Senator Coons honored for work against domestic violence

Last night, Senator Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, received the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s (DCADV) 2012 Vision of Peace Award.

The award was presented at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts in Wilmington during DCADV’s Purple Ribbon Event, hosted annually during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“When we shine light on these horrific acts by educating the public, empowering the victims, and punishing the offenders, we can help break the cycle of abuse,” Chris said in accepting the Vision of Peace Award.

The Vision of Peace Award is presented by the DCADV to individuals who have demonstrated leadership and sustained commitment in their efforts to end domestic violence. Chris is fighting to advance the reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) and has worked for many years to help prevent domestic violence in Delaware while empowering victims to come forward.

To learn more about Chris’ work on the Judiciary Committee, click here.

To learn more about DCADV’s work click here.

Senate passes Senator Coons’ resolution honoring Dr. Sally Ride

Senator Coons sponsored a resolution honoring the life and career of the first woman from the United States to fly in space, Dr. Sally Ride, who passed away in late July. Chris’ resolution was approved unanimously by the Senate on Thursday night.

“Sally Ride was inspirational, not only to young women, but to every American who has looked up with wonder and curiosity only the stars can inspire,” Chris said after the resolution passed. “Dr. Ride’s life’s work, like that of the shuttle program, was to inspire Americans to never stop searching for knowledge of our world, our universe, and ourselves. It’s a mission we all must carry out, and one that I am committed to helping fulfill. I’m glad my Senate colleagues came together last night to honor Dr. Ride with this resolution, and hope her memory will continue to persuade young Americans to search for answers in the sciences.”

The bipartisan resolution “expresses [the Senate’s] deepest condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Sally Ride on her death; mourns the loss of Dr. Ride, a trailblazing pioneer who inspired millions of individuals, especially women and girls, to reach for the stars; and appreciates all of the contributions of Dr. Ride to science, physics, education, and human spaceflight.” 

Born, raised, and educated in California, Dr. Ride became a role model and hero when she launched her first mission in 1983, becoming the first American woman to enter low Earth orbit. After flying two shuttle missions and serving as a member of the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger accident, she became a professor, and eventually started “Sally Ride Science” in 2001, a company dedicated to promoting new and exciting ways to engage elementary and middle school students with science at an early age.

Senator Coons congratulates Delaware Boys & Girls Nation Participants

Senator Coons congratulated four Delaware American Legion Auxiliary Boys and Girls Nation leaders Thursday in Washington. The young leaders from the First State are Lael Houston, Rachel Defroda, Donald Wiegner and Christopher Clifton.

“I am always excited to meet our nation’s future leaders, and programs like Boys Nation and Girls Nation are terrific ways for the next generation to learn about our government,” Chris said. “These young men and women will develop essential leadership skills and cultivate strong bonds. This experience puts them on the road to success in their future endeavors.”

Lael Houston, of Dover High School, and Rachel Defroda, of Delaware Military Academy, were the two Delawarean women ‘Senators’ elected out of the 49 Girls State participants. Donald Wiegner, of Delaware Military Academy, and Christopher Clifton, of Sussex Technical High School JROTC, were elected out of 98 Boys State participants. 

The week-long immersion program held in the nation’s capital teaches ambitious young men and women about how the federal government works. Two participants per state, known as “Senators,” are chosen from the Boys and Girls State program. The men and women create a mock legislature where they run for office and elect a mock U.S. Boys or Girls Nation President. The students campaign for the passage of bills, participate in Senate sessions, and more. The highlight of the week includes field trips to monuments, meetings with state senators and representatives, and a visit to the White House.

Senator Coons participates in roundtable discussion on women’s health care

U.S. Senator Chris Coons participated in a roundtable discussion of ideas for protecting women’s access to contraception and family planning services on Wednesday. The meeting was hosted by the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee and featured more than a dozen leaders in women’s health, including Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Nancy Kennan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America; and Alethea Smith-Withers, board chair of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

“All women should have the right to affordable, accessible reproductive health care,” Chris said. “Sadly, many Republicans in Congress insist on creating harmful barriers to keep women from accessing much-needed services. Today’s meeting allowed for a productive discussion with leaders of women’s health care on how we can move forward to continue to advocate for these critical family planning services.”

The hour-long discussion focused on recent destructive initiatives taken by Republicans to block women from accessing basic reproductive health care.  In particular, Cecile Richards and Nancy Keenan discussed the important role the Affordable Care Act has played in improving and expanding access to important health services for women, including requiring health insurance plans to cover preventive services such as mammograms and cervical cancer screenings with no deductible or co-pay.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work to improve America’s health care.

Senator Coons recognizes Equal Pay Day

Senator Chris Coons, a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, issued the following statement on Tuesday to recognize Equal Pay Day — the day that marks how far into the calendar year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. Equal Pay Day was created in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages.

“It’s astonishing and saddening to think that in 2012, women still get paid less than men for doing the same work. As we pause today to reflect on the need for an ‘Equal Pay Day,’ we should also honor the progress women have made in our nation’s workforce. American women make up half our labor force and are the primary or co-breadwinners in six out of ten households, but still face wage discrimination.

“In Delaware, on average, women are paid 81 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap of $9,505 between full-time working men and women. Women of color experience even greater disparity, with African-American women working full-time in Delaware being paid just 71 cents for every dollar paid to men. Latinas in Delaware are paid just 53 cents on the dollar.

“Equal pay for equal work is more than just basic fairness, it will also reduce the financial strain many families are currently facing. I applaud the efforts of so many to close the wage gap, including my colleague, Senator Barbara Mikulski, who introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, of which I’m a proud cosponsor. Today, I re-pledge myself to fighting to end pay discrimination for Delawareans and all Americans. ”

Click here to learn more about Chris' work on civil rights. 

