Senator Coons and Christina School District host workshop to help students and families apply for federal student aid

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons and the Christina School District hosted a free workshop on Saturday to help students and their families fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The event, which was held at Sarah Pyle Academy in Wilmington, was part of the Senator’s ongoing effort to help make college more accessible to more Delaware students.

“Applying for federal student aid is an important first step in helping many students secure the money they need to pay for college,” Senator Coons said. “I believe that it’s important we do whatever we can to help each and every student who wants a college education to get one, so this workshop was designed to help students and their families overcome one of the highest barriers to a college education: paying for it. I hope that today’s workshop will help these promising young Delawareans be successful in getting a degree.”

Volunteers from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and TD Bank helped more than a dozen young Delawareans fill out their FAFSA forms. The volunteers were provided by $tand by Me, the Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership, a joint project of the State of Delaware and the United Way of Delaware.

Since tax information was needed to complete the FAFSA, there was also help for individuals who wanted to file their taxes for free (income had to be under $57,000 for 2011) using a web-based self-help tax program. Tax experts were on-site to answer Delawareans’ questions.

Senator Coons has also been working in Washington to make college more accessible, recently introducing bipartisan legislation to help increase the number of low-income students able to access and complete a college education. The American Dream Accounts Act of 2012, which is cosponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), would authorize the Department of Education to award three-year competitive grants to support innovative and comprehensive partnerships that support low-income students in preparation for a college education U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah (D-PA-2) introduced a companion to Senator Coons’ American Dream Accounts Act of 2012 in the House.

To learn more about the FAFSA and to submit a free application, Delawareans should go to: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

The American Dream Accounts Act of 2012 legislation can be downloaded here as a PDF: http://www.coons.senate.gov/media/2012-03-15-dream-accounts-legislation.pdf

A four-page backgrounder on the American Dream Accounts Act can be downloaded as a PDF here:http://www.coons.senate.gov/media/2012-03-15-dream-accounts-backgrounder.pdf

Senator Coons introduces bill to defend federal law enforcement officers acting to protect the innocent from violent crimes

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA-08) and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation on Thursday that would allow federal law enforcement officers who acted to protect the life of a potential victim and were charged with a crime in state court an opportunity to petition to have the agent’s case heard before a federal court.

“Day in and day out, highly trained and highly skilled federal law enforcement officers put themselves in harm’s way to protect Americans,” Senator Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-chairman of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, said. “When I was a county executive, I worked closely with our local law enforcement professionals and witnessed firsthand how our brave officers are trained to detect and prevent dangerous situations, whether they are on-the-clock or not. The Officer Safety Act of 2012 will ensure that ‘off duty’ federal officers who intercede to protect the lives of others will be held to the same standards as when they are performing their official duties. This bill will help law enforcement better protect our neighbors and families. I applaud the leadership of Senator Grassley in developing this important legislation and I will continue to advocate on behalf of our brave first responders.”

“Federal agents are extensively trained, at taxpayer expense, to protect and serve the American public and are never ‘off duty,’” Senator Grassley said. “To expect them to stand by while a victim suffers violent acts in their presence is contrary to the oath they take to protect others and is a waste of taxpayer funded training. This bill will help make our communities safer and help those who are sworn to guard and serve the public.”

“As a former sheriff, I know far too well that law enforcement officers are never ‘off duty,’” Representative Reichert said. “Every day, they earn our trust and often step in to save lives and protect the innocent while risking their own safety—regardless of whether they are on or off the job. We owe these brave men and women this assurance so they can continue to focus on serving the American people.”

“This legislation will allow federal agents to protect Americans, whether they are on or off duty,” Representative Pascrell said. “Our federal law enforcement agents are highly trained professionals who often go above and beyond what is required of them – and put themselves in harm’s way in the process. They deserve our gratitude. I am proud to help advance this bipartisan legislation on behalf of dedicated federal agents throughout the country who work to keep us safe.”

The Officer Safety Act of 2012 is modeled after the Good Samaritan Act, but is narrower, more restrictive, and provides no liability protection. The bill does not provide immunity to federal law enforcement officers, but simply allows for case removal to federal court where the officer will be required to defend his or her actions. In addition, it doesn’t infringe upon states’ rights, as they retain the same due process rights that have existed since the early 1800’s.

The Officer Safety Act would do the following:

Allows a federal law enforcement agent, who stops a violent crime while off duty and is indicted in a state court for those actions, to petition for the state criminal prosecution against him to be removed to a federal court.
Clarifies the “color of law” prong required in the removal process, as courts have invited Congress to clarify.

