Senator Coons on Electoral Count Act reform proposal

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the group of bipartisan senators who worked to negotiate improvements to the Electoral Count Act and other laws to help guarantee a peaceful transition of power, issued the following statement today after the group released its draft proposal:

“I am proud to join a bipartisan group of senators in introducing legislation to safeguard American democracy, and I urge all of my colleagues to support these critical reforms. As a result of Donald Trump’s and his allies’ coordinated effort to undermine the results of the 2020 election, we came perilously close to seeing our democracy destroyed. We cannot forget that a group of bad actors could so easily undermine the peaceful transition of power that Americans have taken for granted for centuries. These bipartisan fixes to the Electoral Count Act will help close the loopholes that former President Trump and his associates attempted to exploit, including by clarifying that voters, and not the Vice President, select the next President of the United States of America and making it harder to launch frivolous and unfounded objections in Congress to states’ lawful electoral votes. Our reform of the Presidential Transition Act will also protect the critical administrative transition process from becoming a political battleground that can endanger our national security.

“The solutions we introduce today will accomplish necessary fixes to protect the fair and honest results of our elections, but the work to ensure that American democracy will last beyond the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren still continues. No one should mistake these critical reforms for the whole of what is needed: a lasting and comprehensive restoration of the Voting Rights Act, protection of the right to vote against attempts at suppression and subversion, and large-scale investment in our election infrastructure. Today’s legislation is a critical first step towards repairing damage to our democratic process and public confidence in our free and fair elections, and I am optimistic it will move forward in the days to come.”

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Senators Carper and Coons on confirmation of Greg Williams for District Court for Delaware

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) released the following statement today after Greg Williams was confirmed to serve as a District Court Judge for Delaware. 

“Greg’s decades of experience as a litigator, his tenure as president of the Delaware State Bar Association, and familiarity with complex intellectual property and corporate law issues will serve him well as a District Court Judge,” said the senators. “Greg will also become the only judge of color actively serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, an important step towards making sure that the federal judiciary reflects the great diversity of Delaware and our nation. We applaud President Biden for nominating such a qualified, respected attorney to this important post and thank our Senate colleagues for his bipartisan confirmation.”

Williams will be the only judge of color serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, and the second African-American judge to ever serve on that court. He was nominated for the judicial vacancy created when Judge Leonard Stark was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is a partner in the Wilmington office of Fox Rothschild LLP. He joined the firm in 1995 as an associate and was elevated to partner in 2003. Williams has served as a special master in complex civil cases for the District of Delaware since 2020. From 1986 to 1992, Williams served in the U.S. Army Reserve. He received his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1995 and both his B.A. and B.S. from Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 1990.

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Senator Coons on Electoral Count Act reform proposal

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the group of bipartisan senators who worked to negotiate improvements to the Electoral Count Act and other laws to help guarantee a peaceful transition of power, issued the following statement today after the group released its draft proposal:

“I am proud to join a bipartisan group of senators in introducing legislation to safeguard American democracy, and I urge all of my colleagues to support these critical reforms. As a result of Donald Trump’s and his allies’ coordinated effort to undermine the results of the 2020 election, we came perilously close to seeing our democracy destroyed. We cannot forget that a group of bad actors could so easily undermine the peaceful transition of power that Americans have taken for granted for centuries. These bipartisan fixes to the Electoral Count Act will help close the loopholes that former President Trump and his associates attempted to exploit, including by clarifying that voters, and not the Vice President, select the next President of the United States of America and making it harder to launch frivolous and unfounded objections in Congress to states’ lawful electoral votes. Our reform of the Presidential Transition Act will also protect the critical administrative transition process from becoming a political battleground that can endanger our national security.”

“The solutions we introduce today will accomplish necessary fixes to protect the fair and honest results of our elections, but the work to ensure that American democracy will last beyond the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren still continues. No one should mistake these critical reforms for the whole of what is needed: a lasting and comprehensive restoration of the Voting Rights Act, protection of the right to vote against attempts at suppression and subversion, and large-scale investment in our election infrastructure. Today’s legislation is a critical first step towards repairing damage to our democratic process and public confidence in our free and fair elections, and I am optimistic it will move forward in the days to come.”

