{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/video-sen-coons-i-do-think-trump-should-sit-down-with-vladimir-putin", "[VIDEO] Sen. Coons: “I do think [Trump] should sit down with Vladimir Putin”", "2017-11-07", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Christopher Coons", "C001088", "www.coons.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.07.17\n\t\t\t [VIDEO] Sen. Coons: \u201cI do think [Trump] should sit down with Vladimir Putin\u201d \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. Coons: \u201cWithout help from China and\u00a0Russia, we don't stand a chance\u00a0of a peaceful resolution of this confrontation with\u00a0North Korea\u201d\r\nSen. Coons on the Texas shooting: \u201cIt's important for us to\u00a0try to honor the tragedy here, the loss here, by finding a way to come together\u00a0as a country and address the very real\u00a0mental health, public safety, and\u00a0gun safety issues that our\u00a0Congress and federal government\u00a0has failed to address so far\u201d\r\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees, yesterday joined CNN\u2019s Erin Burnett OutFront to discuss the Texas shooting and President Trump\u2019s trip to Asia.\r\n\u201cThe last time President Trump\u00a0met with Putin, it was on the\u00a0sides of a major conference. He did so without anyone else from the US government, without the\u00a0use of a translator.\u00a0I don\u2019t think he should follow that pattern,\u201d said Senator Coons. \u201cI think he should have his aides with him. But, I do think he should sit down\u00a0with Vladimir Putin to make clear to him directly that if he\u00a0interferes in our next election\u00a0the way he interfered in our\u00a0last election, he will face\u00a0serious consequences. And,\u00a0I do think it's important for President Trump to call on Vladimir Putin to work with Xi Jinping from China and the United States and our allies to bring\u00a0North Korea to account for its\u00a0reckless aggressive actions\u00a0with its missile program and its nuclear weapons program.\u00a0Without help from China and\u00a0Russia, we don't stand a chance\u00a0of a peaceful resolution of this confrontation with\u00a0North Korea. So,\u00a0I'm one Democrat who will say I\u00a0think he should try to engage\u00a0with Vladimir Putin, but do it\u00a0in a responsible and measured\u00a0way.\"\r\n\u201cI think it's important that as we all\u00a0try to come to grips with this\u00a0one of the most brutal shootings\u00a0in a house of worship in America\u2019s history, that we also look straight-on at the fact that\u00a0Congress should not be paralyzed\u00a0and unable to act in the face of\u00a0yet another event,\u201d said Senator Coons.\u00a0\u201cIt seems clear that there was a\u00a0breakdown in the background\u00a0check system that the Air Force\u00a0didn't forward to federal\u00a0officials the fact that this shooter was\u00a0convicted of a domestic violence\u00a0incident, one that led to him being\u00a0imprisoned for a year. Our president has said that this is a mental health issue; yet, in February of this year, he\u00a0repealed a step taken by the\u00a0previous administration to\u00a0prevent 70,000 Americans with a history of mental health problems from\u00a0being able to access weapons.\u201d\r\nFull video and audio available here.\r\nSenator Coons on the Texas shooting: I think it's too early to\u00a0come to any conclusions about\u00a0what this particular shooter's\u00a0motive was.\u00a0But I think, as has been the case\u00a0tragically so often, we see a\u00a0pattern in elected officials\u00a0saying we need to send our\u00a0thoughts and prayers to the\u00a0families, to the victims, but then not proposing any\u00a0action.\u00a0I think it's important that as we all\u00a0try to come to grips with this\u00a0one of the most brutal shootings\u00a0in a house of worship in America\u2019s history, that we also look straight-on at the fact that\u00a0Congress should not be paralyzed\u00a0and unable to act in the face of\u00a0yet another event.\u00a0It seems clear that there was a\u00a0breakdown in the background\u00a0check system that the Air Force\u00a0didn't forward to federal\u00a0officials the fact that this shooter was\u00a0convicted of a domestic violence\u00a0incident, one that led to him being\u00a0imprisoned for a year. Our president has said that this is a mental health issue; yet, in February of this year, he\u00a0repealed a step taken by the\u00a0previous administration to\u00a0prevent 70,000 Americans with a history of mental health problems from\u00a0being able to access weapons.\u00a0After the Las Vegas shooting,\u00a0Senator Feinstein introduced a\u00a0bill, which I\u2019ve co sponsored, dozens of senators have co-sponsored, but it\u00a0hasn't moved to ban so-called\u00a0bump stocks or trigger cranks,\u00a0the tools that the shooter in\u00a0Las Vegas used.\u00a0I think it's important for us to\u00a0try to honor the tragedy here, the loss here, by finding a way to come together\u00a0as a country and address the very real\u00a0mental health, public safety and\u00a0gun safety issues that our\u00a0Congress and federal government\u00a0has failed to address so far.\u00a0 More on the shooting: I think we need to do a\u00a0better job of funding mental\u00a0health and of funding our national\u00a0background checks system.\u00a0There are a number of holes or\u00a0flaws or weaknesses in our\u00a0background check system. After\u00a0the tragic shooting in Newtown,\u00a0Connecticut, a bipartisan bill attempted to\u00a0address some of the flaws in the current background checks system.\u00a0There have been other proposals\u00a0put forward.\u00a0This particular incident may\u00a0point to another weakness where\u00a0the UCMJ or the military criminal justice\u00a0system here, there was a\u00a0breakdown in conveying the\u00a0information from the Air Force to civilian authorities.\u00a0I also get the impression that\u00a0in Texas you don't have to have\u00a0a permit to purchase and carry a\u00a0long gun, this particular rifle that this shooter was using.\u00a0He was denied a concealed carry\u00a0permit for a handgun.\u00a0I do think we need to do more to\u00a0enforce the laws that we have on\u00a0the books.\u00a0But, I also think there are loopholes and\u00a0weaknesses in how the current laws work that may require further legislation from Congress.\u00a0 Senator Coons on whether President Trump should meet with Putin: The last time President Trump\u00a0met with Putin, it was on the\u00a0sides of a major conference. He did so without anyone else from the US government, without the\u00a0use of a translator.\u00a0I don\u2019t think he should follow that pattern. I think he should have his aides with him. But, I do think he should sit down\u00a0with Vladimir Putin to make clear to him directly that if he\u00a0interferes in our next election\u00a0the way he interfered in our\u00a0last election, he will face\u00a0serious consequences. And,\u00a0I do think it's important for President Trump to call on Vladimir Putin to work with Xi Jinping from China and the United States and our allies to bring\u00a0North Korea to account for its\u00a0reckless aggressive actions\u00a0with its missile program and its nuclear weapons program.\u00a0Without help from China and\u00a0Russia, we don't stand a chance\u00a0of a peaceful resolution of this confrontation with\u00a0North Korea. So,\u00a0I'm one Democrat who will say I\u00a0think he should try to engage\u00a0with Vladimir Putin, but do it\u00a0in a responsible and measured\u00a0way.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tSean Coit at 202-224-5042 or\u00a0Sean_Coit@coons.senate.gov\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/video-sen-coons-i-do-think-trump-should-sit-down-with-vladimir-putin"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8910198230296373, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}