The bill is supported by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association, and the National Border Patrol Council. It is expected to be referred to the Judiciary committees in both the Senate and the House.

The text of the bill can be found here: http://bit.ly/HqfFNX.

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Senate calls on Sudan to allow immediate humanitarian access to border regions

WASHINGTON – In unanimously passing a bipartisan resolution Thursday night, the United States Senate has demanded that the government of Sudan allow immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states, where hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation. U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, introduced the resolution earlier this month with Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

“The Senate has spoken loudly, clearly and unanimously this week in calling on the government of Sudan to allow humanitarian workers into Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile,” Senator Coons said. “President Bashir has the ability to avert a further escalation of the humanitarian crisis, and has a responsibility to do so. I am pleased the Senate has joined the United Nations and others in the international community in calling on the Sudanese government to allow desperately needed humanitarian assistance to reach the more than 250,000 people in the region facing emergency food shortages. The people of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile have suffered for too long, and they can no longer wait.”

Conflict between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) has been ongoing since 2011 in two of Sudan’s border states. The Sudanese government has refused repeated requests by the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, the League of Arab States, non-governmental organizations, and others to allow humanitarian access to the conflict areas.

The resolution urges the government of Sudan to allow immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and all other conflict-affected areas of Sudan, and implores Sudan and the SPLM-N to cease hostilities and negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict. The resolution also urges the government of Sudan and the SPLM-N to allow civilians to leave the region voluntarily, implores Sudan and South Sudan to refrain from supporting proxy forces, and offers support for ongoing efforts by the Obama Administration and international partners to facilitate humanitarian access to affected areas and encourage a return to negotiations.

The text of the resolution, as introduced, can be found here:

http://www.coons.senate.gov/media/2012-03-14-sudan-resolution.pdf

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Senators Coons, Durbin, Boozman introduce bill to increase U.S. exports to Africa

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, joined U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.) in introducing legislation last week that will help create American jobs by dramatically increasing the number of U.S. exports to Africa. The bill also aims to improve America’s competiveness throughout the continent by forcing better coordination between U.S. government agencies and departments, establishing comprehensive strategic goals, and marshaling private investments to improve U.S.-Africa business activities.

“We need to shift the U.S. mentality toward Africa from aid to trade,” Senator Coons said. “In the last decade, Africa was home to six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies in the world. Building strong economic ties between the U.S. and Africa is in our shared interest, and this bill does just that by our government to implement a strategy that connects the burgeoning middle class in Africa with U.S. businesses and retailers. By helping build sustainable models of economic growth in Africa, we will also lessen dependency on foreign aid and provide American goods to the growing number of African consumers.”

“Increasingly I am hearing: ‘the U.S. has given up on Africa as a market,’” Senator Durbin said. “While the U.S. does important work investing in people through education and health care programs, China and other nations are helping their industries develop infrastructure and expanding markets for their goods. While we’re building institutions, China and others are building markets and we’re being left behind. This bill will put the restoration of American competiveness in Africa at the forefront of our business and development goals. It will give American businesses the tools they need to do business in Africa, create jobs at home, and help ensure America is seen as a leader in a rapidly changing part of the world.”

“Free and fair trade is an important component to our state’s economy,” Senator Boozman said. “Arkansas companies exported $5.2 billion in merchandise to foreign markets in 2010 and that total is bound to increase if we adopt a competitive strategy to tap into Africa’s emerging markets. Arkansas’s exporters are uniquely positioned to capitalize on increased trade with the African continent. This bill lets us establish a plan that will allow us to compete with nations like China that are already extremely active in the African markets. The bottom line is that increased trade in Africa will mean more jobs here at home.”

Africa’s expanding middle class provides a large and growing market for American products and the continent’s increasing urbanization calls for investments in rapidly expanding infrastructure projects. Sub-Saharan Africa alone is projected to be home to seven of the ten fastest growing economies over the next five years. But other nations have beaten us to the punch, aggressively investing in the continent to ensure their businesses have first access to markets.

Between 2008 and 2010, China provided more loans to the developing world than the World Bank — totaling more than $110 billion. In 2009, China surpassed the United States as the African continent’s largest trading partner and in the next decade it is poised to invest internationally as much as $2 trillion. Members of the European Union and countries like India, Turkey, Russia and Brazil are all expanding their economic presence in Africa, with many also offering concessional (below market) loans, further undercutting American competiveness. All this while the Department of Commerce is cutting staff based in Africa and the Export-Import Bank continues to operate without a permanent presence on the continent.

The U.S.’s continued failure to develop a coherent strategy to compete in Africa is hurting American business interests, American workers and America’s political influence in the region.

