{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"DE\" and year = 2020 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-epa-s-censoring-science-rule-is-the-trump-administration-s-last-gasp-of-science-denial", "Carper: EPAs Censoring Science Rule is the Trump Administrations Last Gasp of Science Denial", "2020-12-31", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its rule todrastically undermine the use of science in agency decision-making.\r\nIn the final days of the Trump Administration, EPA has finalized its rule that will suppress scientific research and censor scientists and experts. It's just one last gasp of science denial. Amid an ongoing public health crisis  a time when accessing the latest scientific research and embracing scientific advancements is a critical function of protecting human health  the Trump EPA is trying to limit the use of scientific data, even data that could be used to address the growing link between exposure to air pollution and adverse outcomes of COVID-19. It's as absurd as it sounds. As I said earlier this year, it's hard to imagine a time when our nation needed to embrace science more than we do at this very moment. Almost a year into our battle against the coronavirus pandemic, that's even truer today. While I continue to be amazed by this administration's penchant for science denial, I am confident that this irresponsible rollback  finalized in the last few days of the Trump Administration  will not impede the incoming administration's efforts to restore the use of science in rulemaking. President-elect Biden has made clear that his administration will be guided by science.\r\nIn March, Senator Carperasked the EPA Inspector General (IG)to open an investigation into potentially unlawful efforts and procedural problems related to the preparation and review of this supplemental proposal. Later that month, Senator Carper asked EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler towithdraw the rule, describing how thesweeping policy would limit the use of science in EPA rulemaking. As Senator Carper described in hisMarch 24letter to Administrator Wheeler, examples abound of research that would now  at minimum  require considerable review time to determine whether or not they meet the requirements of the Secret Science Rule, or considerable review time to determine whether or not they would require an exemption from the rule's applicability before being used for EPA decision-making purposes. Some examples include:\r\n \r\nThisMarch 2020 survey of existing research describes the interaction of several coronaviruses on surfaces with biocidal agents. EPA isresponsiblefor recommending disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens.\r\nThisNovember2003 paper includes a statistical correlation between SARS fatalities in China and higher exposure to air pollution, information that could be relevant to EPA air officials as new criteria pollutant standards are developed.\r\nThisOctober 2015 paper describes the challenges associated with the sterilization and disposal of medical waste contaminated by Ebola.EPAworked jointlywith CDC to develop disposal and sterilization guidelines and could be called on to do the same for COVID-19.\r\n \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-celebrates-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-clean-air-act", "Carper Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Air Act", "2020-12-30", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WILMINGTON, Del.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act on December 31, 2020. Signed into law in 1970, the Clean Air Act created a national framework to reduce pollution and improve air quality, entrusting the Environmental Protection Agency with leading efforts to ensure everyone in this country has clean air to breathe. For fifty years, this landmark law has ushered in dramatic improvements in air quality. It has saved hundreds of thousands of lives from deadly air pollution while improving the health of millions more. During that same time, our economy has expanded and more than tripled its gross domestic product while EPA has worked with states and businesses alike to dramatically reduce harmful emissions. The progress made under the Clean Air Act is proof that improvements in public health and environmental quality goes hand in hand with economic growth and job creation. In fact, the benefits of the Clean Air Act outweigh its costs by a margin of 30 to one. This sweeping law will continue to endure because its regulations can adapt and evolve with the latest science to help us meet the most pressing air quality challenges of our day. For example, advances in science continue to elucidate the link between air pollution and human health. As our country continues to suffer from the scourge of the coronavirus pandemic, research shows that stronger safeguards for clean air can protect people from pollution that is causing more severe and even deadlier cases of COVID-19. Stronger Clean Air Act regulations can help us better protect public health. As our nation reckons with decades of systemic racism, stronger air protections can also help us address the air pollution that is disproportionately harming communities of color and reinforcing unjust disparities in health and environmental quality. Stronger Clean Air Act regulations can help us further the cause of environmental justice and, finally, fifty years later, make good on the promise of ensuring clean air for everyone in this country.\r\n Over the last fifty years, the Clean Air Act has helped our nation confront some of the toughest problems impeding our efforts to protect clean air  issues like interstate pollution, which was once considered too complex and complicated to address. Fortunately, the flexible framework provided by the Clean Air Act gives EPA the tools and authorities it needs to address complicated problems, which is why the law will be critical in the fight against the climate crisis. Through the clear authorities of the Clean Air Act, EPA will be able to lead the nation in our nationwide transition to a clean economy. On this special anniversary, we are reminded that our work to ensure clean air for everyone is far from over, but we are also reminded to be hopeful. In 1970, the gigantic strides in air quality we have made over the last fifty years would have seemed daunting, perhaps even unfeasible. But by working together  Democrats and Republicans, the environmental community and industry, the federal government and states  we achieved monumental progress that once seemed impossible. With the Clean Air Act as our guide, we can continue that progress.\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-highlights-significant-climate-solutions-in-the-covid-emergency-relief-and-omnibus-bill", "Carper Highlights Significant Climate Solutions in the COVID Emergency Relief and Omnibus Bill", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, highlighted significant climate provisions included in the end of the year spending bill  known as the omnibus appropriations bill  that will aid in the nation's fight against the climate crisis, improve air quality and support American manufacturing jobs.\r\nThese provisions represent the future of climate solutions, finding ways that the federal government can help to save our planet from the climate crisis while creating hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs. We can ensure American workers lead the national transition to a clean economy. We can embrace the ingenuity and innovation of American industries while protecting vulnerable communities. We can enact sweeping, national climate policies that implicate our everyday ways of life without complicating our lives. We can, we must, and we will, Senator Carper said. Make no mistake, these provisions will soon be some of the most significant climate legislation to pass out of Congress to dateand we're just getting started. Legislation creates nationwide phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases.\r\nIncluded in the omnibus is an amended version of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, Senator Carper's legislation with Senator Kennedy (R-La.) that will implement a nationwide 85 percent phasedown on the production and importation of hydrofluorocarbons, potent greenhouse gases known as HFCs. By enabling the U.S. to join the rest of the world in phasing down HFCs, this language will help our planet avoid half a degree Celsius in global warming while supporting U.S. industries already making the next generation of HFC-alternatives, which employ more than 593,000 Americans. The AIM Act would:\r\n \r\nSave American consumers $3.7 billion over 15 years;\r\nIncrease U.S. manufacturing output by almost $39 billion over seven years; and,\r\nResult in the creation of 150,000 more American jobs.\r\n \r\nHFCs can be found in nearly every home in America. They are the coolants and refrigerants used in air conditioning and refrigerators. But while HFCs keep our homes cool and our groceries cold, they heat up our planet with a global warming effect thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. The good news, though, is that the next generation of climate-friendly HFC replacements are already being made in America and sold throughout the world. The AIM Act will help us seize the opportunity that comes with building on those investments, Senator Carper said. By joining the rest of the world to phase down these potent greenhouse gases, the U.S. will reap nearly $39 billion in annual economic benefits while helping the planet avoid a half degree Celsius in global warming. The AIM Act will ensure American workers and businesses lead the nationwide phase down of these potent greenhouse gases, and that American industries lead the global market in HFC-alternatives. At the same time, it will help to protect and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs. This is a big deal for our economy and our planet. I thank Senator Kennedy for his partnership in rallying the Senate to get this bill across the finish line.\r\nLegislation provides critical new clean energy tax credits.\r\nThe omnibus legislation includes an amended version of Carper's legislation with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act. The investment tax credit for offshore wind is extended for five years and the offshore wind investment tax credit is retroactively restored to 30 percent, similar to the Carper-Collins legislation. For ten years, Senators Carper and Collins have tried to provide long-term tax incentives for investments in offshore wind, this win will spark more investments in offshore wind power, critical for our fight against climate change and in support of economic recovery.\r\nThe omnibus legislation includes yet another clean energy tax priority for Senator Carper, support for waste heat to power. By including an amended version of Senator Carper's legislation with Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the Waste Heat to Power Investment Tax Credit Act, the omnibus legislation creates a new tax credit incentive to support technologies that convert wasted heat to electricity is also included in the omnibus. The new tax credit which is supported by the United Steelworkers International, steel producers, businesses and clean energy advocates  will save manufacturers billions of dollars in energy costs and create thousands of American jobs.\r\nOther critical tax extender provisions are also secured in the omnibus. All energy investment tax credits (ITCs) under section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code are extended, including critical ITC extensions for stationary fuel cells and solar power\r\nTo support the rapid nationwide deployment of cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy like offshore wind waste heat to power technologies, we need to ensure American companies and manufacturers have the certainty and predictability they need today to make significant investments for the long-term, Senator Carper said. Too often, innovators have the technology at their fingertips but daunting upfront costs discourage businesses from making the investments needed to deploy those technologies. By creating and extending these clean energy tax credits, and creating new ones, we can support the innovators that are already working to harness the power of wind, absorb the energy of the sun, and transform wasted industrial heat to clean electricity. I am especially pleased to see tax credits for offshore wind and waste heat to power technologies, I've fought long and hard with my colleagues to get these credits adopted.\r\nLegislation supports cleaner air and better climate by reauthorizing the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act.\r\nSenator Carper's legislation with Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, is also included in the omnibus bill. This provision will reauthorize the popular, cost-effective DERA program that helps to finance the replacement of older diesel engines with cleaner, American-made technology. The provision reauthorizes the DERA program through fiscal year 2024 at its current authorization funding levels.\r\nThe great thing about diesel engines is that they last a long timeand the bad thing about diesel engines is that they last a long time. Newer diesel engines are reliable and efficient, but the older ones are some of our nation's biggest contributors to smog, soot and black carbon air pollution. The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act creates financial incentives for people to replace or retrofit their older diesel engines with clean, American-made technology, Senator Carper said. Since I first introduced DERA with the late Senator George Voinovich 15 years ago, the law has become one of EPA's most effective clean air program on the books today. For every dollar spent in the DERA program, our nation sees $13 in economic and health benefits. It helps to clean the air in our communities, create good-paying American jobs in domestic manufacturing and protect our planet from the climate crisis. DERA was first established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and was originally co-authored by Senator Carper and the late Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio). Since the passing of Senator Voinovich, my DERA wingman' in the Senate has been Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Senator Carper continued. I thank Senator Inhofe for his partnership on this important piece of legislation. In the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Fourth Report to Congress on DERA's performance, the agency reported that, nationwide, DERA grants have funded projects to replace or retrofit 67,300 engines in vehicles, boats, trains, and other pieces of equipment. Over the lifetime of those engines, EPA estimates that those projects will:\r\n \r\nPrevent up to 2,300 premature deaths\r\nCreate up to $19 billion in monetized health benefits, a return-on-investment of more than $30 for every one dollar spent\r\nSave over 454 million gallons of fuel; and,\r\nSlash harmful emissions, including:\r\n\r\n472,700 tons of NOx,\r\n15,490 tons of particulate matter, and,\r\n5,089,170 tons of carbon dioxide.\r\n\r\n \r\nLegislation supports investments in carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, including direct air capture.\r\nThe Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act is also included in the omnibus bill. The USE IT Act supports carbon utilization and direct air capture research. We need to use every tool at our disposal to rapidly reduce emissions and avoid the irreversible consequences of the worsening climate crisis. Carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, or CCUS, technologies are critical as we transition to a net-zero economy here in the United States, Senator Carper said. The USE IT Act will help lower the market barriers to widespread development and deployment of carbon capture. Boosting this emerging industry is one way we can support American manufacturers and industries in the national transition to a clean economy and the global movement to a carbon-free world.\r\nSenator Carper is an original cosponsor of USE IT Act, which was co-authored by EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/delaware-delegation-celebrates-major-wins-for-the-first-state-in-water-infrastructure-legislation", "Delaware Delegation Celebrates Major Wins for the First State in Water Infrastructure Legislation", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, as well as U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.) voted to pass the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA 2020) as part of legislation to fund the government. From improving and expanding water infrastructure to investing in disadvantaged communities, replenishing beaches, and improving coastal resilience, WRDA 2020 delivers major wins for Delaware.    In Delaware and across the country, our nation's water infrastructure keeps our economy moving forward. This year's Water Resources Development Act authorizes funding to improve our ports, like the Port of Wilmington. It also implements several much-needed reforms to fortify our most vulnerable communities in the First State from the impacts of climate change and rebuild our beaches, said Senator Carper, who co-authored the legislation with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY). I'm proud that my colleagues in Congress came together to get this critical bill across the finish line. Our bipartisan legislation will create and sustain jobs and help secure a better future for the American people.\r\nDelaware is the country's lowest-lying state, and our economy and ecosystems rely on the protection of coastal communities and navigability of our waterways, Senator Coons said. I'm pleased that WRDA 2020 includes critical priorities for the First State: safeguarding Delaware's beach communities, enhancing resiliency in the face of climate change and rising sea levels, and facilitating important projects to support the men and women who work at the Port of Wilmington. I'm glad to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate  particularly Senator Carper who played a leading role in these negotiations  to deliver water infrastructure updates that meet the unique needs of our state.\r\nWe know that one of the most important aspects of infrastructure is maintaining our waterways and systems. This year's WRDA, led by Delaware's Senator Carper makes those critical and necessary investments, said Rep. Blunt Rochester. As the state with the lowest mean elevation in the country, Delaware is on the front lines of climate change  from eroding shorelines, to changing growing seasons, to flooding neighborhoods. The bill prioritizes rebuffing the impacts of climate change along with improving our overall water infrastructure. I thank Senator Carper for his leadership in getting this bipartisan bill passed.\r\nAmong its provisions, WRDA 2020 will:\r\n \r\nProtect Delaware's beaches from storm damage and assist with their re-nourishment;\r\nPromote resiliency projects in communities throughout the First State to address the impacts of climate change; and,\r\nEnsure the operation and maintenance of Delaware's ports and waterways, including the Port of Wilmington and Indian River Inlet.\r\n \r\nClick here for more in-depth background information on WRDA 2020, and click here for additional background about the major wins for Delaware in WRDA 2020.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-cheers-tax-incentives-in-end-of-the-year-spending-deal", "Carper Cheers Tax Incentives in End-of-the-Year Spending Deal", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement on the critical clean energy tax provisions included in the omnibus spending bill that would provide long-term incentives foroffshore wind energyandcreate new incentives to supporttechnologies that convert wasted heat to electricity, two issues that Senator Carper has worked for years to advance.\r\nAs a nation, we needto do more to incentivize the production of clean energy here at home, especially to meet our clean energy and emission reduction goals. This bipartisan spending deal will provide industries with the certainty and predictability needed to make long-term investments in new, innovative clean energy technologies. I am thrilled that thebipartisan spending bill includes a slightly amended version of my legislation with Senator Collins that would spark investments in offshore wind power. The Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act provides a long-term offshore wind investment tax credit to make offshore wind a reality in this country, along with the manufacturing and construction jobs that come with it. By investing in this new technology and harnessing the power of offshore wind energy, we can create good-paying jobs, reduce our reliance on dirtier sources of energy andprovide reduced energy costs to consumers. For over ten years, Senator Collins and I have tried to provide long-term tax certainty for the offshore wind industry and to have this provision finally included in the tax extenders package is a very good day.\r\nThis bipartisan spending deal also includesan amended version ofmy legislation with Senator Cardin, the Waste Heat to Power Investment Tax Credit Act. This legislation creates a new tax credit to support the investment in technology that reduces harmful emissions and conserves energy by converting wasted heat to clean electricity. This is an important tax credit is supported by industry, environmental groups and labor, and it's one that Senator Cardin and I have been pushing for since 2014. So much of the energy used at industrial facilities across the nation escapes into our atmosphere as thermal heat. Right now, we have technology at our fingertips that could harness this waste and transform it into clean and usable electricity, but, for too many businesses, making upfront investments in this technology have proven difficult. This new waste heat to power tax credit relieves some of that burden, helps ensure that America leads on the frontier of energy, and creates good-paying Americanjobs in the process.\r\nI've long said that if we want to encourage businesses to invest in growing our country's clean energy sector, we have to make clean energy tax credits for those industries predictable and reliable.We can't ask companies to research and develop cleaner technologies if we can't tell them what their yearly tax bill will be. With these new critical tax incentives, we can go a long way in supporting our country's growing renewable energy industry. The First State is home to hundreds of Delawareans who work on the cutting edge of clean energy technology that will be supported by this federal investment. By extendingand expandingthese clean energy investment tax credits, we are walking the walk  protecting our environment while also growing our economy and helping to save and create good-paying jobs. \r\nThe package announced tonight also includes other important extenders that we know make a real difference. An extension of something called the new markets tax credit will help finance projects in underdeveloped areas. This tax credit once helped to finance a remodeling of our very own Queen Theater in Wilmington. In addition, thepermanentextension of something known as the craft beverage excise tax reduction will help distillers and craft brewers in our communities grow, invest in their business and create new jobs,while the permanent extension of the short line rail tax credit will support investments in railroad track and bridge improvements.\r\nThe phrase tax extenders' gets thrown around a lot in Washington, D.C. It sounds pretty wonky, and it doesn't help that we give these credits overly technical names. But they are really important, and they often help small businesses across our region and across the country to do the work that is critical for our communities, our fellow Americans and our planet, but is not always financially viable. I'm glad that so many of these tax credits that were set to expire have been given new life in this package. Unfortunately, too many of these credits are still only extended for one year or a few years. I will continue working to ensure that, one day, we make these credits permanent in order to provide much-needed certainty for families and businesses alike, rather than lurching from year to year.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-colleagues-announce-historic-bipartisan-agreement-on-climate-legislation", "Carper, Colleagues Announce Historic Bipartisan Agreement on Climate Legislation", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R- Wyo.) and Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and John Kennedy (R-La.) in announcing a historic, bipartisan agreement to include multiple pieces of climate legislation in the continuing resolution. The continuing resolution will now include:\r\n \r\nSenator Carper's American Manufacturing and Innovation (AIM) Act with Senator Kennedy, legislation that would implement a 15-year phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) at a national level for the first time, administered by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);\r\nSenator Carper's Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA); and,\r\nThe Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act to promote carbon capture technologies, which is also cosponsored by Senator Carper.\r\n \r\nThe buses that take our kids to school. The air conditioners that keep our homes cool. The refrigerators that keep our groceries safe to eat. For millions of people across the country, these are just small parts of our everyday lives, but they also represent big threats to the health of our communities and our planet. Old, dirty diesel engines pollute the air we breathe and damage our climate with deadly black carbon. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in air conditioning and refrigeration warm our climate more than thousands of times more than carbon dioxide, Senator Carper said. Fortunately, there are solutions to these problems that will clean our air, protect and create American jobs, and help to save our planet from the climate crisis. Make no mistake, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, the Diesel Emissions Reduction Actand the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies Act will soon be some of the most significant climate solutions to pass out of Congress to date, Senator Carper continued. These bills will help to improve air quality and tackle the climate crisis while creating thousands of new jobs and keeping our economy moving. I thank my colleagues, especially Chairman Barrasso, Senator Kennedy  co-author of the AIM Act  and Senator Inhofe  co-author of DERA  for their work over the years to secure these important victories for our planet. Now, let's look to the future. Let's build on this progress.\r\nRepublicans and Democrats are working together to protect the environment through innovation, Senator Barrasso said. This historic agreement includes three separate pieces of legislation that will significantly reduce greenhouse gasses. The USE IT Act is a bipartisan bill to promote carbon capture technologies that take carbon out of the air and find marketable uses for it. This type of research and development is already taking place in Wyoming at the Integrated Test Center. Carbon capture technologies hold the key to major emissions reductions. Similarly, the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act has significantly reduced the amount of black carbon in our air. Reauthorizing this important program will lead to significantly more reductions. Finally, HFC chemicals are in every home  from our cars, to our air conditioners. The emissions from the use of these chemicals contribute to climate change. This agreement will authorize a 15-year phase down of their use, while safeguarding consumers and American manufacturers. All three of these measures will protect our air while keeping costs down for the American people. I want to thank Ranking Member Carper and Senators Capito, Whitehouse, and Kennedy for working with me to secure this historic agreement. This agreement means real, bipartisan progress for our climate, Senator Whitehouse said. By joining the international community in tackling HFCsone of the more potent greenhouse gases out therewe are making a meaningful cut in global warming, perhaps avoiding up to 0.5C of warming by the end of the century. Through our USE IT Act, we are boosting efforts to remove carbon pollution from the atmosphere and put it to good use. And by reauthorizing the DERA program at the EPA, we're reducing dangerous tailpipe emissions. We need to pass a serious and comprehensive climate bill, but these bipartisan wins represent important progress. I'm proud to have worked with Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper, and other members from both sides of the aisle to get this done.\r\nMitigating both air pollution and climate change has been and remains a top priority of the EPW Committee, Senator Capito said. I'm glad to see this government funding agreement include several pieces of legislation I co-sponsored, including the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act and Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), that will help us accomplish this goal in a responsible way. This agreement to include these pieces of environmental legislation demonstrates that we are making significant progress to address this issue in a bipartisan, commonsense way. DERA will help West Virginia communities update ageing school and municipal buses for cleaner, modern vehicles, while the USE IT Act will facilitate carbon dioxide pipelines to provide the backbone infrastructure needed to grow CCUS and a carbon economy, reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Both pieces of legislation are major wins for air quality and climate, and I was proud to play a role in each.\r\nMore than ever, foreign competition demands we protect American jobs by keeping the U.S. competitive in global industry, Senator Kennedy said. Investing in next-generation refrigerants will create thousands of jobs, save billions of dollars and safeguard the environment, all of which matter deeply to Louisianians. I'm grateful to have worked with Chairman Barrasso and Sen. Carper to champion the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act and bring American production into the future.\r\nThe American Innovation and Manufacturing Act will authorize a 15-year phasedown of HFCs at a national level for the first time, administered by EPA. The amendment requires EPA to implement an 85 percent phasedown of the production and consumption of HFCs, so they reach approximately 15 percent of their 2011-2013 average annual levels by 2036. The legislative language matches the bipartisan agreement reached earlier this year by Senators Carper, Barrasso, and Kennedy.  The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act would reauthorize the popular, cost-effective DERA program that helps to finance the replacement of older diesel engines with cleaner, American-made technology. The provision reauthorizes the DERA program through fiscal year 2024 at its current funding levels and ensures equal funding opportunities between both metropolitan centers and less populated, rural areas across the country. The DERA program has reduced black carbon emissions by more than 11,000 tons and carbon dioxide by more than 5 million tons. The legislation will reauthorize this important program until 2024.\r\nThe Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act supports carbon utilization and direct air capture research. The bill also supports federal, state, and non-governmental collaboration in the construction and development of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) facilities and carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines. The USE IT Act was introduced by Senators Carper, Barrasso, Whitehouse, and several other senators.\r\nAdditional Background Information:\r\nThe American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act:\r\nOn November 1, 2019, Senators Carper and Kennedy introduced the AIM Act. On March 5, 2020, Senators Carper and Kennedy offered the AIM Act as an amendment to the American Energy Innovation Act.\r\nOn March 25, 2020, the EPW Committee began an information-gathering process to hear feedback from different stakeholders on the AIM Act.\r\nOn September 10, 2020, Senators Carper, Barrasso, and Kennedy announced an agreement to update the AIM Act amendment to the American Energy Innovation Act. The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA):\r\nDERA was first established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and was co-authored by Senator Carper and the late Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio). On March 12, 2019, Senator Carper reintroduced DERA with Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and well as Senators Barrasso, Whitehouse, Sullivan (R-Alaska), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Capito, Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cramer (R-N.D.) and Van Hollen (D-Md.). On March 13, 2019, the EPW Committee held a legislative Hearing to Examine S. __, Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) of 2019. On April 10, 2019, the EPW Committee unanimously passed DERA at an EPW Committee business meeting.\r\nThe Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act:\r\nThe USE IT Act was first introduced during the 115th Congress. The EPW Committee advanced the legislation unanimously in 2018.\r\nOn February 7, 2019, Senator Barrasso joined with Whitehouse and Carper to reintroduce the USE IT Act. Senators Capito, Duckworth (D-Ill.), Cramer, Smith (D-Minn.), Manchin (D-W.V.), and Enzi (R-Wyo.) also joined as original cosponsors.\r\n\r\nOn February 27, 2019, the EPW Committee held a legislative hearing on S. 383. On April 10, 2019, the EPW Committee unanimously passed the USE IT Act at an EPW Committee business meeting. On June 27, 2019, the USE IT Act passed the Senate as part of the 2019 NDAA.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-hails-critical-transportation-funding-in-the-emergency-coronavirus-relief-and-omnibus-package", "Carper Hails Critical Transportation Funding in the Emergency Coronavirus Relief and Omnibus Package", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the transportation funding-related provisions included in the emergency coronavirus relief and omnibus spending package.\r\nOver the last several months, the coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed the way millions of people use our nation's infrastructure. Stay at home orders have kept millions of people off of our roads, buses and trains. Canceled travel plans have dramatically cleared our airways. These impacts to our nation's transportation system have distressed the way we pay for our transportation system. Our nation's infrastructure is paid for largely through user fees  tolls, motor fuel taxes,transit fares and ticket revenue,vehicle excise taxes and registration fees  and, over the course of this pandemic, all of these sources of revenue have declined dramatically. As a result, state and local highway, transit, and rail agencies have been struggling to balance their budgets and forced to consider furloughs, service cuts or canceled contracts. The impact of this pandemic on state and local budgets has been without modern precedent. With this new bipartisan relief package, Congress is providing some long-awaited relief to state and local budgets whose budgets have been stretched precariously thin for too long. This new package will prevent disastrous cuts to transit and rail service and will alsoenable states to transfer funds to their public tolling agencies, which will help those agencies avoid layoffs or other worst-case-scenario budget cuts. I'm particularly glad that this bipartisan package contains critical funding for public transit, regional airports and Amtrak. These sectors of our transportation network have been grappling with the unexpected and extraordinary decline in ridership and revenue. In this bipartisan relief package, Congress has also provided some long-awaited assistance to the motor coach industry. Since the start of this pandemic, the tour bus, charter bus and school bus companies that normally service 600 million people each year have seen a significant reduction in ridership due to widespread stay-at-home orders and travel cancellation. This is an industry that's primarily comprised of small, family-owned businesses. And while employing thousands of people, these motorcoach services also provide a more affordable and environmentally-friendly travel alternative that helps to reduce congestion and improve mobility in rural and economically disadvantaged communities. In Delaware, the motorcoach industry employs hundreds of people and has an estimated $50 million direct economic impact for our state. Finally, this industry will see some of the relief it so badly needs. Of course, this package alone does not do nearly enough to support our nation's transportation infrastructure. Investing in infrastructure can assist with long-term economic recovery, but if we do it right, it can do even more. It can spur economic expansion and growth. It can create millions of jobs and expand opportunity in economically disadvantaged communities. It can mitigate our country's contributionto the climate crisis and improve connections in our communities. Over the next several months, it will be imperative for Congress to come together and make significant investments in our nation's transportation so that we can make good on the promise of building back better and break ground on a stronger, more sustainable future.