Senator Coons discusses sustainable chemistry during keynote remarks at ACS Conference

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, spoke yesterday at the 19^th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference hosted by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute about the importance of investing in sustainable chemistry research.

Earlier this year, Senator Coons introduced the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act to encourage the design, development, and commercialization of high-performing chemicals, products, and processes that reduce or eliminate risk to human health and benefit the environment. This bill is co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks:

“We face huge challenges globally, where chemistry is and will be at the forefront of allowing us to meet those challenges. As populations soar, and as technology and trade bring us ever closer together globally, we face a world with scarcer resources and a more interdependent world than ever before. It is America’s scientists and innovators who I believe are poised to move us forward.”

“Sustainable chemistry can solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, from how to produce more reliably clean drinking water to new renewable energy technologies.”

“Although there is great work being done in academia and in industry and in some federal labs…we can and must do a better job as a country of building closer ties between the classroom, the laboratory, and the marketplace.”

“[My bill is] about trying to be more thoughtful with the federal investments we make, and to bring together the best minds from every sector to focus on the challenge to ensure that we’ve built the platform for strengthened and sustained federal investment and partnership with the private sector and academia in the future.”

Senator Coons’ full remarks are below:

“Thank you Joe. Thank you for the introductions and for your great leadership in making sure that this green chemistry conference has come off well and strongly. As you’ve heard in the introduction by David Constable, Dr. Richard Wool, who is known to many of you as well, I assume, left us too soon and unexpectedly. And I wanted to start by congratulating the five winners of the president’s green chemistry awards given earlier today. And just note that Dr. Wool was also a winner of the Presidential Green Chemistry Award in 2013, named by the EPA in 2013 for his work to develop bio-based materials, and earlier this year he was named a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

“Dr. Wool brought passion and creativity and drive to his work. His daughter once explained to a number of us how he never really stopped thinking about chemistry and engineering and sustainability. He would pick up something, a feather or a seashell, and ponder for hours at how we could turn it into something else – something sustainable, and something productive. We will truly miss Dr. Wool in Delaware, and I know you will, as well. So we continue with this conference, and continue our work together in the weeks and months ahead conscience that we follow in Richard’s giant footsteps. And I want to thank one organization that’s done an extraordinary job to carry the mantle of green chemistry, not just for today’s scientists, but the students who will be tomorrow’s scientists, as well: The ACS and its Green Chemistry Institute. So to Richard, thank you for your leadership to the Institute. And to Carl Maxwell, thank you for your partnership. And to everyone here today, thanks for what you do to move our country forward.

“I heard a start of some applause for Dr. Richard Wool’s legacy. Let’s give Richard Wool a strong round of applause for all that he is done [applause]. As you heard in the introduction, I come from a background in science. Although common and uniform across this room is a passion for, training in, and strength in hard science that is really quite unusual in the United States Senate. There are fewer than five of us of the 100 of us at the moment who have any real training in hard sciences. And as of now I’m the sole chemist, although there is a chemical engineer who is beginning to hone in on my chemistry caucus. I really enjoyed my time as the president, secretary, treasurer, and sole member of the Senate chemist caucus. But he’s a chemical engineer so he’s thinking of moving into the engineers’ caucus, and we’re fighting over the boundaries,jurisdiction, and so forth.

“I come from a family of inventors and entrepreneurs, chemical engineering PhDs and folks who spent much of their life around it. And I grew up in a neighborhood where twelve out of fourteen heads-of-household were DuPont PhD chemical engineers and patent holders. So my passion for innovation and for science has continued into my service in the United States Senate. And I focused a lot on chemistry and on the federal role in scientific research in no small part because I believe that when humanity faces great challenges, America’s role so much in the past, and hopefully in the future, has been and will be to innovate, to tackle these great challenges with solutions, and that those solutions come out of the skills and the resources that chemistry makes possible. And that then redefines what’s possible.

“There’s a couple of things I believe we must do together if our country is going to take advantage of this opportunity, if we are going to keep up with our competitors who already see this opportunity, and if we are going to sustain some of our global leadership role in science and innovation. So I’d like to talk today specifically about sustainable chemistry, and its role in America continuing to be one of the leaders in competitiveness and sustainability in the world.

