Senator Coons, business leaders join efforts to boost hiring of veterans

Senator Coons was joined by JPMorgan Chase’s Director for Military and Veterans Affairs, Maureen Casey, at a roundtable discussion in the Capitol on Wednesday focused on initiatives to expand career opportunities for veterans. The meeting featured leaders from businesses and organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to employing veterans and providing them with the resources and support necessary for success.

Casey, who is based in Delaware, briefed senators on the company’s successful practice of hiring veterans as part of the 100,000 Jobs Mission, a coalition of companies committed to providing job opportunities for veterans. Other participants shared their perspectives on how private organizations can work with the Senate to strengthen programs that help veterans successfully transition to civilian employment. 

“America’s highly trained veterans bring valuable skills and experience to the civilian workforce,” Chris said. “Yet too many veterans come home to find their opportunities limited rather than enhanced by their time spent serving our nation. No veteran should return from defending our country abroad only to face unemployment or underemployment at home.”

At 10 percent, the national unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans is significantly higher than the overall national rate of 7.3 percent. In October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 750,000 veterans were without jobs of approximately 11 million of working age.

Casey stressed the importance of continued partnership between the public and private sectors to position veterans for success in their post-military careers. “Veterans have the knowledge, skills and experience employers need, so hiring them isn’t just the right thing to do for veterans, it’s also the right thing to do for our business,” Casey said.

JPMorgan Chase has hired more than 6,000 veterans since 2011 as part of The 100,000 Jobs Mission. The mission, initially a coalition of 11 companies committed to hiring 100,000 veterans by 2020, and has since grown to 126 members and doubled its goal to hiring 200,000 veterans.

“Today’s discussion highlighted successful programs that have helped businesses, like JPMorgan Chase in Delaware, recruit more of our nation’s talented veterans,” Senator Coons said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to build and expand upon these important efforts so we can get more of our veterans back to work.”

Senator Coons marks birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji

On Sunday, Senator Coons marked the birthday of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in 1469 in what is now Lahore, Pakistan.  Guru Nanak preached equality among all people, and espoused the principles of hard work and community service.  His birthday is considered one of the holiest days in the Sikh faith.

“As Sikhs all across our country celebrate the life Guru Nanak Dev Ji, I join them in honoring his vision of a society built on equality, compassion, and justice,” Senator Coons said.  “I send my best wishes to Sikhs in America and all around the world on this holy day.”

According to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, with more than 700,000 Sikhs living in the United States.   

Senator Coons discusses college decisions, assists with applications at Mt. Pleasant High School

As part of College Application Month, Senator Coons met with thirty students from Mount Pleasant High School on Friday to discuss the importance of a college degree and how to go about choosing the right college.

College Application Month is a nationwide effort to assist high school seniors in the college application process and increase college attendance. Special focus is placed on first-generation college students or those who otherwise may not have considered applying to college. The program is coordinated locally by the Delaware Department of Education and the Institute for Public Administration at the University of Delaware.

“We just came through a very tough recession,” said Chris. “Unemployment amongst those with a college education was dramatically lower. Lifetime earnings are also dramatically higher if you have a college education – individuals with a bachelor’s degree earn on average more than $1 million more throughout their careers than those with only a high school degree.”

Attentive students fired off questions to Senator Coons about his career path, education in Delaware, and his advice for making the most of their college experiences.

Chris particularly stressed the importance of students completing their studies once they get to campus. “The worst case scenario is to go off to college having not really thought it through, not having a solid foundation, not having clarity about how you’re going to finish. You start, do two or three years, rack up a lot of debt and drop out. Do not do this. That’s buying a house you never get to live in.”

Chris concluded his visit with a college application workshop for a small group of students. During the session, Chris counseled the students on a range of considerations – from Gilbert Peralta, a promising baseball player who is looking to continue his baseball career in college, to Tah-Jay McLaughlin and Ernie Lowden, who are looking for colleges that not only offer the courses of study they are interested in, but also fit them personally.

Senator Coons is committed to helping increase the number of low-income and at-risk students able to access and complete a college education. He is the lead sponsor of the bipartisan American Dream Accounts Act, a bill to authorize the Department of Education to award three-year competitive grants for innovative and comprehensive partnerships that help low-income students prepare for a college education.

Report touts economic value of National Wildlife Refuge System

(Above) Senator Coons joins National Wildlife Refuge System Chief Jim Kurth at a Congressional briefing on the findings of a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study.

Every year, millions of bird watchers, hikers, hunters, fishermen, and outdoor enthusiasts visit the National Wildlife Refuge System, our nation’s extensive network of preserved lands and waters dedicated to conserving wildlife.  President Theodore Roosevelt created the first wildlife refuge in Florida in 1903 and since then, the system has grown to a network of over 560 refuges encompassing more than 150 million acres.  In Delaware alone, every year more than 200,000 people visit Prime Hook and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuges, which represent some of the best examples of pristine tidal saltmarsh and wetlands on the East Coast.

