Chris Coons: “I will just conclude by saying that I could not agree more with the comments of the Senator from Arizona, my friend and…”

“I will just conclude by saying that I could not agree more with the comments of the Senator from Arizona, my friend and colleague. There come moments when we should step up and defend the prerogatives and the role of this body. This is one of them. I understand it may annoy, it may displease the President for there to be a speed bump put in the way of interference with the special counsel. But this isn't just about the current special counsel; this is about taking Department of Justice regulations and making them statute. This is about providing a small modicum of protection for the groundless removal of a special counsel. This is something that, as my colleague has said, deserves prompt attention on the floor. We have a few weeks between now and the end of this Congress, time when we could be taking up and confirming nominees, time when we could be taking up and moving other pieces of legislation, but you have heard a very clear position by my colleague that we won't be moving forward nominees in the Judiciary Committee, and if just one more colleague joins him, we might well begin to prevent nominations from moving on the floor as well. To what end? Simply to get a vote on the floor. Simply to get an opportunity to be heard and for there to be a vote taken on this important piece of bipartisan legislation. I am grateful to my colleague for his work on this and for his stand today, and I look forward to continuing to work tirelessly with him on it.…”