“We face the core challenge of sustaining our high standard of living in a more sustainable, a more healthy, more durable way. And doing so will require new innovations and new investments that focus principally on sustainability. The implications are global, not just national. Sustainable chemistry can solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, from how to produce more reliably clean drinking water to new renewable energy technologies.

“Over the last few years my policy team and I have tried to figure out what we could do to move forward the disparate and somewhat disjointed federal efforts in this field, and concluded that legislation was badly needed to spur research and development and commercialization. What we’ve produced is a bipartisan bill that my staff and I partnered closely with ACS and others to produce, and I’m proud of it. I think it’s advancing the discussion in the field.

“What we’ve seen is that although there is great work being done in academia and in industry and in some federal labs, something that your presence today attests to, we can and must do a better job as a country of building closer ties between the classroom, the laboratory, and the marketplace. And while the federal government does currently have several programs dedicated to sustainable chemistry, they really lack a coherent vision of how best to serve the industry and how to encourage innovation. There’s relatively little connective tissue, and there isn’t an identifiable national strategy. So that’s why the bill I’ve introduced again in this Congress I believe is so important. It does three core things.

“First, it creates us a cohesive and strategic vision for federal support for sustainable chemistry across many different areas of activity. Second, it authorizes an interagency program that combines competitive grants for research, partnerships between industry and academia, collaboration with federal labs, and commercialization of sustainable products and processes, as well as expanding education in sustainable chemistry. Third and last, it creates an interagency working group and advisory council made up of experts from the private sector.

“Overall, it’s about trying to be more thoughtful with the federal investments we make, and to bring together the best minds from every sector to focus on the challenge to ensure that we’ve built the platform for strengthened and sustained federal investment and partnership with the private sector and academia in the future.

“I’m pleased a portion of this bill is already included in the underlying TSCA bill that is already moving through the Senate, which you may know as the Udall-Vitter TSCA bill, and I’m going to continue working with my colleagues to ensure that the entire bill is included in what is ultimately adopted. I believe there is, today, a historic opportunity for larger TSCA reform, and part of the solution has to be to continue the federal investment in sustainable chemistry innovation.

“So, briefly and in conclusion, you more than anyone, the very community that has given birth to and sustained the sustainable chemistry movement – professors, engineers, industry executives, students – understand the power, the scope and reach and range of sustainable chemistry. And I hope you will help educate and engage my colleagues, many of whom just don’t appreciate what you’re doing, and why it’s powerful, and what its compounding consequences can be for our country and the world.

“Thank you for what you’re doing. Thank you for letting me be a part of this conference, albeit briefly, and I really am excited to continue to work together as long as the people of Delaware will tolerate my service in the United States Senate. I am excited to continue partnering with you to catalyze real and lasting change in how we teach, how we innovate, and how we deploy the skills and resources of sustainable chemistry for a world that badly needs the solutions. Thank you, I hope you have a great conference, and I look forward to racing back to the Capitol.”

Senator Coons urges colleagues to support accountability in updates to federal K-12 bill

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Tuesday spoke on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to strengthen the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA) by passing Senator Chris Murphy’s (D-Conn.) federal accountability amendment and including Coons’ American Dream Accounts amendment. Senator Coons’ amendment would build on the American Dream Accounts Act legislation he introduced with Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in March.

ECAA is the Senate version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill. Congress has not reauthorized ESEA since 2001.

Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks:

“Unfortunately, if it passed today, the Every Child Achieves Act would turn back the clock to a time when local control too often meant national indifference. It would risk letting too many of our children fall through the cracks.”

“Federal accountability is a critical part of ensuring we invest in all American students as if they were our own children, and I’d urge my colleagues to support Senator Murphy’s amendment, which I am proud to join in co-sponsoring.”

“I saw time and again how sending the message that college was a possibility from elementary school on had a powerful, compounding, positive impact on these students’ idea of who they could be and what they could achieve…. The American Dream Accounts would expand on this idea.”

“We have an opportunity right now to build on the bill Senators Murray and Alexander wrote to reform our public schools in a way that communicates to every child in every public school that they deserve a high-quality education. The kind of education that tells them not only that they should have dreams, but that those dreams are within their grasp.”

“We’ve made significant progress in recent years, due in part to a bipartisan, national commitment to raising the bar for all of America’s children. We can’t allow ourselves to lower it once again.

