Senator Coons urges support for wetland conservation

Senator Coons joined ten of his Senate colleagues Tuesday in introducing bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) through 2017.  Since 1989, NAWCA has provided critical support for partnership efforts to protect habitat for waterfowl, fish, and wildlife.

NAWCA provides matching grants to organizations and individuals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico who have developed partnerships to carry out wetlands conservation projects that benefit migratory birds and other wildlife. Over the last two decades, NAWCA has been highly successful in generating matching funding to protect millions of acres of habitat across North America.

NAWCA currently funds eight projects in Delaware that have conserved a total of 7,528 acres of wildlife habitat. The program has awarded more than $4 million in funds that stimulated partner contributions of more than $7.5 million. Delaware also benefits from three multi-state NAWCA projects that have conserved 45,500 acres of wildlife habitat on the Chesapeake Bay.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Chris has been a strong advocate for environmental conservation. He supports programs that help protect wildlife and habitat, water quality, and open space, including NAWCA, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Forest Legacy Program, the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, and farm bill conservation programs.  

Senator Coons’ bill to protect White Clay Creek passes committee

On Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved legislation Senator Coons authored to add approximately nine miles of White Clay Creek and its tributaries to the existing Wild and Scenic Rivers designation for the waterway.

The White Clay Creek Wild and Scenic River Expansion Act of 2013 now awaits consideration by the full Senate, which passed this legislation with bipartisan support during the last Congress.

 “Growing up, I spent considerable time in the White Clay Creek watershed and know that it is an important resource for Delaware and the region,” Chris said.  “Years ago, my grandmother donated some of her land along the banks of White Clay Creek to help protect it. It is up to all of us to fight to protect our natural resources.”

The 69,000-acre White Clay Creek watershed is home to 33 species of mammals, 21 species of fish, 27 species of reptiles and amphibians, and over 90 species of birds. White Clay Creek is also stocked with brown and rainbow trout, and is an important resource for fishermen. Protected land in the watershed also provides recreational opportunities for hikers, bikers, birders, hunters, and others. White Clay Creek and the Cockeysville aquifer that lies beneath portions of the watershed are important sources of drinking water for over 128,000 citizens in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The Energy and Natural Resources also voted to pass the First State National Historical Park Act on Thursday. This bill, authored by Senator Tom Carper and strongly supported by Chris, will bring Delaware one step closer to its first national park.

Senator Coons advances effort to make voting faster, more accessible for all Americans

In Thursday’s marathon session of discussions about the budget and our national priorities, the Senate Budget Committee approved an amendment authored by Senator Coons to create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to make voting faster and more accessible for all Americans.

Passage of this amendment by the Budget Committee signals new momentum for the Louis L. Redding Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Voting Act – legislation Chris introduced to address the extraordinarily long lines and myriad of other voting issues that came up last Election Day in more than a dozen states.

 “Making it harder for citizens to vote is a violation of their civil rights,” Chris said when he re-introduced the bill this January. “The 2012 elections were a wakeup call. All over the country, in red states and blue states, Americans saw their fundamental right to vote eroded by exceptionally long lines, confusing rules and voting machine malfunctions. We have to do better than this. The FAST Voting Act is a creative way to jumpstart states’ election reform efforts.”

The amendment passed on Thursday calls for a non-mandate approach that is consistent with the FAST Voting Act, which would create a competitive grant program in the model of Race to the Top, encouraging states to aggressively pursue election reform. The states that demonstrate the most comprehensive and promising reform plans will earn a greater portion of the grant funding.

Click here to read more about the FAST Voting Act. This legislation was endorsed by the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Senator Coons applauds new strategy for combatting trade secret theft

Senator Coons welcomed an announcement last week from U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Victoria Espinel on the Obama Administration’s new strategy to mitigate the theft of U.S. trade secrets.  

Trade secrets are advancements that enable a business to improve a product or make it more quickly or more efficiently. For example, the weaving technology that allows Delaware’s own DuPont to turn strands of fiber into Kevlar body armor is a trade secret.

IPEC's development of this strategy reflects the diversity of American interests impacted by trade secret theft and involved the collaboration of the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State, Treasury, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. 

