REMARKS: Senator Coons marks America’s 250th anniversary with call to renew nation’s commitment to liberty and justice for all

"Ultimately, the American story is not simply one story. We are a nation founded not on one ethnicity or one language, one religion or one history, but on an idea."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor today ahead of Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of America's founding, calling on Americans to recommit to the shared ideals of liberty, equality, and justice for all.

Senator Coons began his remarks by sharing memories of celebrating America's bicentennial growing up in Hockessin, Delaware. This July 4, Senator Coons will return to Hockessin to once again celebrate with his community.

"My recollection as a child was that that day - that period of the bicentennial - was actually a moment for the American people to stop and reflect and think about what brings us together. And so today, I will briefly reflect on what I think we ought to be stopping and reflecting on as we celebrate our 250th," said Senator Coons.

Senator Coons noted that the nation was also deeply divided during the bicentennial, following the Vietnam War and Watergate, but said that America's 250th anniversary should be a way to look beyond the current political divide and reflect on the nation's founding promise.

"Ultimately, the American story is not simply one story," said Senator Coons. "We are a nation founded not on one ethnicity or one language, one religion or one history, but on an idea, an idea embodied in the second sentence of the declaration: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'"

Senator Coons also emphasized that America's story must be told honestly, including its accomplishments, failures, and continuing struggle to build a more perfect union.

"Our story is stronger when we tell it in its entirety - the good and bad, the challenging chapters, the rough places, the foundational sins, the wrongs, and the arc towards a more perfect union," said Senator Coons.

A video and transcript of Senator Coons' remarks are available below.

SENATOR COONS: Mr. President, 50 years ago this Saturday, our nation celebrated its bicentennial - its 200th anniversary of that day on the Fourth of July in 1776 when a group of delegates from around the then-13 colonies gathered to declare their independence from Great Britain. This coming Saturday, July 4th, 2026, I will once again be gathering with a whole group of friends and family in the small town of Hockessin, Delaware, where I celebrated our bicentennial.

In 1976, we had what some might think of as a sad, small gathering that celebrated the Fourth of July. It wasn't huge; it didn't have tens of thousands of people; it didn't have great fireworks; but it was the heart of the town I grew up in. We had a parade. We had fire trucks. My Boy Scout troop marched. I played the bugle as a group from a local church raised a flag at the new Swift Memorial Park in downtown Hockessin, a small rural farming town of then about 1,500 people. And this coming Saturday, I will conclude the Fourth of July by once again marching in the annual parade, where we will have fire trucks from our volunteer fire company, children from different scouting groups, different church youth groups, different things like the 4-H and the Grange, and thousands of people gathering with family on either side of old Wilmington Pike to view the parade go by.

I love the tradition of the Fourth of July parade in my hometown of Hockessin. And I wanted to just take a moment and reflect. Because as I've talked to my team here in Washington and at home in Delaware, some of them see so much division in our country that they aren't excited about our [semiquicentennial] - our 250th. Some of them are distracted - as, in some ways, I think many in America are - by fighting, squabbling between our president and our congress, between different political parties, and it's too easy to be distracted. I'll remind you that 50 years ago, on our bicentennial, our country was also in a period of division and political controversy - that we'd just come out of the end of the Vietnam War and Watergate, that there'd been protests and disagreement, that there were different rights being asserted and tumult in our politics.

My recollection as a child was that that day - that period of the bicentennial - was actually a moment for the American people to stop and reflect and think about what brings us together. And so today, I will briefly reflect on what I think we ought to be stopping and reflecting on as we celebrate our 250th.

250 years ago, where we are right now was part of Great Britain - was part of the English Empire - and looking back, it might seem inevitable, but at that time it was uncertain which way we would go. Ultimately, we chose liberty, we chose independence, and we had to fight for it in what became a long and brutal and internally divisive conflict.

Ultimately, the American story is not simply one story. We are a nation founded not on one ethnicity or one language, one religion or one history, but on an idea, an idea embodied in the second sentence of the declaration: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Just a few days ago, I had the chance over at the Library of Congress, along with a bunch of my colleagues, to see the original text of the Declaration of Independence and the changes made by different Framers.

Our story is stronger when we tell it in its entirety - the good and bad, the challenging chapters, the rough places, the foundational sins, the wrongs, and the arc towards a more perfect union.

My state has long played a central role in some of these fights over the abolition of slavery, over racial segregation, over protecting our environment, over the right of women to vote, over full inclusion. And over 250 years, what I think defines us is that yearning for freedom, that yearning for the opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness as we understand it and define it.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at the end of the Second World War, after the paroxysm of a global catastrophe of violence, talked about four freedoms. Recognizing and celebrating those foundational First Amendment freedoms: freedom of speech and freedom to worship, but also freedom from want and freedom from fear. And so, I think we need to recognize at this July Fourth, that we have a challenge, an opportunity, and an obligation.

In the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln and this Senate insisted on building an expanded Capitol at the exact moment that our nation was tearing itself apart. President Lincoln said, 'If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on.'

I've traveled around the world and heard from people all over that they look to this nation as a beacon of freedom, and every time I recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I remind myself that at its end, we pledge ourselves to be a nation committed to liberty and justice for all.

In the months ahead, I look forward to giving many more speeches about what I see as the core defining values of our nation going forward. But as you celebrate the Fourth of July, I hope you'll 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.

For me, living overseas and seeing our country from the perspectives of others was that great chance. And I think for all of us in recent days, seeing people from all over the world come to America during the World Cup and experience our nation, our hospitality, and our values has been a refreshing reminder that even in these divided and difficult times, we can continue to inspire and challenge ourselves and the world.

Thank you, Mr. President. With that, I yield the floor.