Senator Coons’ full remarks below:

“Mr. President, as the Senate this week considers the first major reform bill to our nation’s public schools in over a decade, I rise to talk about how we can ensure that every one of our country’s children goes to a great school no matter his or her zip code or background.

“Mr. President, our nation has struggled to fulfill this fundamental promise of equal opportunity since our nation’s founding, and it is a struggle that, despite many efforts, continues today.

“Fifty years ago, as America fought to break down racial barriers in our nation’s classrooms, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law. This civil rights act recognized that without actively investing federal resources in educating America’s underserved children, their dreams would remain tragically deferred.

“Since then, our country has continued to struggle with this fundamental civil rights challenge. Five decades after Johnson’s landmark law and 14 years after President Bush revamped it with the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act, we still haven’t found a way to ensure that as a nation, we hold every school to the high standards our children deserve.

“This week marks the latest effort in this long struggle. The Senate’s reform bill, titled the Every Child Achieves Act, makes important strides to improve what went wrong in 2001’s No Child Left Behind, and I’d like to start by commending Senators Patty Murray and Lamar Alexander for accomplishing what has eluded the Senate for so many years – a bipartisan compromise that deals with some critical but often divisive issues at the heart of America’s public schools. They’ve worked tirelessly on this bill because they understand the urgency of our national education crisis.

“In the wake of No Child Left Behind’s federal micromanagement of schools, this bill heeds an important lesson – that communities need to have some flexibility and some space to innovate and find their own solutions to their education problems.

“But I would urge my colleagues as we work together to fix many of the law’s weaknesses, we do not lose sight of some of No Child Left Behind’s important accomplishments.

“For all of its many problems, it exposed uncomfortable realities in America’s classrooms and empowered policy makers with real data that simply did not exist before. Most importantly, it refused to lower our nation’s expectations of any school and demanded that every child in America gets the education he or she deserves.

“Mr. President, in our drive to decrease the law’s rigidity and address its many other challenges, we must maintain those high standards and continue to hold states and school districts accountable.

“Unfortunately, if it passed today, the Every Child Achieves Act would turn back the clock to a time when local control too often meant national indifference. It would risk letting too many of our children fall through the cracks.

“Mr. President, I myself have seen how this indifference can hurt America’s students.

“For 20 years, I was actively involved with the national “I Have a Dream Foundation,” which works to send some of our country’s most at-risk students to college, and I had the opportunity to visit schools all over the United States, in some of our most stressed and challenged neighborhoods, and some of our most struggling and difficult schools.

“When I met with students during those visits and asked them about their vision for their own future, while many wanted to become teachers, or doctors, or scientists, too many others did not believe those kinds of careers could ever be within their grasp.

“This, to me, illustrated the twin tragedies of our public education system – the fact that for many students with big dreams, their schools will not give them the chance to realize them, while for too many others, dreams long dead in their families and communities had taught them that daring to dream at all was futile.

“These students had fallen victim to what President George W. Bush so accurately described as the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” They had internalized the failings of the system around them to mean that they were not worth investing in, so they might as well just give up from the beginning.

“There are two ways I believe we can and should improve the Every Child Achieves Act to change that message, to raise the expectations we communicate to kids from the day they’re born to the day they enter the classroom to the day they graduate.

“The first way is to pass amendments that strengthen federal accountability provisions and shine a brighter spotlight on the small fraction of our schools that fail our children. Simply put, we cannot allow ourselves to lower our expectations for any of America’s schools.

“I know for many of my colleagues, and for teachers and students around the country, the very word accountability in the context of education is associated with high stakes testing and unfunded mandates.

“But it doesn’t have to mean either of those things. Accountability means holding every school and every child to the same high standards, because our public schools must work for every student no matter where they are, where they come from, or how they learn.

“Accountability means not allowing schools to maintain the status quo when they fail to graduate large segments of their students.

“Accountability means refusing to lower our expectations even when the path forward seems hard.

“Mr. President, we’ve already seen what accountability can accomplish for our children.

“Over the past decade, all students, but particularly disadvantaged students, have graduated at higher and higher rates and are performing in math and reading better than ever before. The national high school graduation rate is currently 81 percent, its highest level on record. Since 2003, the reading gap between black and white fourth graders has closed by 16 percentage points, and over the same period, Hispanic eighth graders have closed the gap in math by 24 percentage points.