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chris has been working to protect American intellectual property and prevent the theft of trade secrets, which cost U.S. companies billions of dollars each year and threaten their ability to innovate and compete globally.

The Administration’s strategy recognizes that trade secrets play a crucial role in the U.S. economy and takes steps to guard against threats to American innovation and competitiveness, whether they come from foreign companies or foreign governments. The strategy calls for enhanced domestic law enforcement operations, industry-led efforts to develop best practices to protect trade secrets and a review of our existing intellectual property laws to determine whether Congress should make any changes to enhance enforcement. 

Chris co-sponsored legislation President Obama signed into law, the Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act, to bolster criminal penalties for economic espionage.  He also plans to introduce legislation to create a federal civil private right of action for trade secret theft to provide businesses with a uniform, reliable, and predictable way to protect their valuable trade secrets anywhere in the country.   

Senator Coons hosts screening of NatGeo documentary on illegal ivory trade

This afternoon, Senator Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the African Affairs Subcommittee, hosted an advanced screening of the National Geographic film “Battle for the Elephants” in the Capitol Visitors Center.

“Battle for the Elephants” follows investigative journalists Brian Christy and Adrian Hartley as they examine the criminal networks and market forces fueling ivory’s global supply and demand. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, one of the world’s main ports for smuggled ivory, Hartley poses as an ivory buyer and documents poachers negotiating the sale of large quantities of tusks. In Hong Kong and Beijing, China, Christy explores the thriving industry of luxury goods made from ivory and the ancient cultural tradition of ivory carving.  Following the screening, Christy joined the film’s producers and director to answer questions and share insights about the experience of tracking ivory, as well as steps the international community can take to end this destructive trade.

Last May, this issue was the topic of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing titled Ivory and Insecurity: The Global Implications of Poaching in Africa. Since that time, elephant poaching on the continent has reached unprecedented levels.

Senator Coons’ office will host a Delaware screening of the film at the Penn Cinema Riverfront on May 13 at 6 PM. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Katie Carpenter, one of the film’s two producers and a Wilmington native, and John Heminway, the film’s director. The Penn Cinema Riverfront is located at 401 S. Madison Street in Wilmington. The event is open to the public.

SOTU Analysis: Rebuilding America

In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons' legislative staff shares their analysis of the President's State of the Union address with Delawareans.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening our economy by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. Improving our nation's infrastructure is critical to ensuring our long-term competitiveness in the global marketplace.

President Obama proposed a “Fix-It-First” program to "put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country."  He also stated that "to make sure taxpayers don¹t shoulder the whole burden, I¹m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods; modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children."

Senator Coons believes we must make critical investments in our nation's infrastructure to ensure that goods can reach markets, employees can access jobs, and businesses are incentivized to invest in new production facilities here in the United States. He also believes that we must leverage private investment to do so. That's why Chris has supported the creation of a national infrastructure bank to bring more private investment into infrastructure projects. A national infrastructure bank would help state and local governments finance repairs to their critical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, railways, energy networks, water and sewer systems.

Chris is also a leading advocate for deepening the Delaware River from 40 feet to 45 feet in order to accommodate larger cargo vessels. This project is expected to bring an additional 75,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout the Delaware Valley, as well as an increase of 2.5 million tons of cargo per year to the area¹s ports. Chris is also a cosponsor of the bipartisan Harbor Maintenance Act, a revenue-neutral bill that requires the fees collected from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to be used for just that purpose, maintaining ports nationwide.

Chris is also a strong supporter of Amtrak and high-speed rail development and he fought hard for a long-term reauthorization of the transportation bill. He was proud to support the bipartisan Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which provides $105 billion for the nation's surface transportation programs through fiscal year 2014, and will save and create around three million jobs nationwide.

SOTU Analysis: Opening new markets to American goods

In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons’ legislative staff shares their analysis of the President’s State of the Union address with Delawareans.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to opening up fast-growing new markets around the world to American goods and services, creating new trade opportunities that will help American businesses grow and create jobs. 

President Obama proposed that we “complete negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” which would “boost American exports, support American jobs, and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia.”  He also announced that the he will “launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union, because trade that is fair and free across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs.”