\r\nThe deal includes:\r\n \r\n$14 billion for transit infrastructure;\r\n$10 billion for highway infrastructure;\r\n$2 billion for airports;\r\n$2 billion for private providers of transportation services;\r\n$1 billion for Amtrak; and,\r\n$1 billion for airline contractor payroll support program funding.\r\n \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/epw-leaders-secure-inclusion-of-bipartisan-water-infrastructure-legislation-in-the-omnibus", "EPW Leaders Secure Inclusion of Bipartisan Water Infrastructure Legislation in the Omnibus", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) and the bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee secured the inclusion of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA 2020) in the legislation to fund the government.\r\nWRDA 2020 supports our nation's economic competitiveness by increasing water storage, providing protection from dangerous floodwaters, deepening nationally significant ports, maintaining the navigability of inland waterways, and addressing the threat of invasive species across the country. The bill includes natural infrastructure and ecosystem restoration efforts to protect the environment and improve the resiliency of our water infrastructure. It also cuts red tape, is fiscally responsible, and strengthens our national security.\r\nIn addition to being the lifeblood for communities across the country, our nation's water infrastructure keeps our economy moving forward. That is why it's so important for Congress to come together every two years and authorize funding to improve our ports, restore and rebuild our waterways, protect our communities from coastal storms and inland flooding, and maintain our other critical water resources infrastructure, Senator Carper said. I'm proud that this year's Water Resources Development Act invests in essential Army Corps of Engineers projects and implements several much-needed reforms to combat climate change and support our most vulnerable communities. Our bipartisan legislation will create and sustain jobs and help secure a better future for the American people.\r\nWater infrastructure is critical to every community in our country, Senator Barrasso said. The Water Resources Development Act will help grow the economy, cut red tape, and keep communities safe. Now, this legislation can move forward. I want to thank Ranking Member Carper and Senators Capito and Cardin for working with me and look forward to getting the bill across the finish line. This year's Water Resources Development Act supports the economic and environmental health of our nation. It invests in our nation's key ports and harbors, like the Port of Baltimore. It also makes new commitments to help communities restore ecosystems and address flood risks and sea level rise due to climate changeimportant priorities for Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, Senator Cardin said. Getting this legislation done puts us in a stronger position to start the new year. I am proud we were able to come together in a bipartisan way to get the is done this year. Strengthening America's infrastructure has traditionally been a bipartisan priority because of the enormous benefits such projects can generate, Senator Capito said. The Water Resources Development Act makes important updates to our nation's water resources infrastructure and provides resources that will benefit the health and wellbeing of West Virginians and others in communities across the country. I'm glad to see this legislation included as part of the final bill to fund the federal government. \r\nWRDA 2020, which would deliver major wins for Delaware, was negotiated by Senators Carper, Barrasso, Capito and Cardin and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-Mo.).\r\nOn April 21, 2020, Barrasso, Carper, Capito, and Cardin released draft bills of America's Water Infrastructure Act 2020. On May 6, 2020, the EPW Committee unanimously passed America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (AWIA 2020). On December 8, 2020, the House of Representatives passed WRDA 2020 by voice vote.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-the-historic-nomination-of-deb-haaland-to-lead-the-department-of-the-interior", "Carper Statement on the Historic Nomination of Deb Haaland to Lead the Department of the Interior", "2020-12-19", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement regarding President-elect Biden's nomination of U.S. Representative Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.\r\nIn choosing Congresswoman Haaland to be his Interior Secretary nominee, President-elect Biden is fulfilling his commitment to assembling a cabinet that truly embodies the best of our country. Congresswoman Haaland's lived experienceas a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and member of the House Natural Resources Committeemakes her an excellent fit to lead the Department of Interior.\r\nFrom White Sands to the Brandywine, our public lands are national treasures. They are sanctuaries that we share with the natural world. They are places we can safely escape to for outdoor recreation during a deadly pandemic. And they deserve to be maintained for future generations. After four years of attacks by the Trump Administration and the ever-present threat of climate change, the American people need someone leading Interior who will fiercely protect our public lands and our wildlife. They have that leader in Congresswoman Haaland.\r\nDelaware may not boast thousands of miles of wide-open spaces or sprawling mountain ranges, but we are home to natural wonders of our own. Our state's wetlands, waterways, and other natural spaces are ecologically important, and teeming with diverse wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Our National Park tells the story of the earliest days of our democracy while our National Wildlife Refuges provide safe harbors for migratory birds. These spaces draw hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, as eco-tourism and outdoor recreation play a big role in our small state's economy. The Secretary of Interior plays a critically important role for our state, and I look forward to hearing Congresswoman Haaland's ideas about the ways we can protect our natural resources and support conservation in Delaware.\r\nIn addition to protecting public lands and preserving our natural resources, I have no doubt that Congresswoman Haaland will put environmental justice front and center in Interior's important work. I congratulate her on this historic nomination and look forward to working with her on safeguarding the natural world around us.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/video-delaware-delegation-underscores-confidence-by-taking-covid-19-vaccine", "[VIDEO] Delaware delegation underscores confidence by taking COVID-19 vaccine", "2020-12-19", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester encourage COVID-19 protection through vaccination, face covering, and social distancing\r\nWASHINGTON  Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons and U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.)underscored their confidence in the remarkable work of scientists and public servants across the United States and around the world by taking the first of two doses ofaCOVID-19 vaccine.\r\nIn avideo released by the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH), the Delaware congressional delegation says,It's great news that we have multiple vaccines that aresafe, effective, and critical to beating this pandemic. We are so grateful to the scientists and researchers around the globe who have made this day possible. And to all the health care heroes who have put their own lives at risk to care for others.\r\nTo reach the other side of this pandemic, we're going to need everyone to learn the facts about the vaccine and get vaccinated too. It's about protecting yourself, your loved ones, and everyone in our state. But don't forget, even as vaccines begin to be distributed, we can't let our guard down. Keep washing your hands, wearing a mask, maintaining social distance and limiting interactions with others. If we all do, we'll all get to the other side safely together\r\nDPH is regularly updating their website with information about the COVID-19 vaccine athttps://coronavirus.delaware.gov/vaccine/.\r\nFOR PRESS:To download photos, clickhere.\r\nThe representatives received the vaccination at the recommendation of the Capitol physician as part of continuity of government protocol.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-meets-with-president-elect-biden-s-nominee-to-lead-ustr", "Carper Meets with President-Elect Bidens Nominee to Lead USTR", "2020-12-17", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement after meeting with Katherine Tai, President-elect Joe Biden's intended nominee to lead the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).\r\n\r\nIt was a pleasure meeting today with Katherine Tai who is an excellent and historic choice to serve as our country's top trade official. In her current role as Chief Trade Counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, she was a lead negotiator on USMCA where she helped to pass the strongest labor and environmental protections to date, including robust monitoring and enforcement provisions, in a trade agreement that passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. She also previously served as Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement at USTR, leading efforts to hold China accountable for its unfair trade practices at the World Trade Organization. I know that Katherine Tai's experience and expertise will be incredible assets for the Biden Administration as they work to ensure that there are clear and fair rules of the road on trade that help American workers compete and win in the global economy, while also holding bad actors accountable.\r\n\r\nAfter years of chaos and uncertainty thanks to President Trump's haphazard trade wars, we know that American farmers, manufacturers, producers and retailers are in desperate need of more certainty and predictability. I know Katherine Tai will be a steady hand at USTR who will help to make sure American goods and services can reach international markets and that they compete on a level playing field when they get there.\r\n\r\nTrade is an issue that doesn't distinguish between red and blue states. It impacts every corner of our country and every corner of our globe. I know there are many areas in which we can work together in Congress to put American businesses, workers, and consumers ahead of politics, as we have done finding ways to rebalance trade authority between the legislative and executive branches and conducting oversight of the Administration's tariff exclusion processes. Katherine Tai has many years of experience working across the aisle in Congress. I am confident that she will have the broad support necessary to be a highly skilled and effective USTR, and I hope the Finance Committee moves quickly to take up her nomination.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-appointment-of-gina-mccarthy-as-white-house-climate-czar", "Carper Statement on Appointment of Gina McCarthy as White House Climate Czar", "2020-12-17", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after President-elect Biden appointment former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to serve as the White House Climate Czar. It's hard to imagine a person better prepared for this job. Before she was administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy worked for five Republican governors, including Mitt Romney in Massachusetts. Her long history of work at the state and local level makes her a consensus builder by trade. When Gina McCarthy was called to serve in the Obama-Biden Administration as EPA's Assistant Administrator for Air in 2009, her nomination sailed through the Senate unanimously, but the job itself was no easy task. Prior to her coming to office, nearly early every major clean air regulation by the Bush administration had been rejected by the courts, one by one. By her first day on the job at the EPA air office, Gina McCarthy was tasked with writing many major rules in just a matter of years. But she rose to the challenge, and she rewrote rules that would lead to better air quality and a better climate across our countryall during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. She successfully developed our nation's first-ever greenhouse gas vehicle standards, helping to save consumers money and curb emissions from our nation's largest source of global warming pollution. She also developed long-awaited regulations to reduce mercury and other air toxics from our nation's power plants and address air pollution that crossed over state borders.If Gina McCarthy's subject matter expertise is matched by anything, it's by her dogged persistence and relentless determination. After putting in place safeguards that ushered in dramatic improvements to our nation's air quality, Gina McCarthy was nominated to serve as EPA Administrator. As the head of EPA, she positioned the agency to fight the climate crisis, using every tool at its disposal to clean our air, clean our water and ensure healthier communities everywhere in this country. She worked tirelessly to implement the first regulations to address greenhouse gas pollution from our power plants and worked with Congress to oversee the overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the first rewrite of a major environmental law in a generation. Under her leadership, EPA took sweeping action to clean our air and save our planet while the United States experienced the greatest economic expansion in our nation's history. I can think of no better person than Gina McCarthy to ensure our government response to the climate crisis is all-hands-on-deck. She's smart and she's honest. She knows how to synthesize complex issues and explain their real-world implications. She understands the importance of communicating with both parties and with stakeholders from all industries. All of these thingsher extensive knowledge and remarkable experiencewill be invaluable in the role of White House Climate Czar as the United States transitions to a carbon-free economy.      When you need help trying to solve a complex problem, you look for someone who will rise to the occasion. In this case, the complex problem is an existential one: saving our planet from climate crisis. Gina McCarthy's record proves that she always rises to the challenge. And I have no doubt that Gina will rise to the challenge once again.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-brenda-mallory-to-lead-the-white-house-council-on-environmental-quality", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Brenda Mallory to Lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality", "2020-12-17", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement regarding President-elect Biden's nomination of Brenda Mallory to serve as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). After four years and countless efforts by the outgoing administration to undermine our nation's landmark environmental statutes, there will be few jobs more challenging than restoring the mission of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In Brenda Mallory, President-elect Biden has chosen a supremely qualified nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality and coordinate government-wide efforts to address the climate crisis and achieve environmental equity. One of my earliest mentors, the former Governor of Delaware, Russell Peterson, served as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality during both the Nixon and Ford Administrations. Russ often likened the role of CEQ chair to an orchestra conductoryou don't play the instruments, but you try to ensure that everyone is playing in harmony. The CEQ chair coordinates action across the entire government to ensure federal agencies are working in harmony; that every federal decision advances the objectives of economic growth, better public health and stronger environmental quality. But, while the CEQ chair works like a conductor to achieve harmony across federal agencies, it must also pursue harmony between our economy, our society and our shared environment for current and future generations. Those are the clear objectives of CEQ laid out in the National Environmental Policy Act, the landmark environmental law that created CEQ. But sadly, for the last four years, the actions of CEQ have been unaligned with its mission. The agency even worked to undermine the NEPA statute at the core of its foundation. Instead of advancing those three objectives  a more productive economy, a healthier society and a cleaner environment  the outgoing administration repeatedly compromised public health and environmental quality for the sake of less red tape.' It will be critical for the next CEQ chair to restore balance in CEQ's mission. That is why I believe there is no better choice than an experienced public servant like Brenda Mallory with the legal expertise to lead CEQ in this critical role at such a critical time for the agency. As the former General Counsel for CEQ, Brenda Mallory already knows the agency inside and out. She knows the bureaucratic levers to pull, and she understands the importance of building relationships. And now, Brenda will not only be able to continue the important work she started under the Obama-Biden Administration, but she will also be able to position CEQ for the future. She knows what the agency has been  the statute at its core  and she believes in what the agency can be. CEQ is prime to take a leadership role to addressing environmental justice role in climate change, and with Brenda Mallory at the helm, it will. She knows how to ensure federal agencies align their goals to protect our planet and improve environmental outcomes for everyone in this country. She sees the climate crisis for what it is, an existential crisis, and she recognizes the long-term impacts of climate change on everything from air quality to the resilience of our infrastructure. She will be a leader who meets the challenge of the climate crisis while prioritizing the voices of Indigenous communities and communities of color. No doubt, the role of CEQ chair will be no easy task given the sheer volume and magnitude of the environmental rollbacks we've seen over the last four years. But if anyone understands how to get CEQ back on track, it's Brenda Mallory. I congratulate Brenda on her nomination and look forward to speaking with her about the work ahead of us to create a safer and healthier country for everyone.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-jennifer-granholm-to-lead-the-department-of-energy", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Jennifer Granholm to Lead the Department of Energy", "2020-12-17", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement regarding President-elect Biden's nomination of former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. In his announcement of Governor Granholm to be his Energy Secretary nominee, President-elect Biden has chosen one of the brightest and most capable people to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. Governor Granholm is an executive whose leadership has been tested by crisis. While her passion for clean energy is driven by personal conviction  an unwavering belief in the potential of American ingenuity and innovation  it is also grounded in deep experience and subject matter expertise. When the eyes of the world were on Michigan and the iconic American auto industry descended into financial disarray, Governor Granholm went to bat for working families and businesses in her state. She worked directly with President Obama and Vice President Biden to defend and deliver the auto industry from economic collapse, saving the millions of jobs depending on the industry to survive. It's been said that the ultimate test of a leader is how they handle a crisis. With Governor Granholm at the helm, the state of Michigan emerged from the depths of the Great Recession even stronger as a national leader in clean energy technologies. Governor Granholm believes in the potential of American innovation and ingenuity because she has seen it for herself. She has witnessed the same companies that once relied on the internal combustion engine evolve, and now lead the world in electric and alternative fuel vehicle technologies. Governor Granholm has proven that investments in clean energy technologies can usher in economic recovery, renewal and prosperity. Her strategic vision helped to make Michigan a leader in clean energy manufacturingjust imagine what she will do at the U.S. Department of Energy. She will harness the department's tremendous research power, empower American entrepreneurialism and invention, and bring innovation out of the labs and into our communities. She will support the clean cars of the future and the next generation of zero-emitting technologies from offshore wind to advanced nuclear. She will ensure that our nation has the clean energy resources we need to make the transition to a carbon-free economy, and she will make damn sure that American industries, manufacturing communities and workers reap the benefits of that transition. Governor Granholm knows that we can build back better through low carbon measures because she's done it before. And she can do it again. As our nation reels from the COVID-19 pandemic, this historic economic downturn and the worsening climate crisis, I am excited to hear Governor Granholm's ideas to realize President-elect Biden's vision to build back better than ever. As a recovering governor myself, my view is that there can never be too many governors in an administration. And, as a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, I can't help but be excited about the prospect for a Detroit Tigers fan on President-elect Biden's cabinet. I'm excited for Governor Granholm to bring to Washington some of that energy' we Tigers fans feel at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull and at Comerica Park.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-michael-regan-to-lead-the-environmental-protection-agency", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Michael Regan to Lead the Environmental Protection Agency", "2020-12-17", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the following statement regarding President-elect Biden's nomination of Michael Regan to serve as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Restoring and reviving the Environmental Protection Agency after the last four years will be no walk in the park. This is a federal agency whose decisions affect each and every one of us in this country, each and every dayfrom the drinking water that flows from our faucets, to the products we use in our homes, to the air we draw into our lungs with every breath. This is also an agency that has been basically decimated by the outgoing administration, and whose decisions over the last four years have prioritized industry at steep costs to human health and the environment.   Meanwhile, if you look across the country, what you will see is a nation suffering the loss of more than 300,000 Americans to a deadly pandemic. You will see a nation reeling from the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression and reckoning with systemic racial oppression, injustice and inequality. Everywhere you look in this country, you will see that the climate crisis is already here and threatening the water we drink, the air we breathe and the only home we have, our planet. Righting the ship at EPA would be difficult under any circumstance, but, right now, in this moment for our country, it poses a tremendous challenge for any leader. It also presents an opportunity. All eyes have been on this nomination for some time now because of the enormous responsibility it entails. Fortunately for President-elect Biden  and all of us, for that matter  there was no shortage of highly qualified public servants ready to roll up their sleeves and take on this challenge. In Secretary Michael Regan, President-elect Biden has selected a forward-looking public servant to lead EPA and address the longstanding environmental problems affecting our communities. As the head of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Secretary Regan has earned the reputation of a skilled consensus builder who understands the balance between environmental protections and economic growth  that we can do well and do good' at the same time. Coming from a state like North Carolina, Secretary Regan has a history of working productively with both political parties and various stakeholders to support progressive environmental policies. That collaborative approach to policymaking will prove to be a critical skillset in this political environment. After all, communication and engagement with the environmental community, the business community and the American people will be pivotal as EPA marshals its every existing tool and authority to mobilize our nation toward a clean, carbon-free economy. In the transition to a clean economy, EPA must ensure no worker, family or community is left behind. I look forward to hearing Secretary Regan's ideas to foster greater opportunity and prosperity in the economy-wide transition to net-zero emissions. I also look forward to hearing Secretary Regan's ideas to further the work of environmental justice and uplift communities of color, Indigenous communities and economically disadvantaged communities. To make real the promise of clean air, safe drinking water and a healthy community for everyone in this country, EPA must ensure environmental equity. Despite the daunting challenges facing our nation and our planet, with tonight's announcement about the leadership of his climate team, President-elect Biden has given us all the more reason to be hopeful. It is clearer than ever that our president-elect sees the struggles of our communities and our families, and that he is listening to the next generation of young leaders who have mobilized to save our planet from the climate crisis. He acknowledges the science that tells us time is running out, and he is already working to fulfill the promises he made to each and every one of us to build a more sustainable, equitable and better future.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-defazio-napolitano-and-beyer-lead-members-of-congress-in-filing-amicus-brief-over-trump-administration-s-dirty-water-rule", "Carper, DeFazio, Napolitano, and Beyer Lead Members of Congress in Filing Amicus Brief over Trump Administrations Dirty Water Rule", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Representative Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, and Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) submitted an amicus brief on behalf of 74 current Members of Congress, as well as three former Members, to the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, in the case of Conservation Law Foundation et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency et al. In the amicus brief, the lawmakers assert that the Trump administration's so-called Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR)also known as the Dirty Water Ruleignores science, fails to provide Congress with basic information about the impacts of this rule, and undermines the ability of states to protect their own water quality. In 1972, Congress enacted the Clean Water Act, a landmark statute with the core objective of cleaning up the nation's waters. The NWPR turns this statutory scheme on its head, the lawmakers wrote. the NWPR is arbitrary, capricious, and grounded in misunderstandings of governing statutory law. Finalized in April 2020, the Dirty Water Rule is a draconian rollback of clean water protections over the nation's rivers, streams, and wetlands, jeopardizing the safe drinking water of over a hundred million American households. The Dirty Water Rule reinterprets decades-old Clean Water Act protections endorsed by Republican and Democratic administrations alikevirtually assuring the destruction of rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands throughout the nation. Internal EPA documents estimate that the Dirty Water Rule would eliminate federal clean water protections for as many as 60 percent of stream miles in the lower 48 states that do not flow year-roundalmost 2 million stream milesand an estimated 110 million acres of wetlands. Read the lawmakers' full amicus brief here.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-meets-with-president-elect-biden-s-nominee-for-treasury-secretary", "Carper Meets With President-elect Bidens Nominee for Treasury Secretary", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement after meeting with Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden's intended nominee to lead the Treasury Department. Senator Carper's statement when Janet Yellen's nomination was announced can be found here.\r\n\r\nToday, I had the pleasure of meeting with Janet Yellen, an exceptionally qualified and renowned economist who will help President-Elect Biden build back a stronger and more inclusive economy as American families face these challenging times. During our conversation, we talked about the importance of embarking on an economic recovery that not only supports families and communities that have been devastated by the pandemic, but also puts us on a more equitable and sustainable path going forward. We also discussed the existential threat that climate change poses to our economy and how a Treasury Secretary can contribute to President-elect Biden's ambitious climate agenda.\r\nIt is nearly impossible to find any individual more qualified for this position than Janet Yellen. She is a historic choice for Treasury and her track record of success has earned her well-deserved respect from Republicans and Democrats alike for good reason. As we seek to get our economy back on track, I encourage my colleagues to swiftly confirm Janet. With the monumental economic challenges our country is facing, there is absolutely no time to waste. I know she will be ready on day one.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-meets-with-president-elect-biden-s-nominee-to-lead-omb", "Carper Meets with President-Elect Bidens Nominee to Lead OMB", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement after meeting with Neera Tanden, President-elect Joe Biden's intended nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).\r\n\r\nThis week I had the chance to meet with Neera Tanden, an experienced policy expert who is qualified and ready to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President-elect Joe Biden at an incredibly challenging time. Neera's vast understanding of the different working parts of government from her time in the Senate, her experience helping craft the Affordable Care Act at HHS, and her latest role as the CEO and president of the Center for American Progress, will serve as a huge asset as she takes on the role of OMB Director.As the daughter of single mother who relied on programs like food stamps and Section 8 housing, Neera also knows firsthand the important role safety net programs play in helping support families in their time of need. Her lived experience will help keep the needs of families and vulnerable communities top of mind as our government makes critical policy decisions to bring economic relief to American families and get our economy going again. During our conversation today, we discussed the shared responsibility Democrats and Republicans have to come together to enact a cohesive COVID response and OMB's role in making sure all the tools of government are utilized effectively to deliver for American families and meet the urgency of this moment. Neera understands we are facing a national crisis and that it will take an all hands on desk approach to put an end to this pandemic and restore our economy. \r\nThere is no shortage of work that we need OMB to get started on quickly. A top priority must be reversing the harmful and far-reaching rollbacks that the Trump Administration has put in place across our federal government over the last four years. As the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), I am particularly concerned about the Trump Administration's repeated attempts to weaken the environmental standards that protect human health and our environment. Just this month, EPA moved to finalize yet another rule that would prioritize the wellbeing of polluters over the health of Americans. We are also hearing that, in the coming weeks, just as President Trump is leaving office, his EPA will attempt to finalize a rule that would prevent the agency from using the best available science in rulemaking going forward. We need rules that are based in facts and sound science and leaders who will finally respect the advice of career experts.\r\nI'm confident that Neera Tanden has the policy expertiseto do this job well. But I believe it's her own personal experience that will propel her to ensure our government works better for the people it should serve. I look forward to her nomination being brought before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee swiftly.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-republicans-repeated-efforts-to-push-misinformation-about-the-2020-election", "Carper Statement on Republicans Repeated Efforts to Push Misinformation about the 2020 Election", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sen. Carper: If our nation's leaders don't embrace the truth in our daily discourse, then we no longer have a democracy that will endure. Calling an election unfair does not make it so.\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released the following statement regarding Chairman Ron Johnson's (R-Wis.) continued efforts to promote Russian disinformation and use official Senate time and resources to advance partisan objectives. \r\n\r\nMr. Chairman, President Lincoln once said, If given the truth, [the people] can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.' In the Navy, that's what we call the straight skinny.' With all due respect, the American people have had the real facts regarding this election for some time now. The truth, the straight skinny, is staring us in the face. It may not be what President Trump and his supporters wanted, but Joe Biden and Kamala Harris received more votes than any other ticket in American history. That's a success for our democracy and something that all of us should celebrate. A success made possible in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic thanks to ordinary citizens who volunteered as poll workers. Many of them risked their own health to oversee a fair count, while hundreds of thousands of postal workers worked tirelessly to deliver absentee ballots.