[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on Comey’s testimony: “it will reinforce…that we have a significant problem with a president who is engaged in certainly unwise, unethical conduct”

Sen. Coons: “It is completely unacceptable for the president to ask the FBI director to be personally loyal to him”

Sen. Coons: “President Trump either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care about the longstanding importance of the independence of the FBI director”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Morning Joe this morning ahead of former FBI Director Jim Comey’s testimony in the Senate today.

“What struck me is that it is completely unacceptable for the president to ask the FBI director to be personally loyal to him and to ask the FBI director to drop it with regards to an ongoing investigation into his former national security advisor,” said Senator Coons. “President Trump either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care about the longstanding importance of the independence of the FBI director. I think when FBI director Jim Comey gets his chance to testify today, it will reinforce to the American people that we have a significant problem with a president who is engaged in certainly unwise, certainly unethical conduct in the White House.”

Full audio and video available here. 

Excerpts from the interview:

Senator Coons on Comey’s testimony: What struck me was that it is completely unacceptable for the president to ask the FBI director to be personally loyal to him and to ask the FBI director to drop it with regards to an ongoing investigation into his former national security advisor. President Trump either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care about the longstanding importance of the independence of the FBI director. I think when FBI director Jim Comey gets his chance to testify today, it will reinforce to the American people that we have a significant problem with a president who is engaged in certainly unwise, certainly unethical conduct in the White House. 

More on today’s testimony and possible obstruction of justice: As an attorney, I’m going to approach that question very carefully. I think that’s the point of having an investigation led by Bob Mueller, a very seasoned, very senior career law enforcement official. As I said, I think the statements we’ll hear today from former FBI Director Jim Comey make it clear that the president crossed a line, that the president engaged in unwise and unethical conduct. Whether it meets the line of obstruction of justice is up for the prosecutor to make. This certainly suggests to all of us in the United States Senate that we’ve got a president who is operating well outside the acceptable boundaries with regards to federal law enforcement. I think that’s frankly why you don’t have Republican senators on the show this morning defending President Trump’s actions. 

Senator Coons on whether he read anything illegal in Comey’s statement: It is right up against that line. There are key issues here of intent and context. Certainly if I were being asked to make a judgment on that, I think there’s reason to proceed seriously with an investigation, but I think we also have to be careful about making legal conclusions and not getting in the way of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.

Senator Coons on how this testimony will affect foreign policy: That’s a great question. I just returned from an Asia-Pacific regional security conference in Singapore. I traveled with two senior Republicans, John McCain, chairman of Armed Services, and John Barrasso of Wyoming. We went to Vietnam, we went to Singapore, and met with leaders of seven different nations in the region. They’re gravely concerned about the extent the United States is distracted and is withdrawing from our leadership role in the Pacific. In a previous conference in the North Atlantic that I also went to a few months ago with Senator McCain, I heard the same thing from our Eastern European and NATO allies; they’re concerned that this will distract us. I’m frankly both sad and angry. I’m sad I introduced a bipartisan bill about manufacturing yesterday and we’re not going to talk about that and it frankly probably won’t move. I’m frankly angry with this president that he’s taken us so far off course from what was a well-established path of independence for the FBI and federal law enforcement.  

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Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester host New Castle County job fair with 40-plus companies looking to hire

Delegation welcomes additional companies looking to fill full and part-time positions to participate in Wilmington job fair

WILMINGTON, Del. – On Friday, June 9, Sens. Carper, Coons, and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester will host a job fair at the Delaware Technical Community College, George Campus (300 North Orange Street, Wilmington, DE), from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. More than 40 organizations and employers ranging from public and private sectors, non-profits and others will be on hand accepting resumes, meeting and greeting prospective employees and in some cases, conducting on-the-spot interviews for both full and part-time positions. Applicants should come with resumes in hand and dressed to impress.

Confirmed employers for the job fair include Advanced Student Transportation, Aflac, Alternate Routes UD, Comcast, Connections, DE Air National Guard, Delaware State Police, Delaware State University, Dept of Correction, Dept of Veterans Affairs, Discover, Gabe’s, Griswold Home Care, Integrity Staffing Solutions, M&T Bank, Mountaire Farms, New Castle County Police Dept, Pepco Holdings, Primerica, Project New Start, ShopRite, UPS, Walgreens, Wawa, Wilmington Police Dept, and more.

