President Trump signs Sens. Coons, Rubio bill to help expand access to technical training, college

WASHINGTON – Today, President Trump signed into law legislation based on the American Dream Accounts Act, introduced by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), that will help to increase the number of students able to access and complete technical training and a college education.

This legislation will authorize the Department of Education to award funding to support innovative and comprehensive partnerships that support students in preparation for technical training and college and is included in the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. 

“I’m thrilled that my bipartisan American Dream Accounts Act was signed into law,” said Senator Coons.  “I have worked on this bill with Senator Rubio for many years.  If we want to ensure that American workers can compete in the global economy, we must ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to access technical training and higher education.  This legislation will bridge the opportunity gap by streamlining resources that allow young people to prepare for, save for, and achieve their educational dreams.  I look forward to working with the administration to fully realize the possibilities of American Dream Accounts for students across the country.” 

“The American Dream is what makes our country exceptional, and I commend the President for signing the American Dream Accounts Act into law so we can take the important step of creating stronger pathways for children to achieve academic success and, ultimately, their American Dream,” said Senator Rubio. “It is crucial we continue to do everything we can to expand economic mobility and lessen the opportunity gap in America. I thank my colleagues in both the Senate and the House who joined me in advancing this bipartisan effort.”

The American Dream Accounts Act authorizes the Department of Education to award funding to local partnerships that:

• Create personal online accounts for students that monitor higher education readiness and include an online savings account. These accounts would follow students from school to school and through technical training and/or college. Parents could grant vested stakeholders (including counselors, teachers, coaches, mentors, and others) access to the account to update student information, monitor progress, and provide support.
• Support college readiness by securely monitoring students’ progress online. Academic and behavioral information, including grades and course selections, progress reports, and attendance and disciplinary records would be available for review in an online savings account, which would also provide opportunities to learn about financial literacy, prepare for technical training and/or college enrollment, and identify skills and career interests.
• Collect data about effective ways to assist high-risk students in planning for technical training and college.

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Sen. Coons asks GAO to study commercial and government use of facial recognition

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ed Markey, (D-Mass.), Cory Booker, (D-N.J.) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), today, in asking the Government Accountability Office to study both commercial and government use of facial recognition to determine the potential market, uses, and possible abuses of the technology.

“Given the recent advances in commercial facial recognition technology — and its expanded use by state, local, and federal law enforcement, particularly the FBI and Immigration and Customs and Enforcement — we ask that you investigate and evaluate the facial recognition industry and its government use,” the members wrote.

They also asked the GAO to examine what safeguards privacy companies and law-enforcement agencies have in place to prevent misuse of facial recognition technology, including targeting people based on race, gender, or age.

“These technologies raise serious concerns about individual privacy rights and the disparate treatment of minority and immigrant communities within the United States,” the members wrote.

Read the full letter here.

Sens. Coons, Collins introduce bipartisan bill to promote innovation in sustainable chemistry

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2018 today. This bipartisan bill encourages the development of new and innovative chemicals, products and processes with an improved environmental footprint through efficient use of resources, reducing or eliminating exposure to hazardous substances, or otherwise minimizing harm to human health and the environment.

“Finding ways to encourage innovation, create new companies and jobs, and benefit human health and the environment is something that should bring us all together,” said Senator Coons. “We can do much more to ensure the things all around us—from our laundry detergent to our cars—are produced in a way that maintains their high quality while protecting our health and our planet. By creating a cohesive vision for sustainable chemistry research and development, improving training and retraining of scientists and other professionals, and building new partnerships with the private sector; the bipartisan Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act is an exciting opportunity to maintain our scientific leadership and ensure the sustainability of our chemical enterprise for years to come.” 

“Sustainable chemistry is an important scientific field that aims to improve the efficiency of the chemical production process while reducing risks to human health and the environment,” said Senator Collins.  “This bipartisan bill would create a coordinated national effort to support research and development in the sustainable chemistry field; provide grants, training, and educational opportunities for scientists and engineers; and support American jobs by maintaining our nation’s scientific leadership.”

The Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2018 supports coordinated efforts in sustainable chemistry across all research agencies through research and development, technology transfer, commercialization, education, and training programs; including partnerships with the private sector. The bill does not include any regulatory components, nor does it authorize new spending. Its goal, rather, is to better coordinate federal activities in sustainable chemistry and encourage industry, academia, nonprofits, and the general public to innovate, develop, and bring to market new sustainable chemicals, materials, products, and processes. 

The legislation has been endorsed by the GC3 Sustainable Chemistry Alliance; the American Chemical Society; the American Chemistry Council; the American Sustainable Business Council; Ashland; BASF; Beautycounter; Chemours; The Dow Chemical Company; DuPont; Procter & Gamble; and the University of Delaware.  Statements of support can be found here.