Senator Coons reviews White House report on women and the economy

Today, the White House Council on Women and Girls is hosting a forum on Women and the Economy. As part of the forum, they released a report examining the financial security of women through all stages of their life.

Senator Coons was glad to see the Administration address the issue at a time when more and more women are the principle breadwinners for their families. Although women make up nearly 50% of the American workforce and are a majority of students in colleges and graduate schools, the fact remains that they still earn just 77 cents on every dollar paid to men. Senator Coons believes ending this discrimination is an important part of strengthening our economic recovery.  

The report, entitled Keeping America’s Women Moving Forward, The Key to an Economy Built to Last, covers key topics in women’s financial lives, including higher education and career preparation; business ownership and tax credits; and senior women preparing for retirement.

Video: Senator Coons honors Barbara Mikulski for becoming the longest-serving woman in this history of Congress

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) speaks on the Senate floor honoring Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland for becoming the longest-serving female member of Congress.

How the Affordable Care Act is benefiting Delaware

This week marks the two year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law. This health care reform gives millions of Americans the stability and security they deserve by ensuring that families cannot be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, lose their coverage or be forced into bankruptcy when someone gets sick.

The law has helped cut health care costs throughout Delaware and positively impacted the lives of many in the state by:

Making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors

Thanks to the new health care law, 12,866 people with Medicare in Delaware received a $250 rebate to help cover the cost of their prescription drugs when they hit the donut hole in 2010. In 2011, 12,356 people with Medicare received a 50 percent discount on their covered brand-name prescription drugs when they hit the donut hole. This discount resulted in an average savings of $757 per person, and a total savings of $9,358,894 in Delaware. By 2020, the law will close the donut hole.

Covering preventive services with no deductible or co-pay

In 2011, 117,943 people with Medicare in Delaware received free preventive services – such as mammograms and colonoscopies – or a free annual wellness visit with their doctor. And 54 million Americans with private health insurance gained preventive service coverage with no cost-sharing, including 163,000 in Delaware.

Creating new coverage options for individuals with pre-existing conditions

As of the end of 2011, 153 previously uninsured residents of Delaware who were locked out of the coverage system because of a pre-existing condition are now insured through a new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan that was created under the new health reform law.

Removing lifetime caps on health benefits

The law bans insurance companies from imposing lifetime dollar limits on health benefits – freeing cancer patients and individuals suffering from other chronic diseases from having to worry about going without treatment because of their lifetime limits. Already, 320,000 residents, including 121,000 women and 86,000 children, are free from worrying about lifetime limits on coverage. The law also restricts the use of annual limits and bans them completely in 2014.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work for accessible, affordable health care.

Honoring International Women’s Day

Since the United Nations General Assembly first invited member states to proclaim March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1977, many countries pause to mark the innumerable contributions women have made in their country and around the world. The UN theme for International Women’s Day 2012 is Empower Women – End Hunger and Poverty.

As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, Senator Coons knows that in order to increase the quality of life for Africans, women must have a seat at the table and play an integral role in national decisions. This can only occur when countries invest in educating girls and boys equally and provide access to primary health care services.

The scourge of malaria impacts all kinds of people, but the majority of those killed are pregnant women and children under five years old.  Senator Coons is a co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Working Group on Malaria to raise Congressional awareness of U.S. efforts to stem the tide of malaria across the globe. Malaria, an infectious blood disease spread by mosquitoes, is most prevalent in the developing world, with 90 percent of deaths occurring in Africa. In June, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution sponsored by Chris that supports the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day, and affirmed support for U.S. leadership to combat malaria as a critical component of the President’s Global Health Initiative.

Women play a critical role in agriculture, which forms the foundation of the economy for the rural poor. Worldwide roughly 1.6 billion women rely on farming for their livelihoods, and female farmers produce more than half of the world’s food. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, women account for 75 percent of all the agricultural producers. Due to the lack of information technology and the inability to connect rural enterprises to banks, many women in developing nations face greater obstacles than men when it comes to increasing their productivity and income.

One way women are working together to improve their communities and income is through cooperatives (co-ops) a type of business characterized by democratic ownership where farmers pool their resources for mutual economic benefit. In the war-torn country of Côte d’Ivoire, Marium Gnire partnered with Slow Foods International to organize a women’s farming co-op that would provide quality local food for school meals in her village of N’Ganon, increasing both the women’s income and the health of the community. Co-ops have been immensely successful in improving the lives of women and their families.

International Women’s Day is a time for reflection on the role women have played and continue to play in the betterment of our society and our world.

Click here to learn more about International Women’s Day.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work on foreign policy. 

Commemorating Women’s History Month by recommitting to equality

Throughout the course of our nation’s history, women often had to struggle for equality on all fronts. March is Women’s History Month, and while we remember the heroic efforts of women who came before, we must also be mindful that there remains work to be done.

Thirty-nine years ago, the United States Supreme Court recognized a woman’s right to make her own decisions about starting a family and protecting her body. Some are still fighting, however, to roll back this right.

Instead of focusing on our economic recovery and creating jobs, some members of this Congress have chosen to prioritize legislation that would infringe on women’s access to health care services.

On Thursday, the first day of Women’s History Month, the Senate was forced to vote on an amendment introduced by Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri which would have allowed employers to take away preventive health care coverage from millions of women.

This amendment failed to pass – by a slim margin of 51-48 – and working women’s ability to access vital health services such as mammograms, contraception and prenatal care remains intact.

This month, and every month, we have an opportunity to recognize the wide range of contributions American women have made to our country. As we strive to form a more perfect union, we must remain committed to the cause of equality, indifferent to race, income, sexual orientation, and indeed, sex.