This week, Senator Coons joined National Wildlife Refuge System Chief Jim Kurth at a Congressional briefing to share the findings of a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study of the economic benefits of the refuge system.  The report entitled, “Banking on Nature” quantifies the revenue generated for local and regional economies by refuges across the country, including Delaware’s very own Bombay Hook and Prime Hook.  From 2006-2011, over 46 million people visited the National Wildlife Refuge System generating a total of $2.4 billion in economic output. Considering that every $1 of investment in the refuge system yields around $5 for the economy, national wildlife refuges are among our most productive national investments.

Wildlife refuges fuel the economic growth of surrounding communities by attracting visitors that support local economies when they pay for travel arrangements and buy food, supplies, accommodations, and other products and services. Refuges also give visitors and nearby residents access to the sights of waterfowl migration and gorgeous views of the landscape, which are free for all to enjoy. Additional ecosystem services provided by our coastal refuges include water filtration, flood mitigation, and healthy fish populations, solidifying their place as valuable natural assets.

In October, Chris led a resolution with Senators Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) recognizing the importance of the National Wildlife Refuge System.  The bi-partisan resolution, S. Res. 296, to designate the week of October 13^th, 2013 as National Wildlife Refuge Week was adopted November 14 by unanimous consent.  Chris led similar resolutions designating National Wildlife Refuge Week in 2011 and 2012.

In budget conference, Senator Coons advocates for investments that sustain growth

At the second meeting of the budget conference committee Wednesday, Senator Coons questioned Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf about the impact of Congress’ current spending decisions on the nation’s economic competitiveness and the long-term unemployed.

 “You’ve testified before that not all cuts are the same, and that there are some ways in which we are cutting that are hurting our long-term competitiveness,” Senator Coons said. “That short-term cuts in things like education, or infrastructure, or research and development produce longer-term reductions in our capacity, and that we should be prioritizing things that will accelerate growth – that we should not be simply trying to get through this difficult fiscal time in a way that focuses on austerity; that we should also be investing in a way that sustains growth.”

When asked about policies that could accelerate growth and help the long-term unemployed, Director Elmendorf said, “Of all non-defense discretionary spending, half represents investment of some sort. About 20 percent of non-defense discretionary spending is investment in physical capital, such as highways, another 15 percent goes for education and training, and about 10 percent goes for R&D, such as health research. Over all, we think those investments help to build a stronger economy in the future and cutbacks in those investments would reduce output and income in the future.” 

The problem of long-term unemployment, Elmendorf noted, also “has important economic effects over time… It poses a very large risk of there being some set of people who will not find their way back to work at all or will not find their way to the productive sort of work that they were in before they lost their jobs.”

Elmendorf said the CBO has “reviewed the evidence on a large number of different ways of trying to help people get back into the labor force,” a number of which “have been successful on a small scale and have not been tried on a large scale.” Elmendorf pledged to work with Senator Coons on developing policies that help the long-term unemployed get back to work.

Watch the entire exchange: 

Senator Coons writes IOC about Russia’s anti-LGBT laws

Above: Senator Coons wears a Russian-language “Love Conquers Hate” t-shirt in support of the Human Rights Campaign’s fight against Russia’s anti-LGBT laws.

Senator Coons and ten of his colleagues have written to the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressing their concern about the IOC’s recent declaration that it is “fully satisfied” that a Russian law banning “homosexual propaganda” does not violate the Olympic Charter.

The senators noted that the Olympic Charter requires the IOC to take action against any form of discrimination. According to the Olympic Charter, “any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.”

“In that regard, we write to express our deep concern about the IOC’s recent declaration that ‘as long as the Olympic Charter is upheld, we are fully satisfied,’ ” the senators wrote. “We disagree with this position, and strongly urge you to reconsider given that the Russian law banning ‘homosexual propaganda’ is clearly inconsistent with the Olympic Charter.”

Read the full letter below:

Senator Coons recognizes ‘best of Delaware’ at dedication of Medal of Honor trail

Senator Coons delivered remarks Monday at the opening of the new walking trail at the Wilmington VA Medical Center Pavilion, dedicated in memory of Delaware’s 15 Medal of Honor recipients. The trail, which measures nearly a mile long, is dotted by 15 benches, red bud trees, and plaques, each engraved with the names, rank, and mission of each recipient.

Senator Coons asked attendees at the ceremony to imagine themselves in the harrowing situations faced by some of Delaware’s Medal of Honor recipients. “Imagine yourself, a 25 year old, 4,000 miles away from Wilmington, trying to storm a mine-laden beach in France,” Senator Coons said. “What would anyone of us have done if our commanding officer was killed? And then our sergeant was killed? If we were hit with shrapnel, not once but twice, and then shot in the leg, unable to move any further. Would any of us have had the courage not just to continue, but to lead? This was Sgt. James P. Connor’s story.”

“Despite injury, despite unthinkable odds, Sgt. Connor, and so many other brave Medal of Honor recipients found the strength to carry on, to lead their units, and complete their missions,” said Senator Coons.

Senator Coons closed his remarks by thanking veterans who were in attendance as well as the many descendants of Medal of Honor recipients who were on hand for the dedication.

