How Delaware has benefited from the Bulletproof Vest Partnership

Delaware law enforcement agencies have received federal funding to help purchase nearly 4,000 pieces of life-saving body armor through the Bulletproof Vest Partnership in the last five years alone. Here’s a look at the data on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis, as provided by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.

Eight of Senator Coons’ amendments now part of immigration bill

By the end of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s five-day markup of comprehensive immigration reform legislation, members had approved eight of Senator Coons’ amendments. The Committee voted 13-5 to approve the amended version of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, on Tuesday night.

Coons1 – E-Verify Notification
As amended, this amendment strengthens privacy protections by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to establish procedures to notify individuals whenever their E-Verify record is accessed, and to provide direct notification whenever E-Verify returns a “non-confirmation” or “further action notice”, which will help individuals protect their identity and will combat fraud and misuse of the system.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 20

Coons2 – Limitation on Dangerous Deportation Practices
As amended, this amendment places strict limitations on the dangerous practice of repatriating undocumented immigrants in the middle of the night. It also requires the Department of Homeland Security to issue a report on how its deportation practices mitigate the threats that migrants face immediately after deportation.
– Adopted as amended on May 14 

Coons3 – Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act
This amendment allows the surviving spouse and children of an employee of the United States government abroad killed in the line of duty to qualify for a Special Immigrant Visa, so long as the employee has served for 15 years and provided that a Foreign Service Officer endorses the application.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 21

Coons5 – Discovery Obligation for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement
Under current law, immigrants in removal are entitled to non-privileged, unclassified documents regarding their status, but are required to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain them. This amendment streamlines the process by requiring the government to produce those documents up front, eliminating the three- to six-month delay that accompanies the Freedom of Information Act requests, consistent with other laws concerning confidentiality, privilege, and national security.  This amendment will lead to the more expeditious resolution of removal cases, saving time, detention costs, and court resources.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 20

Coons6 – Detention Statistics Tracking
As amended, this amendment requires the Executive Office of Immigration Review, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Patrol to better maintain and report information pertaining to immigrants in deportation proceedings, including: authority for custodial detention; place of detention and apprehension; number of days in each detention location; immigration charges against the alien; the status of the alien’s removal proceedings; internal custody determinations by ICE and the basis therefor; the reasons for ultimate release, if applicable; and whether the alien is represented by counsel.
– Adopted as amended by voice vote on May 20

Coons8 – Asylum Clock
Under current law, asylum applicants are entitled to a work authorization 180 days after filing a non-frivolous petition. However, Immigration Judges often stop that “clock” due to reasons completely unrelated to the merits of the asylum claim, including delays requested by DHS.  Immigration Judges are encouraged to meet efficiency metrics under a clock managed by EOIR (a division of DOJ), but under current policy, DHS uses this same clock to deny asylum applicants work authorization to which they would otherwise be entitled. This amendment de-couples the clocks and clarify that asylum applicants receive work authorization 180 days after filing a non-frivolous petition.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 20

Coons10 – Non-discriminatory Access to Licensure
This amendment provides that DREAMers and immigrants on the new Registered Provisional Immigrant (“RPI”) status have nondiscriminatory access to professional, commercial, and business licenses.  This amendment only protects immigrants who are qualified to receive licenses.  It will ensure that these professionals and business owners abide by regulations that protect public safety and public health.
– Adopted as amended on May 10

Coons12 – Torture Victims Protection Act
The immigration bill provides that persons who are found liable under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 are excludable and subject to removal.  The TVPA applies to torturers but not against those who conduct genocide, war crimes, and widespread or systemic attacks on civilian population.  This amendment amends the TVPA to cover those acts.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 20

Blumenthal8 – Limitation of Enforcement Raids in Schools, Places of Worship, and Funerals
Senator Coons introduced a virtually identical version, but withdrew it and cosponsored Senator Blumenthal’s amendment. As amended, this amendment limits the ability of ICE and CBP from targeting schools, hospitals, and places of worship for enforcement raids, unless authorized by a high-level Department official or necessary in the event of an emergency.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 20

Hatch9 – STEM Education Fund
As amended, this amendment, which Senator Coons cosponsored, creates a STEM Education and Training Fund to promote education initiatives that will help meet the needs of the new economy. The STEM Fund concept was first introduced in the Hatch-Coons-Rubio-Klobuchar bill entitled the Immigration Innovation Act.  This amendment recognizes the need to not only fill the existing skills gap in STEM fields with foreign-born talent, but also to invest in future generations born here at home.    The amendment also provides funds for STEM capacity building at Minority Serving Institutions and for new “American Dream Accounts,” to help low-income students trace a path to successful careers in STEM fields.
– Adopted by voice vote on May 14

A birthday surprise for Senator Franken

As it became clear that Day Five of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup of the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill would stretch into the night Tuesday, Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) paused to mark the 62nd birthday of Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.). After a robust round of applause, Senator Franken noted that he’d planned to have dinner with his wife and daughter that night, but would instead stay for the markup.