\r\n\r\nThe U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency has called this election the most secure in American history.' And throughout this country, courts have flat out rejected claims of election irregularities. Conservative, Trump-appointed judges in state after state have dismissed the Trump campaign's claims, calling them baseless' and worse. Let me cite just a few examples. In response to a legal challenge from the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania, a federal judge appointed by President Trump, and a longtime member of the conservative Federalist Society, wrote that charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.'And one of the most strongly worded opinions came from a Wisconsin state justice, who served as president of a chapter of the Federalist Society and as chief legal counsel to former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Something far more fundamental than the winner of Wisconsin's electoral votes is implicated in this case,' he wrote, in declining to hear a case asking the court to overturn the election results. At stakeis faith in our system of free and fair elections, a feature central to the enduring strength of our constitutional republic.' To that, we should all say, Amen!' \r\n\r\nWe learned this week that arguments from the Trump legal teams thus far have been defeated 59 times out of 61 in state and federal courts, including 9-0 by the Supreme Court just last week.Those cases were not close calls. In suit after suit, across red and blue states, in opinions written by liberal and ultra conservative judges, the Trump campaign's largely contrived allegations have been rejected. Four years after Donald Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won it by a whopping 7 million votes. And, they received 306 votes in the Electoral College, a margin described by candidate Trump in 2016 as a landslide. But what if the outcome is not as definitive four years from now? Or in eight years? Next time, with different judges on the bench, different candidates and a lot less integrity and courage from state and local officials, a defeated party might somehow be able to steal an election? Think about that. It should scare the hell out of every one of us.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, many of the President's supporters across the country continue to spread misinformation and false allegations about the presidential election. The truth of the matter is that in a lot of states, many of the voters who voted for Joe Biden for president turned around and, on down ballot races, voted Republican in congressional races, state legislative races and more. In Delaware, we call that ticket splitting. It's not a conspiracy, it's as old as our democracy.\r\n\r\nWhat we say in this Committee  and in this body  matters. If we continue to push what the courts have overwhelmingly called baseless claims of fraud, we not only risk permanent damage to our democracy, we also become complicit in threats and attacks against elections officials and ordinary citizens. In Georgia, nonpartisan election technicians have faced death threats for simply doing their jobs. The Georgia Secretary of State and his family have received death threats. Mr. Krebs, a Trump appointee, has been bombarded with threats ever since an attorney for President Trump's campaign said on national TV that Mr. Krebs should be quote taken out at dawn and shot. And just this week, credible threats of violence closed the Michigan state capitol, and electors in Pennsylvania needed law enforcement escorts when they went to cast their votes. \r\n\r\nThis is not the America that our Founders dreamed of. This is shameful! Enough already! We have work to do to get America back on track, starting this week right here in this Capitol. All of us  Democrats and Republicans  need to do our jobs! And, that's just the beginning. There are over 250 million Americans who need to vaccinated. There are millions of businesses that need a helping hand to get back on their feet. Tens of millions of students who need to be back in school getting an education. Hundreds of thousands of hospital and nursing home workers who just need a break. But it's going to be hard to move forward as a country with dispatch, or as a Congress, until we accept the clear results of this election and turn the page. \r\n\r\nIn 1787, delegates from 13 colonies convened in Philadelphia to debate the future of our country. They disagreed on many things. But they all agreed that they didn't want a king. In responding to arguments from the Trump legal team in Wisconsin, a member of the state Supreme Court there echoed these sentiments recently when she said to them, quote, you want us to overturn this election so that your king can stay in power. And that is so un-American.' And she was right!\r\n\r\nMr. Chairman, when you became the leader of this Committee in 2015, you pledged to run this Committee, quote, with a spirit of bipartisan teamwork, respect, integrity, and professionalism' which has been our hallmark for years. Those words were reassuring to me, to our colleagues on this Committee and to the members of our staffs. A few years later, when you and I worked together to introduce and enact the bipartisan Presidential Transitions Improvement Act, you said that, quote, [t]he peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next is one of the hallmarks of our democracy.' Those are the kinds of words we hope and expect to hear from our leaders. Words that appeal to our better angels. Words that unite us, not divide us. Sadly, I fear that today's hearing may not be truly reflective of those words. I hope I'm wrong. But if I'm not, today's hearing could prove deeply disappointing to me and many of the 330 million people we serve across the nation. Let's not disappoint them.\r\n\r\nAs we began today's hearings, Mr. Chairman, you asked our witnesses to stand and take an oath to tell the truth. It's only fair for all of us to hold ourselves to that same standard. If our nation's leaders don't embrace the truth in our daily discourse, then we no longer have a democracy that will endure. Calling an election unfair does not make it so. And spreading misinformation in this Committee or on any committee doesn't just stay inside these four walls. I began my statement today with the words of Abraham Lincoln. I want to conclude it with these words attributed to Thomas Jefferson: if the people know the truth, they won't make a mistake. So, let's tell them the truth. Today. Tomorrow and for generations to come. The truth will keep us free. It always has. It always will.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-pete-buttigieg-to-lead-the-department-of-transportation", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Pete Buttigieg to Lead the Department of Transportation", "2020-12-15", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), released the following statement regarding President-elect Joe Biden's nomination of Pete Buttigieg to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. President-elect Biden promised the American people that we will build back better, and, with Pete Buttigieg at the helm of the Department of Transportation, we will. As the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg has demonstrated that he is a leader with the heart of a servant and the vision we need at the Department of Transportation to break ground on a better future for all Americans. The future of our nation's transportation system is not just about connecting one place to another, it's about connecting us to each other, safely and sustainably. Sometimes, building back better means breaking down the barriers that divide and disconnect usfrom the underused highways to the busy high-speed roads that too often divide communities and create obstacles for daily life. Pete has spent his life breaking down barriers of his own. And now, poised to serve as the first openly gay Senate-confirmed member of a presidential cabinet, Pete Buttigieg is breaking down barriers again. The mission of the Department of Transportation has traditionally rested on two pillars, safety and economic productivity. Pete Buttigieg understands both of these pillars. As mayor of South Bend, he focused on building a safer, more connected and more prosperous community for everyone. At the forefront of a new generation of leaders, Pete Buttigieg also understands the urgency and gravity of the climate crisis. He knows that the Department of Transportation must adopt a third pillar in its mission  ensuring our nation's transportation networks are resilient to climate change and putting our transportation sector on a path to achieve net zero-emissions no later than 2050. Our nation's transportation infrastructure should uplift everyone  not just the privileged few  to more opportunity, but where we invest and how we invest matters. Pete Buttigieg understands that. He understands the importance of prioritizing environmental justice and achieving equity, and he will listen to the communities of color and Indigenous communities that have gone overlooked and been underfunded by the federal government for too long. And, Pete Buttigieg knows that American workers supported by strong labor protections should reap the benefits of economic growth and the hundreds of thousands of new jobs that come with significant transportation investments. With the perspective of a mayor, Pete Buttigieg understands how, at the local level, well-planned investments in transportation can precipitate economic renewal and greater economic opportunity. His perspective as a community leader will lend itself to community-oriented leadership at the head of the Transportation Department and a community-driven vision for our nation's transportation networks. And, as a former mayor, he also understands that state and local transportation agencies need certainty and predictability to plan and manage their programs and projects. I look forward to discussing his views on sustainable sources of funding for our federal transportation infrastructure. As a fellow veteran, I thank Mayor Pete for his service to our country and for his willingness to serve our country again as part of President-elect Biden's cabinet. I look forward to the work ahead of us, to build back better than ever before and break ground on a better, safer, more sustainable, and more connected future for everyone in this country.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-epa-eroding-cost-benefit-analysis-in-rulemaking", "Carper Statement on EPA Eroding Cost-Benefit Analysis in Rulemaking", "2020-12-09", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s final rule to erode the cost-benefit analysis it uses for regulations.\r\nIn the face of a worsening climate crisis and deadly respiratory pandemic, the Trump Administration has repeatedly acted to put the wellbeing of polluters before human health and the environment. It is something that has become all too common over the past four years. When EPA announced plans to make this change in June, I called it out for what it wasa legally flawed effort to justify air pollution. Clearly, the administration has no intention of giving up in its war on science.\r\nIn addition to undermining the essential work by career civil servants, changing EPA's cost-benefit process is a waste of time and resources. President-elect Biden is committed to following science and making climate action a key focus of his presidency. I have no doubt that this rule will be reversed by the next administration.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-biennial-water-infrastructure-bill-delivers-major-wins-for-delawareans", "Carper: Biennial Water Infrastructure Bill Delivers Major Wins for Delawareans", "2020-12-08", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, applauded House passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (WRDA 2020), which would authorize $10 billion in new federal investment to build new water resource development projects across the country, with significant resources authorized for projects in the First State. From improving and expanding water infrastructure to investing in disadvantaged communities, replenishing beaches and improving coastal resilience, WRDA 2020  coauthored by EPW Ranking Member Carper and Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) in the Senate and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter Defazio (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-Mo.) in the House  would deliver major wins for Delaware.\r\nLike the water that moves ships from the Port of Wilmington to ports across the globe, our nation's water infrastructure is essential to the movement of our economy. Ports, shipping channels and other Army Corps of Engineers projects support economic growth, facilitate commerce, sustain jobs and create new ones, too, Senator Carper said. This reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act will expand and enhance investments in Army Corps' projects throughout the country that help us safely navigate our waters and protect our communities from flooding and storm damage.  As the lowest lying state in the nation, climate change poses profound threats to Delaware. This legislation will help to fortify communities in the First State against the worsening impacts of climate change and expand funding to rebuild our beaches, Senator Carper continued. I thank Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves for working with Chairman Barrasso and me on this legislation.\r\nAmong its provisions, WRDA 2020 will:\r\n \r\nProtect Delaware's beaches from storm damage and assist with their renourishment;\r\nPromote resiliency projects in communities throughout the First State to address the impacts of climate change; and,\r\nEnsure the operation and maintenance of Delaware's ports and waterways, including the Port of Wilmington and Indian River Inlet.\r\n \r\nClick here for more in-depth background information on WRDA 2020, and click here for additional background about the major wins for Delaware in WRDA 2020.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-portman-release-new-report-on-federal-government-s-failure-to-conduct-adequate-oversight-of-companies-seeking-to-operate-shelters-for-unaccompanied-children", "Carper, Portman Release New Report on Federal Governments Failure to Conduct Adequate Oversight of Companies Seeking to Operate Shelters for Unaccompanied Children", "2020-12-08", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Latest in a series of bipartisan reports shows that gaps in HHS's grant process failed to sufficiently protect unaccompanied children and wasted taxpayer dollars\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), respectively, released a bipartisan staff report identifying failures in the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) shelter grant processes to ensure the safety of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) and safeguard over $32 million in taxpayers funds.\r\nThe report confirms that HHS awarded Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter grants to two companies with a documented history of failing to provide adequate care of children VisionQuest National, Ltd. and New Horizon Group Home, LLC. As a result of their previous failures in caring for children and other regulatory issues, VisionQuest and New Horizon struggled to acquire zoning and licensing approval to open shelters across the country, meaning that taxpayers paid for facilities that will never open.\r\nA review of several prior funding opportunity announcements and interviews with HHS officials demonstrated that, prior to fall 2019, HHS did not require grant applicants to disclose prior adverse actions their respective state and local governments had taken against them. The Department conducted no independent research into the disciplinary history of either VisionQuest or New Horizon. These oversight failures could have endangered unaccompanied children trusted to the care of these companies. Additionally, until November 2019, HHS also had no policy to restrict funding for grantees that did not have a license to operate. HHS's policy of awarding grants to applicants, including VisionQuest and New Horizon, prior to the applicants securing zoning and licensing approval led to issues that could cost tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Currently, HHS is attempting to recoup funds disbursed for facilities that failed to open.\r\nOur latest report makes clear that, while HHS has taken moderate steps to protect the safety of migrant children while in U.S. government custody, significant gaps in our broken immigration system continue to fail an already vulnerable population of children. Lack of proper oversight of for-profit ORR shelter applicants has put the safety of migrant children at risk. Additionally, these failures have potentially wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on shelters that will never actually open, said Senator Tom Carper. While our findings show a serious need for improvement, I'm hopeful that our recommendations lay out concrete steps that the next administration can take to prioritize the care and safety of minors who are already fleeing unspeakable conditions in their home countries. I look forward to working with the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to ensure that our nation upholds our moral responsibility to these children, including by reducing the number of children who require time in shelters in the first place.\r\nOur work on this Subcommittee has long focused on ensuring that the federal government and its grant recipients do a better job of caring for unaccompanied children, said Senator Rob Portman. Our bipartisan report found that the Office of Refugee Resettlement failed to exercise appropriate oversight and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on organizations that could not acquire state licenses to open the planned shelter facilities. We can and must do better, and I'm pleased that ORRhas adopted many of the recommendations outlined in this report. I look forward to working with them to continue to improve their operations and meet their responsibilities under the law.\r\nSince 2015, PSI has conducted extensive oversight of federal government programs designed to protect and care for unaccompanied children. The Subcommittee has issued two prior bipartisan reports in 2018 and 2016 and held three hearings on August 16, 2018, April 26, 2018 and January 28, 2016.\r\n\r\nThe report's key findings include:\r\n(1) HHS disbursed $32,125,779 in grant funding for six facilities that failed to open, including five proposed facilities by VisionQuest and one proposed by New Horizon.\r\n(2) VisionQuest failed to obtain necessary zoning permits, which prevented the opening of five VisionQuest facilities. HHS discontinued the grants.\r\n(3) The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services revoked the operating license of a New Horizon facility for children in June 2018, but HHS awarded New Horizon a grant in March 2019 to house UAC in a new facility in North Carolina.\r\n(4) HHS learned of New Horizon's ongoing licensing problems 14 months after HHS awarded New Horizon a grant for a shelter facility.\r\n(5) Prior to late 2019, HHS did not require grant applicants to disclose prior documented licensing allegations or concerns. HHS did not conduct independent research on previous adverse government actions against applicants related to the care of children.\r\n(6) In 2018, the City of Philadelphia transferred all youth residents out of programs run by VisionQuest due to confirmed instances of child abuse. HHS subsequently gave shelter grant awards to VisionQuest, including a grant to house UACs in one of the same facilities investigated by the City of Philadelphia.\r\n(7) HHS is attempting to recoup funds disbursed for facilities that failed to open.\r\n(8) During the course of the Subcommittee's investigation, HHS began restricting disbursement of grant funds to grantees without an operating license. HHS previously disbursed grant funds before a facility obtained an operating license. As a result, VisionQuest and New Horizon received over $32 million in funding from HHS even though the facilities never opened.\r\n(9) HHS has begun requiring disclosure of licensing issues and allegations of abuse.\r\nAs noted in the report, while HHS has started to require certain ORR grant applicants to report licensing issues and allegations of abuse, these changes may not be permanent. For example, HHS maintains full discretion to remove the licensing requirement in future announcements if it needs to expand its shelter capacity. The report includes the following key recommendations to ensure the safety of unaccompanied children and efficient use of taxpayer dollars:\r\n(1) HHS should permanently require ORR grant applicants to disclose any prior or current adverse governmental action taken against them regarding the care of children in their grant applications.\r\n(2) HHS should permanently require ORR grant applicants to be licensed at the time of application.\r\n\r\n(3) HHS reviewers should proactively check state databases for information on previous adverse governmental actions regarding the care of children taken against applicants for ORR funding.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/senators-release-watchdog-report-showing-serious-challenges-facing-the-u-s-national-air-quality-monitoring-system", "Senators Release Watchdog Report Showing Serious Challenges Facing the U.S. National Air Quality Monitoring System", "2020-12-08", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  In case you missed it, yesterday, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) released a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showing a number of serious challenges facing the vital national air quality monitoring system. When adjusted for inflation, the GAO report shows a steady decline in federal support for state and local monitoring efforts that are central to the basic function of the national air monitoring system. It also shows an uneven understanding of concentrations of dangerous air toxics near industrial facilities.The consequences of these problems tend to hit low-income communities and communities of color the hardest since they are often located in industrial areas and rely on underfunded local programs.\r\nTo ensure that all Americans can breathe clean air, we must first be able to effectively measure the pollutants that exist and where, said Senator Carper. As we are about to celebrate 50 years of progress with the Clean Air Act, today's GAO report is a reminder that the EPA can and must do better when it comes to protecting the public from air pollution. This report is a wake-up call that investments and updates are needed in our aging air pollution monitoring system. For too long the air monitoring system has been ignored, especially in terms of tracking air toxics, like mercury, in our communities. For a decade, I have worked with Senator Collins on legislation to improve how we track and monitor mercury pollution, S.181, Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act. Today's GAO study gives us just another reason why our legislation and other legislation that improves our air monitoring systems need to pass Congress.\r\nAn effective air quality monitoring system helps guard against public health threats triggered by air pollution. In downwind states like Rhode Island, missing a bad air day' warning could mean serious consequences for high-risk groups, said Senator Whitehouse. These findings point to troubling gaps in the EPA's funding and oversight of the network, which can disproportionately affect people of color and low-income communities. Congress and the EPA ought to act swiftly on the GAO's recommendations.\r\nThe State of Maine, located at the end of our nation's air pollution tailpipe,' is on the receiving end of pollution generated in other states, said Senator Collins. Understanding the occurrence of harmful air pollutants is critical for public health, particularly for Maine which has among the highest rates of asthma in the country. This report also underscores the need for Congress to pass legislation, such as the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act I introduced with Senator Carper, that would improve air quality monitoring.\r\nThe national ambient air quality monitoring system measures concentrations of air pollutants and provides standardized information on pollution levels across the country. This information is essential to helping the EPA and state and local agencies enforce the Clean Air Act and understand the health risks to the public.\r\nDespite national improvements in air quality over the last few decades, many areas still face serious problems. According to an EPA report based on 2010 population statistics, around 40 percent of the U.S. population currently live in areas that do not meet the Clean Air Act's National Air Quality Standards for at least one common outdoor pollutant. It is critical to have data to ensure compliance with our laws and manage environmental and public health risks, the GAO report notes.\r\nA decline in EPA funding necessary to sustain this monitoring system is a serious impediment to collecting this information. The GAO report shows that federal funding for state and local monitoring programs has remained relatively level over the past 16 years, amounting to an approximately 20 percent decrease when adjusting for inflation. Declining federal support forces agencies to choose between hiring staff, upgrading to newer technology, and maintaining the current level of service, particularly as air quality monitoring costs continuing to increase. The report recommends a funding increase to help operate and maintain air monitoring networks across the country.\r\nThe GAO report also includes an in-depth examination of the role of the national air quality monitoring system, how it is managed, national air quality trends, and the need for additional information in addition to the recommendations for action listed below:\r\n \r\nDevelop, publish, and implement an asset management framework for sustaining the system that considers key characteristics of effective asset management, such as resources needed to sustain the monitoring system, using quality data to manage infrastructure risks, and targeting resources toward assets that provide the greatest value.\r\nEstablish an air quality monitoring modernization plan that considers leading practices including establishing priorities, assessing risks, and identifying the resources needed to achieve goals, and measuring and evaluating progress.\r\n \r\nThe full report is accessible here.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-blasts-epa-for-failing-to-improve-soot-standards-and-protect-lives", "Carper Blasts EPA for Failing to Improve Soot Standards and Protect Lives", "2020-12-07", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper, top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure to set newer, more protective standards for particulate matter (PM) pollution. This soot-causing air pollution is linked to serious health problems, like asthma, strokes, heart attacks, and early deaths, and research has linked exposure to it to more adverse outcomes from COVID-19.\r\nDoing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. In the last hours of the Trump Administration, EPA continues to work around the clock to cement its anti-science, pro-polluter agenda. The Trump EPA's decision to ignore science and keep the current standards unchanged will cost tens of thousands of lives every year into the future, long after the Trump Administration is gone.\r\nWhen EPA announced plans to keep these rules unchanged in April, we were enduring the first wave of a deadly respiratory pandemicone that today has claimed close to 300,000 lives in our country. What was true in April is still true todaythe cost of protecting public health is far less than the cost of breathing polluted air. It has become abundantly clear that COVID-19 is deadlier for Black, brown, and Indigenous Americans, who are also more likely to live in areas with higher levels of particulate matter pollution. The Trump EPA is failing to do its job and protect communities of color from the harmful pollution that's worsening COVID-19 outcomes. Amid the second wave of cases, EPA is still spearheading its own Pandemic of Pollution.\r\nIn April 2020, Senator Carper condemned EPA, when it announced plans to not develop newer, more protective standards for PM. In June 2020, Senator Carper, along with Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter urging EPA to pursue stronger standards to protect Americans from PM.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-coons-announce-completion-of-amtrak-s-third-track-in-wilmington", "Carper, Coons Announce Completion of Amtraks Third Track in Wilmington", "2020-12-07", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) joined representatives from Amtrak to announce a recently completed $71.2 million project to increase capacity between Wilmington and Newark, Del. on the Northeast Corridor. This joint project with the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and the Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC) includes installation of 1.5 miles of a new, electrified main line third track between Ragan and Yard interlockings, a bridge replacement, and eliminates a previous two-track bottleneck. The change brings improved safety, on-time performance and a reduction in delays.\r\n\r\nThis project is nearly 20 years in the making, and I am thrilled that we are finally going to reap the benefits of improved, more reliable rail service along the Northeast Corridor, said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee and a frequent Amtrak rider. We must continue to improve our nation's transportation infrastructure in a way that promotes multi-modal transportation and takes cars off the road, for the sake of safety, congestion, and our environment. This project is a great example of a good public investment that benefits passengers, drivers, the air we breathe and promotes improvements to rail service in the future.\r\n\r\nThis year started as one of the best for Amtrak, and while ridership is down, the completion of this project and removal of a significant bottleneck will mean more commuter and intercity trains can use the Northeast Corridor and increase the potential volume of rail service through Delaware, said U.S. Sen. Chris Coons. Our transportation system and passenger rail network desperately need additional investment and a focus on building the infrastructure we deserve. This project is an example of how we can make much-needed infrastructure upgrades, and I am grateful for the investments Amtrak has made in Delaware along with the federal government and state to make this project possible.\r\n\r\nAs a regular Amtrak rider myself, I know the importance of a reliable and consistent Northeast corridor. Delawareans have come to rely on Amtrak and SEPTA as a primary transportation option, whether for work or for leisure, and this project to help reduce delays and improve on-time performance will help continue to bolster rail travel in the First State, said U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. I want to commend all of the hard work done by DelDOT and the Delaware Transit Corporation to make this project possible.\r\n\r\nThe completion of this project marks an important rail capacity expansion milestone on the Northeast Corridor, resolving bottlenecks which previously constrained SEPTA and Amtrak from operating service at maximum capacity, said Bill Flynn, CEO of Amtrak. As we anticipate the return of pre-COVID-19 ridership growth, it is vital that we have the proper infrastructure in place to support a higher capacity railroad.\r\n\r\nThe project developed as a shared benefit investment as part of a 2011 agreement between DTC and Amtrak and was funded using Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) grants issued to DTC along with Amtrak funds.\r\n\r\nIn addition to the successful completion of this important project, Amtrak continues to invest in its infrastructure and this year has installed over 69,000 new railroad ties, over 30 miles of new continuous welded rail and completed over 220 track miles of track surfacing on its owned and maintained lines in the Northeast Corridor and Michigan, aimed at ensuring a smoother and safe ride for customers.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/only-10-days-to-get-covered", "Only 10 days to get covered!", "2020-12-05", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear friend,\r\n\r\nThis year has not been easy. Our normal lives have been upended in ways we never could have imagined. In Delaware, we have lost over 700 brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and grandparents to the coronavirus.Today, and every day, I pray for the loved ones who have had to say goodbye much too soon.\r\nWhile each day brings fresh hardships and difficulties, there is still much we can do to keep our loved ones safe and healthy. That includes ensuring that they have quality, affordable health insurance. From now until December 15th, you can find a plan that works for your family's needs and budgets by visiting healthcare.gov or choosehealthde.com. In the First State, our premiums are down for the second year in a row! And more than 8 out of 10 Delawareans will get financial help to cover premiums and deductibles, which will bring their average premiums to $110 per month.\r\nEven if you or someone you know already has insurance, more affordable options may be available. Go to healthcare.gov and see what cost saving alternatives you qualify for. And Delawareans who may need extra help enrolling will have access to free in-person assistance from federally funded and trained specialists at Westside Family Healthcare, and by certified application counselors at Henrietta Johnson Medical Center in Wilmington and La Red Health Center in Georgetown.\r\nWe each have a responsibility to keep our loved ones and ourselves safe during these trying times. That means wearing a mask, socially distancing and staying home as much as we can. It also means ensuring we have access to quality, affordable health care. There's no time to waste. To ensure you have health care in 2021, register anytime from today to December 15 at healthcare.gov or choosehealthDE.com and make sure you get covered.\r\n\r\nStay safe and stay healthy,\r\nTom Carper", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-epa-s-draft-national-recycling-plan-is-a-wasted-opportunity", "Carper: EPAs Draft National Recycling Plan Is A Wasted Opportunity", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  As the public comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s draft National Recycling Strategy comes to a close, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, submitted comment on EPA's draft plan and is imploring the EPA to seize the opportunity to reimagine our nation's crumbling recycling system and re-envision and revise its draft National Recycling Strategy. As the co-founder of the Senate Recycling Caucus, and as a passionate, lifelong recycler, I commend EPA for bringing together more than 250 stakeholders to the table to discuss national recycling practices. However, simply bringing together hundreds of stakeholders alone is not a sufficient process for producing a comprehensive national recycling strategy. The product that EPA has put forward for public comment makes that clear, Senator Carper wrote. I'm afraid that this draft National Recycling Strategy is largely a woefully inadequate and unimaginative approach to addressing our country's wide-ranging and complex recycling problems. It would be a wasted opportunity for EPA to press forward without addressing some of the serious flaws in this proposed strategy. In the final days of the Trump Administration, the EPA is hastening to finalize its draft National Recycling Strategy. As it is currently drafted, the draft National Recycling Strategy fails to convey bold and visionary structural changes that would help the United States  at the national, state and local level  adapt to challenging new international policies and the burgeoning plastic pollution crisis. While China's decision to restrict the import of plastics and mixed paper materials presents an enormous challenge for the United States in the short term, it should also motivate us to consider forward-looking strategies, Senator Carper continued. China's policies and the worsening impacts of waste on our environment and public health demand a creative and aggressive strategy to embrace a circular economy and rethink outdated attitudes and practices regarding waste and waste management. To address the complex and wide-ranging challenges confronting our national recycling system, Senator Carper's comments on EPA's proposed National Recycling Strategy focus on the need to establish a national strategy that:\r\n\r\n \r\nEmbraces the elements of a circular economy;\r\nRecognizes the need to enhance markets for recyclable materials;\r\nImposes producer responsibility for the lifecycle impacts and costs associated with products;\r\nReimagines public education in the context of an aggressive circular economy strategy; and,\r\nCreates the appropriate incentives to end the production and use of materials that cannot be reused or recycled. \r\n \r\n\r\nSenator Carper's public comment may be found here or below.