Senator Coons supports plan to offer states No Child Left Behind waivers

Senator Coons joined nine of his moderate Democratic senate colleagues Friday in writing to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to offer his support for the administration’s plan to offer waivers to states seeing relief from some of the more onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind.

The waivers wouldn’t be necessary if Congress was to move forward with plans to reform and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, but with those efforts apparently stalled, the waivers represent the best option for continuing some progress on education reform.

“Like you, we are committed to working to reauthorize No Child Left Behind,” the Senators wrote. “However, we also recognize that students are headed back to school under the current law, which is simply not working for too many students.”

“While it remains our first choice that Congress move quickly to reauthorize this critical piece of legislation, we also know that our states are in need of relief now, and our kids can’t afford to wait. Therefore, in the absence of a reauthorization bill, we support your recent announcement that you will use your authority under the law to provide much needed relief to states in the form of an ESEA flexibility package in exchange for needed reforms.”

Read the full letter below.

The Senator’s week ahead schedule: September 12 to September 18

Monday, September 12 at 10:30 a.m. – The Senator will test drive Fisker Automotive’s newly released Karma at Union Park Automotive. Union Park Automotive, 1704 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wilmington, DE – Open to press.  

Monday, September 12 at 2:00 p.m. – The Senator will preside over the Senate. Washington, DC – Open to press who wish to sit in the press gallery. 

Monday, September 12 at 6:00 p.m. – The Senator will attend the Congressional 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony. The ceremony will pay tribute to the thousands of Americans whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001. East Front Steps, Washington, DC – Open to press. 

Tuesday, September 13 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will chair a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The hearing will allow the committee to review the Civil Rights Division’s work on prosecuting hate crimes, protecting voting rights, and preventing discrimination in housing, lending, employment, and elsewhere. 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC – Open to press.  

Tuesday, September 13 at 12:00 p.m. – The Senator will attend a press conference announcing the launch of the Senate Oceans Caucus, of which he is a founding member. The caucus is a bipartisan effort to provide a platform for discussing important issues that affect our oceans, estuaries, and coasts, and the communities and industries that depend on them. Room S-116, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC – Open to press.

Wednesday, September 14 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak with the American Chemistry Council Executive Committee.  The committee is comprised of CEOs of chemical manufacturing companies, including several with strong presences in Delaware. Washington, DC – Closed to press.

Thursday, September 15 at 9:30 a.m. – The Senator will attend the Senate Budget Committee hearing titled “Policy Prescriptions for the Economy.” The witnesses who will testify at the hearing are Dr. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics; Dr. Chad Stone, Chief Economist, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Dr. Kevin A. Hassett, Senior Fellow and Director, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC — Open to press

Thursday, September 15 at 11:30 a.m. – The Senator will meet with Delaware WWII and Korean War veterans who are visiting Washington. World War II Memorial, Washington DC—Open to press.

Friday, September 16 at 9:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak at the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence Conference. Delaware Technical Community College Dover Campus, 100 Campus Drive, Dover, DE – Open to press.

Friday, September 16 at 12:00 p.m. – The Senator will speak at the 17th Annual Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Associations Conference Luncheon.  This luncheon is a part of the weeklong conference hosted by the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association and the Ladies Auxiliary Mutual Relief Association. Sheraton Hotel, 1570 North Dupont Highway, Dover, DE – Open to press

Friday, September 16 at 2:00 p.m. – The Senator will speak at the 83^rd Delaware State Police & 74^th Municipal Recruit Class Graduation DSU, Dover, DE – Open to press.

Saturday, September 17 at 1:00 p.m. – The Senator will attend the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association Parade. Downtown Dover, DE – Open to press.

Note: Schedule is subject to change.

