There are some false and damaging rumors about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities causing real concern in Delaware and elsewhere. Our office has heard from Delawareans concerned that ratification of this treaty would impact their right to homeschool their children with disabilities, if they choose to do so.
Senator Coons took those concerns seriously, and he checked with Department of Justice directly. What he heard – what he confirmed, with absolute certainty – should put the minds of these parents at ease.
Ratification of this treaty will not do anything to change existing American law, rules or enforcement on homeschooling. The right of families who wish to homeschool their children to do so will be protected, no matter what.
Nor does the treaty erode one iota of American sovereignty.
It does not hand over any authority to any international body. It does not burden us with any new obligations or expenses. It does not require us to do anything but comply with our own, already existing law – a law that has been in place for 22 years. Any rights that Americans have now, they will continue to have if this treaty is ratified. Period.
Senator Coons and 41 of his colleagues wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to call for an extension of unemployment insurance for millions of out-of-work Americans. You can read the letter below:
Monday, December 3 at 11:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak at “A Call to Action: Collaboratively Ending Homelessness in Delaware,” hosted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. This discussion will allow participants to engage in dialogue about strategies, tools and action steps Delaware’s nonprofit executives can take to maximize available resources to end homelessness in the First State. Community Services Building, 100 West 10th Street, Wilmington, DE - Closed to press.
Monday, December 3 at 2:00 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.
Tuesday, December 4 at 10:00 a.m. — The Senator will preside over the Senate until 11:00 a.m. Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Open to press who wish to sit in the Senate Gallery.
Tuesday, December 4 at 11:30 a.m. — The Senator will attend a U.S.-Morocco Business Development Conference hosted by the U.S. Department of State. The conference will focus on Morocco’s economy and America’s trade relationship with Morocco. U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington D.C. – Closed to press.
Wednesday, December 5 at 9:00 a.m. – The Senator will chair a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs hearing on Mali. The hearing, entitled “AssessingDevelopments in Mali: Restoring Democracy and Reclaiming the North,” will include testimony from the following witnesses: The Honorable Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, U.S. Department of State; The Honorable Earl Gast, Assistant Administrator for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development; Ms. Amanda Dory, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa, Department of Defense; Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute; Ms. Corinne Dufka, Senior Researcher, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch; and Mr. Nii Akuetteh, Independent Policy Researcher. 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Open to press.
Thursday, December 6 at 4:00 p.m. — The Senator will attend and honorary-host the Taste of Delaware celebration of Delaware Day in Washington. On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state in the nation to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Senator Carper and Congressman Carney will be among the many proud Delawareans who attend this event, which is hosted by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and brings Delaware restaurants and beverage-makers. Kennedy Caucus Room, 325 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to press.
Friday, December 7 at 10:45 a.m. —The Senator will speak at a USDA grant announcement for rural housing development. During the event, Senator Coons will discuss the USDA Rural Development funds that have been allocated for the recruitment, loan packaging, and related activities for prospective self-help housing applicants throughout Kent and Sussex Counties. Milford Housing Development Corp., 977 East Masten Circle, Milford, DE – Open to press.
Senator Coons talked with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Thursday about the possible nomination of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice as Secretary of State, and about the developing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Senator Coons is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
An important federal program that helps local police officers buy bulletproof vests to wear on the job protecting our communities is at risk of ending, but Senator Coons teamed up with Dover police Sgt. David Spicer on Tuesday to urge senators to reauthorize the program.
Senator Coons, who is an original cosponsor of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act, called on his Senate colleagues who are blocking the program’s reauthorization to drop their holds and allow the important program to continue.
Sgt. Spicer, who could come to the Capitol on Tuesday only because of the Kevlar soft body armor that saved his life, shared his extraordinary story:
In addition to serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chris is co-chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus.
It’s hard to watch the news lately without hearing about the “fiscal cliff” awaiting Americans early next year — more than $500 billion in automatic spending cuts, tax increases and other fiscal changes set to kick in starting in January.
These questions, coupled with the paralyzing federal budget deficit and national debt, will have a significant impact on Delawareans.
Although I’ve worked on deficit reduction consistently during my two years in the Senate, my staff and I have invested additional time and energy these last few months preparing for the immediate economic choices required by the events of the fiscal cliff. Just as we do with our legislative briefing emails, I wanted you to have access to some of the same background and analysis that I do.
We’ve put together a white paper on the fiscal cliff — a primer on the economic issues Congress and the President are now working to confront — to give you a better idea of what to expect.