\r\n\r\nDecember 3, 2020\r\n\r\nThe Honorable Andrew Wheeler\r\nAdministrator\r\nU.S. Environmental Protection Agency\r\n1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.\r\nWashington, D.C. 20460\r\n\r\nRE: Draft National Recycling Strategy\r\n\r\nDear Administrator Wheeler:\r\n\r\nThank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) draft National Recycling Strategy. I write today with serious concerns about both the contents of the draft strategy as well as the haste with which EPA is proposing to finalize this strategy, just days before the start of a new Congress and a new Administration.\r\n\r\nAs the co-founder of the Senate Recycling Caucus, and as a passionate, lifelong recycler, I commend EPA for bringing together more than 250 stakeholders to the table to discuss national recycling practices. However, simply bringing together hundreds of stakeholders alone is not a sufficient process for producing a comprehensive national recycling strategy. The product that EPA has put forward for public comment makes that clear. I'm afraid that this draft National Recycling Strategy is largely a woefully inadequate and unimaginative approach to addressing our country's wide-ranging and complex recycling problems. It would be a wasted opportunity for EPA to press forward without addressing some of the serious flaws in this proposed strategy.\r\n\r\nFor years, the United States relied on shipping most of its plastics and mixed paper materials overseas for processing, primarily to China. The flaw in this process was laid bare in 2018, when China began to prohibit imports of mixed paper and plastic, including those shipped from the United States. When China closed its doors to these imports, the United States looked to other Southeast Asian countries to accept its mixed recyclables, but to no avail. Those countries have since imposed restrictions similar to China's. It is clear that countries around the globe no longer wish to be used as the United States' dump. Understandably so.\r\n\r\nChina's National Sword policy rattled the United States recycling system. Two years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the cracks in that system. Recycling in the United States is primarily done at the state and local level, resulting in a patchwork of systems that collectively fail to meet even the modest recycling targets met by other nations around the world. The status quo is unsustainable. While China's decision to restrict the import of plastics and mixed paper materials presents an enormous challenge for the United States in the short term, it should also motivate us to consider forward-looking strategies. China's policies and the worsening impacts of waste on our environment and public health demand a creative and aggressive strategy to embrace a circular economy and rethink outdated attitudes and practices regarding waste and waste management.\r\n\r\nThese challenges confronting our recycling system present an opportunity to reimagine recycling in the United States, to articulate an aggressive national strategy, and to support local and state efforts. Unfortunately, EPA's proposed National Recycling Strategywhile properly motivatedfalls well short of what this nation needs. My comments on EPA's proposed National Recycling Strategy will focus on the need to establish a national strategy that:\r\n\r\n \r\nEmbraces the elements of a circular economy;\r\nRecognizes the need to enhance markets for recyclable materials;\r\nImposes producer responsibility for the lifecycle impacts and costs associated with products;\r\nReimagines public education in the context of an aggressive circular economy strategy; and,\r\nCreates the appropriate incentives to end the production and use of materials that cannot be reused or recycled.\r\n \r\n\r\nEmbracing a Circular Economy\r\n\r\nAfter reading EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy, one may deduce that to fix our growing waste management issues, all we need to do is revitalize recycling in the United States. That is simply not the case. Though important, recycling is not a silver-bullet or sole solution to our nation's growing waste management problems. It is critical that we also emphasize the need to reuse and reduce. The United States must establish a circular economy, one that keeps materials in a loop, minimizing the use of new material inputs and reducing waste production. A strategy focused only on recycling, without also addressing the need to reduce and reuse new material inputs, is a failed strategy.\r\n\r\nMany businesses have stepped in to fill the void in federal leadership in addressing the United States' waste management problems. For example, Marriott International promises to remove single-use plastics from most of its 7,000 hotels by the end of the year; Hyatt Hotels plans to do the same in 900 of its hotels. These are welcome commitments from Marriott and Hyatt, and should be a model for other responsible businesses. To be clear, though, a nationwide ban on all single-use materials is simply not an option. American society still relies heavily on single-use products for medical and other essential uses. And with so little material actually being recycled, finding ways to reduce plastic usage is critically important.\r\n\r\nOn September 26, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), on which I serve as Ranking Member, held a hearing entitled, Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health? During that hearing, Dr. Kara Lavender Law testified that to reduce the flow of waste into our oceans and waterways, we must prevent the production of waste, especially plastic waste, in the first place.[1] Dr. Law also noted that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to solving the burgeoning plastic crisis. Single-use products, specifically plastics, should be examined as a case study for why a one-size-fits-all approach will not solve the mismanagement of plastic waste. An estimated 40 percent of plastics are used only one time before they are discarded.[2] Single-use products are simply being utilized at levels far too great for recycling markets to accommodate, or for our environment to endure.\r\n\r\nA staggering 80 percent of the plastic leaking into the ocean is never formally collected.[3] The equivalent of one garbage truck full of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean each minute, impacting over 800 marine species.[4] An estimated 90 percent of seabirds have consumed plastics, and humanson averageingest between 39,000 and 52,000 plastic particles, called, microplastics, annually.[5] According to the Ocean Conservancy, marine debris could reduce economic benefits that humans derive from the oceans in the future by one to five percent, or about $2.5 trillion.[6]\r\n\r\nBarring a concerted effort to reconsider the costs and chart a different course, global plastic production is expected to double in the next ten years, and we can expect some 250 million tons of plastic to circulate in the ocean by 2025.[7] The plastics crisis has garnered the interest of the national media, prompting investigations and exposs like the March 31, 2020 PBS Frontline episode entitled, Plastic Wars.[8] Growing national pressure and attention on the production and management of plastics should be examined and reflected in EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy and, yet, EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy entirely ignores these critical issues.\r\n\r\nConsidering these implications, it is clear that EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy must include greater emphasis on reduction and reuse and the broader tenants of a circular economy. The current draft National Recycling Strategy fails entirely to even acknowledge these options, much less support them.\r\n\r\nEnhancing Markets for Recyclable Materials\r\n\r\nRather than focus on the overarching need to find and develop healthy and effective markets for recyclable materials, EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy focuses almost exclusively on enhanced education and infrastructure investments. Indeed, the first two objectives of EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy focus exclusively on these points. While those are important elements of a recycling strategy, they are woefully inadequate responses to a huge national and global problem. On June 17, 2020 the EPW Committee held a hearing entitled: Responding to the Challenges Facing Recycling in the United States. More Recycling's Nina Butler testified before the EPW Committee that breaking away from the education and infrastructure narrative is critical. She said that,\r\n\r\nCitizens, or their lack of recycling education, are not the problem. Yes, continuous education and outreach to citizens regarding how to recycle, and what can and cannot be recycled, should be a part of citizen education, but education alone will not be enough to solve our growing waste problem. Neither will one-time infusions of capital. Policies to reduce, reuse and recycle must be grounded on the basic principles of economics that guide our behavior.[9]\r\nAnd, as EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy points out, investments in technology and more advanced infrastructure are needed. These efforts are worthless if markets for the materials that these facilities will eventually process do not exist. Even if we have the technology and infrastructure to recycle more materials, they will not be recycled if they are not profitable. Therefore, better markets are the critical ingredient to increasing recycling rates, not better infrastructure.\r\n\r\nIn order to truly revolutionize United States recycling systems in a way that creates jobs, grows the economy and protects the environment, EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy must break from the false narrative that education and infrastructure alone can solve all of our problems. EPA must go further to highlight the importance of improving markets, especially domestically.\r\n\r\nAt the June EPW Committee hearing on recycling, in addition to receiving testimony from More Recycling, Senators also received testimony from the Consumer Brands Association and Closed Loop Partners.[10] Each witness testified that enhancing domestic markets is the single most important means to increase recycling rates.\r\n\r\nAgain, this is especially apparent in the case of plastics. Low petroleum prices have decimated the market for recycled plastic products, which cannot compete financially with virgin plastic prices.[11] At the June EPW Committee hearing, Nina Butler with More Recycling testified that, in order to deal with plastics effectively, we must look at the production, use and fate of plastics holistically.[12] Ms. Butler also noted in her testimony that, plastic recycling is a trickle compared to a tsunami of new plastic production. We know that recycling is market-driven, so any approach to re-envisioning our national recycling strategy must first acknowledge that existing single-use plastics recycling markets are insufficient to effectively promote both recycling and an effective circular economy. As long as new and cheaper materials are available, recycled materials do not stand a chance. We must reevaluate the market for recycled materials and explore ways to build a circular economy to ensure a better domestic materials management system.\r\n   To its credit, EPA's draft National Recycling Strategy does eventually get around to the necessity of addressing the most fundamental need of a national recycling strategy in its Objective 3: Improve Markets. Section 3.5 of that Objective states as a priority, Increase demand for recycled materials through policies, programs, initiatives, and incentives, focusing on materials with less mature markets. While this section is arguably the most significant part of the EPA's draft National Recycling strategy, it fails to adequately elaborate on specific actions that the recycling industry and producers should take to propel U.S. recycling forward. Instead, EPA must seize on effective strategies to kick start the recycling market. These measures could include: mandatory recycled content requirements; government procurement mandates; product stewardship requirements; and design-for-recycling guidelines.\r\n\r\nRequiring Producer Responsibility\r\n\r\nSociety now bears the environmental and public health costs of waylaid material, and taxpayers bear the burden of recycling costs. Producers currently share no part of these costs or burdens, but they should. Producers must be accountable for the health, safety, environmental and societal impacts associated with and costs incurred over the lifecycle of their products. A growing coalition of consumer brands, NGOs, non-profit organizations, trade associations, and environmental groups all support policies that would establish producer responsibility for these impacts and costs.\r\n\r\nEPA's draft National Recycling Strategy fails to recognize, but should embrace, policies that would have product producers bear the costs associated with product recycling and disposalcosts now borne by taxpayers. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) holds producers, manufacturers, and other entities involved in the product chain responsible for the end-of-life management of products, rather than continuing to have the public bear that burden. When producers internalize the costs of managing the full lifecycle of their products, they are financially motivated to make decisions that are better for the environment.[13] Those decisions might include improved packaging design, reduced material use, reduced toxicity in packaging, and improved recyclability. This approach also allows the costs of processing and disposal to be incorporated into the total cost of a product, creating incentives to develop and use materials that eliminate or significantly reduce costs.\r\n\r\nRecycling trade associations, consumer brand companies, non-profit organizations, and NGOs suggest that EPR may be one of the key tools in our toolbox to ensure the recyclability of materials, like single-use plastics. Many of these same groups point out that an EPR system can only work at the national level, not the state or local level.\r\n\r\nThe Recycling Partnership's Accelerator Recycling report released in September 2020 is evidence that some industry leaders are beginning to embrace product stewardship.[14] The Recycling Partnership's approach would shift some of the recycling cost burden onto industry by charging a packaging fee to brand companies to fund infrastructure and education investments. The American Chemistry Council, Nestle, Coca-Cola, and others support this approach.[15]\r\n\r\nExtended producer responsibility laws for packaging, electronics, and other items are already being implemented in states across the country, as well as internationally. The Product Stewardship Institute has a map with EPR laws by state, which include EPR for products such as cell phones, batteries, mattresses, and more. [16] These types of policies are critical to creating a circular economy.[17]  Furthermore, regarding EPR, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has said that, assigning such responsibility could in principle provide incentives to prevent wastes at the source, promote product design for the environment and support the achievement of public recycling and materials management goals.[18] In Canada, extended producer responsibility laws and other policies have helped the country achieve a 70 percent recycling rate. Alternatively, beverage container deposit laws, commonly referred to as bottle bills, run by industry have also shown to be successful. As a variation of an EPR theme, bottle bills place a refundable deposit on certain recyclable beverage containers to help reduce litter and capture material for recycling. Successful bottle deposit programs like the state of Oregon reported a 90 percent recovery rate from their bottle redemption program.\r\nEPA's draft National Recycling Strategy should incorporate product stewardship policies for plastics and other materials that are woefully mismanaged today. Of all plastic ever produced, only about nine percent has been recycled. That means over 90 percent of plastic is landfilled, incinerated or littered across the Earth, including in our oceans and waterways.[19] Those statistics tell us that plastic producers should fund much-needed recycling infrastructure. Not only do producers have the financial means to support improved recycling, but they also play an outsized role in the waste problem by producing massive amounts of single-use products that end up as waste, not as recyclable material.\r\n\r\nConclusion\r\n\r\nThe United States recycling rate currently sits at about 35 percent. EPA recently announced a goal of reaching a 50 percent recycling rate by 2030. Though it marks an improvement over the status quo, we need to set more ambitious goals to spur market development and growth. The European Union (EU) set a recycling target of 50 percent for 2020 and 65 percent by 2035. EPA proposes a relatively paltry 50 percent target for the United States in 2030.[20] We should strive to meet the recycling rates of countries like Canada, which has a 70 percent recycling rate. We can achieve higher rates of recycling if we choose to implement policies that help us get there, like enhancing our domestic recycling markets by shifting financial burdens to producers and embracing a circular economy approach. We know that each year, the United States produces 35.4 million tons of plastic.[21] Of that amount, about 8.4 percent  three million tons  is recycled.[22] 26.8 million tons of plastics are then disposed of in landfills each year.[23] Comparably, many countries in Europe are recycling plastics at rates of 35 to 40 percent.[24]  During the COVID-19 pandemic, recycling was deemed critical infrastructure by the Department of Homeland Security[25] because recycling is essential to our economy. According to EPA's statistics, the recycling industry constitutes approximately 757,000 jobs, $36.6 billion in wages, and $6.7 billion in tax revenues in the United States.[26] In other words, two jobs are created for every 1,000 tons of material that is recycled.[27] The more we recycle, the more jobs we can create. We need a national recycling strategy that honors that reality and seizes the huge promise an effective recycling system represents. Recycling is one of the most important and tangible ways that every American can contribute to a more sustainable world. That's why Americans across the country want to see recycling work for our economy and the environment. Sadly, by ignoring the facts and failing to capture broader aspirations, EPA's proposed draft National Recycling Strategy fails to provide Americans that opportunity.\r\n\r\nI encourage EPA to develop a strategy that incorporates this feedback and carefully considers all the public comment it has received on this draft National Recycling Strategy. An honest assessment of our current state of affairs should be ample incentive to produce a National Strategy that fundamentally transforms our nation's recycling system. That effort will surely take substantial timeand will certainly require further shepherding by the incoming Administration.\r\n\r\nShould you or your staff have any questions relating to this letter, I would invite the members of your staff to contact Avery Mulligan of my Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff at avery_mulligan@epw.senate.gov.\r\n\r\nWith best personal regards, I am,\r\n\r\nSincerely yours,\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThomas R. Carper\r\nRanking Member", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/senate-passes-bill-to-rename-thermopolis-post-office-after-lifelong-resident-former-postmaster", "Senate passes bill to rename Thermopolis post office after lifelong resident, former postmaster", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation to rename the Thermopolis, Wyo., post office after former Postmaster Robert Brown, who passed away on September 11, 2020. Brown's career with the U.S. Postal Service spanned 44 years, including 18 years as the postmaster. U.S. Senators Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Tom Carper, D-Del., introduced the legislation earlier this year. U.S. Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who was Brown's son-in-law, cosponsored the legislation.  Renaming the post office after Bob Brown is a fitting tribute to his service  first in the military and later as the Thermopolis postmaster, Enzi said. He was born and raised in Thermopolis and exemplified Wyoming values. I'm glad the Senate passed this bill to honor and remember him. Bob Brown was an American hero who inspired everyone who knew him.Renaming the Thermopolis post office after himisa perfect way tohonor his memory,Barrasso said. Bob, my late father-in-law, served as postmaster in Thermopolis for many years after returning from his service in WWII and Korea. Many knew him as the nicest guy in town. I am deeply appreciative of Senator Enzi and Senator Carper's work to get this bipartisan bill passed in the Senate. This is awonderfulway to honor Bob's memory and service to Thermopolis and our nation. While I was never fortunate enough to meet Robert Brown, I know he was a man who dedicated his life to his country. He didn't just serve in the Army; he served with courage and distinction in combat in both World War II and later in the Korean War. He was awarded the Bronze Star and later returned to his community where he continued to serve his fellow citizens for years as a postmaster in the U.S. Postal Service. I know that our country is better for his lifetime of service to others, said Carper. I want to thank my colleague, Senator Enzi, for graciously allowing me to be his wingman in this effort to rename the Thermopolis post office in Mr. Brown's honor. I know that his memory will live on for generations in the community he served so well. The bill calls for the post office in Thermopolis to be officially named the Robert L. Brown Post Office. The bill must now be passed by the House of Representatives.  After graduating from Thermopolis High School, Brown was inducted into the Army in 1944 and served in both the Europe and the Pacific theaters. In 1950, when he was part of the National Guard, Brown deployed to Korea where he was a member of the 300th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. Along with a unit citation, he received the combat infantry badge and the Purple Heart. After his service, he returned to Thermopolis and began working at the post office.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-selection-of-brian-deese-to-lead-the-national-economic-council", "Carper Statement on Selection of Brian Deese to Lead the National Economic Council", "2020-12-03", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  U.S. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement regarding President-elect Joe Biden's selection of Brian Deese to serve as Director of the National Economic Council.\r\n\r\nTwo of the biggest crises facing our country right now is an economy that has left too many Americans behind for too long, especially during this pandemic, and the existential threat of climate change thatleaves our survival on this planet hanging in the balance.In Brian Deese, President-elect Biden has selected an individual who fundamentally believes and understands thatthese two crises areinextricablyconnectedthat building afairer, more prosperous economyis impossible withoutachieving environmental equity and ensuring a healthy, habitable planet.As the first climate policy expert to serve as Director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese will put combatting the climate crisis at the center of the incoming Administration's economic agenda and work tirelessly to bring much-needed reliefand opportunityto American families and workers.\r\nBrian's track record speaks for itself. During the Obama Administration, he was integral in crafting the bailout of the American auto industry at the height of the Great Recession. He's been tested during crises, has successfully worked to protect American jobs, and helped to rebuild our economy once before. He went on to be a lead negotiator of the Paris Climate Agreement, helping to bring the world together in support of ambitious action on climate. Most recently, he has worked with the nation's largest companies to help reduce their impact on the environment we all share. That experience will prove to be an asset as President-elect Biden works to advance the boldest climate agenda from anyadministration to date that holds all stakeholders accountable.\r\nHaving worked with Brian when he served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, I know that he has the talent and intellect to be successful in any line of work. But we are fortunate that he has chosen to dedicate his time and talents to public service. He is not just passionate about making our world a better, fairer and healthier place; he has the experience to make those goals a reality. I want to extend my sincere congratulations to Brian and his family, and I look forward to working with him in the coming years.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/to-honor-epa-s-50th-anniversary-let-s-look-to-the-future", "To honor EPAs 50th Anniversary, lets look to the future", "2020-12-03", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friend, \r\nThis week marks the 50th anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency. Many people may not remember a time before the EPA, before the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act became law of the land. But I do. Polluters dumped waste into our waterways without consequence, factories released toxic fumes, and acid rain fell from the sky. Smog in major cities around our country was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. In the face of all of that adversity, the American people got to work and created a movement. Millions took to the streets calling for transformative action to protect our planet. In response, a Republican presidentPresident Richard Nixonhelped lead the effort to create a new federal agency with the mission of protecting human health and the environment. In the time since, the EPA has been instrumental in protecting the air we breathe, cleaning up the water that we drink, and improving public health. Despite those 50 years of progress, sadly, the last four years have reminded us that progress is not permanent. Fortunately, though, neither is the damage that has been done to our nation's leading environmental agency. With forward-looking leadership, EPA can and will be restored to help our nation overcome the most pressing challenges of our day. That is what my friend and fellow Delawarean, President-elect Joe Biden, has promised. Right now, EPA can help us reduce the air pollution that is worsening COVID-19 outcomes. Right now, EPA can help to address the environmental inequality that stems from systemic racism. EPA can help our nation reduce harmful pollution and prioritize environmental justice in ways that ensure we uplift economically disadvantaged communities, foster greater economic prosperity and achieve equity. In fact, environmental quality and economic growth go hand in hand. On top of a deadly pandemic, an ever-deepening economic recession and a national reckoning of racial injustice, the United States is grappling with another crisisthe climate crisis. We may not be experiencing all of the same problems we were in 1970, but make no mistake. From rising sea levels and more frequent and severe extreme weather events, our planet is at stake. Guided by science, EPA can help us combat the climate crisis. EPA must use every tool in its arsenal and mobilize our entire economy to reach net-zero carbon pollution by no later than 2050. When future generations look back to this moment 50 years from now, I want them to say that the United States rose to meet the challenges of todaythat EPA was guided by science and ensured cleaner air, clearer water, and healthier communities everywhere. That EPA helped to save our planet from the climate crisis. Now, it's up to us to make that future our reality. In Friendship, \r\nTom Carper", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-meets-with-president-elect-biden-s-nominee-to-lead-dhs", "Carper Meets with President-Elect Bidens Nominee to Lead DHS", "2020-12-02", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Carper, Mayorkas discuss ways to boost morale at DHS, restore public trust in the Department and tackle the root causes of migration\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, DC  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released the following statement today after virtually meeting with Alejandro Mayorkas, President-elect Joe Biden's intended nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security.\r\nI have been fortunate enough to work alongside Ali Mayorkas for many years, and I have gotten to know him both as a public servant and a person. He is a man of great integrity and principle, with an incomparable work ethic, who understands the complexities of this critical agency and the threats facing our country at this crucial moment. I am even more sure, after meeting with him today, that he is the right person to take the helm at DHS and begin a new, productive chapter at the agency.\r\nI was glad to talk with him today about the importanceofworking expeditiously to fill vacancies at DHS with qualified, experienced individuals who can support him in his efforts to boost morale across the workforce and restore the public's trust in this Department. It's understandable that the American people may be leery of this agency,which was deeply politicized during the Trump administration and used as an instrument to carry out some of its most extreme and harmful policies during the last four years. But Ali Mayorkas appreciates the work that lies aheadofhim and his team in order to earn back the public's trust. He is eager to show that he will be a thoughtful leader, and I know that he is well-qualified and well-prepared to hit the ground running on day one.  \r\nWe also had an opportunity to discuss the urgent need to address the root causes of irregular migration to our country  not simply the symptoms. As someone who has traveled to Central America numerous times, it is clear that violence, extreme poverty, corruption and a lack of opportunity has forced too many families to flee for their lives and leave the only home they have ever known. Today, these challenges are being exacerbated by extreme weather, such as flooding and droughts, that are a result of climate change. I look forward to working with President-elect Biden and Ali Mayorkas to seriously address these systemic issues with smart solutions and compassion.\r\nI believe that the American people are desperate to see individuals at the highest level of our government lead with their actions, not just their words. That is exactly what they will have with Ali Mayorkas leading the charge at DHS. He is anxious to get to work, meet with the men and women at DHS and work with communities across our country to ensure their needs are being met. I hope our committee considers his nomination swiftly, and I look forward to continue working with him in the years to come.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-statement-on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-environmental-protection-agency", "Carper Statement on the 50th Anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency", "2020-12-02", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement to recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).\r\nFor 50 years, the American people have relied on the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the air we breathe is clean, the water we drink is safe, the communities we call home are free of pollution, and the products we use are free of toxins.\r\nMany people may not remember a time before the EPA, before the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act became law of the land. But I do. I remember when industries polluted our skies with plumes of acrid smoke and poisoned our waterways with toxic waste. Communities were cloaked in suffocating smog. Many of us have the luxury of largely forgetting these frightening circumstances today because of the work of EPA. For half a century, EPA has relied on sound science to implement our nation's clean air, clean water and safe chemical laws. During that time, our economy has expanded, industries have innovated and business have created millions of new jobs, proving that economic growth goes hand in hand with environmental quality. But we have just seen the proof that this progress is not permanent. Over the last four years, EPA has endured a hostile administration hell-bent on turning back the clock. But even after a president who promised to get rid' of the agency in every form, EPA is still the world's gold standard of science-based and compassionate care for our environment because regulations can come undone and career employees can come under attack, but science evolves and our bedrock environmental laws endure.\r\n\r\n Just as progress is not permanent, neither is the damage that's been done to our nation's top environmental agency. The leadership and forward-looking vision of President-elect Biden and his administration will restore and renew EPA. Fifty years after its birth, EPA will once again help our nation overcome the most pressing challenges of our day.\r\nOn top of a deadly pandemic, an ever-deepening economic recession and a national reckoning of racial injustice, the United States is grappling with another crisis. The climate crisis. There's a saying that, history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.' We may not be experiencing all of the same problems we were in 1970, but make no mistake. From rising sea levels and more frequent and severe extreme weather events, we face mounting environmental threats againand, this time, it's our survival on this planet that's at stake. Guided by science, EPA must use every tool in its arsenal and mobilize our entire economy to reach net-zero carbon pollution by no later than 2050. As we combat the climate crisis, the EPA must foster economic prosperity and achieve environmental equity. Today, too many people in our countryprimarily in communities of color and Indigenous communitiesstill suffer the consequences of toxic pollution in the air they breathe and the water they drink. Systemic racism still plagues our society and decades of environmental progress has not been distributed equally. EPA will be critical in our efforts to prioritize environmental justice and finally make good on our promise of clean air, safe drinking water and healthy communities for everyone in this country.\r\nWhen future generations look back to this moment, I want them to say that EPA helped us meet and resolve the greatest challenges of our day. That EPA was guided by science and ensured cleaner air, clearer water and healthier communities everywhere. That EPA was pivotal in saving our planet from the climate crisis. Now, it's up to us.