The delegation is still accepting additional companies for this job fair. If you are interested in participating in the upcoming job fair, interested employers should contact Senator Coons’ office at 302-573-6345 or via email at J_Francis@coons.senate.gov

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons: “I’ve really had concerns that Attorney General Sessions hasn’t respected the scope of his recusal”

Sen. Coons: “This must have been a knowing refusal by Sean Spicer to confirm that the attorney general still has the president’s confidence”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, yesterday joined Wolf Blitzer on CNN to discuss Attorney General Sessions, tomorrow’s testimony from former FBI Director James Comey, and recent developments in Qatar and the Middle East.

“Well, I think this is one of the ways that President Trump signals he’s reconsidering his support for senior members of his administration. This must have been a knowing refusal by Sean Spicer to confirm that the attorney general still has the president’s confidence,” said Senator Coons. “As for me, I’ve really had concerns that Attorney General Sessions hasn’t respected the scope of his recusal. He was directly involved in the firing of FBI Director Jim Comey, and I have asked along with several other Democrats have asked the inspector general of the Department of Justice to review whether or not the attorney general has complied with his own recusal.”

Full audio and video available here.

Excerpts from interview:

Senator Coons on Sessions:  Well, I think this is one of the ways that President Trump signals he’s reconsidering his support for senior members of his administration. This must have been a knowing refusal by Sean Spicer to confirm that the attorney general still has the president’s confidence. As for me, I’ve really had concerns that Attorney General Sessions hasn’t respected the scope of his recusal. He was directly involved in the firing of FBI Director Jim Comey, and I have asked along with several other Democrats have asked the inspector general of the Department of Justice to review whether or not the attorney general has complied with his own recusal. 

More on Sessions: Well, I would sure hate to be the lawyer who is going to defend President Trump’s Muslim travel ban in front of the Supreme Court after that string of tweets he let off because they significantly undermined his case. It also suggests, it is directly criticizing the Department of Justice, so the only conclusion I could draw from the president’s tweets is that his frustration is mounting with the attorney general and that Attorney General Sessions ought to be considering whether or not his tenure with this administration is going to be strong or long. 

Senator Coons on the president’s travel ban: Well, certainly not in a way that so directly undermines the president’s own case in front of the Supreme Court. As you know, several courts have invalidated the so-called Muslim ban or the travel ban. They have linked it to President Trump’s statements as a candidate that suggested what had he was really after was a religiously-motivated ban, and by firing off these tweets that suggest he preferred the less politically correct first Muslim ban, President Trump has weakened and undermined his case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Senator Coons on Comey’s testimony: Well, there are two important things that I’m looking for week out of the testimony from former FBI director Comey. First, is just a reconfirmation in his view that Russia really did interfere in our 2016 election, that’s well and widely known here on Capitol Hill, but for a lot of Americans who have been busy going about their lives and who may tune into this hearing this week, I think that’s helpful to have it reconfirmed that the intelligence community, including the FBI, all concluded that Russia at Putin’s direction intentionally interfered in our election. More important is the potentially explosive testimony by the FBI director that President Trump directly asked him to pledge loyalty to Trump personally, to back off the investigation into his national security advisor or to slow down or back off the ongoing investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian senior officials. That’s a really striking allegation, and to have the former FBI director, a seasoned senior lawyer and law enforcement official testify to those actions would have significant consequences.

More on Comey: That’s right. I do not expect the former FBI director to say in so many words this constitutes obstruction of justice. As a law enforcement professional, he knows that that conclusion is left to others, but I do expect he will testify as to whether President Trump did or did not inappropriately lean on him to either pledge loyalty to Trump personally or to back off the investigation. I’ll remind you that allegations have been made that Trump also inappropriately pressured the director of national intelligence and the head of the NSA, both of whom will testify tomorrow, in the same sort of way to back off of the investigation or to make public statements that there’s no evidence of collusion. 

Senator Coons on additional testimonies in the coming days: I expect the same thing, and the suggestion by the White House that Jim Comey, the former FBI director, is only going to be able to testify on Thursday because they are not asserting executive privilege, frankly doesn’t pass the laugh test. The reason there isn’t an executive privilege to assert here is in part because President Trump himself chose to talk about his private conversations with the former FBI director. If there had been any executive privilege here, it was almost certainly waived by the president’s own actions.  