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[VIDEO] From Senate floor, Senator Coons calls on colleagues to swiftly confirm Greg Williams to District Court seat in Delaware

 WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor today as he called on his colleagues to confirm Greg Williams to be the next judge for the U.S. District Court for Delaware. Citing the influx of high-profile cases before Delaware’s courts, he urged the Senate to confirm Williams, who has served as a special master in complex civil cases for the District of Delaware since 2020.

“[Greg] would be an excellent next member of the important federal bench in Delaware,” Senator Coons said. “He would represent our nation well and contribute to our federal judiciary, which is globally the gold standard for its capability, its independence, and its integrity.”

Full audio and video available here. A full transcript is provided below.

Sen. Coons: Thank you, Mr. President. I’d like to thank my colleague and senior senator, my friend, Senator Tom Carper, who allows me to be his wingman here on the floor of the Senate and in our home state of Delaware. 

I just wanted to speak briefly to the outstanding qualifications of the nominee that will be before us in a moment, Greg Williams of Delaware. As a member of the Delaware bar, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, I’ve joined my senior senator, friend, and colleague in advancing this nomination, both suggesting to the White House strongly that he would be an excellent next member of the important federal bench in Delaware, and that he would represent our nation well and contribute to our federal judiciary, which is globally the gold standard for its capability, its independence, and its integrity. 

Greg has practiced for decades in Delaware. He is one of the best-respected, leading complex commercial litigators and an experienced intellectual property litigator. The District of Delaware is one of the busiest federal courts in our entire country because of our unique place in American corporate law, because of the quality and competence of our bench. We handle an enormous number of patent cases, a significant number of corporate cases. I don’t know if my colleagues mentioned one of the “top of the charts” cases about to come to Delaware, but when you make a promise to purchase a company like – I don’t know – hypothetically, Twitter, and then the deal comes apart, that ends up in a Delaware court called our Chancery Court. Our Federal District Court and our Federal Bankruptcy Courts handle significant litigation. 

Greg is someone who also – as a family man, as a person of faith, as an outstanding leader in our community, as the past president of the bar association, as the past chairman of the judicial nominating commission on behalf of our governor – he has served our community. He brings his heart, his values, his intellect and his skill to his service each and every day. I’m honored to join my senior senator in speaking on his behalf on the floor, and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure a swift confirmation vote today. Thank you, and Mr. President with that, I yield and suggest the absence of a quorum. 

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Senators Carper, Coons announce new funding for Challenge Program Furniture’s shop expansion to support youth employment

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) today joined Executive Director of the Challenge Program Andrew McKnight and other Delaware community and business leaders to announce that the Senators have secured $500,000 in new funding to support the Challenge Program Furniture and the completion of its new furniture shop in Wilmington. Sens. Carper and Coons spearheaded the project in the FY2022 Appropriations bill so that the Challenge Program can provide increased job opportunities for underserved student workers. 

“For over two decades, the Challenge Program has provided at-risk youth in Delaware with invaluable skills to pursue educational and career opportunities, while bolstering the local workforce” said Carper. “I was proud to work with Senator Coons and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester to secure an $500,000 investment for this vital program that will empower our community, strengthen our workforce, and bring a new life to a part of Wilmington that has long been abandoned.”

“I’m proud to support the work of Andrew McKnight and his team to provide opportunities to at-risk youth in Wilmington while also bolstering our state’s workforce with hands-on job training and skill development,” said Senator Coons. “I’ve seen firsthand the tremendous good that the Challenge Program does, and I’m excited to see how this additional funding will help support their efforts.”  

“As the former Secretary of Labor in Delaware, I know the critical importance of getting our young people involved and invested in workforce training opportunities,” said Rep. Blunt Rochester. “I can think of few better programs in our state of Delaware than the Challenge Program. I’ve had the chance to visit with Andrew and his remarkable staff as they craft, not only beautiful furniture – but incredibly bright futures for young Delawareans. I was proud to champion last year’s appropriations bill with my colleagues Senators Carper & Coons to secure this critical funding which will help continue to expand opportunity for Delaware’s young people.”

“We’re all proud of this,” said Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki. “The way we get judged is how we treat the folks in the neighborhood. Show them the kind of extraordinary possibilities that are available to them.”