The Senator’s Week Ahead Schedule: November 11 to November 17

Monday, November 11 at 10:30 a.m. – The Senator will speak at Veterans Day Ceremonies hosted by the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs and American Legion, Department of Delaware. Memorial Plaza, Delaware Memorial Bridge, New Castle, DE  – Open to press. Contact John Knotts at 302-272-8920.

Monday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m. – The Senator will speak at the Wilmington VA Medical Center’s Walking Trail Dedication Ceremony. The walking trail will be dedicated to the 15 Delaware Medal of Honor Recipients as a living memorial to these courageous Delaware heroes. Wilmington VA Medical Center, 1601 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington, DE – Open to press. Contact Patricia Caldwell at 412-849-2666.

Wednesday, November 13 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will attend a meeting of the House-Senate Budget Conference Committee. The committee is negotiating between the widely divergent House and Senate versions of the fiscal year 2014 budget. As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Coons has been appointed to the conference committee and will be an active part of the negotiations. 1100 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. ­– Open to press. Contact Senate Budget Committee’s Eli Zupnick at 202-224-5398.

Wednesday, November 13 at 2:15 p.m. – The Senator will attend a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Business Meeting. The committee will consider S. 1271, The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 and hear nominations for U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, U.S. Representative to the European Union, and Ambassador to the Republic of Palau. S-116 U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Open to press. Contact Foreign Relations Committee’s Adam Sharon at 202-224-4651.

Wednesday, November 13 at 3:00 p.m. – The Senator will preside over the Senate until 4:00 p.m. Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Open to press who wish to sit in the Senate Gallery.

Thursday, November 14 at 9:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak at the Judicial Branch Committee of the Administrative Office of the Courts. Senator Coons, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts, will discuss challenges facing the courts in Congress. Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, 1 Columbus Circle NE, Washington, D.C. – Closed to press.

Thursday, November 14 at 4:00 p.m. – The Senator will preside over the Senate until 5:00 p.m. Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Open to press who wish to sit in the Senate Gallery.

Sunday, November 17 at 9:30 a.m. – The Senator will lead Sunday services at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew. 719 North Shipley Street, Wilmington, DE – Closed to press.

Note: Schedule is subject to change. 

Senator Coons honors WWII veterans at memorial unveiling

Above: U.S. Rep. John Carney, Sen. Tom Carper, former State Rep. Jerry Unruh, and Sen. Chris Coons appear together after the dedication ceremony for the World War II memorial at Legislative Hall in Dover, Del., Nov. 9, 2013. Unruh is a former paratrooper and combat engineer who served with the 82nd Airborne Division during WWII.

Surrounded by dozens of World War II veterans, Senator Coons honored the legacy of Delaware’s Greatest Generation in remarks at the unveiling ceremony for the state’s WWII memorial outside of Legislative Hall in Dover.

Chris spoke about the 33,000 Delawareans who served during the war and the millions who supported them from American shores.

“The Greatest Generation was led by, inspired by the brave soldiers who took up arms and fought for us around the world,” Chris said. “But they were supported, loved, and cheered on by a generation here at home – from children to seniors – who pitched in to do their part for Uncle Sam.”

Over the course of the war, more than 417,000 Americans lost their lives – including 812 Delawareans.

Chris closed his remarks with a reminder of the sacrifices made, not just by those fighting overseas, but also on the home front. He shared a story from Dover resident Bonnie Rorabaugh, who recalled her family’s meatless Tuesdays, ration books, rubber shortages, and the thousands of volunteers all over the country who stood up and did their part. Bonnie herself was a volunteer airplane spotter in Delaware City for two summers.

The memorial, which sits on Legislative Avenue between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North and South in Dover, is now open for public viewing.

Senator Coons celebrates dedication of Air Mobility Command Museum’s C-5A Galaxy

Standing in the shadows of a two-ton aircraft, Senator Coons celebrated the Air Mobility Command Museum’s newest installment, the C-5A Galaxy, with remarks at the plane’s dedication ceremony Saturday morning. The famous military plane, nicknamed “Zero–One–Four” after its recognizeable tail number, is the first and only C-5A to be on display at any museum in the country and is especially historic because it is the only aircraft to have ever launched a Minuteman missile in flight, taking place in 1974 off the California coast.

The brief dedication ceremony symbolically transferred the aircraft from the 164th Airlift Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard to the AMC Museum.

“This C-5 was part of the fleet that supported missions all over the world,” Chris said. “It flew missions during wartime and missions of humanitarian relief, missions on nearly every continent, and in every possible flying condition.”

C-5s have been assigned to Dover AFB for over 42 years and the museum’s new C-5 was originally assigned at Dover Air Force Base from 1973-1977. The aircraft made its final flight from Tennessee in August and has spent the last few months being prepared for its addition to the museum’s collection.

Chris closed his remarks recognizing the impact of the 167 volunteers who keep the museum operational. “To the men and women who make the AMC Museum run, not just as a site for tourism, but as a site for engagement, for education, and for inspiration, we thank you,” he said. “It is a big piece of America’s history, and that makes it an important piece of America’s future.”

For more information about the C-5A display and the Air Mobility Command Museum, visit www.amcmuseum.org.