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/opening-statement-of-ranking-member-carper-business-meeting-to-consider-substitute-amendment-to-american-nuclear-infrastructure-act-of-2020", "Opening Statement of Ranking Member Carper: Business Meeting to consider Substitute Amendment to American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020", "2020-12-02", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a business meeting to consider substitute amendment to S. 4897, American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020, and 8 General Services Administration Resolutions. Below is the opening statement of Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.), as prepared for delivery:\r\nWelcome, everyone, to the last Senate Environment and Public Works Committee business meeting of the 116th Congress. Today marks the end of an era. It is the last EPW business meeting to be led by our friend and colleague, Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming. Mr. Chairman, I'm proud of all we've accomplished in this committee these past four years by working together. I'll mention a few. We enacted a comprehensive reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act, and we are on the cusp of doing so again, two years later. Last year, we unanimously reporting out of committee the most significant highway funding bill the Senate has ever seen, one with a substantial climate title included in it. In addition, we've enacted a slew of wildlife bills that improve conservation efforts, protect habitat and the creatures that God has put on this Earth. And, we reached a consequential bipartisan compromise to enact a nationwide phasedown of HFCs. That's worth a half degrees Celsius alone in our battle against the climate crisis. I would be remiss not to mention one of my favorite moments that we've shared togetherwhen a nominee from Wyoming sat before us and testified at his confirmation hearing for Assistant Secretary for Interior. Your friend, Rob Wallace, said these words: Along the way I've learned so much, especially that no one ever really wins by winning everything, that bipartisan solutions are always the lasting ones...'\r\nMr. Chairman, as my staff knows, these words of wisdom really struck a chord with me and a number of our colleagues, as well. Because that's something all of us have learned along the way, toothat bipartisan solutions truly are lasting solutions. When I reflect on our work together over the last four years, it gives true meaning to these words. Because that's exactly what we endeavor to do on this committee and more often than not, we do it well. We foster lasting solutions to clean our air and water and combat global warming while creating an environment that fosters economic growth and job creation.\r\n So thank you, Mr. Chairman, and a special thanks to your staff led by Richard Russell, some of whom I suspect may go with you to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. And, a special thank you for bringing the timeless words into our lives of your friend, Rob Wallace, and into the work of this committee.\r\nThis markup falls on a monumental day for our nation. Today is the 50th anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1970, I was a young naval flight officer preparing to head out on my first of three tours of duty in Southeast Asia. As our nation waged a war abroad, we faced deepening divisions and mounting environmental crises at home. Polluters dumped waste into our waterways without consequence, factories released toxic fumes and acid rain fell from the sky. In Cleveland, Ohio, not far from where I went to college at OSU, the Cuyahoga River was so polluted that it caught on fire. In California, an offshore oil rig spilled millions of gallons of oil onto the beaches. Many of us saw it with our own eyes. Smog in major cities around our country was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. In the face of all of that adversity, the American people didn't just sit around and whine about it. They created a movement. Millions of Americans took to the streets calling for transformative action to protect our planet. In response, a Republican president  President Richard Nixon  helped lead the effort to create the Environmental Protection Agency, a new federal agency with the mission of protecting human health and the environment. For 50 years, the EPA has been instrumental in protecting the air we breathe, cleaning up the water that we drink and improving public health. As we celebrate the strides made over the last 50 years to clean up our air and improve public health, it's all so timely that our committee is considering legislation that will help to harness our nation's potential for nuclear powerby far the largest source of clean, reliable, carbon-free energy in our countryand make it safer still.\r\nToday, we are considering the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020, co-authored by our chair and by Senators Booker and Whitehouse to support advanced nuclear technologies. During our committee hearing on this legislation in August, I shared some of my reservations about the bill, specifically its proposed changes to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's permitting process. Some of you may recall that we had recently enacted the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, or NEIMA, which made several necessary changes to the NRC's regulatory structure for advanced nuclear technologies. I feared that any additional and unwarranted changes to that structure could seriously disrupt the regulatory process, jeopardizing safety. I also expressed my concerns that creating a new but unfunded incentive program for the existing nuclear industry at EPA would risk asking the agency to do more with far fewer resources. Given the budget restraints placed on the NRC through NEIMA, it was important to me that this new legislation would not further strain the NRC in a way that jeopardizes safety and public health. For six months, my staff has been working with Chairman Barrasso's staff to address those concerns. Today, I am happy to say that our substitute amendment resolves them. I thank Chairman Barrasso and his staff for working with my staff. Supporting nuclear energy and advanced nuclear technologies is a high priority for me, so I am grateful for the chairman's willingness to help us get to yes' on this legislation. Today, we are also moving eight General Services Administration prospectus resolutions, including one for a Veterans Administration building in Hawaii. Several of us on this committee, including Senators Ernst and Sullivan, have also served our country in uniform, and I know we take a special pleasure in moving that GSA resolution out of our committee today. Let me conclude my remarks this morning by briefly sharing with our colleagues the passage of S. 4684 during wrap-up last evening. Introduced by Senator Mike Enzi and me, it calls for the naming of the Post Office building in Thermopolis, Wyoming after its former Postmaster, Robert Brown, the late father of Bobbi Barrasso, our chairman's wife. Robert Brown didn't just serve in the Army. He served with courage and distinction in combat in both World War II and the Korean War. Among his many military awards was the Bronze Star. He passed away earlier this year at the age of 94. Several months before his death, Mr. Brown was driven to a treatment facility in Montana hundreds of miles away and later that day, driven back home to Wyoming. His driver for that memorable road trip was his son-in-law, our chairman John Barrasso, a man of many skills: surgeon, talk show host, driver, and chairman of this committee that all of us revere. So, my friend, as you weigh anchor this year and set sail for your next assignment on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, we all wish you fair winds and a followings sea. God bless you, Mr. Chairman.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-automakers-should-all-support-voluntary-framework-deal-with-california-ford-honda-volkswagen-bmw-and-volvo", "Carper: Automakers should all support voluntary framework deal with California, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo", "2020-12-01", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, echoed a new letter sent by Ford Motor Company and encouragedallautomakers to follow the lead of Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo anddrop litigation against states' regulatory authority and announce their support for thevoluntary agreement with California and 13 other states, including Delaware, that will deliver more greenhouse gas emissionsreductions than under the Trump administration's illegal rollback. For four years, nearly every automaker told me that they wanted to see a deal between the Trump administration and the state of California. Automakers urged the administration to govern responsibly and support a 50-state solution that would provide near-term flexibility as the industry moves toward stronger standards. But in those four years, only five automakers have shown the leadership needed to make that a reality.\r\nWith so much at stake  American jobs and the entire auto industry, our nation's economy and the planet's climate crisis  five automakers had the courage to buck the Trump administration and choose another way. Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo worked with California to forge a responsible alternative path, one that would promote American jobs, protect clean air, and support the clean cars of the future.\r\nIn a new letter, Ford is calling the rest of the automakers to join that agreement. I echo that call. Actually, since the four automakers' agreement with California was first announced, I have repeatedly called other automakers and urged them to join it. For more than a year now, I have picked up the phone and told every automaker that staying stuck in neutral or reverse is no longer an option.\r\nRemaining silent or merely withdrawing support from the outgoing administration's illegal rollback and challenges to state authority is not enough, not when there is so much at stake. To demonstrate real leadership, automakers should also announce their support for the voluntary agreement led by Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo, and begin to work with the President-elect on rules to make the near- and long-term reductions in emissions from cars and trucks that must be made. Once again, I will say this: staying stuck in neutral or reverse is not an option. For four years, Senator Carper met repeatedly with Trump administration officials andurged themtoseek common groundand work with automakers and the state of California to strike a deal on fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards. In July 2019, Ford Motor Company, Honda Motor Company, Volkswagen, and BMW  which together account for about 30 percent of U.S. vehicle sales  reachedan agreement with the state of Californiaon standards that would achieve continuous annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollutants while saving consumers money. Despite this, the Trump administration continued to pursue and finalize its rollback. Below is atimeline describing Senator Carper's oversighton the so-called Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rules:\r\n \r\nIn October 2018, Senators Carper, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)released documentsproving that Congress rejected legislative efforts to preempt or limit California's authority in 2007;\r\nAlso in October 2018, Senator Carper urged Secretary Chao and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to abandon plans to dismantle the clean car standards,highlighting a non-exhaustive list of 10 major legal deficiencies in the administration's proposal;\r\nIn December 2018, Senators Carper and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)demanded disclosureof the administration's contacts with the oil industry regarding the fuel economy rule, after reporting revealed details of a covert lobbying campaign driven by fossil fuel groups to weaken fuel economy rules and increase demand for oil consumption;\r\nIn May 2019, Senator Carper and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) wrote a letter to Administrator Wheelerdemanding documentsexplaining numerous comments from Administrator Wheeler about EPA's fuel economy rollback that contradict data presented to him by EPA's own experts (May 2019);\r\nIn January 2020, Senator Carper led a letter to Paul Ray underscoring theconcerns about the rule that were raised by EPA's own Science Advisory Board. Later in January, following a review of a leaked draft final rule obtained by his office, Senator Carpersent another letterto the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Paul Ray, urging him to overhaul or completely abandon the Trump administration's Part 2 of SAFE Vehicles. In his letter, Senator Carper outlined some of his most serious concerns with the draft final rule which was submitted to OIRA on January 14, 2020, including concerns that it appeared to be incomplete, resulted in costs to consumers that exceed the purported benefits of the rollback, and did not appreciably improve safety, all while adding vast amounts of harmful greenhouse gas pollution to the environment;\r\nIn March 2020, Senator Carper asked the EPA IG to open an investigation after receiving reports of seemingly purposeful and potentially unlawful efforts on the part of EPA political officials to avoid the standard processes and statutory requirements associated with finalizing the SAFE Vehicles rule, including potential efforts to conceal documents that should eventually be made public. In that letter, Senator Carper also recounted significant concerns EPA officials had with the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) August 2018 proposed rule, as well as the extensive negative media reports that resulted from the disclosure of EPA's documented concerns with the proposal; and,\r\n\r\nIn May 2020, Senator Carper urged the EPA IG to expand its investigation after documents obtained by Senator Carper's office revealed that the previous reports he had shared with the EPA IG were accurate. In addition to efforts to illegally conceal documents that should have been made public when the rule was finalized, Senator Carper provided the EPA IG new documents that revealed significant inaccuracies and technical errors in the final rule that, apparently, EPA officials repeatedly asked DOT officials to correct. Those documents also revealed that EPA officials apparently believed the failure to correct those inaccuracies and errors would make the rule legally vulnerable to challengebut despite this, DOT officials proceeded. Additionally, those documents showed that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler requested that sweeping changes be made to the rule after it was signed but before it was published in the Federal Register.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/12/carper-defazio-and-grijalva-file-amicus-brief-over-nepa-rule-changes-by-the-trump-administration", "Carper, DeFazio, and Grijalva File Amicus Brief over NEPA Rule Changes by the Trump Administration", "2020-12-01", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Congressman Ral M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, in the case of Wild Virginia v. Council on Environmental Quality.\r\n\r\nThe three lawmakers filed the amicus brief on behalf of Members of Congress regarding the Trump administration's revisions to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. The amicus brief states Member of Congress have on multiple occasions communicated to the administration that the legal defects of the Trump NEPA regulations fundamentally undermines NEPA's protections and should not adversely affect their constituents.\r\n\r\nCongress intended that the NEPA review process would protect the public by requiring agencies to carefully examine the environmental impacts of their actions, the lawmakers wrote. The 2020 Rule, however, removes or weakens core elements of the NEPA review process, thereby undermining NEPA's protections that have made the law so valuable to [our] constituents.\r\n\r\nThe brief asserts that four core elements of NEPA review have been undercut by the updated NEPA rule: consideration of cumulative and indirect impacts, analysis of all reasonable alternatives, public participation, and the requirement to consider environmental impacts before project commencement.\r\n\r\nRead the lawmakers' amicus brief here.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-janet-yellen-to-serve-as-treasury-secretary", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Janet Yellen to Serve as Treasury Secretary", "2020-11-30", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WILMINGTON, Del.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement regarding President-elect Joe Biden's nomination of Janet Yellen to serve as Secretary of the Treasury.\r\nThis year, millions of families have fallen on hard times through no fault of their own. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, breadwinners have been out of work. Too many small business owners have been forced to close their doors. Parents have struggled to pay for necessities at the super market, while our President focuses solely on the stock market. We desperately need leaders who can help workers and families recover, build an economy that works for all Americans and put us on a more equitable and sustainable fiscal path going forward. President-elect Biden knows exactly what it takes to lead our country out of an economic crisis and, in Janet Yellen, he has found a partner who has the brilliance, the decades of experience and the gravitas needed to lead a successful recovery now.\r\nThe selection of Janet Yellen to lead the Treasury Department is historic, but also pitch perfect for this moment. A trailblazer throughout her life, Janet Yellen was the first woman to lead our central banking system as Chair of the Federal Reserve, where she was widely regarded as a steady hand who helped to continue our economic recovery in the wake of the Great Recession. Now, she would be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department in its long 231-year history, and the only person to have served as Treasury Secretary, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Chair of the Federal Reserve. A decorated economist and renowned academic, it would be nearly impossible to find any individual more qualified for this position. And it would be even more difficult to find a nominee who is so well respected across the board, from progressives to Republicans alike.\r\nIn addition to her impeccable credentials, Janet Yellen has long been sounding the alarm on climate change. An early supporter of the Kyoto Protocol and a member of the Climate Leadership Council, Yellen has been making the economic case for mitigating the risks posed by climate change since the 1990s. As Treasury Secretary, she would have the authority to advance an ambitious climate agendaand the unique ability to ensure that corporations take the existential threat of climate change seriously. I look forward to working with her and the entire Biden Administration to ensure that this is, once again, a top priority across the federal government. \r\n\r\nJanet Yellen would be an excellent choice for Treasury Secretary in a time of prosperity, but she is an extraordinary pick for the moment in which we find ourselves right now. We are lucky that she is willing to continuing serving our country in such a crucial role.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-on-epa-s-proposal-to-weaken-pollution-standards-for-vessels", "Carper on EPAs Proposal to Weaken Pollution Standards for Vessels", "2020-11-25", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, underscored the damage posed by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s proposed rule that would significantly relax pollution control standards for large industrial ships under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act. When large ships arrive at ports, they often need to discharge ballast water in order to load new cargo. That ballast water frequently contains harmful pollutants and aquatic invasive species. That's why I worked hard to see theVessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) become law to ensure commercial shipping vessels adhere to basic pollution control standards in order to better mitigate the spread of invasive species and protect our nation's waterways. \r\nOne of the key principles of VIDA was ensuring that the new pollution control standards set forth by EPA would be at least as stringent as existing standards. In fact, the law explicitly and unambiguously forbids EPA from weakening any existing ballast water standard. But, after four years, it should surprise no one that the Trump EPA is simply ignoring the law. In clear defiance to the rule of the law and a 94-6 bipartisan vote in the Senate, EPA is instead proposing to weaken existing ballast water standards. No doubt, President Trump's EPA will be remembered for its unrelenting torrent of environmental rollbacks that cater to specific industries with special interests. This proposed rule is no exception. In addition to weakening pollution control standards, EPA has determined that U.S. vessels operating exclusively in the Great Lakes system are not required to meet any discharge standard whatsoever. According to EPA, these vessels do not have to install ballast water management systems. I worked closely with my Senate colleagues from the Great Lakes States and, once again, EPA's interpretation of the law could not be further from our clear, unambiguous, legislative intent.\r\nIt should also surprise no one that the Trump EPA arrived at these conclusionsasserting incorrectly that there is no new and reasonably accessible technology to reduce these ballast water threatsbased on outdated and incomplete information. Perhaps another legacy of this Environmental Protection Agency will be its uncanny ability to disregard science and to selectively overlook information it deems inconvenient. This proposal represents yet another departure from responsible governing. During the final days of the Trump administration, this proposal exemplifies what the Trump EPA does besttouts adeeply irresponsible and legally fraught rollback assome kind of framework for regulatory certainty. It's why the American people are ready for an EPA that actually does its job and heeds its mission.\r\n   ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/have-a-happy-and-safe-thanksgiving", "Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving", "2020-11-25", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "November 25th, 2020 \r\n Dear Friend, \r\nIt goes without saying that 2020 has been a hard year for every American. We have all sacrificed a great deal as our country has grappled with the coronavirus pandemic. And the fact that Thanksgiving also looks very different for all of us this year is understandably difficult. Most years on Thanksgiving, I like to start my morning running the Thanksgiving Day Multiple Sclerosis race in Wilmington. Then, I head down to the Emmanuel Dining Room to make sure my neighbors are able to partake in not only a delicious Thanksgiving meal, but also invaluable fellowship. Even though this Thanksgiving looks differentand in spite of the hardships of this year, there's still so much to be thankful for. More than ever, we should all be especially grateful for our good health and the health of our family and friends. We should give thanks for the food on our tables.Weshould express our sincere thanks for the health care heroes and frontline workers who have put themselves in harm's way this year to keep our country running and keep their fellow Americans healthy and safe. And we should give thanksfor the men and women abroad defending our country. Let usnot forget: there are too many families who will not even get to Zoom with a family member or loved one over Thanksgiving dinner because they've been lost to the coronavirus.I know thatmissing gatherings forThanksgiving may seem tough,especially when being with family and loved ones feels more important than ever.But we are still in the middle of a pandemic, and we need to do everything we can to keep each other safe. That's why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially recommended that Americans stay at home this weekend and celebrate Thanksgiving with only your household. Over the last few weeks, we've gotten some much-needed good news. Help is on the way in the form of three promising, highly effective vaccines. But it's not time to spike the football just yet. Instead, that good news should be extra incentive to stick to the public health measures that we know are effective to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe until we put this pandemic in our rearview mirror. As Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Anthony Fauci, leading experts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reminded us last week, now is the time to be doubling down on mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing and avoiding crowds, and to stay that course until vaccines become available. After all, if Americans pulled together to do the right thing and wore a mask in public, this simple, selfless act would save more than 130,000 lives in the next few months alone. I am an optimist by nature. I always see the glass half full. And I truly do believe that there is new hope on the horizon. But we need to make sure that all of our neighbors and loved ones are around for the New Year, and next Thanksgiving and next Christmas. Let's all heed the advice of the experts and stay home now so that we'll be able to celebrate together for years to come. Wishing you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving, \r\nTom Carper", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-joins-booker-colleagues-urge-robust-funding-for-state-and-local-governments-to-distribute-covid-19-vaccines", "Carper Joins Booker, Colleagues to Urge Robust Funding for State and Local Governments to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Public health experts have estimated that a bare minimum of $8.4 billion is needed for COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and 15 of his Democratic Senate colleagues in urging Congressional leaders to provide robust funding to ensure the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as a part of any upcoming legislation to address the pandemic.\r\nWith the recent news of at least one COVID-19 vaccine possibly being available to be distributed within the next month, many state and local governments lack the proper funding that is needed to distribute the vaccine. According to a recent letter sent by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) to congressional leaders, a minimum of $8.4 billion is needed to distribute COVID-19 vaccines nationwide. Some experts even estimated that $10 billion is required in order to fund community vaccination clinics alone.\r\n\r\nFor months, as states, territories, Indian Tribes, and other localities have been responding to COVID-19 and working tirelessly to keep their residents safe, they have also been preparing to undertake one of the largest vaccination efforts in our nation's history, the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent today to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy. To accomplish this, jurisdictions must recruit and train thousands of health care workers, modernize data systems and registries, stand up vaccination sites, develop communications and educational materials, and build and support the infrastructure needed to distribute multiple types and doses of COVID-19 vaccines, among other activities.\r\nTo ensure that jurisdictions throughout the country are well-positioned to immediately, efficiently, and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines as they become available, we respectfully request that any upcoming legislation to address the pandemic include robust funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts, the lawmakers concluded.\r\nThis letter was also signed by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Tina Smith (D-MN). \r\n\r\nThe full text of the letter is available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-peters-colleagues-request-regular-gao-briefings-on-schedule-f-executive-order-implementation", "Carper, Peters, Colleagues Request Regular GAO Briefings on Schedule F Executive Order Implementation", "2020-11-23", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Oversight and Reform Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerald E. Connolly in sending a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting regular briefings to inform Congress about the implementation status of President Trump's Schedule F Executive Order.\r\nThe executive order could precipitate a mass exodus from the federal government at the end of every presidential administration, leaving federal agencies without deep institutional knowledge, expertise, experience, and the ability to develop and implement long-term policy strategies, they wrote. It would be a critical loss for the American people.\r\nOn October 21, 2020, the President issued an executive order that would undermine the foundation of the federal workforce: the civil service, which consists of non-partisan professionals who serve all Americans without regard to political party. This executive action could multiply the number of political appointees within the federal workforce by tens of thousands and permit the mass firing of current federal employees whom agency heads determine make substantive contributions to executive branch policy.\r\nIn response to the executive order, on October 27, 2020, Chairwoman Maloney and Chairman Connollyintroduced the Saving the Civil Service Act to prohibit the use of funds to implement the order. The bill also would allow any position or appointment that was converted pursuant to the executive order to be converted back to the competitive service and provide anyone converted to a Schedule F who was subsequently fired to be reinstated with backpay. Senator Carper joined Ranking Member Peters and more than 40 U.S. Senators last week to introduce a bill that would also block the implementation of the President's harmful executive order.\r\nClick here to read today's letter.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-statement-on-john-kerry-appointment-to-serve-as-special-presidential-envoy-for-climate", "Carper Statement on John Kerry Appointment to Serve as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate", "2020-11-23", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after President-elect Biden appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as a Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and to serve as part of the National Security Council (NSC).\r\n It is going to take a concerted international effort to confront and overcome the global climate crisis. But before we even get there, it's going to take perseverance, political expertise and diplomacy to convince other countries to join the fight to save our planet. No one understands what it's going to take better than John Kerry. As our nation's former Secretary of State, John Kerry knows firsthand how to unite the international community to confront the climate crisis. After all, he worked tirelessly to bring the Paris Agreement to the finish line. And when it was time to ratify the historic accord, Secretary Kerry brought his young granddaughter with him to sign the agreement on behalf of the United States. He reminded the world that climate action is about leaving behind a healthy, habitable planet for future generations.\r\n As my former colleague in the Senate, he is also acutely aware of the political process. He will bring to this role both his diplomatic and political expertise. And, after devoting the last several years to his organization focused on climate change, John Kerry knows better than anyone how to ensure this crisis receives the international attention it so desperately needs. One call after another, world leaders continue to raise the issue of climate change in their congratulatory calls to the president-elect. President-elect Biden understands that the world is watching, and he knows that time is wasting. With the first-ever National Security Council seat dedicated to climate change, Secretary Kerry's historic appointment is a message to be heard around the world. The United States of America will lead the world on climate change once again.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-alejandro-mayorkas-to-serve-as-dhs-secretary", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to Serve as DHS Secretary", "2020-11-23", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WILMINGTON, Del.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released the following statement regarding President-elect Joe Biden's nomination of Alejandro Ali Mayorkas to serve as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).\r\nDHS is an agency with a budget of over $50 billion. The 240,000 men and women who work at the agency are charged with such critical missions as protecting our country from ever-evolving domestic and foreign threats, responding to national disasters, and securing our elections against foreign interference. As we see record-breaking storms, floods and fires fueled by climate change, continued irregular migration to our southern border, and the highest number of hate crimes in a decade, it is more important than ever that we have qualified and steady leadership at the Department to help us tackle these challenges and create a safer and more secure country for every American.\r\nI have had the pleasure and the privilege of working with Ali Mayorkas during his many years of service at the Department of Homeland Security. He is a man of great integrity and principle, with an incomparable work ethic, who understands the complexities of this critical agency and the threats facing our country. I can think of no better choice to help rebuild, refocus and lead the Department in this moment than Ali Mayorkas.\r\nJoe Biden's selection of Ali is undoubtedly historic. Ali was born in Havana, Cuba and understands firsthand what it's like for a family to come to the United States in search of refuge. He will become the first immigrant and first Latino to lead this consequential agency. But nominating Ali also shows just how much our President-elect values experience and expertise. Ali Mayorkas has held numerous positions within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. Most recently, Ali served as DHS Deputy Secretary during which time he helped implement the program to protect DREAMers, led the Department's response to Zika and Ebola and drafted and shepherded through Congress cybersecurity legislation to help DHS better protect our .gov' and private sector networks, among many other accomplishments. He is not an ideologue with a partisan agenda. He is a thoughtful, policy-minded individual who has spent much of his career learning about these agencies by working his way up and collaborating with career civil servants.\r\nDuring the Trump Administration, DHS became an agency focused almost solely on implementing draconian measures to curb immigration, while demonizing immigrants in the process. This country has always been a beacon for the oppressed, the marginalized, the persecuted around the world. Under President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas' leadership, I know that we can be again. We can once again implement smart solutions that have proven effective to protect our country. We can work constructively with our neighbors in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and recommit to addressing the endemic violence, corruption, poverty and lack of opportunity that forces too many families to flee the only home they've ever known. And we can also get back to the critical, nonpartisan work of improving DHS' management and mission cohesion that has too often been given short shrift during the Trump Administration.\r\nI want to extend my sincerest congratulations to my friend Ali on his nomination. I am supremely confident that he will provide the leadership that this agency so desperately needs. As our country faces so many unprecedented challenges, it more important than ever that the Department of Homeland Security is able to hit the ground running on day one. That is why it is so crucial that the Government Services Administration (GSA) finally ascertain the results of the election, allow the Biden-Harris Transition to begin the hard work of organizing a government, and allow us to bring these qualified and capable nominees before the Senate for a confirmation hearing in the very near future.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-statement-on-the-nomination-of-tony-blinken-to-serve-as-secretary-of-state", "Carper Statement on the Nomination of Tony Blinken to Serve as Secretary of State", "2020-11-23", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WILMINGTON, Del.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement regarding President-elect Joe Biden's nomination of Tony Blinken to serve as Secretary of State.