Senator Coons on President Trump’s Qatar decision: Well, frankly, it’s a very troubling thing for the president to be diving in on Twitter to such a complicated and fast-moving issue as our Gulf allies cutting off all relations with Qatar. My understanding is that today the Defense Department has also issued a statement thanking Qatar for their long-standing partnership and the fact that they host one of our largest bases in the region, an air base that has 11,000 U.S. and coalition personnel on it from which sorties are being flown against ISIS in the ongoing military campaign. I think a more appropriate stance for the president to have taken would be that he urged strong action against organizations like Hamas which Qatar has long supported, but to not endorse the severing of relations between Saudi Arabia and a number of other Gulf partiers with Qatar, which is a strong and decisive step that will unsettle relations in the Persian Gulf. 

More on Qatar: Qatar has been engaging for a while in funding organizations, most importantly Hamas, but others associated with Al-Nusra, and they have been supporting journalism outlets that really gets under the saddle of a lot of their Persian Gulf allies and that arguably has supported some more extreme views within the Gulf. So yes, there are reasons to criticize Qatar. They haven’t taken decisive steps to cut off funding. The Saudis have taken a very strong step here, but it seems once again to show there are internal divisions within the administration between what’s been said by the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the president’s tweets. To me, this suggests we continue to have a challenge. Out of roughly 500 senior positions in the Defense Department and other important administration agencies, there are more than 450 that are vacant and where there hasn’t been a nominee advanced by the administration. We don’t have a nominee to be the ambassador to the United Kingdom at a time when they face several terrorist threats. There’s no nominee to be the new FBI director. There’s no nominee from this president to run the TSA, which helps keep our airways safe, so frankly I would hope the president would put the phone down, stop tweeting at all hours of the day and night, and instead move forward with some of these important vacant positions where there isn’t yet a nominee from this administration. 

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Senator Coons’ statement on Christopher Wray

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after President Trump announced that he has nominated Christopher Wray to serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). 

“Christopher Wray is a serious and experienced attorney who has worked both in private practice and at the Department of Justice, where he was the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division.  I’m encouraged that President Trump has nominated someone with significant federal law enforcement experience, rather than a career in partisan politics, as was rumored over the past several weeks,” said Senator Coons.  “As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I look forward to closely and thoroughly reviewing Mr. Wray’s full background and meeting with him soon.  It is critical, particularly at this moment, for the FBI to have strong, respected, and independent leadership.”

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VIDEO: Sen. Coons on Comey testimony, Trump’s global engagement: “I think it’s reckless and gravely concerning a lot of our allies around the world”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined Bloomberg TV to discuss former FBI Director James Comey and his upcoming testimony as well as the state of foreign affairs under the Trump administration. 

Audio and video available below.

Part 1

Part 2

Excerpts from the interview:

Senator Coons on Comey’s testimony: Well, what’s most important is to hear clearly from the former FBI director whether in conversations with President Trump he was pressured to stop the investigation into the former national security advisor, to slow down, delay, or abandon the investigation into Russian interference in our 2016 elections. I do think it will be important for the American people to hear from the former FBI director confirmation of what our intelligence community found, which was that Russia did intentionally interfere in our last presidential election. 

More on Comey: He is arguably messing with the wrong guy and the wrong institution. One of my concerns is that there still isn’t a confirmable nominee from the president for the FBI director. We just saw terror attacks in Great Britain and the president hasn’t nominated either a candidate to be our ambassador to the U.K or a new FBI director.

Senator Coons on President Trump’s tweets about the London mayor: I think it was a really unfortunate choice. President Trump is undermining one of our closest, most vital allies by picking a personal fight with the mayor of London rather than expressing his support for the people of Great Britain.

Senator Coons on President Trump’s Qatar decision: My concern is that the president has emboldened an authoritarian state and has encouraged all the GCC, the Gulf allies, to isolate Qatar rather than negotiate with Qatar about a different path. I understand the ways in which some of our key allies like Saudi Arabia dislike Qatar’s opening a line of communication to Iran and strongly dislike their support for Hamas, that’s something that I oppose as well. But, I think there might have been a better path towards this resolution than an abrupt cutting of ties.

Senator Coons on what Congress should do: Well, the core concern that I have in terms of engagement with the whole world is that President Trump proposed a 30% cut to the development and diplomacy budget of the United States. At this time of great instability and insecurity around the world whether in North Korea or Syria or the Persian Gulf or Russia, for us to not have ambassadors in some of our key posts and to cut back on diplomacy funding so dramatically strikes me as profoundly unwise.