“I’d like to thank Senators Carper and Coons for coming down today as we celebrate these investments in this new facility,” said Andrew McKnight. “Workforce development requires real investment, and I’m proud to say our Department of Labor, members of Congress, and private sector understand this. This is of, by, and for our trainees, and I’m proud to recognize them today.”

“The trainees that participate in the program, many of whom face multiple barriers, have made the affirmative decision to choose success. Trainees spend their time learning new skills and building buildings in some of our communities that suffer from the highest rates of violence. That is why I believe the Challenge program is more than the Construction Skills Program,” said DE Secretary of Labor Karryl Hubbard. “A sincere thank you to Senator Coons and Senator Carper and our other partners here today, and Andrew McKnight and your team for your commitment to developing our workforce and improving many lives.”

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Senators Coons, Blunt celebrate House passage of legislation to protect victims of child abuse in NDAA

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), co-chairs of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, released the following statements after the House of Representatives passed their bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The law, first enacted in 1990, provides the only dedicated source of funding for Children’s Advocacy Centers, which bring together teams of law enforcement, medical personnel, and service providers to ensure the best outcome for child victims and help hold perpetrators responsible for their crimes.

“I’m glad to see the House of Representatives pass the Victims of Child Abuse Act as part of this year’s NDAA. This legislation will help protect children who have been abused, bring their abusers to justice, and provide resources so that Children’s Advocacy Centers can provide a safe and supportive place for survivors of child abuse,” said Senator Coons. “It also supports law enforcement so they can conduct investigations faster, more efficiently, and at lower cost. Now, the Senate must find a way to pass this critical legislation as well so we can provide needed support to victims of abuse across Delaware and our country.”

“Last year, Children’s Advocacy Centers served nearly 10,000 of Missouri’s most vulnerable children, helping to keep kids safe and bring perpetrators to justice,” said Senator Blunt. “I’m pleased to see the reauthorization of the Victims of Child Abuse Act included in the House-passed defense authorization bill. This provision will help ensure Children’s Advocacy Centers and law enforcement continue to have the tools they need to coordinate the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases.”

Senators Coons and Blunt have previously succeeded in reauthorizing VOCAA twice, first in 2014 and again in 2018. VOCAA programs are now set to expire next year without reauthorization, so it must again be extended by Congress.

VOCAA’s key component is to funds Children’s Advocacy Centers, which provide a skilled team of trained professionals to conduct forensic interviews of children who have been victims of abuse. Such interviews are intended to be used as evidence in court while also preventing children from being required to repeat their accounts multiple times. Children’s Advocacy Centers allow for faster criminal charging decisions in sexual abuse cases, increased felony prosecutions of child sexual abuse, and lower average case costs.

In addition to Senators Coons and Blunt, cosponsors of the Senate bill introduced in March include Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),  Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.). 

The bill has garnered widespread support from law enforcement groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police, National District Attorneys Association, National Association of Police Organizations, Major County Sheriffs of America, Major Cities Chiefs Association, and Sergeants Benevolent Association NYPD.

The bill is also endorsed by child advocacy groups, including the National Children’s Alliance, National Children’s Advocacy Center, Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, and Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center.

The bill text is available here. 

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Sen. Coons Cosponsors Legislation to Protect the Right of Women to Cross State Lines to Seek Abortion Care

WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined a group of senators in introducing the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022. This legislation would make it clear that it is illegal for anti-choice states to limit travel for abortion services and would empower the Attorney General and impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict a woman’s right to cross state lines to receive legal reproductive care. The legislation was led by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Senator Kirsten Gilibrand (D-N.Y.). 

“Conservative activists on the Supreme Court destroyed the fifty-year precedent of a constitutional right to control over one’s own reproductive health. Now, radical far-right legislators are attacking the constitutional right to interstate travel so that they can stop women from accessing needed reproductive health care,” said Senator Coons. “This legislation would make sure that in the wake of the Dobbs decision, the health and autonomy of women in this country who are seeking abortion services are protected.”