As it stands now, our budget deficit and national debt are simply unsustainable. A $1.3 trillion deficit and $16.3 trillion debt are unacceptable. This level of debt hurts our nation’s competitiveness, causes interest rates to rise over the long term and crowds out critical investments in our country’s future.
Congress should get a big, bipartisan deal done now to reduce our deficit and avert the very significant impact of the fiscal cliff, rather than waiting until next year.
It seems like an easy choice to simply kick the can down the road again, but the reality is that our country will need to make an array of tough decisions about our competing economic priorities over the next few months – priorities like keeping taxes low, investing in critical services, reducing our unsustainable annual deficits and stabilizing our debt.
Monday, November 26 at 11:00 a.m. – The Senator will speak at a major grant announcement for Delaware State University’s neuroscience program. Senator Coons will join Senator Carper and Congressman Carney in announcinga National Institutes of Health grant to create infrastructure to support theresearch and career development of neuroscientists at Delaware State University and the University of Delaware. Open to press.
Monday, November 26 at 2:00 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.
Tuesday, November 27 at 10:00 a.m. — The Senator will preside over the Senate until 11:00 a.m. Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Open to press who wish to sit in the Senate Gallery.
Wednesday, November 28 at 2:00 p.m. — The Senator will chair a Senate Foreign Relations Committee nominations hearing. The nominees being considered are the Honorable Robert F. Godec, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya; and Ms. Deborah Ann McCarthy, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania. 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to press.
Thursday, November 29 at 10:00 a.m. – The Senator will attend a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting. During the business meeting, the Committee will consider substitute amendments for H.R. 2471, which would give government agencies more cyber surveillance power than they possess under current law. 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. – Open to press.
Thursday, November 29 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.
Friday, November 30 at 9:30 a.m. — The Senator will preside over the Senate until 12:00 p.m. if the Senate is in session. Senate Chamber,U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. – Open to press who wish to sit in the Senate Gallery.
Just days after Senator Coons introduced the FAST Voting Act to help speed up an array of reforms to our nation's elections, the New York Times' editorial board weighed in to make the case for election reform and endorse the FAST Voting Act.
While President Obama was delivering his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday, Nov. 7, people were still standing in line in Florida to vote. Thousands had waited hours to vote in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, some in the cold, some giving up wages to do so. In a spontaneous aside — “by the way, we have to fix that” — the president acknowledged the unnecessary hardship of casting a vote in the United States and established a goal that he now has an obligation to address.
The long lines can be shortened with commitments from Washington, as well as state and local governments, but they are just the most glaring symptom of a deeply broken democratic process. In too many states, it’s also needlessly difficult to register to vote. States controlled by Republicans continue to erect partisan impediments to participation. And the process for choosing a candidate remains bound to unlimited and often secret campaign donations that are bound to lead to corruption.
The editorial outlined three steps for improving our nation's elections, including making it easier to vote:
Congress also can provide financial incentives to the states to do the job right. A bill introduced recently by Senator Christopher Coons, a Democrat of Delaware, would give grants to states that make registration easy, including allowing same-day registration; allow early voting; require no excuses for voting absentee; properly train poll workers; and provide sufficient polling places.
The News Journal’s longtime columnist Harry Themal wrote a column Friday praising Senator Coons’ legislation to make voting faster and more accessible to all voters. The column argues that legislation like the Louis L. Redding Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely Voting Act of 2012 (FAST Voting Act) sponsored by Senator Coons would improve voting access and overall voting efficiency.
Coons’ idea deserves serious consideration because by any measure, the election this month was a disaster in all too many states.
Coons cites an 18-year-old first-time voter still in line in Miami-Dade County, Fla., after nearly five hours, by which time President Obama already had been declared the winner. At least a dozen other states also must not have had enough polling places, voting machines and personnel to handle large turnouts forced to wait for up to seven or eight hours.
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The bill would zero in on reducing waiting times at the “persistently poorest polling places” by assuring polling locations match population distribution. FAST hopes to improve access to the ballot by providing for flexible registration, including on the same day as the election; assistance to voters who do not speak English or who have disabilities; formal training of election officers; and effective access for members of the armed forces.
Delaware should consider a grant to make provisions for voting in the event of a natural or other disaster. As Coons points out, Superstorm Sandy only had to make a slight turn and Delaware would have been dramatically impacted.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons was on MSNBC's "Jansing and Co." on November 20 talking about the unrest in Gaza and the FAST Voting Act, which he introduced the week prior to help states improve their elections.