“Mr. President, federal accountability is a critical part of ensuring we invest in all American students as if they were our own children, and I’d urge my colleagues to support Senator Murphy’s amendment, which I am proud to join in co-sponsoring.

“The amendment strengthens accountability in this bill by requiring states to identify low performing schools and tailor interventions to help them improve their performance. It also ensures that schools set high goals for and pay attention to all students, including students with disabilities, low-income students, English Language Learners, Latino and African-American students.

“Now, the second amendment I’d like to talk about takes on another piece of increasing expectations – of urging everyone one of our children to dream.

“That amendment is based on my bipartisan bill called the American Dream Accounts Act with Senator Rubio, and it would send the important message to low-income students that a college education can be within their grasp.

“For too long, college has been out of reach for the vast majority of poor Americans, but unlike in past decades, economic success today is defined by college access.

“In the new global economy, Americans with just a high school diploma earn literally a million dollars less over their lives compared to those who go to college. Yet, too many of our students who need it most are not given the tools, the resources, and the information to complete a college education. As the Administration has pointed out, just about one out of 10 children from low-income families will complete a college degree by the time they are 24. Just one out of 10.

“The American Dream Accounts are designed to address and break down many of the barriers to college access that our most at-risk students face in seeking a higher education.

“They encourage partnerships between schools, colleges, non-profits, and businesses to develop secure, Web-based individual student accounts that contain information about each student’s academic preparedness, their financial literacy, that connects them to high-impact mentoring, and is tied to an individual college savings account.

“Instead of having each of these different resources available separately through separate silos, an American Dream Account connects them, across existing, separated programs and across existing education efforts at the state and federal level. And by connecting across these different silos, it deploys a powerful new tool and resource for students, parents, teachers, and mentors.

“Many of the kids I worked with over many years at the “I Have a Dream Foundation” had grown up in schools, communities, and families where almost no one around them had the opportunity for a college education. These kids took that to mean that college just wasn’t for them, that it shouldn’t be a part of their plan for their future.

“As part of that organization, it was our job to change that perception. And I saw time and again how sending the message that college was a possibility from elementary school on had a powerful, compounding, positive impact on these students’ idea of who they could be and what they could achieve.

“It demonstrated that exciting and engaging not just young students but their parents, their teachers, and an array of mentors has cumulative, powerful, positive impact.

“The American Dream Accounts would expand on this idea, and use modern social networking technology to bring together existing programs and deliver ideas that will work for more and more of our kids.

“And the good news is that by utilizing existing Department of Education funds, this legislation comes at no additional cost to taxpayers. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment with Senator Rubio – its Amendment number 2127 – which would authorize a pilot program to make American Dream Accounts a reality.

“Mr. President, we have an opportunity right now to build on the bill Senators Murray and Alexander wrote to reform our public schools in a way that communicates to every child in every public school that they deserve a high-quality education. The kind of education that tells them not only that they should have dreams, but that those dreams are within their grasp.

“55 years, 55 years after U.S. Marshals escorted first-grader Ruby Bridges to school, the nature of and need for federal intervention in public education has surely changed.

“While schools are no longer closed to certain races by law, too many students are dropping out of school too early or just not receiving an education that prepares them for college and future success.

“So while educational inequality is no longer a story of deliberate, legalized racism in need of federal intervention, it is, unfortunately, still, a persistent, and tragic national reality that afflicts classrooms from coast to coast.

“I look forward to continuing this important debate and working with my colleagues to make sure this bill strikes the right balance between federal oversight and local flexibility.

“We must work together to make sure this bill moves us closer towards the goal that President Johnson reached for when he first signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law.”

Coons, Murphy, Booker, Warren introduce accountability amendment to Senate’s education bill

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), introduced an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act that would require states to identify and support schools that fail their most vulnerable students. In an effort to close the achievement gap and enable our most vulnerable students to succeed, the senators’ amendment would ensure that local schools with low graduation rates, low-performing subgroups, or well-below average achievement are identified, made eligible for funding, and receive additional support through accountability and improvement systems set up by the states.

