The statistics about the pervasiveness of violence against women make it clear that it continues to be a serious public health issue for this country -- and we need to do everything in our power to address it.
Tragically, 1 in 4 women have been victims of severe domestic violence. 1 in 5 have been raped in their lifetimes.
Since its initial passage 18 years ago, the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has dramatically enhanced law enforcement's ability to investigate, prosecute, and prevent violent crimes against women.
Now VAWA is up for reauthorization, and without congressional action, many of its lifesaving programs could end later this year. We cannot let this happen.
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will debate legislation that I've co-sponsored and aggressively supported to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and I need your help to demonstrate the bill's broad grassroots support.
Our legislation builds upon the proven successes of existing programs and adds some important enhancements based on what we've learned about how to prevent and respond to violence against women. It increases funding for sexual assault programs and explicitly prevents VAWA grant recipients from discriminating against victims who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender -- a provision long overdue.
In this tough economy, where state and local governments have struggled to sufficiently fund enforcement of domestic violence laws and support programs for victims, VAWA has provided an important lifeline for some of our most vulnerable citizens. We simply cannot abandon them by letting these programs expire.
We have made tremendous progress over the last 18 years -- crimes of domestic violence against women have dropped dramatically, saving countless lives. But so long as these crimes still exist, there's more that must be done.
When we stick to our values and hold Republicans accountable for playing petty partisan politics -- like protecting tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires while blocking common-sense tax cuts for the middle class -- we can achieve real progress for the American people.
That's what we saw last week, before the holidays, when Tea Party Republicans tried -- and failed -- to stop us from extending the payroll tax cut and putting more than $1,000 back in the pocket of the average American family to support our fragile economic recovery.
This was a crucial victory, but it's only one victory. We have to keep fighting to make sure middle-class families don't get the short end of the stick in Congress -- and with your help, that's exactly what I'll do.
From the chaos in Congress to the lackluster presidential primary, we're seeing that Republicans are struggling just to lead their own party, let alone the country.
But we can't take anything for granted.
We know Tea Party Republicans are going to pull out all the stops to advance their narrow, partisan agenda that puts the interests of the wealthiest Americans ahead of the rest of us. They're going to do whatever they can to win enough seats in Congress to try to enact their agenda into law. While they're doing that, my Democratic colleagues and I will continue fighting to create jobs, support millions of unemployed people looking for work, strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and protect the most vulnerable Americans during these tough economic times -- no matter what our opponents throw at us.
And even though I'm not on the ballot in 2012, I know national Republicans will be coming after me and this Senate seat with everything they've got.
That's why the upcoming December 31 year-end fundraising deadline is so critical. I need your help to show our campaign's strength -- so our opponents know that we're prepared for anything and everything they throw our way.
Please contribute $5 to my campaign today -- before the December 31 deadline!
Together, we can make sure the American people, and not Tea Party Republicans, continue to win in the halls of Congress.
As we pause today to give thanks for the blessings in our lives, I wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am for you.
I just completed my first year of service in the Senate, and I've remembered each and every day that I could not have done it without you. Your support has meant the world to me.
I've done my best to live up to the trust you've placed in me, doing everything I can to help our neighbors get back to work, responsibly secure our nation's economic future, and build the just and equal society endowed to every American.
The work certainly hasn't been easy, but I'm not giving up - and I know you're not, either.
The challenges facing our state and our nation are significant, but they're nothing compared to what we can accomplish when we work together.
Annie, Mike, Jack, Maggie and I are deeply grateful for your support, and hope your Thanksgiving is as full of love and warmth as ours.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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If there was ever a jobs bill that ought to earn bipartisan support, this is it.
When the brave men and women who fight for our nation return home, they shouldn't have to fight to find work. But too often, that's what's happening today.
The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 will help to fix that by creating promising employment opportunities for our veterans -- and that's why I'm so proud to be an original cosponsor.
