Senator Chris Coons is interviewed by the Associated Press in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
LOS ANGELES – Just before the US Senate passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, US Senator Chris Coons denounced deep reductions to humanitarian aid, citing how the funds had assisted the Philippines with disaster relief efforts.
In a floor speech ahead of the procedural votes, Coons (D-Del.) recounted his bipartisan trip to the Philippines with Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, saying he “was struck to learn that the Philippines of all the nations on Earth is the most prone to natural disasters.”
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“They value our partnership, our alliance. We’ve been security partners for decades. There’s many Filipino Americans. There’s a close and deep relationship,” Coons said.
Philippine leaders have emphasized the importance of US assistance with disaster relief efforts, the senator said.
“They said, you know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines: every time there’s a typhoon, there’s an earthquake, there’s a volcano (eruption), it’s the Americans who come,” he said. “It’s the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support.”
Coons later offered an amendment on the Senate floor to strip out $496 million of the cuts that target international disaster relief providing food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts.
Senator Coons said the spending cuts, totaling approximately $9 billion, or roughly 0.1 percent of the federal budget, also target critical aid programs including the World Food Program, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children and disaster response efforts around the globe.
These cuts not only undermine America’s values, but they also betray the moral teachings at the heart of the Americans’ faith traditions, he added.
“Jesus wept,” he said, referencing the Gospel of John. “For God’s justice is swift and sure, and I tremble when I think about the answer this chamber will give today to the question, who is my neighbor? Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we should turn aside. We should not, with this act and this vote today, make Jesus weep.”
Coons said the money feeds starving children, combats epidemics overseas before they reach American shores, “helps us strengthen partnerships and alliances, and is critical in helping us outcompete China.”
The 51-48 vote came after 2 a.m. Thursday after Democrats sought to remove many of the proposed rescissions during 12 hours of amendment votes. None of the Democratic amendments were adopted.
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