Senator Coons, who has sat next to Senator Franken since joining the Committee, was ready to make it up to his friend with a celebratory cupcake.

“This isn’t really speeding the bill along, is it,” Senator Franken quipped, hoping to move the attention off of him.

Senator Franken inserted the provided candle into his cupcake, prompting Chairman Leahy to warn that lighting it might set off a fire alarm.

“Then we’d have to all leave,” Senator Franken offered, feining concern to a hearty laugh.

The cupcake was Crumbs’ “Happy Birthday” flavor, described as “Vanilla cake mixed with rainbow sprinkles, filled with vanilla buttercream mixed with rainbow sprinkles and topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting edged with rainbow sprinkles and a yellow rosette in the center.”

GE Aviation building new lab in Delaware

NEWARK, Del. — GE Aviation will add up to 70 jobs at its Newark facility over the next five years with the addition of a $27 million ‘lean lab.’ GE already employs 80 people at the plant working on advanced aircraft engine components made of ceramic matrix composites.

Lean labs are designed to promote intense collaboration between engineering and manufacturing teams before full-on manufacturing gets underway. The idea is to test and refine a particular component’s manufacturing readiness to promote efficiency and prevent waste.

“Lean labs are the height of innovation in high-tech manufacturing,” U.S. Senator Chris Coons said. “GE’s decision to develop a lean lab in Newark adds another chapter to Delaware’s long and rich manufacturing history, and by nearly doubling its presence here, GE Aviation is showing its faith in Delaware’s talented workforce. It’s a smart investment that I’m confident will pay off.”

The ceramic matrix composite components developed in GE Aviation’s Newark facility are used in GE’s next-generation LEAP aircraft engines. They allow the engines to run hotter than the standard, resulting in higher fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and improved environmental performance. The LEAP engine will enter service in 2016 in the new Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, and COMAC C919 aircraft.

GE Aviation’s GE9X engine, which will be used by Boeing for its 777X aircraft program, is also expected to feature several ceramic-matrix component products.

“This investment is a testament to GE’s commitment to this advanced technology. The Newark team will play a vital role in the next-generation of aircraft engines, and we’re proud to be a part of it” said Jeff Wessels, plant leader at Newark.

The Senator’s Week Ahead Schedule: May 20 to May 26

Monday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting.  During the meeting, the Committee will continue its mark-up of S.744, the comprehensive immigration reform bill. G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. – Open to press.

Tuesday, May 21 at 10:30 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting.  During the meeting, the Committee will continue its mark-up of S.744, the comprehensive immigration reform bill. G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. – Open to press.

Tuesday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Foreign Relations Committee business meeting. S. 960, regarding the stability in Syria, will be on the agenda for the meeting. 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to press.

Wednesday, May 22 at 10:30 a.m. — The Senator will speak at a seminar on dual-enrollment and early-college high schools.  The event, which is hosted by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, Jobs for the Future, and Bard College, will look at how dual-enrollment and early-college high school programs are helping students get and afford higher education. Dual-enrollment programs are academic programs through which a high school student can simultaneously earn credit toward a high school diploma and a postsecondary degree. 385 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to the press.

Wednesday, May 22 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, May 23 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.

Thursday, Mary 23 at 6:00 p.m. — The Senator will keynote the Industrial Research Institute’s CTO Forum. Senator Coons will discuss efforts to help manufacturers grow and create jobs, including his legislation to expand access to the research and development tax credit to innovative startup companies. Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, D.C. — Closed to press.

Friday, May 24 at 11:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend the Kuumba Academy’s May Day celebration. 519 N. Market Street, Wilmington, DE

Note: Schedule is subject to change.

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State Senator Poore testifies about sunsetting programs

Delaware State Senator Nicole Poore (D-12) came to Washington Thursday to testify before the Senate Budget Committee’s Government Performance Task Force — of which Senator Coons is a member — about the efforts of Delaware’s Joint Sunset Committee to eliminate redundant and antiquated programs to save tax dollars.