Currently, significant gaps in achievement and attainment exist between students based on race, ethnicity, disability, and income. Overall, 37% of high school students are black or Hispanic, yet this population represents only 18% of the students who receive a passing score on Advanced Placement exams. Furthermore, 70% of the students who attend high schools with low graduation rates come from low-income families. In order to address these academic disparities and protect underserved populations of students, the amendment will hold states accountable for the performance of individual student subgroups while providing flexibility for states to prescribe their own interventions and supports.

“We need to ensure that all of our nation’s children get the great education they deserve,” Coons said. “For too long, a child’s chances in life have been determined by zip code, rather than their willingness to work hard and set their sights high. If we’re serious about giving every child the chance to succeed, we need states to hold every school accountable and raise their expectations for every student. The reform bill currently before the Senate lacks strong federal accountability guardrails and would leave too many of our most at-risk children behind. This important amendment would go a long way toward helping our nation ensure that all students have the tools to realize their dreams.”

“Education is a civil rights issue, and right now, some states and school systems aren’t doing enough to ensure that all kids have the opportunity to excel,” said Murphy. “Every single child – no matter their race or geography – deserves a first rate education, and my amendment is a logical step toward ensuring that all of our students get the top-notch education they are entitled to without being hindered by the stringent, inflexible requirements of No Child Left Behind.”

“Educating the next generation is something we have to get right, and I won’t stop working until every child receives the education they need to reach their full potential,” Murphy added.

“Our greatest national asset is the promise and potential of our young people,” Booker said. “Our amendment calls for the kind of accountability and support needed to ensure local schools close the achievement gap that is so pervasive in low-income communities and communities of color. That is the best way we can guarantee all young people are given a fair chance to reach their full potential. We must provide pathways for all of our children to succeed and improve schools that continue to fail our students.”

“When ESEA passed 50 years ago, it was a landmark civil rights achievement,” said Warren. “The federal government committed itself to improving educational opportunity for children who had been underserved, mistreated, or outright ignored by our public schools. Our amendment will ensure that this bill lives up to ESEA’s promise by ensuring states target resources to the students and schools that need them most.”

Specifically, the amendment would require state accountability systems to provide additional resources and support to local schools identified as any of the following:

· In the bottom five percent of public schools as according to the state accountability system

· A public high school where two-thirds or fewer students are graduating on time

· Any public school where economically disadvantaged, disabled, minority, or English Language Learner students are not meeting state-set goals for achievement.

The amendment is a significant departure from No Child Left Behind in that it leaves it to the states and local school districts to decide what interventions will improve outcomes for low-performing schools or groups of students, and includes no federal penalty if schools fail to achieve benchmarks they set. All the amendment requires is that states identify the schools and student populations that need extra help, and come up with improvement plans that make sense for their local community. The oversight and accountability will happen at the local, not federal, level.

The amendment is supported by various civil rights groups and officials, including: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Disability Rights Network, National Urban League, Southern Poverty Law Center, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Third Way, Education Trust, Teach for America, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Democrats for Education Reform, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Center for American Progress, Children’s Defense Fund, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, U.S. Department of Education, the White House, Connecticut Association of Schools, Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, Connecticut Business and Industry Association, Connecticut Council for Education Reform, Connecticut School Boards Association, and Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now.

Bipartisan, bicameral group highlights broad opposition to sweeping anti-patent legislation moving through Congress

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and David Vitter (R-La.) and U.S. Representatives John Conyers (D-Mich.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), and Scott Peters (D-Calif.) held a joint press conference today to highlight the broad opposition to sweeping anti-patent legislation moving through Congress.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 9, titled the Innovation Act, before the House concludes legislative business in July. The Senate may take up S. 1137, the Patent Act, this month or in the fall. H.R. 9 is strongly opposed by inventors, small businesses, venture capitalists, startup communities, and manufacturing, technology, and life sciences companies.

Senator Coons is the author of targeted patent legislation, the STRONG Patents Act, which Senator Vitter has co-sponsored.

“The fact of the matter is that these two bills would be destructive to our innovation economy, and we’re working hard to ensure they won’t be treated lightly in either the House or the Senate,” said Senator Chris Coons. “A strong patent system is one of the critical ways we distinguish ourselves from competing economies around the world, and we cannot afford to rush into passing a bill that would further weaken our innovation economy, which is exactly what the Innovation Act would do by making broad changes that fail to protect all patent holders. I will continue working hard with colleagues from both parties in both the House and the Senate to shine a light on the significant flaws in H.R. 9 and the PATENT Act in the Senate.”