The tools available to the United States to competitively compete in Africa are scattered, difficult to access, and not effectively coordinated. The Durbin-Boozman-Coons bill will force a coordinated focus on increasing exports to Africa by making the following improvements:

Develop a comprehensive strategy to create American jobs by increasing exports of US goods and services to Africa by at least 200 percent in real dollar value over the next ten years.
Create a Special White House Africa Strategy coordinator to ensure government agencies are maximizing resources to help U.S. companies expand into African markets.
Coordinate the Export-Import Bank, State Department, Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee efforts to more effectively promote U.S. business exports to Africa.
Establish and or maintain Export Import Bank and Department of Commerce trade staff full time on the African continent to help U.S. businesses.
Formalize training received by U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service officers and Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development economic officer on key programs and procedures of the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Raise limits on Export Import Bank loans available to U.S. businesses to directly combat Chinese concessional loans. This proposal is revenue-neutral as the Export-Import Bank is a profitable, self-financing agency.
Further Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s efforts to foster U.S. business access to African markets. This provision is also revenue-neutral as OPIC is a profitable self-financing agency.

A similar bill has also been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Senator Durbin is the Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Boozman is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and a member of its Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation and Export Promotion.

All three Senators engaged in a Senate colloquy on Tuesday discussing the bill. You can read their remarks here: http://bit.ly/GXbzfa.

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Foreign Relations Committee approves Senator Coons’ resolution calling for immediate humanitarian access to Sudan’s border states

WASHINGTON – Within hours of the outbreak of new clashes between Sudanese and South Sudanese forces along the nations’ border, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a sense-of-the Senate resolution demanding the government of Sudan allow immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Blue Nile and South Kordofan states where hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation. U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, introduced the resolution earlier this month with Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

“As the devastating impact of ongoing conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile continues to unfold before our eyes, more than 250,000 people in this region will face emergency food shortages in the next three months unless aid is allowed to reach them,” Senator Coons said. “I am disappointed that renewed border clashes led President Bashir to cancel next week’s summit in Juba, and encourage both sides to immediately return to negotiations. This is the best way to avoid further deterioration of a humanitarian crisis in the border regions, fulfill the aspirations of South Sudan as an independent nation, and chart a new path forward for Sudan.

“It is critical that Congress and the international community speak with one voice imploring Khartoum to allow access for desperately-needed humanitarian assistance, and I applaud the Committee for passing this resolution. I hope the measure will see swift action on the floor and am glad it has strong bipartisan support.”

The resolution urges the government of Sudan to allow “immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to South Kordofan, Blue Nile and all other conflict-affected areas of Sudan,” and implores Sudan and the SPLM-N to cease hostilities and negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict. The resolution also urges the government of Sudan and the SPLM-N to allow civilians to leave the region voluntarily, and offers support for ongoing efforts by the Obama Administration and international partners to facilitate humanitarian access to affected areas and encourage a return to negotiations.

A PDF of the resolution can be found here:

http://www.coons.senate.gov/media/2012-03-14-sudan-resolution.pdf

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Statement from Senator Coons on elections in Senegal

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, today congratulated Senegal’s President-elect Macky Sall on his victory in the Senegalese presidential election, and recognized incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade for publicly conceding defeat.

“I congratulate President-elect Sall and applaud the Senegalese people for conducting free, fair, and transparent elections. President Wade’s swift and peaceful concession is also a victory for Senegal and its people, and a critical milestone for its democratic system. I join the African Union, the European Union, and other international partners in welcoming these elections as an accomplishment for democracy in Africa, and an important example for other countries on the continent. I look forward to working with President-elect Sall and maintaining the close partnership between our two nations.”

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Senators Carper and Coons offer support for key federal program for Delaware’s manufacturing industry

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.), sent a letter Friday to the chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies in support of continued funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program. The MEP is a nationwide network of resources that enables manufacturers to compete globally, and provides access to information, training, and technologies. Funding for the MEP supports local programs like the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership (DEMEP), which has proven to be an invaluable tool for helping companies weather tough economic times.

“Adequate funding for the MEP in Fiscal Year 2013 will allow the existing MEP Center network to continue to create jobs and respond to future challenges and opportunities in the manufacturing sector,” the senators wrote. “Demand for MEP services is greater than ever, but state governments are facing budget shortfalls and cutting back the amount they provide to existing MEP centers, which are in need of these scarce funds to provide critical resources, serve new and existing clients, and create job growth.”