Senator Coons on Trump’s global engagement: I think it’s reckless and gravely concerning a lot of our allies around the world. 

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[VIDEO] Sen. Coons on new, bipartisan manufacturing bill: “This is a step toward more ‘Made in America’”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Bloomberg TV to discuss the Invent and Manufacture in America Act, which he introduced today with Republican Senator Pat Roberts.

Full video and audio available here.

Excerpt from the interview: 

“I’m thrilled that Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, who has been a senator for 30 years, is my lead co-sponsor in the Invent and Manufacture in America Act, which would increase the amount of the R&D tax credit received by American manufacturers that make here things that they invent here.

“Virtually every American now has a smartphone, but most of the details of the smartphones—the operating systems—are developed through American R&D, but virtually every one of them is manufactured outside of the United States.  This is a step toward more ‘Made in America.’”

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Senators Coons and Roberts introduce bipartisan bill to help companies design and manufacture in America

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) today introduced the Invent and Manufacture in America Act, which provides a tax cut for companies that not only conduct research & development in the United States but also manufacture products resulting from this R&D in America.  

Scientific and technological innovation accounts for nearly 50% of economic growth in the United States. Despite this, R&D investments that drive innovation have remained relatively stagnant for more than a decade, increasing at an anemic pace of only 1.6% annually since 2000. During this same time, the United States’ global competitors have dramatically increased R&D investments. Germany, Japan, and South Korea all spend more on R&D than the U.S. as a share of GDP.  

Companies are twice as productive at R&D when operations are co-located with a manufacturing facility. Yet, businesses continue to outsource manufacturing operations. Since 2000, the U.S. has lost over 5 million manufacturing jobs and more than 70,000 manufacturing plants have closed or moved offshore, threatening the innovation and production ecosystem. 

To address these challenges, the bill enhances the value of the R&D tax credit by up to 25% for companies that perform the majority of manufacturing operations in the United States. The enhancement is graduated so that the credit rate increases as the percentage of a company’s domestic manufacturing operations increases.

“To remain the world’s leading economy in the 21st century, we must continue to expand investments in research and development, which is the lifeblood of economic growth. But it’s not simply enough to invent products in the United States. Those products should also be manufactured here. A strong, growing manufacturing sector will create jobs and drive more foreign direct investment and reshoring to the United States. That’s why I’m proud to partner with Senator Roberts to introduce bipartisan legislation that will help companies invent and make their products in America,” said Senator Coons. 

“Research and development in new technologies and new products is an important source of economic growth,” Senator Roberts said. “The new technologies, products, and lower prices generated by investments in R&D create new jobs, raise wages, and create new demand for goods and services. Our legislation would increase cash flow for small businesses and start-ups involved in R&D intensive activities by reducing past, current and future tax liabilities leading to permanent tax savings.” 

“The ‘Invent and Manufacture in America Act’ amplifies the success of the R&D tax credit by expanding its benefits to more fully serve the American worker. When American innovations are manufactured abroad, we surrender our competitive advantage. This bill will strengthen innovation at home and make the United States more competitive globally by encouraging more domestic R&D and manufacturing. When goods and technologies are manufactured where they are invented, it promotes further advances and allows the entire innovation pipeline to reinvigorate itself more quickly,” said Keith Roe, President, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 

The Invent and Manufacture in America Act has been endorsed by: ASME, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), American Small Manufacturers Coalition (ASMC), and National Council for Advanced Manufacturing.  

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STATEMENT BY SENATORS McCAIN, COONS & BARRASSO ON CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VISIT TO VIETNAM

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Chris Coons (D-DE) and John Barrasso (R-WY) released the following statement on their congressional delegation visit to Vietnam:

“Our visit to Vietnam came at an important time in light of troubling regional developments and rising challenges in the South China Sea. During our meetings with President Tran Dai Quang, Minister of National Defense Ngo Xuan Lich, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, and other members of the National Assembly, the Government of Vietnam stressed its commitment to international law and maintaining a favorable balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region, and we explored ways to expand our security assistance and defense cooperation. We also discussed ways to grow our economic relations, deepen foreign investment, and overcome remaining barriers to trade including repealing the cumbersome and costly U.S. Department of Agriculture catfish inspection program and increasing U.S. beef and poultry exports. 