Senator Coons has been working hard to help open new global markets where Delaware companies can sell their goods and services. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, he is working to ensure that these fast-growing new markets with burgeoning middle classes are open to American products to help strengthen our economy here at home.   

Gaining access to markets all over the world has been instrumental in helping the American economy grow and prosper over the last century.  To continue our economic recovery, Chris believes it is crucial that we continue to create better access to international markets and help American business and workers by removing barriers to our goods and products.

In particular, markets in both Asia and the European Union present important opportunities for Delaware's poultry companies to expand their exports. This trade will allow us to make progress in breaking down barriers to Delaware's poultry exports.

SOTU Analysis: Educating our children

In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons’ legislative staff shares their analysis of the President’s State of the Union address with Delawareans.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed making high-quality preschool education available to every child in America.  Research shows that high-quality early education can have a meaningful impact on a young person's life.  

Senator Coons is a strong believer in the importance of early childhood education.  He is a co-sponsor the Supporting State Systems of Early Learning Act, legislation authored by Senator Bob Casey to promote state investment in early learning and help states build and strengthen systems of high-quality early learning and development programs.  

Delaware is a national leader in early childhood education and in December 2011 was named a winner in the Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge.

In addition to investing in early learning, President Obama focused his State of the Union remarks on meeting the critical challenge of making higher education more affordable and accessible for more students – something Chris has been working on since before he was elected to the Senate.

President Obama called on Congress to "change the Higher Education Act, so that affordability and value are included in determining which colleges receive certain types of federal aid” and announced the launch of a new White House college scorecard to help students and parents see where they can get the most “educational bang for their buck.”

Chris worked with Republicans and Democrats to introduce the American Dream Accounts Act, legislation that would help increase the number of low-income students able to access and complete a college education.  

SOTU Analysis: Leading the way in energy innovation

In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons’ legislative staff shares their analysis of the President’s State of the Union address with Delawareans.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama emphasized the importance of scientific research and development, praising innovation and declaring that “we need to invest in the best ideas.” Senator Coons is a passionate believer in the importance of basic and applied science and is a strong supporter of innovative products being developed in Delaware.

President Obama called attention to innovative 3D printing that “has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.” In Delaware, the revolution has already begun. At the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, scientists such as Tariq Rahman and Whitney Sample have used 3D printing to create customizable assistive devices to help children overcome mobility challenges. These cutting edge innovations gave five-year-old Emma Lavelle plastic appendages that allowed her to play and hug her mother for the first time.

Last night, President Obama called for “a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race.” He specified that today, no area holds more promise than investments in American energy. Delaware is once again leading the way, with energy research that is truly paradigm-shifting.

The University of Delaware was named as an Energy Frontier Research Center by the U.S. Department of Energy. An award of more than $17 million dollars will be used to find more efficient ways to convert complex molecules from biomass into chemicals and fuels. UD is also at work fueling innovation in partnership with Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation with transformational projects like super-strong magnets and hydrogen-fuel cells.  As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a leading champion of ARPA-E, Chris will continue to support these game-changing initiatives.    

During a recent visit to the University of Delaware’s STAR campus, Chris test-drove a car built by a joint project between the UD and NRG Energy. The car allows rechargeable battery-operated vehicles to also serve as a source of power to the electrical grid. With scientists such as UD professor Willett Kempton leading the way, Delaware at the forefront of realizing the President’s vision. 

SOTU Analysis: Responsibly reducing our deficit

In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons’ legislative staff shares their analysis of the President’s State of the Union address with Delawareans.

In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama underlined the importance of responsible deficit reduction.  He reminded Americans that “over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion – mostly through spending cuts, but also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest one percent of Americans.  As a result, we are more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances.”  He said is now time for Congress to “finish the job” and end the cycle of “drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next.”

Senator Coons, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, believes that our national debt and deficit are dangerous and unsustainable. 

Democrats, Republicans and independent experts all agree that excessive debt hurts our competitiveness and crowds out critical investments in our country's future, in areas like education, infrastructure, research and development.  That’s why Chris believes it is essential for members of both parties to come together and support balanced, responsible deficit reduction to get our nation’s finances back in order.