\r\nFor the last four years, we have recklessly abandoned our alliances and walked away from carefully crafted international agreements with no alternatives in place. From the Paris Climate Accords to the Iran nuclear deal, President Trump, and those around him, seemed to be solely driven by a desire to tear down good policies, simply because they were achievements of the Obama Administration. For the last four years, our country's foreign policy has been transactional rather than strategic. For the last four years, our country has turned our back on our allies and cozied up to autocrats, ceding our leadership role in the world and compromising the democratic values that the United States has helped to spread across the globe by the power of our example.\r\nI've long said that there is no one better equipped to finally restore our country's standing in the world than Joe Biden. One of the reasons that I am so confident in President-elect Joe Biden's ability to do so is because I know that he will empower and surround himself with experienced, thoughtful and eminently qualified individuals like Tony Blinken.\r\nHaving begun his career at the State Department, Tony Blinken not only respects the agency and the critical role it plays in representing the United States to the world. He also respects our diplomats and foreign service officers around the world who work every day to keep our country safe. He has decades of experience in foreign policy and has been tested on the world stage. He helped to build the coalition of over sixty nations and the Kurds to fight ISIS on the battlefield, successfully reducing the terrorist group's land holdings and influence. Alongside others, he advocated for the Iran Nuclear Deal that successfully kept the Iranian government from developing a nuclear weapon, and which subjected the country to rigorous, intrusive and unprecedented inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Additionally, during his time as Deputy Secretary of State, he showed compassion and leadership by working to address and reduce refugee crises around the world. In 2017, he was an outspoken voice in support of raising the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States each year to 110,000. In the years since, that same crisis has seen the Trump Administration has slash refugee admissions to their lowest number since the Refugee Act of 1980. \r\nFinally, Tony Blinken has helped to guide Joe Biden's thoughtful and strategic foreign policy for decades. With Tony Blinken at the helm of the State Department, the world will know that when the Secretary speaks, he speaks for President Biden. And I have no doubt that Tony will put in place a strong team around him to help build upon the important work that Joe Biden has led for years, especially his work with our neighbors in the Northern Triangle countries of Central America to improve governance and economic opportunity and fight corruption. America will once again play a leading role in efforts to bolster the long-term prosperity and success of our region, rather than trading in ill-conceived threats and transactions in pursuit of short-term gains.\r\nThere are enormous challenges facing our world today that no one country or region can solve on their own. The coronavirus pandemic has made that especially clear. I stand ready to work with Secretary Blinken and President Biden to help rebuild trust with our allies, stand up to our adversaries and bad actors, and work toward peace throughout our world.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-urges-gsa-to-ascertain-president-elect-biden-to-ensure-americans-environmental-and-health-protections", "Carper Urges GSA to Ascertain President-Elect Biden to Ensure Americans Environmental and Health Protections", "2020-11-23", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, urged General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Murphy to ascertain the results of the 2020 Presidential Election for the sake of Americans' environment and health. In a new letter to GSA Administrator Murphy, Senator Carper underscored the urgency and importance of a smooth transition to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris's administration, given the global crises of climate change and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.\r\nGSA must immediately ascertain the President-elect's clear election victory and assist in facilitating a timely and effective transition of power to the incoming administration, as required by the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, Senator Carper wrote. Failing to do so risks the health and safety of millions of Americans as the nation grapples with a pandemic that continues to grow more severe every week.\r\nSenator Carper outlined three specific areas currently hindered by GSA's refusal to ascertain President-Elect Biden: air pollution and the coronavirus, evaluation and approval of disinfectants amid the pandemic, and preparation for the next administration to assess and remediate contaminated Superfund sites.\r\nI urge you to fulfill your lawful duty and begin the process of facilitating an orderly transfer of power to the new administration, so that President-elect Biden and Vice-President elect Harris can protect human health and the environment effectively on day one, Senator Carper continued.\r\n\r\nThe full letter can be read here or below.\r\n\r\nNovember 23, 2020\r\n\r\nEmily Murphy\r\nAdministrator\r\nGeneral Services Administration\r\n1800 F St NW\r\nWashington, D.C. 20006\r\n\r\nDear Administrator Murphy:\r\n\r\nI am deeply concerned that the General Services Administration (GSA) continues to delay providing resources and access to critical information to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and their team as they prepare to take office in January. GSA must immediately ascertain the President-elect's clear election victory and assist in facilitating a timely and effective transition of power to the incoming administration, as required by the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Failing to do so risks the health and safety of millions of Americans as the nation grapples with a pandemic that continues to grow more severe every week.\r\n\r\nAs Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I am particularly concerned that the Biden Administration (hereafter the Transition) is being hindered in its preparations to protect human health and the environment in several areas:\r\n\r\n \r\nAir Pollution Exposure and Coronavirus Disease (COVID). Lack of access to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) career officials and important environmental data prevents the Transition from further evaluating research demonstrating that air pollution leads to more adverse outcomes from COVID. This lack of access hinders the Transition's ability to prepare effective policies to address this health hazard.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nEvaluation and Approval of Disinfectants amid the Pandemic. The Transition's lack of resources and access to EPA information also risks possible delays in the evaluation and approval of surface disinfectants that can be used to ensure surfaces are free of the COVID-19 virus.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nManagement of Contaminated Sites. The Transition must prepare the Biden administration to immediately and effectively manage the nation's Superfund sites. The Trump administration has added several sites to the National Priorities List this fall. The incoming administration needs to prepare to protect the health of communities at these contaminated sites and the safety of the drinking water supplies in surrounding areas. Of particular concern are the six sites that were added to the Superfund National Priorities List in September, affecting communities in Delaware, South Carolina, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas, and California. Continued lack of access to information makes preparing to manage these sites that have long awaited cleanup more challenging.\r\n \r\n\r\nI urge you to fulfill your lawful duty and immediately begin the process of facilitating an orderly transfer of power to the new administration, so that President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris can protect human health and the environment effectively on day one. Thank you for your attention to this matter of national safety.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThomas R. Carper\r\nRanking Member\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-honored-by-delaware-farm-bureau-for-work-supporting-our-nation-s-farmers", "Carper Honored By Delaware Farm Bureau for Work Supporting our Nations Farmers", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined Delaware Farm Bureau President Richard Wilkins to accept the Friend of the Farm Bureau Award for the 116thCongress. Senator Carper accepted the award at Delaware Agriculture Museum President Grier Stayton's farm.\r\nDelaware may be a small state, but we sure punch above our weight when it comes to agriculture, and that is all thanks to the tireless work of our farmers. They fuel our economy, keep our families fed and show us every day how to be good stewards of the land that we all call home.We're also so grateful for the hard working men and women who support the agriculture industry and are great collaborators on legislation and policies that help keep this industry thriving here in Delaware,said Senator Carper.I'm honored to work with our growers and producers on putting in place smart policies that provide stability, while also supporting trade and conservation practices. Thank you to Richard and to the Farm Bureau members for recognizing the work we do together to ensure our nation's farmers  especially the 2,300 family farmers here in the First State - can continue to dothe critical work they do and stay in business for generations to come.\r\nThe American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) gives the Friend of Farm Bureau award to members of Congress who have supported Farm Bureau's position on policy issues, as demonstrated by their voting records, and who were nominated by their respective state Farm Bureaus and approved by the AFBF Board of Directors. The voting records are based on issues selected by the AFBF Board.\r\nThroughout his career of public service, Tom Carper has sought input from farmer leaders on how they would be impacted by public policy decisions,said Wilkins. He has always looked for solutions that are fair and reasonable. Senator Carper has the utmost respect for the hard working families that make America nutritionally secure.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-introduces-legislation-to-address-disparities-in-federal-transportation-infrastructure-investments-for-native-american-communities", "Carper Introduces Legislation to Address Disparities in Federal Transportation Infrastructure Investments for Native American Communities", "2020-11-18", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  As the United States honors National Native American Heritage Month and renews its commitment to support public safety, health and quality of life in Native American communities, today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced the Promoting Access to Tribal Health, Wellbeing, and Youth Safety (PATHWAYS) Act. This legislation that would establish a new program within the U.S. Department of Transportation to oversee federal investments and projects focused on improving public safety and promoting public health in Tribal communities.    Everyone in this country deserves reliable options to travel safely from one place to another. Everyone deserves roads that connect us to each other and expand our horizons. But, the sad truth is that not everyone in this country has safe, reliable roads that foster connections and expand opportunities. This is especially true in Native American communities, where decades of federal underinvestment in transportation infrastructure have led to worse quality of life and disproportionately higher rates of road traffic fatalities, Senator Carper said. In many communities within Indian Country, run-down roads are not merely an inconveniencethey create an obstacle for daily life and put lives at greater risk. Unsafe and unreliable infrastructure makes it harder to get healthy groceries, arrive safely to school or find new employment opportunities.\r\n The PATHWAYS Act would create a new federal PATHWAYS program focused on reducing traffic-related pedestrian fatalities in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, where unintentional injuryincluding traffic-related fatalitiesis the number one cause of death among people aged 1-44, and the third cause of death for people of all ages. The PATHWAYS Program would authorize the Department of Transportation to carry out projects aimed at improving public safety and health in Tribal communitiesfrom projects that expand options for non-motorized forms of transportation, such as walking and biking, to projects that ensure students and individuals with disabilities have safer routes for critical services, such as schools and hospitals. Inadequate transportation options in Indian Country reinforce barriers to education, economic opportunity, and quality health care. And, as road fatality rates in Indian County continue to climb, it has become increasingly clear that the transportation crisis is also a public health crisis. It's time the United States honors its treaty and trust responsibility to Native American communities by addressing its decades of federal neglect and underinvestment in transportation infrastructure. By creating this new PATHWAYS program within the U.S. Department of Transportation, we can prioritize projects that improve public safety, public health, and quality of life and economic opportunity in Indian Country. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Carper in introducing the legislation. A one-pager with additional background about the legislation can be found here.  The full text of the legislation can be found here.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-commemorates-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-clean-air-act-amendments-of-1990", "Carper Commemorates the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990", "2020-11-15", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.    Today, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. We celebrate the millions of American lives saved and hundreds of millions of lives made better by this law. And, as we celebrate this progress, we are reminded what we can achieve by working together to meet our nation's greatest challenges. In 1990, I was a member of the House of Representatives. In the House, I had the privilege of working alongside the late John Dingell, who was the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. As Chairman Dingell said at the time, clean air was, one of the most difficult, divisive, complex, costly and important issues' that Congress ever had to confront. And yet  despite all of the difficulty and division, the complexity of the issue and the fear of its costs  400 members of the House and 89 senators sent the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 to Republican President George H.W. Bush's desk. Sweeping, progressive reforms were signed into law with overwhelming bipartisan support. How? Well, it was clear that our nation was facing an air quality crisis, and it was clear to both parties that this crisis demanded swift and sweeping action. Power plants and factories emitted pollution that formed clouds of toxic soot. Acid rain fell from our skies, corroding our infrastructure, damaging our forests and polluting our waters. The ozone layer was rapidly depleting. The cars, trucks and vans on our roads created smog that suffocated our communities. Air toxics like mercury, lead and arsenic polluted the air we breathed and the fish we consumed, building up in our bodies, leading to higher rates of cancer and other deadly ailments. The worsening environmental and public health crises all around us were impossible to ignore, and they galvanized bipartisan momentum. Congress mustered the courage and resolve to meet our nation's air quality crisis with a response commensurate with the risks it posed. As a result, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 was hailed a historic breakthrough.' The law addressed these difficult and complex problems with solutions that ensured low costs and long-lasting benefits for the environment and public health. In fact, the benefits of the Clean Air Act continue to exceed its costs by a factor of more than 30 to one, and the landmark law saves more than 240,000 lives each year. Like the Constitution itself, the Clean Air Act has stood the test of time because it created an adaptable roadmap to ensuring every American has an essential rightthe right to have clean air to breathe. While enduring 30 years of attacks from polluting industries and hostile administrations alike, the Clean Air Act remains intact today because it is essential and because it can evolve based on science. Every single person in this country depends on the Clean Air Act. And as scientists work to learn more about the link between air pollution and human health, Clean Air Act regulations can adapt to the latest science, the changes to our economy and the challenges facing of our planet. As we celebrate the progress made over the last 30 years, we must also look forward to the future. Our nation enjoys cleaner air than we did 30 years ago, but our work to ensure clean air for everyone is far from over. In too many communities  especially in communities of color and Indigenous communities  people are still struggling to breathe on high pollution days. In too many communities, pollution still poisons the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we put on the table. In too many communities, the most vulnerable among us are still experiencing the worst impacts of climate change, while more rampant wildfires and other climate impacts continue to worsen air quality. Fortunately, President-elect Biden understands the problems facing our communities. He and Vice President-elect Harris have made clear that their administration will defend and use their Clean Air Act authorities to ensure every American in every zip code has clean air to breathe. The adaptable roadmap and clear authorities laid out by this landmark law will also provide the next administration with an indispensable tool in the fight against climate change. The Clean Air Act can help us confront and overcome one of most difficult, complex and important issues facing our nation and our planetthe climate crisis. We can be hopeful about the prospects for bipartisan action that meets the challenges of our day. That's what today reminds us. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the climate crisis, we can take on the challenges facing Americans in their everyday lives. We have done it before and we can do it again.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-celebrates-america-recycles-day", "Carper Celebrates America Recycles Day", "2020-11-13", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper, top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and co-founder of the Senate Recycling Caucus, released the following statement to highlight America Recycles Day on November 15. Every day should be America Recycles Day! For me, recycling has been a lifelong passion. Over the years, I've recycled everything from a Ford Explorer to small electronics and holiday lights. More recently, I donned an old DelDOT fluorescent yellow vest and spent a few hours filling up 45-gallon trash bags with litter along a highway onramp near my home. Whether we're recycling or cleaning up litter, we can all do our part to make planet Earth a more beautiful, habitable place for all.\r\n\r\nSadly, though, our national recycling rate is only at 35 percentand at the same time, we're facing a global plastic pollution crisis. Shocking images of the Great Pacific Garbage Patcha mass of marine debris more than 300 times the size of Delawarehave helped to increase awareness about reducing single-use plastics and improving recycling. But, at the rate we're going, experts predict that there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish by 2050. If we don't act now, it won't be long before our beaches are overwhelmed with plastic bags and other waste that washes ashore.\r\n\r\nWhile I encourage everyone to recycle, I also know that encouraging Americans to recycle is not a silver bullet to the growing challenges we face. From the rampant production of single-use plastics to the litter overflowing our landfills, we need wide-reaching solutions for the challenges we face. We need to reduce and reclaim the materials we use before they become waste. When done right, recycling is something we can all do to protect our environment, support job creation, and grow our economy. This America Recycles Day, let's remember our shared responsibility to reduce waste, reuse materials, and recycle. \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-and-coons-join-veterans-to-reveal-new-dover-va-clinic-on-veterans-day", "Carper and Coons Join Veterans to Reveal New Dover VA Clinic on Veterans Day", "2020-11-11", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, on Veterans Day, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) along with leadership from Wilmington Veterans Affairs Medical Center and General Frank Vavala, former Adjutant General of Delaware, highlighted the new Kent County Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) which will better serve our Kent County veterans after it opens later this year.\r\n\r\nThe new facility in the former Blue Hen Mall at 655 S. Bay Road in Dover will increase the clinic space from its current size of 9,000 square feet to over 29,000 square feet. The additional space will allow for the expansion of services such as primary care, behavioral health, specialty services and telehealth.\r\n\r\nOn Veterans Day we honor the men and women who volunteered to serve our country, said Vince Kane, Director, Wilmington VA Medical Center. In any other year, we would be holding big celebrations commemorating their service. But this year, we had to scale back, yet still find a way to show our appreciation, which is why we chose to hold this event at the new clinic in Dover. In VA it is our mission to put Veterans first in everything we do and provide them with exceptional health. It is our privilege to meet the health care needs and challenges Veterans face. This clinic will be an example of that commitment.\r\n\r\nAs a 23-year veteran of the Navy and a naval Reserves, I am so proud of this new clinic, and how we are giving back to our veterans. And what better day to give you all an early look at the inside than Veterans Day, said Senator Carper. With expanded services and more space, this beautiful new clinic will be a relief to so many Kent County veterans who will now be able to get more of their services closer to home, rather than have to drive up to Wilmington. We have a sacred duty to care for those who have sacrificed so much and served this country. Ensuring that they can easily access high-quality health care services like those that will be provided at the Dover CBOC is one important way that we can keep our promises to our veterans.\r\n\r\nWe have a sacred obligation to the veterans who made America, said Sen. Coons. And today, this expansion of services is an important way that we deliver on that promise. This new community-based outpatient clinic is absolutely critical to providing the services that veterans deserve, in a way they can access. As an appropriator, I try hard every year to make sure that we are fully funding the needs of veterans. We have just released the latest annual appropriations vehicle, which will add $10.8 billion to veteran services and outreach and designate $12.5 billion to emergency services.\r\n\r\nI can think of no better way to celebrate Veterans Day than opening this incredible facility to serve those who have served us, said Rep. Blunt Rochester. I want to thank my colleagues, Senators Carper and Coons for their work to make this day a reality, along with the fine public servants at the VA. Most of all, though, I hope that this facility serves as a thank you to our servicemen and women who put their lives on the line to secure our freedoms.\r\n\r\nThe new clinic will include 18 primary care exam rooms, 12 mental health rooms, 5 specialty exam rooms, 3 women's health rooms, optometry rooms, an audiology suite, phlebotomy lab, procedure rooms, telehealth rooms, conference/group meeting rooms, staging area for home-based primary care, physical medicine and rehabilitation suite, offices for care coordinators, and requisite waiting, check-in, storage, and medication rooms.\r\n\r\nA list of services provided at the new CBOC:\r\n\r\n \r\nPrimary Care\r\nComprehensive Women's Health\r\nBehavioral Health\r\nSocial Work\r\nLab (Phlebotomy)\r\nSpecialty Exams\r\nAudiology\r\nOptometry\r\nRadiology (future)\r\nPhysical Medicine & Rehabilitation\r\nTelehealth (Teleretinal/Teledermatology)\r\nPharmacist\r\nNutrition\r\nSpecialty Procedures\r\nHomeless Services\r\nVeteran Service Officer Office\r\nVet Center Office Space", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-statement-on-announcement-of-president-elect-biden-s-coronavirus-advisory-board", "Carper Statement on Announcement of President-elect Bidens Coronavirus Advisory Board", "2020-11-09", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WILMINGTON, DE  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement regarding the announcement of President-elect Biden's Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board that will include 13 public health experts led by Vivek Murthy, former Surgeon General, Dr. David Kessler, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Yale University.\r\nYesterday marked the fifth highest day of new coronavirus cases in our country since the pandemic began. The United States has now surpassed the grim milestone of over 10 million cases nationwide. Hospitalizations and deaths are also on the rise before we even enter the cold winter months. While we are seeing spikes in the coronavirus around the world, the United States has more cases of coronavirus than any nation on Earth. After all, America has less than 5 percent of the world's population, but our country accounts for nearly 20 percent of the world's deaths and cases from coronavirus. We have to do better, and that starts with listening to the medical and public health experts and taking the common sense steps that have successfully helped control the spread of this virus in countries around the world.\r\nI think that it is admirable that, on day one, President-elect Biden's first priority is ensuring that his transition is guided by science as they address this unprecedented public health and economic challenge. By working in partnership with governors and local officials, prioritizing evidence-based guidance, expanding much-needed testing, and investing in vaccine distribution, we can save lives and protect livelihoods. Rather than try to discredit the science, let's work together to use it to finally get this virus under control.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/fo", "To request tickets to the Inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden, click here", "2020-11-09", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The 59th Presidential Inaugural Swearing-In Ceremony will take place on January 20, 2021.My office will be allocated a limited number of tickets to distribute to constituents interested in attending the Inauguration. We expect to receive a large number of requests for these tickets  more than can possibly be accommodated  and tickets will be distributed, giving preference to Delawareans, on a first-come, first-served basis.\nAll requests for tickets must be submitted electronically through the form below. There is a four-ticket limit for individuals and a ten-ticket limit for organizations.Pleasenotethat youare notguaranteedtickets to the Swearing-In ceremony.If you are selected to receivetickets,you willbe notified in January and provided withadditional information.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/11/carper-statement-on-the-passing-of-former-delaware-elections-commissioner-elaine-manlove", "Carper Statement on the Passing of Former Delaware Elections Commissioner Elaine Manlove", "2020-11-03", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement regarding the tragic passing of Elaine Manlove, former Delaware Elections Commissioner, who served in that role for 12 years until retiring in June 2019:\r\nMartha and I are devastated to learn of the passing of Elaine and her husband, Wayne. Elaine was a consummate public servant, a visionary and incredibly committed to honest and secure elections. One of her greatest professional achievements over her 12 years as Elections Commissioner was modernizing Delaware's voting machines, as well as working with the education community to bring elections and civics lessons into Delaware's classrooms. It's a cruel irony that her passing occurred on the eve of Election Day after she dedicated her life to protecting the integrity of the elections we hold so dear. Elaine and Wayne recently celebrated their 51stwedding anniversary, and my heart goes out to their children and grandchildren today. May we honor Elaine by ensuring that, this Election Day, every person who wants to vote can vote, and every ballot that is casted is counted. I know that so many across Delaware will be thinking of Elaine today.\r\n\r\n##", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/senate-environmental-justice-caucus-co-founders-honor-national-native-american-heritage-month-this-november", "Senate Environmental Justice Caucus Co-Founders Honor National Native American Heritage Month this November", "2020-10-30", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senate Environmental Justice co-founders Senator Tom Carper (D-Del), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) released the following statements to honor National Native American Heritage Month, which begins on November 1, and to underscore the work needed to achieve equity and improve environmental quality and infrastructure investment in this nation's Native American communities.    This month, we honor the heritage of Indigenous Americans, this nation's first environmental stewards. For centuries, Native peoples' rich connection to the land and water has informed and improved this nation's efforts to restore and conserve critical eco-systems. And yet, the United States government has not invested nearly enough to ensure environmental quality, public health, and quality of life in Indigenous communities. From running water to safe roadways, the most basic infrastructure in tribal communities has gone perpetually overlooked and underfunded by the federal government for too long, Senator Carper said. The climate crisis also disproportionately threatens tribal communities. Now, the Trump Administration has opened sacred lands to oil drilling and fast-tracked mine projects that threaten critical food and water sources. It's far past time we keep our promise to American Indians and Alaska Natives by doing the work and making the investments needed to achieve equity and environmental justice. Long before the discovery' of this nation, Native Americans inhabited this land from coast to coast and yet, hundreds of years later they continue to be dumped on and denied their right to breathe safe air, drink clean water and live on uncontaminated land, said Duckworth. During Native American Heritage Month, we must recommit to protecting and promoting indigenous culture and traditions, while also doing more to achieve environmental justice for communities who are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.\r\n\r\nIndigenous communities are the original good stewards of the land, and they have suffered disproportionate harm from pollution. The Trump Administration's rollbacks of critical environmental protections and undermining of tribal sovereignty have made this even worse. said Senator Booker. As we honor and celebrate National Native American Heritage Month this November, we must continue to fight alongside and for indigenous communities who have long fought for environmental justice and conservation and who have a right to full protection of their civil and environmental rights.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-joins-conservation-groups-in-celebrating-final-enactment-of-america-s-conservation-enhancement-act", "Carper Joins Conservation Groups in Celebrating Final Enactment of Americas Conservation Enhancement Act", "2020-10-29", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "SMYRNA, Del  While the challenges facing conservation continue to climb, today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined with some of America's leading conservation groups to celebrate passage of America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act. The ACE Act, co-authored by Senator Carper, reauthorizes critical laws aimed at preserving habitat and conserving species throughout the country. The ACE Act also authorizes new funds to tackle evolving threats to conservation, such as invasive species and wildlife diseases.\r\n\r\nFor more than a century, our national approach to conserving land, water and wildlife has centered on collaborative efforts between federal agencies, state partners and stakeholders  from businesses to conservation organizations. America's Conservation Enhancement Act reflects and reinforces that long legacy of working together to conserve habitats and species, said EPW Ranking Member Tom Carper. The ACE Act builds on our country's proud tradition of conservation. It reauthorizes programs like the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund and the Chesapeake Bay Program, which fund critical efforts throughout the Delmarva region. While supporting efforts to protect and preserve vital ecosystems that are home to important species, the ACE Act will also promote innovative ways to address growing threats like invasive species and wildlife diseases. I thank the conservation community for working with me so passionately and persistently to move this legislation through Congress, proving that progress to preserve our planet and protect all of its creatures is not only possible, but also vital. Delaware has the highest Green Wing membership in the country. It should come as no surprise that a state so invested in the next generation of conservationists is represented by a Senator who shares that same investment in the future of conservation, said Ducks Unlimited Delaware State Chairman Raymond Harp. Senator Carper's efforts to pass the ACE Act through both chambers of Congress have been nothing short of fantastic, and waterfowl habitat in Delaware and across the country stand to benefit. At a time when Washington is more divided than ever, the overwhelming bipartisan support of the ACE Act shows how leaders can come together to solve conservation challenges. With one-third of wildlife species facing heightening risk of extinction, this law will bring much needed resources to wetlands, fisheries, and habitats, such as the Chesapeake Bay, said Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. We thank Sen. Carper for his leadership on this bill, and for the measures which will restore and ensure the health of the bay, which is vital not only to the thousands of wildlife species that call it home, but to the economic health of the region. \r\nAmong its provisions, the ACE Act will:\r\n \r\nReauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act until 2025;\r\nReauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Act until 2025;\r\nReauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Program until 2025;\r\nReauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails network and the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Grants Assistance Program until 2025;\r\nAuthorize the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Program until 2025;\r\nCommission a study by the National Academy of Sciences regarding the pathways and mechanisms of the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the United States;\r\nEstablish a CWD task force to develop an interstate action plan for state and federal cooperation relating to the disease;\r\nAuthorize funds to combat the threat of invasive species; and\r\nEncourage partnerships among public agencies and other interested parties for promoting fish conservation.