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Sen. Coons’ statement on key Kavanaugh documents

WILMINGTON– U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after Senate Republicans refused to request documents related to Judge Kavanaugh’s time as White House Staff Secretary.

“The next Supreme Court justice will have a significant impact on the lives of all Americans. That’s why it’s absolutely critical that we’re able to assess Judge Kavanaugh’s full record, including his time as White House Staff Secretary. I am deeply disappointed that Chairman Grassley declined to seek those documents. There is no good reason for the omission, and I hope he will change his mind. Judge Kavanaugh himself has said that the Staff Secretary position was one of the most formative in his professional career, and without the records from that time, the Senate simply won’t be prepared to fully vet his nomination. That’s a disservice to the American people and to the Senate as an institution.” 

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Sens. Coons, Gardner & Reps. Lance, Matsui introduce legislation to address the opioid crisis through the prevention of drug diversion

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and U.S. Representatives Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to prevent drug diversion in real time before it has the ability to inflict damage in our communities.

Currently, no law enforcement agency or private party has the ability to provide real-time, nationwide oversight of all orders for controlled substances, which is a major contributing factor to disproportionate prescription opioid shipments to certain pharmacies across the country. The DEA Clearinghouse Act of 2018 eliminates this blind spot exploited by bad actors, guards against prescription drug diversion, and protects the integrity of the supply chain by requiring DEA to establish a national clearinghouse for all orders of controlled substances and requiring that all controlled substance orders pass through an automated database to identify suspicious orders and notify suppliers before the orders are filled. The DEA clearinghouse will detect potentially suspicious orders and protect against prescription drug diversion before it occurs.

“I’m proud to join my colleagues, Senator Gardner and Representatives Lance and Matsui, in introducing this bill which will prevent unnecessary drug shipments from wreaking havoc on our communities,” said Senator Coons. “This is a commonsense proposal that will shore up our drug supply chain, eliminating blind spots, and keeping our communities safer and healthier. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bill into law.”

“A few years ago the DEA discovered a major drug company was shipping enough prescription opioids to the San Luis Valley for every man, woman and child to have 30 to 60 pills per month,” said Senator Gardner.  “Stories like these are becoming all too common and it’s time for Congress to do more to protect communities being devastated by undetected prescription drug diversion. This commonsense legislation establishes an automated system to identify and stop drug diversion before it has the opportunity to harm our communities. I’m hopeful that my bipartisan measure with Senator Coons can help in our fight against this epidemic.”

“The Drug Enforcement Agency is on the frontlines in the war against illegal use and distribution of opioids and other prescription medications.  Congress needs to give the DEA more tools to help respond to emerging and changing tactics.  The DEA Clearinghouse Act will help stop the bad actors who are diverting pills to users and dealers and flooding our communities with prescription opioids,” said Representative Lance.

“We need to use every tool available to ensure prescription opioids are going to those who need them, and not to those who don’t,” said Representative Matsui. “This legislation would consolidate data from opioid manufacturers and distributors to ensure that they and the DEA have real-time systems in place to flag and stop suspicious activity. Today we are taking an important step in what needs to be continued, comprehensive work to fight the opioid crisis. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues, stakeholders, and the DEA to refine the legislation and make this tool as strong and effective as possible.”

The DEA Clearinghouse Act of 2018 is supported by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. A one-pager on the bill is available here.

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Sens. Flake, Coons bill to promote free, fair elections & political, economic reforms in Zimbabwe passes Congress ahead of elections on July 30

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, both the House and Senate passed bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to update the framework for U.S. relations with the Government of Zimbabwe. Senators Flake and Coons led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, in April.

The bill revises the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 and sets forth the steps Zimbabwe needs to take to have sanctions on its country lifted, including ensuring the country’s upcoming elections on July 30 are free, fair, and credible. 

“This measure outlines steps that will go a long way to demonstrate that Zimbabwe’s government is earnest in its desire to bring about long-overdue change for the people of Zimbabwe, who suffered under authoritarian rule for far too long,” said Senator Flake. “I look forward to returning to Zimbabwe ahead of what I hope to be a free and fair election, and I urge the Zimbabwean government to foster peaceful, democratic reform.”