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Chris announces first phase of C&D Canal Recreation Trail

ST. GEORGES – Senator Coons joined other Delaware leaders on September 1 to announce funding and plans for construction of a recreation trail along the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal. Present at the event were U.S. Senator Tom Carper, U.S. Rep. John Carney, former U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, Governor Jack Markell, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin O’Mara, Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt, Army Corps of Engineers District Commander Lt. Colonel Philip M. Secrist Ill, Federal Highways Administrator for the State of Delaware Hassan Raza and other federal, state and local leaders.  

The first phase of the project includes the construction of approximately nine miles of trail on the north side of the canal from Delaware City to just beyond Summit Marina and has a budget of $4.2 million. Groundbreaking will take place next spring and construction is anticipated to take up to one year. 

“Developing a shared-use recreational trail along the C&D Canal will not only create a wonderful place for Delawareans to exercise and have fun, but will be a boom to local businesses,” Chris said. “Quite a few Delawareans, including former Congressman Mike Castle, have worked hard over the last seven years to create this greenway, and I’m pleased that today we’re able to announce such a significant step forward in turning this idea into a reality. The C&D Canal is an amazing resource and I look forward to the day when my family and I can join others in safely exploring the beauty of the C&D Canal thanks to the new recreation trail.”

The C&D Canal Recreational Trail represents the vision of a broad array of Delawareans and will be a unique resource for the First State.  Not only will the initial construction of nine miles of trail serve to create jobs in the short-term, but its long-term presence will link communities whose shops and restaurants will be a destination for the hikers, bicyclists, joggers, horseback riders, anglers, and students who visit the trail.  At a time when concerns about health and wellness are increasingly becoming part of our national dialogue, this project will help kids and families to be more active outdoors. This greenway will be a valuable asset to residents living in southern New Castle County communities like Delaware City, Odessa, Townsend, Middletown, and Summit.

Once completed, the trail will highlight Delaware’s natural beauty as well as the historical and contemporary importance of the C&D Canal to both Delaware and our national economy.  The canal has been an important conduit for trade in our region since the 1830s, and it remains one of the busiest working canals in the world, serving the ports of Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, and Camden, New Jersey.  Visitors to the canal will not only enjoy the beauty of the canal, but will also see the nearly 1000 foot container ships that travel through Delaware on a daily basis carrying cargo from around the world. 

After seven years, the allocation of funds for this project represents government at its best – working to help improve the quality of life for Delawareans.  The Delaware Congressional Delegation, including former Congressman Mike Castle, worked closely with Governor Markel, the Delaware General Assembly, other Delaware officials, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration, and a variety of nongovernmental groups to help make the C&D Recreational Trail a reality.  This type of collaboration that ultimately yields results is what Delawareans expect and deserve from their elected officials. 

What We’re Reading: An increasing wage disparity in the First State

From the News Journal: It’s not news that nearly every Delaware family has been negatively impacted by the recession, but a story in Sunday’s News Journal says that Delaware’s lower and middle class residents are the ones suffering the most from our country’s economic decline because their wages are are more likely to have remained stagnant or even decrease since 2000. For poorer Delawareans who are able to find work, not only are they being paid less than they were 10 years ago, their wages aren’t keeping up with the average cost of living increase, making it more difficult for them to pay their bills and save for the future.

Excerpt from the article:

The wage gap between the richest and poorest Delawareans has widened sharply since 2000, with many in lower-paying occupations enduring a lost decade of wage growth.

Workers in some occupations took steps backward from 2000-10 as increases in the cost of food and other products outpaced increases in their pay, according to a News Journal review of state and federal labor data. 

In other words, many Delawareans saw the value of their labor — and their buying power — fall in the last decade, even in the years leading up to a recession that threw thousands into the ranks of the unemployed. The wage stagnation pressured consumers to overswipe credit cards and undersave, putting many in a serious long-term bind at a time when job security remains iffy and competition for jobs continues to be brutal. 

“This period has just been one of dismal wage growth,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist who specializes in labor markets and economic inequality at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. “And we know it was a period of rising inequality.”