“Passing the extensive patent reform being proposed in the House could hurt the very communities patents are meant to protect – innovators, small businesses, and job creators,” Senator Vitter said. “The past three years has seen drastic changes to the patent system. We shouldn’t further overhaul the entire patent system because of a few bad actors. Rather than a blanket overhaul that would cause more uncertainty, we need to strike the right balance and take a targeted approach that minimizes litigation abuse, protects end users, and empowers innovators at the heart of our economy.”

“Abusive patent litigation requires a targeted approach, H.R. 9 the so-called ‘Innovation Act’ is far from that. The overly broad legislation could potentially weaken every single patent in America. It favors big businesses over small inventors and start-ups by including harmful provisions like presumptive fee shifting, expanded joinder, heightened pleading standards, and discovery limitations, yet it fails to prevent fee diversion or address the use of deceptive demand letters – two of the most significant solutions to address abusive patent litigation” said Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich). “As I have stated before, H.R. 9 would have unintended consequences that will harm legitimate patent holders and stifle innovation in America.”

“As a small business owner who started a company that supports hundreds of good manufacturing jobs, I have been on both sides of patent fights – asserting the patent rights of the company and defending patent claims brought against it. So I understand the need for balance in our patent system,” said Rep. Foster. “H.R. 9 would throw the system out of balance, making it almost impossible for garage inventors to even attempt to protect their intellectual property against established players with deep pockets. The so-called Innovation Act has the potential to stop small companies like ours before they can even get started.”

“What is clear is that the so-called ‘Innovation Act’ is the wrong approach and will undermine the entire patent system,” said Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52). “Instead we should craft patent reform legislation that actually fixes the problem and allows for innovators to develop their ideas free from frivolous litigation, gives inventors a clear and reasonable route of recourse when they are wronged, and brings our patent system into the 21st century.”

Coons, Portman applaud passage of amendment to increase college access for low-income students

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) applauded passage of their amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization that will encourage greater college access for low-income students by allowing them to earn college credits in high school. By providing students the opportunity to simultaneously pursue a high school diploma while earning college credits tuition-free, early college high schools and dual and concurrent enrollment programs improve secondary and postsecondary outcomes for students.

Video of Portman and Coons speaking on the amendment can be viewed here.

“There is no greater way to ensure a young person’s future success than a college degree,” said Coons. “Unfortunately, far too many low-income students are unable to complete a college degree because of hurdles outside their control – from high costs to complex application processes. I’m thrilled the Senate has come together to pass this amendment that will improve access to programs that make college more affordable and accessible, like dual and concurrent enrollment and early college high schools. This is a step in the right direction towards helping more students achieve the education they need for a bright future.”

“Too many low-income students face obstacles when deciding whether to pursue a college education,” Portman stated. “I’m pleased the Senate passed our amendment because it will allow these students to get a head start on college courses in high school, therefore improving their chances of completing a college degree. This is an important part of helping students be prepared for college so that they can eventually go on to graduate and have successful careers.

Despite recent increases in the nation’s high school graduation rate, the number of graduating students who place into remedial coursework in college is at a record high and more than 3.5 million jobs remain unfilled because employers cannot find workers with the necessary skills. The educational demands of the workforce are growing, and by 2018, two-thirds of the nation’s jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. The federal government must help states and districts tackle these challenges by ensuring increased access to high quality accelerated coursework that gives high school students a leg up on postsecondary education.

Senator Coons’ statement on nuclear agreement with Iran

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after the announcement of a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran:

“The United States must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability. A nuclear-armed Iran would threaten our national security, the security of Israel, and the stability of the entire Middle East.

“I will review the details of this agreement promptly, and I will only support it if this deal prevents every Iranian pathway to develop a nuclear weapons capability. In conversations with senior Administration officials, I have been clear about the specifics of what I want to see from this nuclear agreement. The inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must have timely and effective access to military and sensitive facilities in Iran, and be able to fully assess Iran’s past illicit nuclear weapons efforts. The agreement must include strict limits on advanced centrifuge research and development to prevent a rapid upgrade of Iran’s future capacity to enrich uranium. Any sanctions relief must be based on Iran first meeting its obligations under this deal. Finally, the international community must maintain its ability to re-impose sanctions should Iran violate the agreement.