“I’m thrilled that Congress passed this important piece of legislation, which reflects our sincere hope that Zimbabwe makes a transition to a peaceful, democratic, just, and prosperous nation,” Senator Coons said. “A free, fair, and credible election is a necessary, but insufficient step to increased cooperation with the United States. Zimbabwe’s leaders must also commit to a peaceful and constitutional transfer of power to reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people. We look forward to the fulfillment of the commitments President Mnangagwa has made to the people of Zimbabwe to pursue broader political and economic reform, and to deepen the partnership between the United States and Zimbabwe as sufficient progress is made on these necessary reforms.”   

To view a PDF of the bill, please click here.   

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Flake, Coons host roundtable discussion on privacy, consumer data protection

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today hosted the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law’s first roundtable discussion focusing on privacy and consumer data protection. The discussion featured panelists from a variety of companies, institutions, and coalitions who each offered a unique perspective on addressing consumer privacy concerns. The panelists discussed potential approaches to privacy regulations in the United States by examining existing federal, state, and foreign laws that impact American businesses.

“Congress has an important role to play in maintaining the proper balance between technological innovation and consumer protection,” said Flake. “But this is a complex topic, and the one-size-fits-all approach that they have in Europe simply will not do here in the United States. Through these roundtables, the message that Senator Coons and I want to send to businesses of all shapes and sizes is this: come talk; Congress is ready to listen.”  

“Finding solutions that better protect and secure personal information is a goal that industry, academia, and Congress all agree on,” said Coons. “I’m happy to be working with Senator Flake on this issue, and today’s discussion helped inform Congress and the public. I’m hopeful that events like this one help us shape policies that better address and protect the privacy of consumers while also fostering innovation.”

Round table panelists included:

Jason Albert, Deputy General Counsel, Workday

Ed Britan, Senior Attorney, Privacy and Regulatory Affairs, Microsoft

Alfredo Della Monica, Vice President and Senior Counsel, American Express

Michelle De Mooy, Director, Privacy and Data Project, Center for Democracy and Technology

Dennis Hirsch, Professor Law, Ohio State University

David Hoffman, Associate General Counsel and Global Privacy Officer, Intel

Kevin Koehler, Trust & Safety Team, Automattic

Howard Waltzman, Attorney & Lobbyist, 21st Century Privacy Coalition

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Sens. Coons, Rubio bill to help expand access to technical training and college for low-income students headed to President’s desk for signature

WASHINGTON – Today, Congress passed the American Dream Accounts Act, introduced by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), that will help to increase the number of low-income and at-risk students able to access and complete technical training and a college education. This legislation will authorize the Department of Education to award funding to support innovative and comprehensive partnerships that support low-income students in preparation for technical training and college and is included in the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

“I’m thrilled that my bipartisan American Dream Accounts Act will be enacted into law,” said Senator Coons.  “I have worked on this bill with Senator Rubio for many years.  If we want to ensure that American workers can compete in the global economy, we must ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to access technical training and higher education.  This legislation will bridge the opportunity gap by streamlining resources that allow young people to prepare for, save for, and achieve their educational dreams.  I look forward to working with the administration to fully realize the possibilities of American Dream Accounts for students across the country.”

“The American Dream Accounts Act will create stronger pathways for children to achieve academic success by providing students and families with the tools to save for college and achieve their American dream, which is what makes our country exceptional,” Senator Rubio said. “It is crucial we do everything we can to expand economic mobility and lessen the opportunity gap in America. I look forward to the President helping to advance these goals through the enactment of this bill.”

The American Dream Accounts Act authorizes the Department of Education to award funding to local partnerships that:

• Create personal online accounts for students that monitor higher education readiness and include an online savings account. These accounts would follow students from school to school and through technical training and/or college. Parents could grant vested stakeholders (including counselors, teachers, coaches, mentors, and others) access to the account to update student information, monitor progress, and provide support.
• Support college readiness by securely monitoring students’ progress online. Academic and behavioral information, including grades and course selections, progress reports, and attendance and disciplinary records would be available for review in an online savings account, which would also provide opportunities to learn about financial literacy, prepare for technical training and/or college enrollment, and identify skills and career interests.
• Collect data about effective ways to assist high-risk students in planning for technical training and college.

[VIDEO] Sen. Coons: “We’re losing credibility internationally.”

Sen. Coons on Iran: “The more times, the more ways that our president conducts something like diplomacy on Twitter in a way that seems unrelated to the actual reality on the ground, I think it undermines our credibility.”

Sen. Coons on his Senate resolution with Sen. Flake: “It’s important that the Senate speak with one voice about backing our intelligence community, federal law enforcement.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this morning joined Morning Joe to discuss President Trump’s tweet to Iranian President Rouhani and the Trump Administration’s general foreign policy strategy.  