To give you an idea of Delaware’s current wage disparity, according to The News Journal: those in management occupations generally saw 39 percent real wage growth during the 10-year span, dwarfing a 2.2 percent gain for office and administrative support jobs. Wages for receptionists and other office clerks dropped 7.8 percent from 2000-10, when adjusted for inflation. Servers, including those at fast-food restaurants, saw their paychecks lose 9.8 percent in value from 2000-10. Construction laborers saw a 1.6 percent real wage reduction.

Across all occupations, average real wages increased 4.9 percent from 2000-10. 

Read the full story in The News Journal. To learn more about Chris’ work supporting job creation in Delaware, click here.

Supporting job creation

In the ten months since I began my service in the Senate, petty partisan politics has caused Congress to spend tragically little time confronting our nation’s slow economic recovery.

The politics that nearly shutdown our government in April and nearly caused our nation to default in July must be put aside when Congress returns to Washington this week. We have a jobs crisis in America, and it is long past time Congress shows it’s engaged in solving it.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve visited dozens of employers and convened a series of roundtable discussions with Delawareans, since I believe the best ideas for propelling our economic recovery aren’t going to come from Washington, but from those on the front lines of the economy.

Our nation doesn’t have a shortfall of good ideas, merely a lack of political will to turn those ideas into action. In fact, there are dozens of strong bills Congress can and should consider immediately to make an impact.

You’ll find 38 of those ideas in my legislative strategy for job creation, A Blueprint for American Jobs, which you can read now and weigh-in on by clicking here.

My legislative strategy for job creation focuses on six critical areas that join together progressive and conservative proposals, and the voices of business owners and out-of-work Delawareans: 

• Invest in critical infrastructure projects
• Reform our tax code and stabilize our nation’s debt
• Offer greater support for America’s small businesses
• Develop and protect the next generation of American technology and ingenuity
• Strengthen America’s global trade posture
• Invest in an educated workforce

I want to know what you think about this strategy and what ideas you have for helping America’s businesses create jobs. Please take a look and let me know what you think:

http://www.coons.senate.gov/blueprint

Congress cannot just sit by while millions of Americans are unemployed, and millions more are underemployed. As the Senate resumes its work in Washington this week, I promise to do everything possible to support positive, bipartisan steps that will not only lead to new jobs being created, but will connect out-of-work Americans with those jobs.

The Senator’s week ahead schedule: September 5 to September 11

Monday, September 5 at 10:00 a.m.  – The Senator will attend the Wilmington Labor Day parade. 12^th and King Street, Wilmington, DE – Open to press.

Monday, September 5 at 12:00 p.m. – The Senator will attend the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Labor Day Picnic. Banning Park, Wilmington, DE – Closed to press.

Wednesday, September 7 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will attend the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on cybercrime. Witnesses will include James A. Baker, Esq., U.S. Department of Justice’s Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pablo A. Martinez, Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Criminal Investigative Division. 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC – Open to press.  

 Thursday, September 8 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will attend the Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting. The agenda will include a number of judicial nominations, as well as markups on S.657, the National Blue Alert Act of 2011; S.1151, the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2011; and S.1408, the Data Breach Notification Act. 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC – Open to press.

 Thursday, September 8 at 1:00 p.m. – The Senator will preside over the Senate. Washington, DC – Open to press who wish to sit in the Senate gallery.

 Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. – The Senator will attend the Joint Session of Congress called by President Obama. During the Joint Session, the president will lay out his plan to create jobs, grow the economy, and reduce the deficit. United States Capitol, Washington, DC

 Friday, September 9 at 1:00 p.m. – The Senator will hold a roundtable discussion with local law enforcement officials from around the state. The meeting will look at how local policing has changed over the last ten years and what Washington can do to help Delaware’s law enforcement agencies keep our communities safe. West Loockerman Street, Suite 450, Dover, DE – Open to the press.