“In addition, we spoke frankly about the importance of respecting human rights and encouraged the Government of Vietnam to uphold its international commitments to freedom of assembly and association. We emphasized that progress on this issue will help our relationship grow, and we hope the Government of Vietnam will release political prisoners such as Nguyen Van Dai.

“This was a particularly memorable visit as we had the opportunity to tour the USS John S. McCain while on a port call at Cam Ranh Bay. It is our hope that the presence of the USS John S. McCain, a ship named for Senator McCain’s grandfather and father who spent much of their naval careers in the Asia-Pacific, serves as a symbol of reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam and reminds our allies and adversaries of America’s enduring commitment in the region.

“It is noteworthy that at the same time as our visit, the Trump Administration announced its intention to deepen our comprehensive partnership with Vietnam following Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the United States. Vietnam is an important partner with which the United States shares many strategic and economic interests, including expanding regional trade relationships and furthering our maritime security cooperation. Going forward, we hope that the United States will continue to expand our military-to-military ties with Vietnam and work more closely together to support the freedom of the seas and skies in the Asia-Pacific region. 

“The progress we have made since the normalization of relations 22 years ago is remarkable. At the same time, there is much more we can do together as partners, and we need an ambitious agenda as we look to expand our cooperation and continue to work on remaining war legacy issues. We look forward to visiting Vietnam again soon and to further discussions on how we can continue to advance our strategic partnership.”

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ICYMI: Sen. Coons op-ed in The News Journal: “Opioid abuse prevention must remain a priority”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today published an op-ed in The News Journal on the importance of prioritizing opioid abuse prevention in Congress.

The News Journal: Opioid abuse prevention must remain a priority

By Chris Coons 

Communities all across our country have been impacted by a devastating crisis of heroin and opioid drug abuse that often lead to overdoses and death.

Unfortunately, Southern Delaware has not been spared by this terrible epidemic.

Nationally, the number of fatal overdoses from prescription drugs quadrupled from 1999 to 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here in Delaware, 308 of our neighbors, friends, and family members died from opioid or prescription drug abuse last year. To put it into context: last year’s deaths from overdoses is almost triple the number of Delawareans who were killed in traffic accidents.

One of the most tragic things about the opioid epidemic is that it is both preventable and treatable with the right programs and resources.

Ensuring that prevention programs and resources are available and properly funded should be a top priority for the federal government, and as your senator, I can tell you that it is a top priority of mine. I continue to hear too many stories from Delawareans about how the opioid epidemic has affected their loved ones, and while the federal government has contributed a good deal of resources to address the rise of opioid abuses, we have far more work to do.

There is some good news. Throughout Fiscal Year 2017, Congress will devote more than $1.3 billion to specific efforts to combat the opioid and heroin epidemic. This includes more than $160 million for the Department of Justice, $801 million for the Department of Health and Human Services, and $367 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Altogether, that’s more than double the federal investment in fighting the opioid epidemic from Fiscal Year 2016.

Last year, Congress also took two important steps to address this crisis.

First, we passed the bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which supports evidence-based drug treatment and prevention programs and helps combat the over-prescription of opioids and other prescription medications.

And in December, Congress passed the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which included $1 billion over two years for grants to help states combat the opioid epidemic. The grants, which are administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, can be used toward opioid prevention and treatment programs. In April, the first round of funding went out to every state and Delaware received a $2 million grant through this program.

These are just a few examples of the initiatives and funding that I have continued to fight for to combat this crisis, but as long as the crisis continues to impact our communities, we have to keep up our efforts.

As Republicans and Democrats debate how to improve our health care system, we have to ensure that important programs to prevent opioid abuse don’t end up on the cutting room floor.

That starts with ensuring that Americans don’t lose access to comprehensive health care benefits, including substance use disorder treatment. Before 2010, people with substance use disorders and mental illnesses were among the most likely to be uninsured, and many insurance plans had no coverage for substance use disorders and mental health services. The Affordable Care Act changed that, and the results have made a significant difference.

Additionally, thanks to Delaware’s decision to expand Medicaid, many Delawareans have been able to access substance use disorder treatment for the first time. In fact, Medicaid is the single largest payer of substance use disorder services in the nation and pays for a third of all medication-assisted treatment in the United States. 

Finally, we need to ensure that any changes we make to our healthcare system don’t take coverage away from Americans with pre-existing conditions (one of which is substance use disorder).