“This seems to be the same playbook the president followed over several months with Kim Jong-un of North Korea where he threatened and threatened and threatened some sort of aggressive all-out nuclear war on Twitter and was increasingly abusive of Kim Jong-un, then did a 180-degree turn, had a handshake photo op in Singapore, which so far has had no significant outcomes. My concern is he’ll do the same, that he has now very briefly tweeted one all-caps threat at President Rouhani of the Iranian Islamic Republic and will declare himself capable of concocting some better deal,” said Senator Coons. 

“You’ve got senior administration officials who are openly saying the opposite of what President Trump said in Helsinki,” said Senator Coons. “U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley just said I believe yesterday we will never trust Vladimir Putin. If that’s the case, then why is he being invited to the White House?” 

Video and audio available here. 

Excerpts from the interview below:

Sen. Coons on Iran and North Korea: I’m not convinced. This seems to be the same playbook the president followed over several months with Kim Jong-un of North Korea where he threatened and threatened and threatened some sort of aggressive all-out nuclear war on Twitter and was increasingly abusive of Kim Jong-un, then did a 180-degree turn, had a handshake photo op in Singapore, which so far has had no significant outcomes. My concern is he’ll do the same, that he has now very briefly tweeted one all-caps threat at President Rouhani of the Iranian Islamic Republic and will declare himself capable of concocting some better deal. The Iran Nuclear Agreement which took years to put together and relied upon our European allies and China and Russia isn’t something you can replace with just a few tweets and photo op.

More on President Trump’s tweet: I shake my head. I’m concerned. I frankly think we’re losing credibility internationally. The more times, the more ways that our president conducts something like diplomacy on Twitter in a way that seems unrelated to the actual reality on the ground, I think it undermines our credibility. His statement at the rally in Kansas City that Iran is now a totally different country is just obviously untrue.  

Sen. Coons on Russia: On the Foreign Relations Committee, we’ve heard absolutely nothing that suggests Russia is making an abrupt change in its preferences as it prepares to attack our elections again in 2018. What we’ve seen across western Europe, central Europe, eastern Europe is that Russia is a persistent and aggressive adversary of democracy. It is true that in the United States in the 2016 election Russia took some actions to support both the far right and far left in order to further increase division in America, but our intelligence community unanimously assessed that in the case of the presidential election of 2016, they ultimately made a decision to support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton and to interfere with, to attack our election to achieve that result. 

Sen. Coons on his resolution with Sen. Flake: There’s nothing wrong with our resolution. It was dismissed last Thursday as mere symbolism and I’ll remind you that sometimes symbolism like our flag is an important rallying point for Americans. I think it is important, I believe Senator Flake thinks it’s important that the Senate speak with one voice about backing our intelligence community, federal law enforcement. But our resolution also called for action. It called for full enforcement of the sanctions that we imposed against Russia, excuse me, that we empowered the president to impose against Russia in a 98-2 vote last year but hasn’t yet been fully imposed. It called for hearings and for the release of notes and records of the meeting in Helsinki. So, it was both important symbolism in terms of supporting the intelligence community and federal law enforcement and our resolution called for action. What’s wrong, I think, with the Senate particularly with the Republican Caucus in the Senate, there’s some senators unwilling to do even symbolic measures that would be in any way disfavorable to the White House. That strikes me as concerning. You’ve got senior administration officials who are openly saying the opposite of what President Trump said in Helsinki. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley just said I believe yesterday we will never trust Vladimir Putin. If that’s the case, then why is he being invited to the White House?

Sen. Coons on Africa: Well, to be positive, Secretary of Commerce Ross recently led a trip to four African countries to try to strengthen and broaden our economic ties with countries that have vibrant economies and where there’s significant opportunity. And I think that is an important step forward. At the meantime, China is engaged in very active, very aggressive economic diplomacy across the continent. Xi Jinping is in southern Africa right now and just made a commitment of $14 billion in new investments in just one country in South Africa, one of Africa’s most dynamic countries with a very promising economy. My most recent meeting with the Minister of Trade of South Africa was a very somber one. Our tariffs against their steel and aluminum exports is going to have a really negative impact on our relationship with South Africa since they’re not really the country we’re trying to impact with President Trump’s tariffs, that should be focused on the U.S./China trade relationship. This is just another example of the sort of unintended harm these wildly applied and widely swung tariffs are having. 

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on Iran: “I just don’t find an all-caps midnight tweet the most credible of actions in terms of pushing back against them.”

Sen. Coons on Russia: “Rather than following President Trump’s tweets and the red herrings that he’s been putting out, we should be focusing on our responsibility to strengthen our infrastructure, to protect our upcoming election, and to help the American people be clear-eyed about the very real threat that Putin’s Russia presents to the United States.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined CNN New Day to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke security clearances of former top officials and the President’s comments about Iran. 