\r\n \r\nOn December 13, 2019, Senator Carper and Senator Barrasso introduced the ACE Act (S. 3051). Later that month, the EPW Committee unanimously approved the ACE Act. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) are cosponsors of the legislation.\r\n\r\nOn September 17, 2020, the ACE Act passed the Senate in the form of a substitute amendment to S. 3051 that was negotiated with the House of Representatives.\r\n\r\nOn October 1, 2020, the House passed the ACE Act.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-tours-natural-barriers-protecting-communities-from-coastal-erosion-flooding-and-preserving-habitat-for-critical-species", "Carper Tours Natural Barriers Protecting Communities from Coastal Erosion, Flooding and Preserving Habitat for Critical Species", "2020-10-27", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "DEWEY BEACH, Del.  On the heels of the hottest decade ever recorded on Earth, and as higher sea surface temperatures continue to fuel one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons in history, today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, toured a completed natural barrier project that will protect communities from coastal erosion and flooding caused by rising sea levels and more severe tropical storms while providing a healthy habitat for wildlife and other bay life. With leaders of the Center for Inland Bays, including Dr. Marianne Welch and Chris Bason, Senator Carper toured one of the Center's most recently completed projects as part of its Living Shorelines Initiative. The project relies on nature-based shoreline restoration and storm water treatment rather than traditional stone rip-rap or bulkheads, which often result in the loss of natural shoreline habitat critical for horseshoe crabs and other wildlife. This new natural barrier will protect nearby homes, business and infrastructure from high tides and storm surge flooding, while creating access for recreational activities such as swimming or kayaking.    Leaders like those at the Delaware Center for Inland Bays are showing us how we can  and why we must  make our coastal communities more resilient to the worsening climate crisis. This new natural barrier project will protect nearby residents and businesses from the high tides and higher storm surges we continue to see along the coast as global temperatures rise. These are the kinds of investments we need, funding and projects that fortify our communities while restoring habitat and conserving ecosystems. One of my top priorities is to invest more in making our communities, and our transportation, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, more resilient to the worsening climate crisis.  Natural infrastructure is a smart and effective way to protect communities from the climate crisis, but it only addresses the symptoms of the climate crisis. We also need to focus on the root causes of coastal erosion, rising seas and more severe extreme weather, Senator Carper continued. Harmful, heat-trapping air pollution is warming our planet, causing ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise. Warmer temperatures and higher sea temperatures are fueling more frequent and destructive tropical storms. If we do nothing to dramatically reduce carbon emissions  the villain of the climate crisis  the damage and destruction we're seeing now will pale in comparison to the devastation that lies ahead.\r\nThe Delaware Center for the Inland Bays was established as a nonprofit organization in 1994 under the Inland Bays Watershed Enhancement Act, a Delaware law. Its creation was the culmination of more than 20 years of active public participation and investigation into the decline of the Inland Bays and the remedies for the restoration and preservation of the watershed.\r\nThe Delaware Center for Inland Bays is designated as one of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s 28 National Estuary Programs (NEP). EPA's NEP is a collaborative ecosystem-based network of organizations that protects and restores 28 estuaries of national significance, including Delaware's Inland Bays, which were designated an estuary of national significance in 1988. Senator Carper, along with Senators Whitehouse (R-R.I.) and Cassidy (R-La.), introduced legislation to reauthorize the NEP earlier this year.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/photos-carper-briefed-on-oil-washing-ashore-on-delaware-s-beaches", "Carper Briefed on Oil Washing Ashore on Delaware's Beaches", "2020-10-27", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "DEWEY BEACH, Del.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after a briefing with officials about an oil spill that has reached Delaware's beaches.\r\n  I commend the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the U.S. Coast Guard, Tri-State Bird Rescue and well over 100 environmental professionals for their swift action and ongoing coordination to cleanup 65 tons of oil debris from our shores. These public servants have been working hard to remove the oil from our beaches, which are the hearts of our communities, economy and way of life along the coast. While officials continue to investigate the source of this oil, this should be a wakeup call for everyone. The thick, black, toxic oil washing up on our white sand beaches right now could become our way of life if the Trump Administration has its way. The Trump Administration pushed to expand offshore drilling off in the Atlantic Ocean. The Trump Administration removed the safeguards put in place after BP Horizon oil spill, flouting the comprehensive findings and recommendations made by the Deepwater Horizon task force.\r\n I am continuing to monitor this situation closely as officials work to remove this oil and determine its source, and I will continue working in the Senate to support and protect our coastal communities and wildlife.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/ahead-of-confirmation-vote-on-amy-coney-barrett-senators-carper-coons-join-patients-and-providers-to-highlight-whatsatstake-for-delawareans-if-affordable-care-act-is-overturned", "Ahead of Confirmation Vote on Amy Coney Barrett, Senators Carper, Coons Join Patients and Providers to Highlight #WhatsAtStake for Delawareans if Affordable Care Act is Overturned", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WILMINGTON, Del.  Today, just hours before the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) joined Delawareans who are benefitting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to highlight what's at stake if the landmark health care law is overturned. Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to serve on the Supreme Court threatens the health care protections that millions of Americans currently have under the ACA, including protections for the nearly 400,000 Delawareans living with preexisting conditions. \r\nToday, at Westside Family Healthcare in Wilmington, Senators Carper and Coons were joined by Delawareans who have directly benefitted from the protections under the ACA, including the ban on annual and lifetime limits for essential health benefits. It's hard enough to fight the cancer. We shouldn't also have to fight to live, said Jan White, a small business owner from Newark who has been battling Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for four years. We need the ACA protections.\r\nThe ACA is not just benefiting me but thousands of Delawareans and millions of Americans all across this country, said Carrie Dennis-Mayer, a small business owner from Middletown. What is interesting is that most people do not know the need for the Affordable Care Act until they really need it. And if you fall between the cracks of healthcare insecurity and healthcare uncertainty, then trust me, you're grateful that ACA is there to help you.\r\nHaving failed nearly 100 times to repeal or chip away at the Affordable Care Act in Congress, Donald Trump and many of our Republican colleagues are now counting on the Supreme Court to do their work for them. And, with Amy Coney Barrett's nomination, they are within one vote on the Supreme Court of achieving their goal, said Senator Carper. This isn't a hypothetical. This nomination  and a subsequent ruling on the Republican lawsuit to strike down the ACA in its entirety  could have all too real and devastating consequences for Delawareans like Jan and our entire health care system, all in the midst of a deadly and unprecedented pandemic. It is shameful, and Senator Coons and I won't stop fighting to make sure Americans know just how much is at stake here.\r\nIt is amazing to me, galling to me, angering to me, that in the middle of a pandemic  a global health pandemic that has killed more than 225,000 Americans and infected more than 8,500,000 Americans  that the Trump administration is seeking to take away the protections of the Affordable Care Act from a majority of Americans,said Senator Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.Don't take my word for it; there's a filing in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that will be argued one week from the election. So, we are one week from an election and two weeks from an argument in the Supreme Court where the ACA is at risk.\r\nEven in the midst of a pandemic that has taken over 225,000 American lives, President Trump has repeatedly vowed to repeal the ACA and even urged the Supreme Court to strike down the health care law. Just last night, in an interview with 60 Minutes, President Trump plainly stated that he hopes that Supreme Court ends the ACA. Unfortunately, if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she could cast the deciding vote to overturn the ACA. Just one week after the election  on November 10th  the United States Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case brought by the Trump Administration and 18 Republican Attorneys General that would overturn the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. \r\nYou can watch video of the event here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/senator-carper-forcefully-condemns-rushed-supreme-court-confirmation-process-voices-opposition-to-judge-barrett-s-nomination", "Senator Carper Forcefully Condemns Rushed Supreme Court Confirmation Process, Voices Opposition to Judge Barretts Nomination", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Carper: Today, we may not have the votes to stop this process or vote down this nominee. But that doesn't make our efforts to fight for fairness any less right. Mr. President, I dissent. \r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Senator Carper denounced the confirmation process led by Senate Republicans in the midst of a global public health crisis and a rushed vote just eight days before a presidential election in which millions of votes have already been cast.\r\nWhen our Founders carefully designed our system of checks and balances, they did not envision a sham confirmation process for judicial nominees. But that's what this has been, said Senator Carper. This entire process has become an exercise in raw political power  not the type of deliberative, non-partisan process our Founders envisioned. Frankly, it has been a process that I could never have envisioned 20 years ago when I was first elected to the United States Senate.\r\nSpecifically, Senator Carper underscored what's at stake for millions of Americans who rely on access quality, affordable health care, especially during a pandemic which has taken over 225,000 American lives. Just last night, in an interview with60 Minutes,President Trump plainly stated that he hopes that Supreme Court ends the ACA. Unfortunately, if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she could cast the deciding vote to overturn the ACA. Just one week after the election  on November 10th the United States Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case brought by the Trump Administration and 18 Republican Attorneys General that would overturn the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.\r\nSenator Carper continued, Today, with more than 220,000 Americans dead and more than 8 million Americans infected with the coronavirus, not to mention 13 million unemployed, we are, in the midst of an election, rushing to confirm a controversial nominee from President Trump, who lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes and was impeached. Judge Barrett's nomination was rushed out of Committee just 12 days before Election Day in a process that many believe was a clear violation of the rules of the Judiciary Committee This confirmation process is shameful and unprecedented. If you've ever wondered what hypocrisy looks like, this is it.\r\nMake no mistake: overturning the Affordable Care Act in the middle of the night and in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century will have devastating and far-reaching impacts on our health care system and nearly every American  including the more than eight million Americans who will have been left with a new pre-existing condition: coronavirus. But sadly, that is what our Republican colleagues are intent on doing as we battle COVID-19 every day and in every state of our country. Having failed nearly 100 times to repeal or chip away at the Affordable Care Act in Congress, Donald Trump and many of our Republican colleagues are now counting on the Supreme Court to do their work for them, and they are within one vote on that Court of achieving their goal. One vote.\r\nSenator Carper closed by reminding his colleagues of the legacy left behind by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the power of dissent.\r\nToday, we may not have the votes to stop this process or vote down this nominee. But that doesn't make our efforts to fight for fairness any less right. I believe the American people will make their voices heard loud and clear on this sham of a confirmation process on Election Day. Like Justice Ginsburg, the American people are dissenting against this process and against this nominee, and I believe they will be voting in record numbers. In fact, they already are. Judge Barrett may be confirmed, but let history show that I have tried hard, both to follow the Golden Rule and the example of Justice Ginsburg, and that I refused to join the majority opinion. Mr. President, I dissent.\r\nVideo of Senator Carper's full remarks are available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-coons-democratic-colleagues-denounce-trump-administration-s-historically-low-refugee-resettlement-goal-and-push-for-increased-admissions", "Carper, Coons, Democratic Colleagues Denounce Trump Administrations Historically Low Refugee Resettlement Goal and Push for Increased Admissions", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and 20 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in opposing the Trump administration's proposal to cap refugee admissions at 15,000 for Fiscal Year 2021the lowest ceiling in the history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)and in urging the administration to increase refugee admissions.\r\n\r\nThe United States has a long, bipartisan legacy of providing refugees protection through resettlementprior to 2016 we resettled an average of more than 80,000 refugees per year, the Senators wrote in a letter to Secretaries Michael Pompeo and Alex Azar and Under Secretary Chad Wolf. Yet, during this time of soaring global resettlement needs, this Administration has once again abdicated America's global leadership role by further reducing the refugee admissions ceiling to its lowest level in the 40-year history of the program. We urge you to substantially increase the refugee admissions target for FY 2021, and end the current suspension of the refugee resettlement program.\r\n\r\nThe Senators highlighted the importance of a strong resettlement program, which serves as an essential lifeline for the most vulnerable among the 29.6 million refugees worldwide while also strengthening our communities and economy. In addition, the Senators affirmed the importance of U.S. leadership on resettlement as a powerful tool to garner greater global support for refugees facing persecution.\r\n\r\nAmerican leadership in refugee resettlement is critical in securing greater global support for this important lifeline, which is available to less than one percent of all refugees, the Senators added.As this Administration has slashed its annual refugee admissions goals, other leading resettlement countries have followed suit and lowered their resettlement numbers as well.\r\n\r\nJoining Senators Carper, Coons and Ranking Member Menendez in sending the letter were Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).\r\n\r\nA copy of the letter may be found HERE and below.\r\n\r\nDear Secretaries Pompeo and, Azar, and Under Secretary Wolf:\r\n\r\nWe write to urgently express our concern regarding the President's report to Congress on the Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021, which proposes a Presidential Determination of 15,000 refugees, a historical low since the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) was established in 1980.\r\n\r\nThe United States has a long, bipartisan legacy of providing refugees protection through resettlementprior to 2016 we resettled an average of more than 80,000 refugees per year. \r\nYet, during this time of soaring global resettlement needs, this Administration has once again abdicated America's global leadership role by further reducing the refugee admissions ceiling to its lowest level in the 40-year history of the program. We urge you to substantially increase the refugee admissions target for FY 2021, and end the current suspension of the refugee resettlement program. \r\n\r\nAs we face unprecedented levels of forced displacement around the world, with 29.6 million refugees worldwide, resettlement serves as a critical lifeline for those fleeing persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Survivors of sexual violence and torture, unaccompanied children, families traumatized by the loss of loved ones in war, and other highly vulnerable refugees may need resettlement as the only solution to their plight. Refugees resettled in the United States contribute greatly to the communities that take them in. To that end, refugees have generated $63 billion in net revenue alone over a decade for the United States.\r\n\r\nIn addition to advancing U.S. humanitarian objectives and economic interests, resettlement serves as an important foreign policy tool to support people facing oppression and human rights abuses. The United States' historical leadership on this issue has enhanced our global influence and demonstrated responsibility-sharing with refugee-hosting countries like Jordan, Uganda, and Bangladesh. Moreover, American leadership in refugee resettlement is critical in securing greater global support for this important lifeline, which is available to less than one percent of all refugees. As this Administration has slashed its annual refugee admissions goals, other leading resettlement countries have followed suit and lowered their resettlement numbers as well. A robust refugee admissions goal is necessary to ensure those under threat of persecution, like Hong Kongers fleeing political persecution in Hong Kong and refugees fleeing religious persecution in Iran, Iraq, and Myanmar, have a pathway to live freely and without abuse. For our allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, it means standing ready to help when under threat, just as they stood by our troops when we needed their help.\r\n\r\nWe urge you to substantially increase the refugee admissions ceiling for FY 2021. The Administration should immediately end the suspension of the refugee resettlement program in order to ensure the world's most vulnerable will no longer remain in harm's way and separated from their families.\r\n\r\nThank you for your prompt attention to this matter. \r\n\r\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-duckworth-and-murray-call-on-epa-to-implement-gao-recommendations-to-improve-drinking-water-safety-at-child-care-facilities", "Carper, Duckworth and Murray Call on EPA to Implement GAO Recommendations to Improve Drinking Water Safety at Child Care Facilities", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) strongly urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully implement the recommendations contained in the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) September 28, 2020 report, Child Care Facilities: Federal Agencies Need to Enhance Monitoring and Collaboration to Help Assure Drinking Water is Safe from Lead.\r\n\r\nEven at low levels, lead exposure in children can result in developmental delays and learning difficulties, damaged kidneys and permanent impaired brain development. Yet, GAO's investigation revealed that among Head Start centers, only 26 percent reported testing facility drinking water for lead contamination, while an estimated 43 percent never tested facility drinking water for lead contamination and 31 percent did not know whether facility drinking water had ever been tested, the senators wrote.\r\n\r\nWhile the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has complied and worked to implement GAO's recommendations for the department, EPA has failed to commit to fully implementing GAO's recommendations. The EPA must do more to support lead testing in Head Start and child care facilities to ensure the health and safety of the young children in their care.\r\n\r\n\r\nHHS concurred with the two recommendations that GAO provided that agency and agreed to take corrective action to better protect children from lead poisoning. We are disappointed, however, that EPA did not indicate whether the agency agreed or disagreed with the GAO recommendations, and worse, failed to commit to implementing the corrective actions fully to strengthen public health protections in Head Start and child care facilities, the senators continued. To prevent lead exposure in children and help child care providers and Head Start grantees provide safe drinking water at their facilities, EPA should implement GAO's two recommendations to the agency.\r\n\r\n\r\nFull text of the letter included below and here.\r\n\r\nMr. Dave Ross \r\nAssistant Administrator, Office of Water \r\nU.S. Environmental Protection Agency\r\nOffice of Water 4101M\r\n1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW \r\nWashington, DC 20460\r\n\r\nDear Assistant Administrator Ross:\r\n\r\nWe write today to urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water to fully implement the recommendations contained in the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) September 28, 2020 report entitled Child Care Facilities: Federal Agencies Need to Enhance Monitoring and Collaboration to Help Assure Drinking Water is Safe from Lead (GAO-20-597). We note that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Head Start (OHS) and Office of Child Care (OCC) have already agreed to do so.\r\n\r\nEven at low levels, lead exposure in children can result in developmental delays, learning difficulties, damaged kidneys and impaired brain development. Yet, GAO found that only 26 percent of Head Start centers had tested their drinking water for lead contamination, while an estimated 43 percent had never tested their drinking water for lead contamination and 31 percent did not know whether their facility drinking water had ever been tested. \r\n\r\nThe EPA awards grants to help child care facilities test for lead in drinking water, and must do more to support lead testing in Head Start and child care facilities to ensure the health and safety of the young children in their care. GAO produced reasonable recommendations for agency action to address this public health threat to our Nation's children. Specifically, GAO provided EPA with two recommendations (in addition to providing HHS with two recommendations): \r\n\r\n3. Recommendation: The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Water should develop an agreement with HHS's Offices of Child Care and Head Start on their roles and responsibilities in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on Reducing Lead Levels in Drinking Water in Schools and Child Care Facilities. For example, these agreements may include the ways in which guidance and information will be shared with states and Head Start grantees, such as through webinars or email, and how frequently. (Recommendation 3)\r\n\r\n4. Recommendation: The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Water should direct the Office of Water to specify how it will track progress toward the outcomes of the Memorandum of Understanding on Reducing Lead Levels in Drinking Water in Schools and Child Care Facilities and determine how it will regularly monitor and update the MOU. For example, the Office of Water could develop performance measures for each of the MOU's outcomes. In addition, the Office of Water could submit annual reports on progress toward achieving the MOU's outcomes or it could plan to update the agreement at specific intervals. (Recommendation 4)\r\n\r\nHHS concurred with the two recommendations that GAO provided that agency and agreed to take corrective action to better protect children from lead poisoning. We are disappointed, however, that EPA did not indicate whether the agency agreed or disagreed with the GAO recommendations, and worse, failed to commit to implementing the corrective actions fully to strengthen public health protections in Head Start and child care facilities. \r\n\r\nTo prevent lead exposure in children and help child care providers and Head Start grantees provide safe drinking water at their facilities, EPA should implement GAO's two recommendations to the agency. The first recommendation calls for your office to develop an agreement with OHS and OCC on their roles and responsibilities in implementing the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding on Reducing Lead Levels in Drinking Water in Schools and Child Care Facilities (MOU). The second recommendation urges your office to specify how it will track progress toward the outcomes of the 2019 MOU and determine how EPA will regularly monitor and update the MOU. \r\n\r\nProtecting children from the adverse health effects of lead exposure should be a top priority for EPA and HHS. We strongly urge EPA to engage with OHS and OCC to fully implement GAO's recommendations and track progress towards implementing the 2019 MOU moving forward. Furthermore, we request that, no later than November 6, 2020, you provide our offices with the interagency agreement between EPA and HHS establishing clear roles and responsibilities for the Office of Water, OHS and OCC in implementing the MOU, along with documentation describing the system EPA will employ to track progress towards meeting the MOU's objectives. \r\n\r\nSincerely, \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-joins-markey-colleagues-urging-supreme-court-to-protect-consumers-from-robocalls", "Carper Joins Markey, Colleagues Urging Supreme Court to Protect Consumers from Robocalls", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Judge Amy Coney Barrett wrote decision in similar case taking anti-consumer view, which if adopted by the Supreme Court, would lead to countless more robocalls bombarding Americans' mobile phones\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the House author of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) and 18 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives today and filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court urging the Justices to uphold the Ninth Circuit's decision in Duguid v. Facebook, Inc, which found that when Congress passed the TCPA, it defined Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) to include systems like predictive dialers that dial telephone numbers stored in a list or database and systems that dial arbitrary numbers produced by a random or sequential number generator.\r\nThe Members assert that a reversal of Facebook, Inc. would exclude unwanted robocalls from the requirement for consent under the TCPA because the calls were made from a system that stored the numbers on a list. In such a scenario, the TCPA would no longer protect consumers from a robocall campaign that called every cellular number in the entire Country every hour of the day, which can easily be done via the internet from a home office, not just a well-resourced telemarketer. In a case with similar facts, Judge Amy Coney Barrett recently wrote a decision upholding a more narrow interpretation of an ATDS.\r\n\r\n[A] narrow reading of the TCPA to exclude dialing from databases and limit application to numbers that were randomly generated would reverse decades of precedent and gives a green light to telemarketers and scammers who will suddenly be free to initiate billions of automated calls to Americans who have a united distain for intrusive robocalls, write the Members of Congress in the brief. Interpreting ATDS to only apply to random dialing systems that create numbers out of thin air ignores the intent of Congress shown by the TCPA's legislative history when the legislation was enacted with bipartisan support and would render our cell phones utterly useless as a means of communication.\r\nThe Members conclude: The TCPA remains an essential, if not more essential, piece of legislation today. By restricting calls made to cell phones using robocall technology, among other provisions, the TCPA prevents a countless number of unwanted robocalls every year, every day, and indeed every hour and minute, from intruding on Americans' privacy, scamming their wallets, and overwhelming our confidence in the nation's telephone networks.\r\nA copy of the amicus brief can be found HERE.\r\nUnder the TCPA, automatic telephone dialing systems (i.e., technology that allows someone to make calls without manually dialing a number by hand) and artificial or prerecorded voices may not be used to make calls to cell phones, except with prior express consent of the called party, or if the call is being made for emergency purposes.\r\nOther Senators signing the amicus brief include Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).\r\nOther House members signing the amicus brief are Representatives Doris Matsui (CA-06), Tony Crdenas (CA-29), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), Ed Case (HI-01), Bobby L. Rush (IL-1), and Marc A. Veasey (TX-33).\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-statement-on-oig-report-confirming-abrupt-usps-policy-changes-resulted-in-detrimental-delivery-delays", "Carper Statement on OIG Report Confirming Abrupt USPS Policy Changes Resulted in Detrimental Delivery Delays", "2020-10-21", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released the following statement regarding the United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General's report entitled, Operational Changes to Mail Delivery. The report responds to Senators Carper's recent request that the USPS Inspector General investigate all recent staffing and policy changes put in place under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.\r\nOver the summer, I asked the Inspector General at the U.S. Postal Service for much needed answers regarding the sudden and disruptive changes being made by Postmaster DeJoy. Not only were these changes causing detrimental delays for seniors, small business, veterans and families who rely on the mail, but they were also being made just months before an election in which an unprecedented number of Americans would be casting their votes by mail due to an ongoing public health crisis.\r\n\r\nNow, the Office of the Inspector General has confirmed what my Democratic colleagues and I suspected from the start and even saw firsthand. First, leadership at the Postal Service conducted no analysis of the service impacts' that these abrupt changes would have on Americans across the country. Second, these changes had severe impacts on the millions of customers who rely on the Postal Service, especially in the middle of a pandemic. Additionally, these changes were made without consultation with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)  the very entity that regulates the Postal Service  or Congress, which conducts oversight of the Postal Service.\r\n\r\nAs a result of these failings, the American people suffered. I heard from Delawareans up and down my state who were affected by these shortsighted changes. I know there stories were all too similar to the ones that my colleagues heard from their constituents all across our country. The bottom line is that the Postal Service is supposed to serve the American people. And, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, when so many people were so much more dependent on the Postal Service than they had ever been before, the Postal Service failed to do just that. The U.S. Postal Service is an invaluable American institution and we in Congress must continue to conduct rigorous oversight to make sure that it serves the needs of all Americans  from those living in our largest urban centers to residents of our smallest rural communities. I look forward to working with the Inspector General, the PRC, and my colleagues in the coming weeks to determine how we can better ensure that any future service changes made by the Postal Service are well thought out and do not disrupt critical service for customers.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/senator-carper-general-ret-frank-vavala-join-votevets-to-highlight-whatsatstake-for-veterans-if-the-affordable-care-act-is-overturned", "Senator Carper, General (Ret.) Frank Vavala Join VoteVets to Highlight #WhatsAtStake for Veterans if the Affordable Care Act is Overturned", "2020-10-16", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), the only Vietnam veteran serving in the United States Senate, and former Adjutant General of the Delaware National Guard, Major (Ret.) Frank D. Vavala, joined thousands of veterans from across the country for a virtual discussion on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and how veterans and their families may be impacted if this landmark health care law is overturned. Hosted by the organization VoteVets, the discussion specifically called attention to what's at stake for veterans and their access to quality, affordable health care if Republicans in Congress successfully rush through a controversial Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.\r\n\r\nJust one week after the election on November 10th, the United States Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case brought by the Trump Administration and 18 Republican Attorneys General that would overturn the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. Judge Barrett's nomination threatens the health care protections that millions of Americans, including millions of veterans, currently have under the Affordable Care Act.\r\n\r\nWhen you have one in three nonelderly veterans with a pre-existing condition, and you face the prospect of the Supreme Court taking up a case on November 10ththat would eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions, well, that's just not right,said Senator Carper.It's especially egregious when we're in the middle of an unprecedented public health crisis in which eight million of our fellow Americans have been infected with coronavirus and that includes many veterans and their families. We know that there can be lasting and devastating effects from the coronavirus, even after patients recover. Some of those effects will now be considered pre-existing conditions, and we need to make sure families have the coverage they need going forward. That's why it is just the absolute height of irresponsibility that the Trump Administration is continuing to try to take Americans' health care coverage away in the midst of this pandemic.\r\n\r\nOur service members are caretakers by nature. They risk their own lives to protect their fellow soldiers and Americans they'll never meet. So, of course, it's not surprising that when many of our men and women in uniform come home, they continue to care for and serve those friends, family members, and neighbors who may need help,said General Vavala.That is stressful enough. We don't need our service members having to worry about whether or not the care a loved one needs will be covered by their insurance.