Protecting our children from drugs and helping our neighbors, friends and loved ones who struggle with opioid or prescription drug abuse isn’t a partisan issue, it’s just the right thing to do, and it keeps our communities safer and healthier. 

As we continue working in Congress to fix the problems with our health care system, know that I won’t forget the Delawareans who have been touched by this crisis. 

I will fight against bills that take away health care access for Delawareans and against any harmful cuts to programs and funding. I will not stand by while this epidemic continues to cost far too many lives in our nation and in our state.

Chris Coons has represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate since 2010. 

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Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester celebrate $1.4 million in AmeriCorps funding for Delaware

WILMINGTON, DE – Senators Carper and Coons and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-DE) announced that Delaware has received $1.4 million in AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency for volunteering and service programs.

“AmeriCorps volunteers make a difference in our communities and help change lives for the better,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper. “I’m proud to join our Congressional delegation to congratulate the Delaware organizations that received AmeriCorps funding and to thank the scores of AmeriCorps volunteers in all three counties who dedicate their lives to serving others. Today is a day to be thankful because this relatively small federal investment will help many Delaware families and children in a big way. I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention that President Trump’s budget proposal calls for the elimination of AmeriCorps. I will continue to urge Republicans and Democrats in Congress to stand up for our values and to protect AmeriCorps from these harmful and misguided cuts.”

“This is outstanding news for Delaware and for the organizations involved,” said Senator Coons. “I’ve seen firsthand AmeriCorps’ positive impact in Delaware and across the country and in addition to addressing critical community needs during their time of service, AmeriCorps members are undoubtedly left with a strong connection to their community after participating in the program and often pursue public service careers later in life.”

“In Delaware, we see the broad impact that engaged volunteers have on our state every single day,” said U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. “This funding provided by the Corporation for National and Community service for AmeriCorps will help to ensure that we are matching the right resources to the most impactful programs. The organizations receiving these resources deserve recognition for their outstanding initiatives and I am confident that AmeriCorps volunteers will continue to make Delaware proud.”

The federal investment includes five grants totaling $800,537, which will support 142 AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps members will tackle some of the toughest problems in Delaware, teaching students in rural and urban schools, supporting environmental stewardship efforts, leading summer reading programs, and supporting workplace development and housing services.

CNCS will also provide up to $588,915 in education scholarships for the AmeriCorps members funded by these grants to help pay for college, vocational training, or pay back student loans. The federal investment is projected to generate an additional $2.3 million in local support to increase community impact and return on federal investment.

The federal investment announced today also includes $644,966 for the Delaware Governor’s Commission on Community & Volunteer Service. Later this summer, this state service commission will make additional grants to support AmeriCorps programs in the state.

This year’s AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive, with a continuing level of strong demand by nonfaith and faith-based organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources. The 2017 competition prioritized investments in economic opportunity, education, governor and mayor initiatives, veterans and military families, disaster services, and initiatives to build safer communities.

Below is a listing of 2017 AmeriCorps competitive grants in Delaware:

• Ministry of Caring: AmeriCorps members will address the ongoing challenge of homelessness through workforce development and housing services in Wilmington. (20 AmeriCorps members)
• Delaware Habitat AmeriCorps: Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps members will serve to invigorate neighborhoods through building and repairing homes, empowering families through education, managing home improvement stores and donation centers, and recruiting and managing volunteers. (31 AmeriCorps members)
• AmeriCorps State Parks Partners: Veterans, serving as AmeriCorps members, will eradicate invasive species from park lands and trails throughout Delaware. (15 AmeriCorps members)
• Teach For America Delaware: AmeriCorps members will serve as full-time teachers, serving low-income students in nine rural and urban Delaware schools. (36 AmeriCorps members)
• The Summer Learning Collaborative: AmeriCorps members will lead reading intervention programs in community-based agencies’ summer programs located throughout the state. (40 AmeriCorps members)

Last fall, AmeriCorps celebrated a major milestone when the program surpassed one million members pledging to “Get Things Done” for America. AmeriCorps engages more than 80,000 members in intensive service annually to serve through nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations at 21,600 locations across the country. These members help communities tackle pressing problems while mobilizing millions of volunteers for the organizations they serve.

Since 1994, more than 1 million men and women have served in AmeriCorps, providing more than 1.4 billion hours of service and earning more than $3.3 billion in scholarships to pay for college, more than $1 billion of which has been used to pay back student loan debt.

AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, and leads volunteer initiatives for the nation. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.