us together. One trip I will never forget was 2 weeks after October 7 when Senator Graham and Senator Cardin pulled together 10 of us, 5 Republicans and 5 Democrats, of a very broad range. We went to Tel Aviv. We went to Riyadh. We went to Cairo. We had 2-hour in-person and intense meetings with Muhammad bin Salman of the Saudi Kingdom, with El-Sisi, President of Egypt, with the Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet. It was a grim and heavy moment because the people of Israel had just suffered a horrific attack from Hamas.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“One of the things I never really persuaded him on was my passion for patent policy. I chaired the Intellectual Property Subcommittee on Judiciary, a committee we long served on together. And as we were coming back from a conference in Europe--this was years ago--I spotted my moment to make my case for my really important patent policy legislation and sidling up and sitting down next to him on the plane, I spent some time really making my best arguments. And as we landed back in the United States, Lindsey stumbled off the plane and, to me memorably, turned to the other Senators and said: I have a new idea for how we will torture people in Guantanamo; we will make them listen to Chris Coons talk about patents. I said: So you will cosponsor the bill? And he ran.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“One of the bills I am proudest of that we worked on over several Congresses was the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act. We renamed it the Foundation for Counterterrorism and Conservation. Lindsey, ever agile, was working for ways to make the argument for this foundation. The bill has been signed into law. We are simply trying to get the administration to launch it. In his usual clever and agile way, he summarized what I would make as an argument in paragraphs, and he would make in two sentences. He made up red ball caps that said ``good for animals, bad for terrorists'' and handed them out broadly. Lindsey and I gave a speech once to the major supporters of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and I had worked on my speech and had all sorts of remarks and points and comments.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗

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