Senators Carper and Coons were joined by 32 of their colleagues on the letter, including Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y), Susan Collins (R-Maine), David Vitter (R-La.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Scott Brown (R-Mass), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ben Cardin(D-Md.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

The text of the letter follows:

March 22, 2012

The Honorable Barbara A. Mikulski, Chairman

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, Ranking Member

Committee on Appropriations

Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Mikulski and Ranking Member Hutchison:

Thank you for your support of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program in the past. While we are not requesting a particular figure for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, we are writing to express our strong support for the program, particularly its ability to help create jobs in these difficult economic times, and we request that you provide the MEP with adequate funding for FY 2013.

The MEP is the only public-private program dedicated to providing technical support and services to small and medium-sized manufacturers. The MEP is a nationwide network of proven resources that enables manufacturers to compete globally, supports greater supply chain integration, and provides access to information, training, and technologies that improve efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

Adequate funding for the MEP in Fiscal Year 2013 will allow the existing MEP Center network to continue to create jobs and respond to future challenges and opportunities in the manufacturing sector. Demand for MEP services is greater than ever, but state governments are facing budget shortfalls and cutting back the amount they provide to existing MEP centers, which are in need of these scarce funds to provide critical resources, serve new and existing clients, and create job growth.

The MEP program’s well-documented impact is substantial. In Fiscal Year 2010 alone, MEP projects with small and medium-sized manufacturers created or retained over 60,000 jobs, generated more than $8.4 billion in sales, and provided cost savings of more than $1.3 billion.

At a time when economic recovery is our national priority, the MEP continues to be a wise investment. We urge you to provide adequate funding to the MEP center network for Fiscal Year 2013, and thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

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Students from Cab Calloway School of the Arts perform on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — More than 40 sixth-grade students from the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington performed in the historic rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building in the U.S. Capitol on Friday. The school organizes a spring trip to the nation’s capital for students each year and, this year, U.S. Senator Chris Coons helped the school obtain permission to perform in the rotunda. Staffers from Senator Coons’ office, Senator Tom Carper’s office, as well as from other Senate offices, were on hand to enjoy the performance.

“It’s an honor to welcome such a talented group of young Delaware singers, whose great talent was on display today in the nation’s capital,” Senator Coons said. “Investing in our children’s education and providing them outlets for their creativity help ensure that we foster the next generation of big thinkers — Delawareans who will go on to inspire, lead, and challenge the world they’ve inherited.”

The group was led by vocal music teacher Martin Lassman and included 44 singers, as well as a number of middle school journalism students and students’ parents.

“It was so much fun having the Cab Calloway students perform here, just down the hall from our office,” said Senator Coons’ communications director, Ian Koski, who watched the performance Friday. “They’re so talented. What was fun, too, was watching staffers from other offices step out into the hallway and follow the music to the Rotunda so they could see the students perform. It was wonderful.”

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Statement from Senator Coons on African Union deployment of forces to help in hunt for Joseph Kony, LRA

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs and lead sponsor of a bipartisan resolution introduced this week condemning the crimes against humanity committed by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army in central Africa, released the following statement on news that the African Union would deploy 5,000 soldiers to aid in the effort to “neutralize” Kony and the LRA:

“I welcome and strongly support the decision by the African Union to deploy 5,000 soldiers to join the multinational effort to capture Joseph Kony and stop the Lord’s Resistance Army. I congratulate the African Union for demonstrating leadership on this issue, and believe that African forces should continue to lead the multilateral effort to find Joseph Kony. I hope that this deployment, which augments the ongoing efforts of regional militaries, will expedite success in the difficult hunt for Kony and the LRA’s top commanders.

“I’m struck that the head of the United Nations’ office in central Africa affirmed that the unprecedented international attention on Kony and the LRA these last few weeks contributed to the African Union’s decision. It demonstrates the impact that the engagement of tens of millions of people in the U.S. and around the world can have, and proves that their voices are being heard by decision-makers around the world.”

Earlier this week, Senator Coons and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) led a resolution (S. Res. 402) with 35 other senators condemning Kony and the LRA, and offering support for U.S. and international efforts to remove Kony from the battlefield. More on that resolution can be found here: http://bit.ly/GLfD8f

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Statement from Senator Coons on situation in Mali

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, released the following statement Thursday on the situation in Mali.

“I strongly condemn the military’s seizure of power in Mali and urge the immediate restoration of the country’s democratically elected civilian government. Mali has been a model of democracy in West Africa over the past two decades, and I urge the Malian armed forces to adhere to their nation’s democratic tradition. The members of the military who initiated this violence should immediately stand down and restore the constitutional rule of President Amadou Toumani Touré. I join the White House, the State Department, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and others in the international community in calling for a return to constitutional order in Mali.”

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