“As women’s reproductive rights are attacked across the country, we must do everything we can to protect women who will be forced to cross state lines to receive abortion services,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This legislation would make it clear that anti-choice states can’t prosecute women who travel to another state for reproductive care, and it would also protect reproductive health care providers and others who help women travel for the care they need and deserve.” 

“After a radical Supreme Court shredded a longstanding constitutional right for women, we have to fight back to make sure women in anti-choice states do not also lose their ability to travel for abortion care. Emboldened legislatures in red states are readying even more extreme restrictions, so Congress needs to act now to protect the freedom to cross state lines – a tenet of American life since the country’s founding,” said Senator Whitehouse. “It’s also extremely important that we step in to shield medical professionals in Rhode Island from punishment for providing care to women who travel here.”

“Republicans have ripped away every woman’s right to decide whether or not to keep a pregnancy, and now some Republican lawmakers want to hold women captive in their own states by punishing them for exercising their constitutional right to travel within our country to get the care they need,” said Senator Murray. “Restricting women’s right to travel across state lines is truly radical—and un-American. Our bill would protect Americans’ constitutional right to travel across state lines to get a lawful abortion—and protect the providers who care for them. Even as Republicans go to the ends of the Earth to strip away our constitutional rights, Democrats are fighting back to protect them.”

“When the Supreme Court overturned Roe, it stripped half the population of their constitutional rights to privacy and bodily autonomy,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act would reiterate women’s constitutional right to travel freely across state lines and empower the attorney general and individuals to take action against those who seek to block women from traveling to access reproductive care. It is critically important that we take action to fight against these attacks on our freedom and liberty.”

Legislation introduced in Missouri and draft legislation proposed by anti-choice extremists make clear that interstate travel for reproductive health care is under attack. The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022 underscores the constitutional protections for interstate travel and provides redress for women whose rights are violated. The legislation would also protect health care providers in pro-choice states like Delaware from prosecution and lawsuits for serving individuals traveling from other states.

In addition to Senators Coons, Cortez Masto, Whitehouse, Murray and Gillibrand, the legislation is cosponsored by Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

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Coons, Young introduce bill to counter economic coercion of allies

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) today introduced the Countering Economic Coercion Act of 2022 to provide meaningful support to partners and allies facing economic pressure and retaliation from foreign adversaries. The bill equips the President with new tools to reduce the impact of economic coercion by strengthening trade and commerce ties with partners on an expedited basis. As some nations around the world continue to deploy punitive and discriminatory economic measures against American partners, particularly those with smaller economies, this legislation will ensure that our shared economic and security interests are safeguarded from foreign threats.  

“Providing targeted support to allies and partners struggling with the impacts of economic coercion will not only help bolster their own resilience against these actions, but it will also help safeguard American economic and security interests,” said Senator Coons. “Countries like China and Russia have increasingly utilized these tactics to bully smaller countries and undermine the democratic, rules-based international system. I’m proud to work with Senator Young to provide new tools to help our allies can stand up to economic coercion.” 

“Some foreign adversaries think they can drive a wedge between Western allies by using economic intimidation or by harming economies through opaque, informal actions. These threats and grabs for power cannot go unchecked,” said Senator Young. “Our bipartisan bill will provide the flexibility to help our foreign partners on an expedited basis when they are targeted for standing up to authoritarian regimes. By supporting our partners under threat, we protect America’s own national security interests.” 

The Countering Economic Coercion Act of 2022 would provide the President with specific tools to offer rapid and effective economic support to foreign partners targeted by economic coercion, including authorities to:

• Decrease duties or modify quotas on imports from the foreign partner to make up for lost exports to other nations due to coercive actions;
• Expedite export licensing decisions and regulatory processes to facilitate trade; 
• Seek appropriations to support foreign aid, export financing, and sovereign loan guarantees; and
• Waive certain policy requirements to facilitate export financing.

The bill directs the President to seek to coordinate the U.S. response with other allies in order to provide comprehensive economic relief and demonstrate broad resolve against economic coercion.  

In determining whether economic coercion is taking place, and deciding whether and how to support the targeted country, the President would be required to consult with Congress to ensure proper congressional oversight of any actions. Any determination of economic coercion — and any authorities exercised under a determination — would sunset after two years, or upon a joint resolution of Congress.

