REMARKS: Senator Coons condemns President Trump’s weaponization of SNAP as a betrayal of faith in Senate floor speech

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) delivered a floor speech yesterday condemning President Donald Trump's refusal to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as shameful and against Christian values.

In Delaware, 110,000 people - including 48,000 children and 4,700 veterans - rely on SNAP benefits to receive necessary food aid. Nationwide, 20% of America's children rely on SNAP. President Trump has repeatedly sought to stop SNAP payments from going out during the ongoing Republican shutdown, even though he has the funds available to do so. Yesterday morning, President Trump announced he'd withhold the funds in violation of two court orders requiring the administration disburse them.

"SNAP… is being used as a weapon, as a tool in this moment to try and leverage the hunger of millions to put pressure on us as a Senate to reopen," Senator Coons said. "It's shocking that President Trump would say out loud his intention to defy court orders and to use whether or not to feed hungry children as leverage."

During his speech, Senator Coons said President Trump's defiance of a federal court order to fund SNAP not only undermines America's values, but it also betrays the moral teachings at the heart of our faith traditions.

"What answer does President Trump and my colleagues give to the question: 'who is my neighbor?' On whom will they show mercy?" Senator Coons said, referencing the Parable of the Good Samaritan. "The answer, apparently, is not America's children. Not veterans. Not working parents. Not seniors and people with disabilities."

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

WATCH HERE.

Senator Coons: Mr. President, I'm grateful to my colleagues who spoke this evening about the critical answer we should be giving to the question: "who is my neighbor?"

I know of no faith that teaches that we should take food away from hungry children, from the seniors and the disabled and the veterans in our community, so that we can hurt our political opponents, but sadly, that's what our president is doing.

My foundational faith rests in the Gospel. One of the best-known parables told by Jesus is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Lots of folks know the Parable of the Good Samaritan but maybe don't know exactly what it teaches. So, let me just take a moment.

Jesus is asked, "What are the most important parts of the law?" And he says, "Recite what the law teaches." He's asked, "what do I have to do to inherit eternal life?" And he says, "What does the law teach?" "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind is the answer and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus says, "You read correctly."

Then, being a lawyer - I always love that part - seeking to justify himself, the questioner asks the next question, "but who is my neighbor?" And Jesus tells one of the most radical, challenging, and disruptive of his parables.

You have to think about it in the context in which it was given. Some of the most respected people in the society he was from are exemplars, characters in this parable. A man is going down a road and is set upon by robbers and is beaten and injured and is lying in the side of the road. And a priest - one of the most respected religious leaders in ancient Israel - a priest is walking down the road and turns and passes on the other side. And then a Levite, part of a tribe of Israel that was known for their holiness and for their descent from the priestly class, he also walks by on the other side.

And it is a Samaritan - a member of a community, a tribe of faith, that was considered abhorrent to the ancient Israelites - who stops, who puts the wounded man on his donkey, who cares for him, who takes him to an inn, who treats his wounds and leaves money and says to the innkeeper, I will come back and pay you whatever is required for his care.

And then Jesus says, "who was acting like a neighbor?" To which the lawyer properly says, "the one who had mercy on him," on the victim.

Righteousness requires us to view and treat as neighbor those who are on the margins of life. It was Senator Hubert Humphrey, I believe, who said the true test of a nation is how it treats those at the dawn of life, its children; those in the shadows of life, the disabled and the infirm; and those in the twilight of life, the seniors.

And yet, President Trump today, in defiance of two federal court orders, has been saying that he will refuse to distribute SNAP benefits promptly and fully.

I believe last night, in a Truth Social post, he said, SNAP benefits - and I'm skipping the attacks on his predecessor - will be given only when the radical left Democrats open up our government, and not before.

The larger point is that SNAP - which is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds millions of hungry Americans - is being used as a weapon, as a tool in this moment to try and leverage the hunger of millions to put pressure on us as a Senate to reopen. It's shocking that President Trump would say out loud his intention to defy court orders and to use whether or not to feed hungry children as leverage.

In my home state of Delaware, where I've heard from the head of our food bank, from the heads of lots of local organizations that care for and support seniors and children and veterans, 11% of our state is on SNAP - 48,000 children, 4,700 veterans. Nationwide, 20% of all of our children are on SNAP. It is critical to the health and safety and development of children so that they can hear the teaching in the classroom over the grumbling of their bellies.

The Food Bank of Delaware shared with me the story of a young mother whose doctor had said she had to stop working because her pregnancy was so far along, and as a result, had to leave her work at a chicken processing plant, and today, desperately needs SNAP - these benefits - to feed her four children.

What answer does President Trump and my colleagues give to the question: "who is my neighbor?" On whom will they show mercy?

The answer, apparently, is not America's children. Not veterans. Not working parents. Not seniors and people with disabilities.

In my home state, I'm grateful for a governor and leaders in our general assembly who have stepped in to fill the breach and to provide these SNAP benefits temporarily, but they cannot do so for long.

I believe in the richest country on Earth it is a shame - it is a horror - for our children, our seniors, our disabled citizens, our veterans who rely on this program to go hungry just so we can continue fighting in this chamber. It is long past time for my colleagues and our president to answer the question, "who is my neighbor," in a way that includes all Americans, and does not cut them off from this vital and needed support.

Thank you, Mr. President.