 Sunday, September 11 at 9:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak at the Delaware Volunteer Firefighters Association and Delaware National Guard 9/11 Memorial Event. Gen. Frank Vavala, State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Coupe, the Delaware State Police and the Delaware National Guard will be in attendance. Following the event will be a memorial stair climb at the Dover International Speedway. Firemen’s Monument, Park Drive, Mirror Lake, Dover, DE – Open to press.

 Sunday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. – The Senator will speak at the candlelight vigil with the New Castle Police Department and Good Will Faire Company. Battery Park, New Castle, DE – Open to press.

Note: Schedule is subject to change.

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Senator Coons releases jobs plan

With input from Delawareans at three roundtable discussions the Senator hosted in August, and from hundreds of meetings and conversations with business leaders and out-of-work Delawareans this year, today Senator Coons released his six-point jobs plan, dubbed, “A Blueprint for American Jobs.”

“As today’s disappointing jobs report re-confirms,Congress needs to pursue a new jobs agenda,” Senator Coons said, “one that will not only lead to the growth of skilled and sustainable American jobs for decades ahead but that will also put Americans back to work now. Instability in the job market is an urgent threat that we need to address immediately.”

The strategy details 38 bills that Congress could pass and ideas that Congress should explore to help propel America’s economic recovery. They are spread across six key actions:

• Invest in critical infrastructure projects
• Reform our tax code and stabilizing our nation’s debt
• Offer greater support for America’s small businesses
• Develop and protecting the next generation of American technology and ingenuity
• Strengthen America’s global trade posture
• Invest in an educated workforce

You can read the full plan by clicking here or by downloading it as PDF file by clicking on the image above.

Senator Coons is eager to hear what you think about the strategy and to hear your own ideas for job creation. Click here to tell him what you think.

Photos: Senator Coons tours Amtrak shops in Bear

BEAR – Senator Coons visited Amtrak’s maintenance shops in Bear last month to meet with workers. The heavy maintenance facility has primary responsibility for overhauling severely damaged train cars and general maintenance on others. On average, the facility can make repairs to 15 train cars per month. Bear is one of Amtrak’s three key East Coast maintenance facilities.

Be sure to check out pictures of Chris’ visit to Amtrak’s Bear shops by clicking here.  

What We’re Reading: What Hurricane Irene can teach us about the jobs crisis

From The Huffington Post: Following the government’s critical role in preparing for and responding to Hurricane Irene, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington published a piece on our government’s urgent need to tackle the jobs crisis with the same urgency and cooperation as it confronted Hurricane Irene.

Excerpt from the article:

What Irene and the response to it showed is that when the media devote wall-to-wall attention to something, and government officials bring a sense of urgency and ask the public to respond in kind, remarkable things can happen. What this weekend demonstrated is that even though we can’t do anything to stop the hurricane, with resolve and collective action we can greatly mitigate its destructive impact. Clearly, that capacity is always there. The question is: why do we only tap into it for natural disasters and external attacks?

The fact is we have another crisis that’s been hovering over the entire United States for almost three years now and shows no signs of blowing over. The numbers should be just as scary as the ones that have dominated our national conversation about Irene:

Right now, there are over 25 million Americans unemployed or underemployed.

The number who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more is over 6 million.

The average duration of unemployment now stands at over 40 weeks, the highest since the financial crisis began.

With the toll that the job crisis is taking on the lives of millions of people in this country — from college graduates who can’t get jobs to middle class families being thrown out of their homes — this is a Category 5 disaster.

Read the full story in The Huffington Post.  To learn more about Chris’ work to create jobs in Delaware, click here. 

Check in with Senator Coons on foursquare

Users of the popular location-based social platform foursquare can now check-in on their smartphones when they visit Senator Coons’ offices in Wilmington, Dover and Washington. Foursquare venues have been created at each location. 

By “checking in,” foursquare users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. There are more than 10 million foursquare users worldwide.