Senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper of Delaware share their impressions from an hour-long meeting with President Biden.
Senator Tom Carper said they spoke with President Biden about the importance of getting the president’s nominees confirmed and Covid response, and how to revive the economy. “The main thing is getting people vaccinated. The main thing is to put the coronavirus in our rearview mirror,” Carper said. He also added, “To the extent, we can work with our Republican colleagues, let’s do that.”
Senator Chirs Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said they spoke about the president’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the arrest of Navalny, the bounties on our troops, challenges in the US-Russia relationship, as well as the US-China relationship.
On Covid, he described Biden as “relentlessly focused on delivering the relief that Americans need” and said it would come in “weeks not months.” Coons added that they pushed for financing global vaccine relief.
On prospect for compromise, Senator Coons said, “we did have a conversation about the direct payments and how those might be modified in a way to ensure they’re targeted.” But he said Biden is “not going to forget the middle class.”