Our bill is coming up for a vote in the Senate tomorrow, and I need your help to make sure that unlike other recent job-creating legislation, this passes.
Democrats in Congress have proposed bill after bill to get Americans working again, common-sense legislation that easily would have passed with bipartisan support in the past. Time and again, a determined minority in the Senate has stood in the way.
Last month, they sank a bill to put hundreds of thousands of teachers and first responders back to work, and last week, they blocked legislation to rebuild our nation's crumbling roads, bridges, and tunnels, which would have created job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Americans.
Tomorrow, my colleagues have another opportunity to do the right thing by helping put some of the most selfless Americans back to work. Help me ensure that this bill -- a bill that includes ideas from both sides of the aisle -- passes the Senate.
Friday is Veterans Day, a day we set aside every year to honor those who have sacrificed so much to protect our country.
With your help, we can honor our veterans by breaking through this partisan logjam and making real progress to fix our nation's jobs crisis.
Thank you for your help.
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You're not going to believe this.
Speaker John Boehner just announced that House Republicans plan to spend $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars on private lawyers to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act -- tripling their original budget.
It’s outrageous for them to force taxpayers to spend money defending discrimination -- especially when we have to fight every day in Congress for funding just to keep teachers in our classrooms and police on our streets.
I urge Speaker Boehner and the GOP to scrap this misguided strategy and reinvest these funds in something that would create jobs for America’s middle class -- and I hope you’ll join me.
Spending a dime, let alone $1.5 million, on lawyers to defend a law that discriminates against LGBT Americans is beyond the pale.
Please join me in urging Speaker John Boehner to stop wasting taxpayer dollars defending DOMA.
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At 12:01 this morning, the military's discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy officially became a thing of the past. No longer will gay and lesbian service members be forced to lie about who they are in order to defend our freedom.
Ending the nearly two-decades-old policy was a daunting task.
As someone who has made protecting civil rights the cornerstone of a ten-month Senate career, I believe there is nothing more important than ensuring that all Americans are created equal.
While I continue to work in the Senate to end the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, all Americans must also celebrate the landmark repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Ending this discriminatory policy would not have been possible without the leadership and commitment of President Obama.
Please join me in thanking President Obama and the thousands of activists who never gave up.
Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a monumental step forward in the fight to end the federal government's discrimination against LGBT Americans. I am proud to have cosponsored the repeal legislation. And I was even prouder to vote for it.
President Obama made the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell a central part of his 2008 campaign, and during his 2010 State of the Union, he promised to work with Congress and the military to ensure the end of the policy. He made good on that promise, and signed Congress' repeal legislation into law late last year.
In the face of stiff opposition, President Obama fought for the freedom of those brave gay and lesbian service members who are fighting for ours.
Today marks an important new chapter in our nation's history, one that respects the equality of all the brave men and women serving in our nation's armed forces, regardless of sexual orientation. I congratulate the soldiers who will now be free to serve without shame.
But there's still much work to do, and we can't stop fighting until we ensure the full equal rights and freedoms of every American.
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There's no doubt about it: America is facing a jobs crisis.
Unfortunately, in the nearly ten months I've been in the Senate, legislation that would help put the middle class back to work has repeatedly fallen victim to partisan politics.
Enough is enough. It's time to set partisanship aside and help millions of Americans get back to work.
Today I'm rolling out my six-point plan to address America's jobs crisis -- and I hope you'll endorse it.
I spent much of August talking with Delaware's business owners and working families about solving the crisis, and reading through ideas shared by supporters like you.
These discussions have been enormously productive, and I’ve taken the best ideas and incorporated them into my Blueprint for American Jobs.
In short, my plan calls for:
After reading the many ideas submitted online, I know we already have strong support for these proposals.
Now will you help me convince my colleagues in Congress by backing my common-sense jobs plan?
Click here to become a citizen co-sponsor of my Blueprint for American Jobs plan.