Text of the bill is available here.

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Sen. Coons statement on confirmation of Michael Barr to Fed Board

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement after Michael Barr, Dean of the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, was confirmed by the Senate to serve as a Member of the Board of Governors as well as the Vice Chair of Supervision for the Federal Reserve Board:

“I congratulate my friend Michael Barr on his confirmation to the Federal Reserve Board today. Michael will be a strong Vice Chairman for Supervision and brings to this role a long commitment to public service and a deep understanding of financial regulation and public policy. In our decades of friendship, I have come to know his collaborative spirit, which will serve him well as the Federal Reserve Board helps our economy recover from COVID-19 and inflation. I was proud to support his confirmation and glad to see him deservedly receive broad bipartisan support.”

Sen. Coons calls on Senate colleagues to quickly ratify Sweden’s and Finland’s entry into NATO: “this is a pivotal moment in the future of the United States and our role in the world, the future of NATO and Western freedom”

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), member of the U.S. Senate NATO Observer Group and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined his colleagues who traveled with him on a recent congressional delegation to Sweden, Finland and the NATO Summit in Madrid on the Senate floor. He discussed his travel, the current unity of NATO, and the urgent need to swiftly ratify the two countries’ accession to the alliance. 

You can see his full remarks below. 

WATCH HERE

Sen. Coons: I rise today to join the leaders of the CODEL that I just had the honor and the blessing of joining—Senator Shaheen and Tillis—and a number of the other members of that CODEL—Senators Ernst and Blunt—and was grateful for the chance to also travel with Senators Durbin, and Fischer. And to just join in my colleagues’ statement today: I think this was a tremendous opportunity for us in Sweden, and in Finland, to meet with nations that are advanced economies, that are closely aligned with our values, that have sophisticated militaries, and that now, for the very first time, are seeking admission to NATO.

NATO is the most successful security alliance in world history, and it’s rooted in shared values and shared concerns and interests, and one of the most vulnerable pieces of NATO if you’d looked at the map just a few months ago were three little Baltic states—Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia—that for decades were under the heel of the Soviet Union, relatively newly independent in recent decades, admitted to NATO, but very difficult to defend. And I’ll tell you one of the reasons I joined with my colleagues in saying here, as we did in Madrid, that we should swiftly ratify the joining to NATO of both Sweden and Finland is that they will provide security. They will be security contributors to this alliance.

The odds that a young man or a woman from Iowa or North Carolina, from Missouri, New Hampshire, or Delaware, will have to go defend Estonia, will have to go risk or give their life defending Latvia or Lithuania, will go down dramatically. If we have on that border at the very northern end of the NATO Alliance, a new 830-mile border between Finland and Russia, that the Russians know they will have to defend and pay attention to given the unique history of the ’39-‘40 War, where countries aligned with our values and priorities are going to continue to contribute to this important alliance.

It was valuable that in our meetings with heads of state from Europe, like Chancellor Scholz, and from the Indo-Pacific like Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, in conversations with foreign secretaries like Liz Truss of the United Kingdom, or meetings with the foreign ministers of Italy, and of Germany, and of France, and of Spain, that this delegation was able to speak with one voice and to articulate why we joined the Biden administration in supporting NATO accession for these two critical new partners.

The last point I want to make is that I am hopeful, I am optimistic that we will continue to provide unified, bipartisan, robust support for Ukraine’s brave and fierce defense of its nation and its sovereignty in the face of Russia’s war crimes, Russia’s continued aggression. We are calling on all of our NATO allies to step up and to contribute and to participate, and they are.

This has brought greater unity, greater purpose, greater focus to the NATO alliance than anything in decades — and I’ll remind you, the one time that the Article 5 sacred obligation to come to each other’s defense has been triggered before was in Afghanistan, and thousands and thousands of NATO soldiers served alongside ours in Afghanistan when it was the United States that was attacked on 9/11. This NATO alliance is stronger than it’s ever been and needs to be the strongest it’s ever been, because as my colleagues have both laid out clearly and concisely, this is a pivotal moment in the future of the United States and our role in the world, the future of NATO and Western freedom. We must make sure that we succeed and I am so grateful for the bipartisan commitment that was at the core of this delegation.

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