[VIDEO] On ABC's This Week, Sen. Coons calls for bipartisan bill to "show resolve and determination' on Russia for Ukraine conflict

Interview

Q: And joining me now to respond to that is Senator Chris Coons, a close ally of President Biden. Good morning, Senator. You know, those voters in Texas can resubmit the ballot applications but you heard the election official saying, this is a canary in the coal mine for the midterms. How concerned are you?

Sen. Coons: I'm gravely concerned, Martha. We're seeing laws like SB1 in Texas passed in a dozen states across the country that are clearly designed to accomplish voter suppression. There are legitimate concerns about making sure there isn't widespread voter fraud. There isn't. We've investigated it repeatedly in the Congress and under that veil that somehow requiring people to remember exactly what form of I.D. they used to register years ago, mail-in ballot requests can be invalidated as your reporting just showed in Harris County, Texas. I'm concerned that similar tricks and moves are being used at the local level to suppress the vote and to make it harder for working people, for seniors, for those who are medically vulnerable during a pandemic to vote.

Q: You know, neither Senator Kyrsten Sinema nor Senator Joe Manchin supported changing the Senate filibuster rules to get voting rights passed nationally. Now the Arizona Democratic Party has censured Senator Sinema over this. Is that really appropriate? Is that helpful?

Sen. Coons: Well, Martha, what I hope your viewers get about what happened this last week in the Senate is that all 50 Democrats, including Senators Manchin and Sinema, voted for the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act and for the Freedom to Vote Act, which would tackle this problem of voter suppression and voter subversion around the country, and none of the 50 Republicans in the Senate joined us. There are frustrations, of course, in the Democratic Party across the country, but the right to vote is foundational. It's not just foundational in the Democratic Party, it's one of the foundations of our democracy. We're going to keep trying. We're going to keep working at it. This was an important fight for us to show that sharp contrast between Democrats and Republicans this last week on the floor of the Senate but, more importantly, we need to keep working to make sure that every American can vote and vote safely and vote securely.

Q: Have you really seen evidence of suppression? As I said in Harris County, for instance, they can resubmit that application.

Sen. Coons: Absolutely. We've seen abundant evidence that there are laws being passed that roll back things like ballot drop boxes, drive-through voting, 24-hour early voting, restricting access to the ballot box, particularly for those who in an ongoing pandemic are medically vulnerable, those who are essential workers. We made significant progress in making it easier for folks to vote in the pandemic in 2020. Why would we be rolling that back in a dozen states when the pandemic isn't over? And why would we be erecting new barriers for people to be able to vote? We've seen cleverly crafted laws that will do things like automatically remove people from the voting rolls or make it harder for them to apply for mail-in ballots that I believe are designed to suppress the vote.

Q: And, Senator Coons, I want to turn to President Biden. Democrats have been united against former President Trump's efforts to cast doubt on the last election. But in his press conference, President Biden cast some doubt of his own about the next one. Let's listen.

[Clip, President Biden]: It all depends on whether or not we're able to make the case to the American people that some of this is being set up to try to alter the outcome of the election.

Q: He tried to walk that back. But was the damage done?

Sen. Coons: Well, Martha, what you're hearing there is President Biden's passionate commitment to making sure that we are pushing back on voter suppression and that we secure access to the ballot for as many Americans as is possible. That's something I'm also passionately committed to and we need to make it clear to the American people what's at stake here and why we're fighting so hard to secure the right to vote.

Q: And, Senator Coons, you are a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. I want to turn to Russia and Ukraine. The State Department is preparing to approve the evacuation of some U.S. diplomats and their families. How likely do you think this morning as we sit here an invasion is likely?

Sen. Coons: Well, the most important thing that President Biden has been doing is to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. He has pulled together our NATO allies. In sharp contrast to his predecessor, he's invested time and effort in rebuilding our European partnerships, our North Atlantic alliance. $650 million in military assistance was delivered to Ukraine in the past year and, just this week, another $200 million in ammunition and small arms and javelin missiles and stinger missiles are being delivered. And our close NATO allies like the United Kingdom, Poland, [the Czech Republic], France are delivering materiel as well. I think our work in the Senate and President Biden's work to strengthen deterrence is what is hopefully going to succeed. But I'm gravely concerned that Putin will show once again aggression in Europe and cross the boundary into Ukraine in the coming days or weeks.

Q: And, Senator Coons, you sponsored legislation supported by the White House to impose those crippling sanctions if Russia invades. My next guest, Senator Joni Ernst, said sanctions should come now. Why not now?

Sen. Coons: I do think we should take up and pass a bipartisan bill that will show resolve and determination and apply some sanctions now. But the very strongest sanctions, the sorts of sanctions that we use to bring Iran to the table, are something that we should hold out as a deterrent to prevent Putin from taking the last step of invading Ukraine.

Q: And, Senator Coons, just quickly, if you will, there is a report out that British intelligence believes that the Russians plan to oust Ukraine's President Zelensky and install a pro-Moscow government. What do you know about that?

Sen. Coons: Well, I've also heard those press reports. You know, one of the things that we are doing to show resolve and bipartisan determination is engagement with Zelensky to support him. Twenty members of the Senate and the House, Democrats and Republicans, spent two hours on a Zoom call with Zelensky on Christmas Eve and a bipartisan group just went to Kyiv to meet with him in Ukraine this past week. I think it's important that we continue to show support for the duly elected leadership of Ukraine and that the United Kingdom and the United States that our intelligence communities call out in advance things that we are learning Russia is planning to make it clear to the rest of Europe just how aggressive and just how creative Putin intends to be in both overt and covert means in trying to overthrow Ukraine's government, its independence and to violate its sovereignty.

Q: Okay. Thanks very much for joining us this morning, Senator.

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