“As Congress plays its rightful role in fully reviewing the specifics of this agreement, I urge the Obama Administration to continue to reach out to Congress to discuss the details of this deal. Administration officials should participate fully in hearings and classified briefings to ensure members of Congress understand the parameters and consequences of this important agreement.”

Senator Coons opposes lifting UN arms embargo on Iran [VIDEO]

WASHINGTON – During an interview with CNN today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) opposed lifting a United Nations’ arms embargo on Iran as part of nuclear negotiations. Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsdPcuaP_EI&feature=youtu.be

Wolf Blitzer: “Are you OK lifting that UN arms embargo against Iran? That seems to be one of the last major hurdles.”

Senator Coons: “I am not.

“That’s not something I’ve been consulted on, and I frankly think this was an Iranian gambit at the last minute to try and divide the United States and its European allies from China and Russia which have a desire to sell weapons to Iran.

“I think Iran’s behavior in the region, its support for terrorism, and its export of weapons and material and fighting men to support Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria, to support the Houthis in Yemen, and to support Hezbollah in Lebanon should be of real concern to us.

“This was to be a negotiation about their illicit nuclear weapons program and to throw on the table at the last minute a lifting of the arms embargo strikes me as trying to broaden the scope of the negotiations.”

Carper, Coons introduce bipartisan legislation to spur emerging offshore wind industry

WASHINGTON – Today, Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) introduced the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act, which would provide critical financial incentives to encourage investment in offshore wind energy. This legislation would create an investment tax credit that is redeemable for the first 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind facilities placed into service, amounting to approximately 600 wind turbines.

In the past, Congress has offered a temporary credit for investments in wind power, the last extension of this credit expired December 31, 2014. This credit has been a lifeline to the nascent offshore wind industry, but it has only been extended by periods of one and two years at a time. This leaves the offshore wind industry without the predictability it needs to fully take advantage of the incentive. The Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act would give the industry the certainty needed to plan investments and maximize deployment of this clean power technology.

“Offshore wind energy will mean reliable, homegrown power, cleaner air, and good-paying American jobs – it’s a win-win-win,” Sen. Carper said. “Senator Collins and I have introduced this bill to help create the nurturing environment the industry needs to grow and thrive. Instead of yearly extensions of the investment tax credit that fall short, a credit for the first actors will encourage private sector development of offshore wind facilities across the country and help move the United States closer to energy independence.”

“Wind electricity generated off our shores has the potential to strengthen domestic energy production, lower energy costs, and create jobs,” Sen. Coons said. “I will continue to work with my colleagues to advance the development of this very important clean energy asset in Delaware and along our coasts. This bill will help get turbines moving and, in conjunction with other policies, could help get the first generation of offshore wind projects providing clean, sustainable electricity to our communities.”

The legislation defines offshore facilities as any facility located in the inland navigable waters of the United States, including the Great Lakes, or in the coastal waters of the United States, including the territorial seas of the United States, the exclusive economic zone of United States, and the outer Continental Shelf of the United States.

A detailed summary of the legislation can be found here: http://www.carper.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/84e14787-a510-4383-9519-2250f0ed5f86/incentivizing-offshore-wind-power-act2015-summary.pdf

The University of Delaware Special Initiative on Offshore Wind estimates that the Atlantic coast holds 330 gigawatts of offshore wind power – enough to meet all electricity needs of the East Coast. The expansion of America’s offshore wind industry would provide not only an opportunity to protect the environment and grow the nation’s economy, but it would also create scores of new jobs for people living in areas near the coast.

Joining Senators Carper and Coons on the Senate legislation as cosponsors are Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angus King (I-Maine), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

In recognition of National Lab Day, Senator Coons joins DOE to discuss importance of investing in labs, energy research

WASHINGTON – In recognition of National Lab Day, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, joined U.S. Department of Energy representatives yesterday to highlight the importance of investing in the national lab system to strengthen the innovation economy. As a member of the Senate Lab Caucus, Senator Coons has been a strong advocate for labs across the country, introducing the bipartisan Energy Title of the America COMPETES Act to expand basic energy research and the bipartisan America INNOVATES Act to modernize the national lab system.