I hope my congressional colleagues will come together over the coming weeks so that we can finally enact legislation to stabilize our neighborhoods, support our families, encourage America’s recovery, and set our country on a path to long-term economic strength.
Thank you for your help in getting us there.
Chris has been in the Senate for nearly ten months now, and has led on many of the important issues that matter most to Delaware's family.
He's authored a bill that would help innovative businesses create jobs and supported many others that would help speed up our economic recovery. He's introduced bills to strengthen our education system by investing more in science and math and providing more high-quality learning opportunities for low-income students. He worked hard to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and even chaired a panel of the first-ever congressional hearing on repealing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act.
WDEL is hosting a town hall meeting with Chris in Wilmington next week, and I hope you'll come and ask him questions about his work on these issues and the issues that matter most to you.
Full details are below:
Town Hall Meeting with Senator Chris Coons
sponsored by WDEL 1150 AM radio
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
6:00 p.m.
Delaware Technical and Community College, Wilmington Campus
333 North Shipley Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
Thanks -- and see you Wednesday!
I understand why skeptics view the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction -- Congress' new so-called "super committee" -- with doubt.
The debate over raising the debt ceiling and the subsequent downgrade of our nation's credit rating have created a justified sense of mistrust in Washington's ability to do the right thing. That's a toxic place to be -- not only because of what it does to our economy, but because of how it could undermine confidence in our democracy.
The American people deserve far better.
That's why I challenge the 12 members of Congress appointed to this committee to prove the skeptics wrong, put their own partisan, political priorities on hold, and work with the other party for the common good.
Will you join me?
When it comes to addressing our annual deficits, any solution must be balanced. We cannot reduce our deficit solely on the backs of middle-class families, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet.
We must begin by reforming our tax system to eliminate ridiculous loopholes that allow billionaires and large corporations to not pay their fair share, making responsible cuts to spending, and, of course, finding ways to ensure Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security remain strong for generations to come.
The members of this commission have a golden opportunity to not only restore faith in government, but to set our country on a path to long-term economic strength.
It's time for them to seize it.
Hammering out a balanced solution for stabilizing our spiraling national deficits is critical. I hope the "super committee" takes the challenge seriously and addresses it in a fair and balanced way.
At the same time, we can't forget about the jobs crisis in this country and the millions of Americans who we need to help get back to work. I'll have a lot more to say about that in the days ahead.
Thank you for your help.
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What an historic day.
Just yesterday, we chaired the first-ever congressional hearing focused on repealing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), bringing us even closer to restoring the rights of all lawfully married couples to receive the full benefits of marriage under federal law.
Now, on the heels of our successful hearing, we're rallying the American people to join the 145 congressional co-sponsors who are on the record in support of repealing DOMA, in an effort to win over the support of our colleagues who are still on the fence.
We respect marriage -- for all Americans, including same-sex couples. Will you stand with us?
We've got lots of momentum behind us.
In fact, a majority of Americans -- 53 percent -- now believe same-sex couples deserve the same right to marry as everybody else.
So when the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court earlier this year, we went a step further and co-sponsored the Respect for Marriage Act to completely repeal DOMA. On Tuesday, President Obama added his name as an official endorser of our legislation, too.
Then, just last month, this growing public acceptance -- and the persistence of the pro-equality community -- persuaded a bipartisan majority of legislators in New York to approve same-sex marriage legislation, after previously rejecting it.
Nevertheless, until we repeal DOMA, federal law will continue treating gays and lesbians unequally. That's wrong -- and we need to do something about it.
Justice delayed is justice denied, and for those lawfully wedded same-sex couples who have been denied the full federal recognition we both enjoy in our own marriages, the Respect for Marriage Act is long, long overdue.
That’s why -- even if you’ve already contacted Congress or spoken out against DOMA -- it would mean so much if we could publicly list your name as a Citizen Co-sponsor of our legislation to right this terrible wrong.
It's often said that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but we're teaming up to pick up the pace.
We hope you’ll join with us.