“Look, I complemented President Trump for taking sanctions action against Russia when he did. I’ll remind you that bill passed the Senate 98-2. That’s a veto proof majority if I ever saw one. The president opposed our pushing him to take those sanctions actions, but he did, and I think he took the right action against Bashar al-Assad in Syria by striking his military assets when he used a poison gas against his own people again. I think those were the right steps for the president to take. But frankly, the Trump administration has dragged its feet on implementing sanctions against Russia. If we want to deter the sort of aggressive action against our 2018 election that President Trump’s own director of national intelligence recently predicted, we should take up and pass the bipartisan DETER Act that Senators Rubio and Van Hollen have put forward,” said Senator Coons.

Video and audio available here.

Excerpts from the interview below:

Sen. Coons on security clearances: That’s right. Frankly, the idea that a few career intelligence officials who served across both Republican and Democratic administrations should have their security clearances revoked is a pure distraction. It’s also, just frankly, being petty. Most of these officials either don’t use their security clearances or have no relevant access to classified information anymore. And I’ll note that the list of who’s being singled out exactly coincides with those who’ve been publicly critical of the president. This is the sort of attack on free speech, the press, and the rights of individuals to speak out in our country that really doesn’t serve the president well.

Sen. Coons on Russia: By focusing on the important matters in front of us, which is more developments in information about the attack by Russia on the United States. The Department of Homeland Security, yesterday, released for the first time, in an unclassified setting, more detailed information that Russian hackers managed to get into the control rooms of hundreds of power utilities in the United States. And so, if folks out there watching think somehow that Mueller’s investigation is a rigged witch hunt, as our president strikingly continues to insist, there is more and more building information that Russia continues to be our most aggressive foreign adversary. Rather than following President Trump’s tweets and the red herrings that he’s been putting out, we should be focusing on our responsibility to strengthen our infrastructure, to protect our upcoming election, and to help the American people be clear-eyed about the very real threat that Putin’s Russia presents to the United States.

More on Russia: Look, I complemented President Trump for taking sanctions action against Russia when he did. I’ll remind you that bill passed the Senate 98-2. That’s a veto proof majority if I ever saw one. The president opposed our pushing him to take those sanctions actions, but he did, and I think he took the right action against Bashar al-Assad in Syria by striking his military assets when he used a poison gas against his own people again. I think those were the right steps for the president to take. But frankly, the Trump administration has dragged its feet on implementing sanctions against Russia. If we want to deter the sort of aggressive action against our 2018 election that President Trump’s own director of national intelligence recently predicted, we should take up and pass the bipartisan DETER Act that Senators Rubio and Van Hollen have put forward. I’m a cosponsor. It would impose tougher sanctions on Russia if they continued to interfere in our elections, in our November elections just four months from now.

Sen. Coons on Iran: Not at all. Look, Iran continues to be one of the greatest state sponsors of terrorism in the world. They have been aggressive. They have expanded their reach throughout the region. Their support of the Houthis in Yemen, their support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, which is in partnership with the Russians, and their aggressive expansion of their reach throughout the arc of the Middle East, from Iran, through Iraq, into Syria, into Lebanon, and their ongoing threats against Israel in southern Lebanon and southwest Syria, make them a country of grave concern to us. And I do think that we need to be tough against them. I guess I just don’t find an all-caps midnight tweet the most credible of actions in terms of pushing back against them. I do think that this Wednesday the Foreign Relations Committee has an important opportunity to question Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on what is our strategy against Iran. President Trump walked away from the Iran Nuclear Deal, which although it had its limitations, was working. I haven’t heard any strategy for how we will replace that, and I’m concerned that the administration’s strategy is a regime change strategy; one which I doubt will be successful.

Sen. Coons on Kavanaugh: I will. But I first want there to be an agreement about the release of the documents relating to his five years of service in the Bush administration and his time serving with Judge Starr’s independent counsel team. He has a very long and detailed record. Much of it public, his decisions as a member of the D.C. Circuit Court, but much of it is not, his work at the highest levels of the Bush administration. And as we saw just last Thursday, there have been Trump nominees for senior judicial positions, who once we really know the full extent of their record, even Republicans failed to support.

Sen. Coons on whether he will meet with Judge Kavanaugh: Of course I will meet with Judge Kavanaugh. I think we need to have an agreement in place first about the production of the documents necessary for any senator, in particular a senator on the Judiciary Committee, to begin the laborious process of digging through his whole record, so that I can ask questions that are well-informed, at his confirmation hearing, and in a personal meeting.

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