Senator Coons’ full remarks below:

“Thank you so much for coming out to the Second Annual National Lab Day on the Hill. Thank you Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall. Thank you to the lab directors and the lab staff, and in particular, thank you to the Hill staff who have come today to get a sense of what it is that this remarkable national network of 17 laboratories is doing. I don’t have a national lab in my state, so I have to go pretty far to get to visit one, although everything is close to little ‘ole Delaware. I have so far been to three. I hope to go to my fourth this fall, and every lab I have been able to go to, so far, has inspired me and reminded me of what a unique and powerful national asset the national labs are. I am proud to be part of the Lab Caucus led by Senator Risch, who was here earlier, and Senator Durbin, and as an appropriator, to be actively involved in advocating for the resources that we need to not just sustain, but to grow and improve our network of national laboratories.

“As you heard, I think it is vital to our national security, to our economy, to our place in the world. So it’s my hope that members who have perhaps not had a chance to visit a lab because they might be distant from their home states and districts get a chance to get some of the sense of what is going on at the amazing national laboratories here today.

“I do think that we need to renew our focus on the potential of technology transfer, the engagement with private sector partners to further engage in the spin-off impacts, and the job creation and innovation capacities of the national labs. I’m a co-sponsor of two different bills I’ll briefly reference. One with Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, which is the energy title of the COMPETES Act — the reauthorization of the sort of architecture bill that helped authorizeARPA-E that you just heard about that helps to authorize the Office of Science, and increases federal authorizations by four percent per year over five years for investments in key science. It does so by de-authorizing a number of antiquated programs that were never fully implemented; streamlines, consolidates, and enhances five existing DOE programs; and has strong bipartisan support. Yes, gasp, I know that is unusual here in Congress, especially on anything involving science. But it has strong bipartisan support among business, industry, academia, and members.

“The other bill I’ll mention briefly — I am a cosponsor with Senator Rubio of America INNOVATES. These bills were both presented before the Senate Energy Committee in a hearing back in June. INNOVATES streamlines science and energy coordination at DOE, and directs some improvements toward best practices in terms of partnering more effectively with the private sector, and giving more flexibility for R&D activities and access to private sector to the cutting-edge facilities that are left.

“In my view, we face a really challenging period in terms of the appropriations and sequester. As a member of not just the Appropriations Committee, but the Energy and Water Subcommittee that is responsible for a lot of the national labs and the Department of Energy, we are wrestling with what to do with sequester and the future of our appropriations. In my view, it would be tragic if we were to simply continue along with sequester. It will make really growing the federal R&D enterprise quite difficult, so I am working with others on the committee to try and find ways that we can significantly increase the investment made available to both defense and non-defense sides of our national budget.

“We have marked up about three quarters of our bills both on the Senate and the House side, and as we all know, there is a critical deadline approaching in September. I hope that the members of Hill staff who are here today will take a moment and really reflect on what a unique national treasure our network of labs represents, and what a tragedy it would be for us to fail to continue to invest in an energetic and robust way in our national labs at a time when our competitors globally are investing even more than we are and growing their investment at a faster rate than we are. We cannot afford to fail to invest America’s national labs.”

Coons, Portman offer amendment to increase college access for low-income students

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) offered an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization that will encourage greater college access for low-income students by allowing them to earn college credits in high school. By providing students the opportunity to simultaneously pursue a high school diploma while earning college credits tuition-free, early college high schools and dual and concurrent enrollment programs improve secondary and postsecondary outcomes for students.

“There is no greater way to ensure a young person’s future success than a college degree,” said Coons. “Unfortunately, far too many low-income students are unable to complete a college degree because of hurdles outside their control – from high costs to complex application processes. By improving access to programs that make college more affordable and accessible, like dual and concurrent enrollment and early college high schools, more students will be able to achieve the education they need for a bright future.”

“Too many low-income students face obstacles when deciding whether to pursue a college education,” Portman stated. “Our amendment will allow these students to get a head start on college courses in high school, therefore improving their chances of completing a college degree. This is an important part of helping students be prepared for college so that they can eventually go on to graduate and have successful careers.”

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