Watch below as Senator Coons questions Senator Poore during the hearing:

Halting the rise in sexual assaults in the military

The disturbing arrests of an Army sergeant and an Air Force colonel who were responsible for training servicemembers to prevent sexual assaults have brought into acute focus to what has become a widespread problem: the staggering rise in sexual assaults within our military.

Senator Coons is determined to stop it and end the truly corrosive impact of this behavior in our armed forces.

According to the FY2012 Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office report released last week by the Defense Department, an estimated 26,000 cases of sexual assault occurred in FY2012, a 37 percent increase from FY2011. Another report released by the Defense Department late last month showed that more than 1 in 5 female servicemembers reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact while serving in the military.

Stopping this trend has earned bipartisan and bicameral support in the form of the Military Justice Improvement Act, which Senator Coons helped introduce on Thursday.

Senator Coons, who described the rise as “chilling,” told the News Journal that “we clearly have a cultural problem” in our armed forces, noting that a lack of real consequence has led to widespread abuse.

“This bill tries to strike at what is driving that continuing cultural problem, which is that the U.S. military has a legal system that is significantly out of date,” Senator Coons said. “And it puts the responsibility for prosecution and conviction where it should be – in the hands of a competent prosecutor rather than in the hands of the officers who often don’t have the training or experience to handle it.”

The Military Justice Improvement Act would for the first time remove the decision whether to take a case to special or general court-martial completely out of the chain of command and give that discretion to experienced military prosecutors for all crimes punishable by one year or more in confinement, except crimes that are uniquely military in nature, such as disobeying orders or going AWOL.

Video: Senator Coons’ passionate speech about helping kids get to college

Speaking at a forum organized by Opportunity Nation and CFED on Capitol Hill last week, Senator Coons made an impassioned case for doing more to help kids from low-income families save for college, sharing his own personal experience working with at-risk kids with the “I Have a Dream” Foundation.

Senator Coons on alleged IRS targeting

Senator Coons commented Monday on the chilling reports of the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service:

“Reports of politically biased targeting within the Internal Revenue Service are deeply disturbing and should be treated seriously and decisively. These accusations are outrageous and cannot be tolerated. Ideological discrimination is absolutely unacceptable and those responsible for it — including those who were aware of it and allowed it to happen — should be held accountable.”

The Senator’s Week Ahead Schedule: May 13 to May 19

Tuesday, May 14 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak at a Center for Strategic & International Studies event entitled, “Africa’s Emerging Energy Landscape.”  The Senator will deliver keynote remarks offering his perspective on how energy poverty is affecting economic, humanitarian, and security growth on the African continent. 325 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. – Open to press.

Tuesday, May 14 at 10:30 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting.  During the meeting, the Committee will continue its mark-up of S.744, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill.  G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. – Open to press.

Tuesday, May 14 at 11:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee forum on infrastructure, transportation, research and innovation. The forum will explore what the next applications are for natural gas and how this new demand will be met. Pipeline infrastructure and increased use of natural gas in the transportation sector will be specific points of interest. – Open to press.

Tuesday, May 14 at 2:15 p.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Foreign Relations Committee business meeting. U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, May 15 at 9:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee meeting. Sportsmen from across the country will discuss habitat protection and access to public lands and water. U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Closed to press.

Wednesday, May 15 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, May 16 at 9:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting. During the meeting, the Committee will continue its mark-up of S.744, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill.  226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to press. Contact: Judiciary Committee’s Jessica Brady at 202-224-7703.

Thursday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend a hearing of the Senate Budget Committee’s Government Performance Task Force. The hearing will look at strategies for streamlining redundant and federal programs to save federal tax dollars. The Honorable Nicole Poore, State Senator from Delaware’s 12th district and chair of the Delaware Joint Sunset committee will testify. 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. — Open to press.

Thursday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m. — The Senator will attend a Senate Energy and Natural Resources business meeting. 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to press.

Thursday, May 16 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, May 19 at 9:00 a.m. – The Senator will attend the Delaware Jewish Federation’s Mitzvah Day in Wilmington. The community-wide day of service brings together members of the local Jewish community and the community at large to perform acts of kindness benefiting many of Delaware’s most needy citizens.  Jewish Federation of Delaware, 101 Garden of Eden Road, Wilmington, DE  – Open to press.

Sunday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. — The Senator will attend the Newark Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony.  Newark, DE – Open to press.

Note: Schedule is subject to change.

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