\r\n\r\nSince the passage of the Affordable Care Act, number of uninsured veterans has dropped by 40 percent. Here are just a few ways that the health care law brought about that significant decrease. The Affordable Care Act:\r\n\r\n \r\nExpanded access to Medicaid, on which nearly 2 million veterans rely;\r\nExpanded access to health care services in rural communities where over five million veterans live;\r\nRequired that insurance plans cover mental health and substance abuse services;\r\nHelped reduce patient wait times by reducing burden off of VA providers;\r\nHelped to lower prescription drug costs for the nearly 11 million veterans on Medicare.\r\n \r\n\r\nYou can watch the full discussionhere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-van-hollen-feinstein-lead-colleagues-in-urging-trump-administration-to-stop-rollback-of-protections-for-migratory-birds", "Carper, Van Hollen, Feinstein Lead Colleagues in Urging Trump Administration to Stop Rollback of Protections for Migratory Birds", "2020-10-15", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led 14 of their colleagues in urging U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary David Bernhardt to withdraw DOI's harmful rulemaking on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), which was based on an unlawful Solicitor's Opinion. DOI's proposed rule would reinterpret the MBTA, a landmark conservation law that protects billions of migratory birds. The new rule would have a number of devastating impacts on wildlife, including letting oil companies off the hook for environmentally harmful oil spills that kill migratory birds. Despite the Southern District of New York's recent determination that the Solicitor's Opinion is unlawful, DOI has taken no steps to rescind the rule.\r\n\r\nIn July, Senators Carper and Van Hollen led their colleagues in another letter to urge Secretary Bernhardt to reverse course on the MTBA rule, citing concerns with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the rule. In March, Senator Carper led 22 of his colleagues in a letter asking the Department of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to reverse course on its proposed rule on the MBTA, outlining concerns about the 45-day comment period and the devastating impacts that could come with removing penalties for companies that incidentally killing birds. In February, Senators Carper and Van Hollen and Congressmen Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) sent a letter asking the Trump Administration to extend the comment period for the proposal from 45 days to 90 days. And, in 2018, Senators Carper and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) led members of the EPW Committee minority in sending a letter to then-Secretary Zinke to reinstate protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.\r\n\r\nThis is a significant moment for the history of this bedrock conservation law, along with the billions of birds that it protects and the economies that rely upon healthy migratory bird populations. We believe a choice between conservation and regulatory certainty is a false choice, the senators wrote. We urge the Department of the Interior to comply with the federal court ruling, and consider an alternate approach that both regulates incidental take and encourages the creation and implementation and of best management practices by industry. We stand prepared to work with you on such an alternate approach.\r\n\r\nThe Senators concluded the letter with a number of pressing questions regarding the future of the rule, given the now-vacated Solicitor's opinion.\r\n\r\nIn addition to Senators Carper, Van Hollen and Feinstein, the letter was signed by Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).\r\n\r\nThe full text of the letter is available here and below.\r\n\r\nSecretary Bernhardt:\r\n\r\nWe are writing to follow up regarding the Department of Interior's implementation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Specifically, we continue to have concerns with the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and proposed regulation to codify the 2017 Solicitor's Opinion on incidental take. Considering the recent federal court ruling that vacated the Solicitor's Opinion and the ongoing concerns raised by a diverse set of stakeholders during the regulatory process, we urge you to abandon the effort to codify the Opinion.\r\n\r\nOn August 11, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated the Solicitor's Opinion. The court found that this interpretation and policy is contrary to the plain meaning of the MBTA, runs counter to the purpose of the MBTA, and concluded that the Opinion was a solution in search of a problem. The decision unambiguously found that the legal rationale and the outcome of the Solicitor's Opinion does not align with the law. Moving forward with a regulation that continues to avoid and undermine these obligations is not a viable path forward.\r\n\r\nAs consistently demonstrated since the Department of the Interior first announced the 2017 Solicitor's Opinion, there is deep and broad concern from across the country, and internationally, about the impacts of this Administration's position on incidental take and the processes that the Department of the Interior has undertaken. Since issuing the proposed rule, representatives from more than 25 state governments have opposed the rule or requested another path forward. Numerous tribes have expressed opposition to the rule and requested government-to-government consultation on the regulation. The Government of Canada objects to the rule and has raised concerns about how it impacts our bilateral treaty and shared migratory birds. Three flyway councils have continued to request that the Department of the Interior not move forward with the policy. Numerous individuals and organizations representing sportsmen, conservationists, and scientists have asked that you reverse course, joining more than 250,000 people in submitting comments against the regulation.\r\n\r\nThis is a significant moment for the history of this bedrock conservation law, along with the billions of birds that it protects and the economies that rely upon healthy migratory bird populations. We believe a choice between conservation and regulatory certainty is a false choice. We urge the Department of the Interior to comply with the federal court ruling, and consider an alternate approach that both regulates incidental take and encourages the creation and implementation and of best management practices by industry. We stand prepared to work with you on such an alternate approach.\r\n\r\nIn light of the court decision and the draft EIS public comment concerns highlighted above, we also request a response to the following questions by Friday, October 23, 2020:\r\n\r\n \r\nWill FWS rescind its guidance memo, issued April 11, 2018, which implements the now-vacated Solicitor's Opinion?\r\nWill FWS rescind its memo, issued June 14, 2018, titled Destruction and Relocation of Migratory Bird Nest Contents, which relies on the now-vacated Solicitor's Opinion?\r\nHow is FWS responding to requests from tribes that it engage in government-to-government consultation before it advances a regulation any further?\r\nHow will FWS acknowledge and respond to the objections raised by Canada, states, and flyway councils, among other stakeholders, in regard to its proposed rule and draft EIS?\r\n \r\n\r\nIn conclusion, we request that this letter be posted to the rulemaking docket and included in the rulemaking record. Thank you for your attention to this matter and your prompt response to these questions.\r\n\r\nSigned,\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/video-release-senator-carper-highlights-urgent-need-for-state-and-local-government-relief-at-finance-subcommittee-hearing", "VIDEO RELEASE: Senator Carper Highlights Urgent Need for State and Local Government Relief at Finance Subcommittee Hearing", "2020-10-08", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and former Governor of Delaware, highlighted the urgent need to give state and local governments the resources that they require to address the pandemic's health and economic impacts during a Finance Subcommittee hearing entitled, The Fiscal Outlook. At the same hearing, Senator Carper urged passage of his legislation to reduce the number of improper payments made by the federal government.\r\n\r\nOur state and local governments are one area that continue to be under enormous and unprecedented strain, said Senator Carper. According to the Department of Labor, state and local governments lost 180,000 jobs in September alone. And without additional federal support, many more jobs are going to be lost.\r\n\r\nThis means fewer frontline workers like firefighters, EMS workers and police as the pandemic continues to sweep through our communities, and fewer teachers, bus drivers, school nurses, and janitors as schools try to re-open safely. In a recent report, the Congressional Budget Office confirmed what former governors like myself and Senator Hassan, as well as Chairman Cassidy, already know  that state and local government aid is one of the most effective means of economic stimulus, concluded Senator Carper.\r\n\r\nSenator Carper questioned witness Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, on why funding to state and local governments produces a positive impact on economic recovery. Dr. Swagel replied, Our analysis of assistance for state and local governmentsespecially in the CARES program found that [state and local funding] were spent quickly and therefore had a rapid and large impact. Additionally, the money given to state and local governments reduced the tax increases and other spending cuts that state and local governments would have had to do.\r\n\r\nIn August, Senator Carper led seven of his Democratic Senate colleagues in urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Trump Administration to provide state and local governments across the country with much-needed and long overdue funding in the next COVID-19 relief package. Specifically, Senator Carper highlighted the service and job cuts that state and local governments are being forced to make in order to balance their budgets, which will hinder economic recovery for years to come without federal aid.\r\n\r\nYou can watch Senator Carper's full exchange here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/amidst-a-pandemic-ahead-of-flu-season-carper-leads-bipartisan-letter-calling-on-the-trump-administration-to-ensure-americans-receive-critical-immunizations", "Amidst a Pandemic & Ahead of Flu Season, Carper Leads Bipartisan Letter Calling on the Trump Administration to Ensure Americans Receive Critical Immunizations", "2020-10-06", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Carper, Murkowski, Hassan, Smith press HHS, CDC to take steps to make sure vulnerable populations, especially children and seniors, receive vaccines\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, DC  Amidst a pandemic and ahead of flu season, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), along with Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), called on the Trump Administration  in partnership with state and local governments  to ensure all Americans continue receiving necessary immunizations to prevent additional illness and outbreaks.\r\nIn a letter to the leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the bipartisan lawmakers called attention to low immunization rates even before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, despite the fact that childhood vaccines are one of the most cost-effective and life-extending public health interventions providing immunity to infectious and deadly diseases. In fact, vaccination to the seasonal flu could prevent up to 810,000 hospitalizations and 61,000 deaths each year. Additionally, low adult immunization rates for vaccine-preventable diseases cost the U.S. economy about $9 billion each year.\r\nEven before the COVID-19 pandemic, adherence to the yearly influenza vaccination varies across state, age group, and demographic information. In 2017, only 37 percent of adults adhered to the recommendations, a 6-percentage point drop from 2016 Should our Nation's influenza immunization rates remain low as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we could see an unprecedented strain on our healthcare resources and an inconceivable death toll. A high influenza disease rate will make it difficult to distinguish between the two viruses, resulting in diagnostic uncertainty. This can lead to mistreatment, coinfection, and confusion about how to respond to symptoms, further impeding public health properly, the lawmakers wrote.\r\nThe senators noted, Vaccines are only effective in preventing outbreaks if enough people are immunized, achieving herd immunity. However, a recent Gallup poll found that if the federal government offered free, FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines today, 35 percent of Americans would not agree to be vaccinated. Despite communities of color being disproportionately affected by COVID-19, this rate was even higher for non-white Americans, at 41 percent. In rural areas, the rate was 44 percentThe high level of hesitancy among Americans for a COVID-19 vaccine is alarming and must be carefully addressed to achieve herd immunity. As Americans are recommended to receive their seasonal influenza vaccine by the end of October, we urge that the Administration carefully monitor the rate at which these vaccines are administered to avoid a dual outbreak of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza.\r\nThe senators requested answers to their inquiries no later than October 23rd. The letter is available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-senators-press-epa-on-implementation-of-trump-order-to-withhold-federal-funding-from-major-u-s-cities", "Carper, Senators Press EPA on Implementation of Trump Order to Withhold Federal Funding from Major U.S. Cities", "2020-10-06", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, along with Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) sent a letter toEPAAdministrator Andrew Wheeler requesting informationaboutEPA's implementation of the controversialand legally questionableSeptember 2, 2020White House memorandumordering federal agencies to withhold federal funds from cities that President Trump falsely claims are being run by anarchists.\r\n\r\nWe have learned that EPA, in its internal meetings related to the policy, has begun to identify funding sources that could be subject to the directive, some of which are vital for the provision of safe drinking water and the remediation of contamination,the senators wrote.Setting aside the legally questionable and abhorrent nature of the President's directive, EPA's implementation thereof could endanger human health and the environment. The cities impacted by this directive include Seattle, Portland(OR), New York City, and Washington, D.C. Members of Senator Carper's staff have identified more than $1 billion of recent EPA funds tothese cities that could be at risk due to this policy.\r\n\r\nWe strongly urge you not to take any action that could result in the collective loss of more than a billion dollars of funding intended to clean up contamination and drinking water in these American cities,the senators continued.To do so would be antithetical to EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment.\r\n\r\nThe senators are requesting that the EPA provide their initial response no later thanOctober 9, 2020.\r\n The full letter can be read here or below.\r\n\r\nOctober 6, 2020\r\n\r\nThe Honorable Andrew Wheeler\r\nAdministrator\r\nU.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\r\n1301 Constitution Ave. NW\r\nWashington, DC 20460\r\n\r\nDear Administrator Wheeler:\r\n We write to express our grave concern and request information about EPA's plans to implement the September 21, 2020 White House memorandum[1] that describes the first step in adopting the policy that the Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones. We have learned that EPA has begun internal meetings designed to comply with this directive, and that EPA is considering withholding funds that are intended to be used to clean up contaminated land and sources of drinking water in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; New York City, NY; and Washington, D.C. We strongly urge you not to do so.\r\n The President first announced[2] his legally questionable policy to deny federal funding to these cities on September 2, 2020, stating that My Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones. To ensure that Federal funds are neither unduly wasted nor spent in a manner that directly violates our Government's promise to protect life, liberty, and property, it is imperative that the Federal Government review the use of Federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America's cities. The September 21 follow-up memo directs federal agencies to submit a report to the Director of OMB detailing all Federal funds provided to Seattle, Portland, New York City, Washington, D.C., or any components or instrumentalities of the foregoing jurisdictions.\r\n We have learned that EPA, in its internal meetings related to the policy, has begun to identify funding sources that could be subject to the directive, some of which are vital for the provision of safe drinking water and the remediation of contamination. We have also learned that on September 22, the day after the follow-up memorandum from the White House, you sent a letter[3] to the Governor of New York and Mayor of New York City threatening to relocate the EPA's Region 2 headquarters out of the current location at 290 Broadway in Manhattan due to nearby demonstrations, saying that If you cannot demonstrate that EPA employees will be safe accessing our New York City offices, you would take steps to move them to a location that can competently fulfill the basic mission of a local government.\r\nSetting aside the legally questionable and abhorrent nature of the President's directive, EPA's implementation thereof could endanger human health and the environment. The retaliatory threat to move EPA's regional headquarters out of New York City would waste taxpayer dollars and endanger the jobs of the nearly 600 people who work there. Some examples of funding that EPA may seek to halt, deny or rescind include:\r\n \r\nPortland: The city was invited by EPA[4] to apply for $554 million in Water Infrastructure and Finance Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans to complete three projects to improve public health and water quality and increase drinking water system resiliency and reliability fornearly 1 million people. The city also received[5] $500,000 in Brownfields grant funding to clean up a site that is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ethylbenzene and metals and $600,000 in Brownfields funding for[6] the assessment of additional contaminated sites. The State of Oregon was allotted $18,133,000 in FY 2020 for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and $14,487,000 for the Drinking Water SRF.\r\nSeattle: The city received[7] a $192.2 million WIFIA loan to reduce combined sewer overflows to support public health, ecosystems and the economy in the Seattle metropolitan area. The State of Washington was awarded $27,914,000 in FY 2020 for the Clean Water SRF and $24,598,000 for the Drinking Water SRF.\r\nNew York City: The city received[8] $300,000 in Brownfields funding to clean up sites with the intention of redeveloping vacant and abandoned properties and turning them into community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, social services and commerce opportunities. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also received[9] $420,000 in Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant funding. The State of New York was allotted $177,173,000 in FY 2020 for the Clean Water SRF and $44,967,000 for the Drinking Water SRF.\r\nWashington, D.C.: The district received[10] $158,000 in funding to test for lead in drinking water in schools. The district was allotted $7,880,000 in FY 2020 for the Clean Water SRF and $11,011,000 for the Drinking Water SRF.\r\n \r\nWe strongly urge you not to take any action that could result in the collective loss of more than a billion dollars of funding intended to clean up contamination and drinking water in these American cities. To do so would be antithetical to EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment. So that we can understand the process by which EPA is responding to the President's misguided September, 2020 directive, we ask that you provide copies of:\r\n \r\nThe report cataloguing EPA funding to these cities requested by OMB on September 21, 2020 and due to be submitted to OMB on October 5, 2020.\r\nAll documents (including but not limited to calendar items, emails, presentations, meeting minutes, and memos) obtained or created by EPA that are related to EPA's compliance with the President's September 2, 2020 directive.\r\nDocuments listing and fully describing all decisions to rescind, halt, deny or otherwise modify any type of EPA funding to any of the cities listed above.\r\n \r\nThank you for your consideration of this important matter. Please provide your initial response no later than Friday, October 9, with additional materials to be provided on an ongoing basis thereafter until EPA's implementation of the September directive is complete. If you have any questions or concerns, please have your staff contact Michal Freedhoff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff (michal_freedhoff@epw.senate.gov).\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThomas R. Carper\r\nRanking Member\r\nEnvironment and Public Works Committee\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCharles E. Schumer\r\nMinority Leader\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nKirsten Gillibrand\r\nUnited States Senator\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRon Wyden\r\nUnited States Senator\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJeffrey A. Merkley\r\nUnited States Senator\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nPatty Murray\r\nUnited States Senator\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMaria Cantwell\r\nUnited States Senator\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-applauds-house-passage-of-wildlife-conservation-legislation", "Carper Applauds House Passage of Wildlife Conservation Legislation", "2020-10-01", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released the following statement after the House passed America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act.\r\n\r\nToday, the House of Representatives approved my bipartisan legislation with Chairman Barrasso that supports wildlife conservation and habitat restoration efforts across the country. America's Conservation Enhancement Act builds on state and stakeholder commitments to restore wetlands and improve water quality by reauthorizing effective programs like the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund and the Chesapeake Bay Program.\r\n   While helping to protect and restore important habitats, the conservation efforts supported by the ACE Act also help to fuel multibillion-dollar fishing and ecotourism industries. For example, the Chesapeake Bay is an immense and diverse ecosystem that is home to thousands of species, and it's also an economic engine for our entire region, home to major shipping ports and a multi-billion-dollar commercial fishing industry. The Bay also attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to our region each year to enjoy outdoor recreational opportunities, such as hunting, fishing, birding and boating.\r\n  The ACE Act will help to drive the development of new and innovative solutions for growing threats like invasive species and wildlife disease  threats we know will only become more challenging with our changing climate. This legislation is a bipartisan win for conservation and outdoor recreation, and I thank our colleagues in the House for their support.\r\n  Among its provisions, the ACE Act will:\r\n \r\nReauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act until 2025;\r\nReauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Act until 2025;\r\nReauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Program until 2025;\r\nReauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails network and the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Grants Assistance Program until 2025;\r\nAuthorize the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Program until 2025;\r\nCommission a study by the National Academy of Sciences regarding the pathways and mechanisms of the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the United States;\r\nEstablish a CWD task force to develop an interstate action plan for state and federal cooperation relating to the disease;\r\nAuthorize funds to combat the threat of invasive species; and\r\nEncourage partnerships among public agencies and other interested parties for promoting fish conservation.\r\n \r\n\r\nOn December 13, 2019, Senator Carper and Senator Barrasso introduced the ACE Act (S. 3051) along with Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). Later that month, the EPW Committee unanimously approved the ACE Act.\r\n\r\nOn September 17, 2020, the ACE Act passed the Senate in the form of a substitute amendment to S. 3051 that was negotiated with the House of Representatives. Now, with House passage of the legislation, it is set to be signed into law.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-merkley-colleagues-demand-trump-administration-develop-vaccine-strategy-that-addresses-coronavirus-disproportionate-impacts-on-communities-of-color", "Carper, Merkley, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration Develop Vaccine Strategy That Addresses Coronavirus Disproportionate Impacts on Communities of Color", "2020-10-01", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Recent 57-page U.S. Department of Health and Human Services vaccine plan barely acknowledges serious health inequities\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and 18 of their Democratic colleagues in demanding that the Trump administration develop a national vaccine distribution strategy that both recognizes and addresses the alarming racial disparities in rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.\r\nThe senators' letter follows the release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) long-overdue guide to state, territorial, and local public health programs on how to plan for the distribution of a future coronavirus vaccine or vaccinesa 57-page document that only mentions communities of color in three sentences.\r\nThe alarming disparities in rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are not coincidental. The divergent outcomes are directly linked to existing inequities and discriminatory federal, state, and local policies. Overrepresentation in frontline, essential jobs in which social distancing is more difficult, a disproportionate prevalence of preexisting health conditions, policies that lead to overcrowded and segregated housing, and reliance on public transportation, have placed communities of color at greater risk of COVID-19, the senators wrote in their letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.\r\nLatinx, Black, and Asian patients are more than twice as likely to test positive for the coronavirus when compared to white patients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 75 percent of coronavirus deaths among people under the age of 21 have been Black, Latinx, and Indigenous youth. Overall, Black and Latinx individuals are more than three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white peers when age is taken into account.\r\nWe urge you to thoughtfully engage with communities of color to swiftly produce and publicly release supplemental guidance to the September 16 national vaccine distribution document that illustrates the agency's efforts to address racial disparities during the distribution and monitoring of a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine, the senators continued. The CDC must explicitly involve Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populationsas well as other communities of colorin the formation of robust public plans to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, we request further details on how the Trump administration intends to build trust, combat misinformation, and promote vaccinations within communities of color.\r\nCommunities of color in the United States deserve more than three sentences in your document. They deserve an equitable vaccine distribution plan that sufficiently responds to the unique health disparities withinand authentically builds trust withtheir communities, the letter concluded.\r\nIn addition to Carper and Merkley, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).\r\nThe full text of the senators' letter is available here and follows below.\r\n\r\n###\r\n   Dear Secretary Azar,\r\n\r\nWe urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a comprehensive, national vaccines strategy that goes far beyond the scope of the recently released COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy. In addition to significantly expanding the scope of the strategy to address research, development, manufacturing, and much more, we urge you to update vaccine distribution guidance to include a robust and detailed strategy to inform, collaborate, and engage with communities of color to equitably distribute a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to these communities once it is licensed or authorized for use.\r\nAs of September 30, 2020, COVID-19 has caused the deaths of over 200,000 Americans. More than seven million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus, and thousands of individuals are currently hospitalized with severe symptoms. The coronavirus has devastated communities across the country. However, the virus has not affected every community the same.\r\nCommunities of colorparticularly Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populationshave been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, Latinx, Black, and Asian patients are more than twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 as white patients[1]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data that found more than 75 percent of coronavirus deaths among people under the age of 21 have been Black, Latinx and Indigenous youth[2]. Overall, Black and Latinx individuals are more than three times as likely to die from COVID-19 when age is taken into account.\r\nOn September 16, the CDC released COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations, a long-overdue document to guide state, territorial, and local public health programs on how to plan for the distribution of a future COVID-19 vaccine or vaccines. However, the guidance woefully lacks focused attention on addressing racial disparities during the coronavirus pandemic.\r\nIn the 57-page document, communities of color are mentioned in only three sentences. If we are to effectively confront existing racial disparities, our policies and guidelines must explicitly identify the ways we plan to do so. For too long, officials have touted addressing racial disparities as a priority, only to forget or ignore communities of color during the implementation and execution of government plans, or to mention them as an afterthought.\r\nThe alarming disparities in rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are not coincidental. The divergent outcomes are directly linked to existing inequities and discriminatory federal, state, and local policies. Overrepresentation in frontline, essential jobs in which social distancing is more difficult, a disproportionate prevalence of preexisting health conditions, policies that lead to overcrowded and segregated housing, and reliance on public transportation, have placed communities of color at greater risk of COVID-19.\r\nWe urge you to thoughtfully engage with communities of color to swiftly produce and publicly release supplemental guidance to the September 16 national vaccine distribution document that illustrates the agency's efforts to address racial disparities during the distribution and monitoring of a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC must explicitly involve Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populationsas well as other communities of colorin the formation of robust public plans to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, we request further details on how the Trump administration intends to build trust, combat misinformation, and promote vaccinations within communities of color.\r\nCommunities of color in the United States deserve more than three sentences in your document. They deserve an equitable vaccine distribution plan that sufficiently responds to the unique health disparities withinand authentically builds trust withtheir communities.\r\nThank you for your attention to this matter.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n\r\n[1] https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/covid-19-racial-disparities-testing-infection-hospitalization-death-analysis-epic-patient-data/\r\n\r\n\r\n[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/15/covid-deaths-hispanic-black-children/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/10/carper-slams-epa-rollback-that-allows-industry-to-relax-air-toxic-pollution-controls", "Carper Slams EPA Rollback That Allows Industry to Relax Air Toxic Pollution Controls", "2020-10-01", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del,), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after the EPA finalized a rule that abandons the once in, always in hazardous air pollution policy. For almost a quarter century, this policy has ensured that major sources of air toxic emissions continue to meet the Clean Air Act's requirements throughout their lifetime. According to EPA, the once in, always in policy had prevented 1.7 million tons of hazardous air pollution from being released into the environment.\r\n\r\nToday EPA solidified bad policy promoted by the former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, which further prioritizes polluters over people's lives. By rolling back clean air protections that have been in place for a quarter century, Trump's EPA is telling major air toxic polluters to turn off installed pollution controls and ignore the health of those living nearby. This decision greenlights the release of thousands more tons of air toxic pollution  air pollution such as benzene and mercury, known to cause cancer and interfere with our children's brain development - into communities throughout the country. This decision will do nothing to help our economy. Instead it will inflict wide-ranging harm to human health, especially in communities located near major sources of pollution, which are disproportionately communities of color.\r\n\r\nThe Trump EPA's efforts to ensure fewer costs for industry come a high cost for human health. We can never forget that the Trump EPA finalized this clean air rollback  one in which EPA itself has acknowledged is likely to lead to higher levels of deadly air pollution  during our national battle against a deadly respiratory pandemic. It is shameful. For 50 years, EPA's primary mission has been to protect human health and the environment. Especially now, at a time when breathing clean air is a matter of life or death, Americans deserve an EPA that heeds its mission. It's that simple, and yet, from the Trump Administration, it's clearly too much to ask.\r\n\r\nThrough EPA's once in, always in policy, coal-fired power plants, oil and gas refineries and other major sources of hazardous air pollutants were required to meet Clean Air Act standards and they could not increase their air toxic emissions. Today's decision abandons this logical interpretation of the Clean Air Act, which has been in place for a quarter century. The agency has done so despite its own analysis that suggests that polluters are likely to turn off their air toxic control technology in response to this rule changeensuring higher levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and other harmful toxics into the air we breathe and into our environment as a result. According to a 2017 EPAfact sheet, the air toxics maximum achievable control technology (MACT) program with once in, always in had resulted in the elimination of 1.7 million tons of hazardous air pollution.\r\n\r\nOn January 25, 2018, EPA's Office of Air and Radiation issued new guidance to abruptly reverse the longstanding once in, always in policy. On March 14, 2018, Senator Carper and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) led a letterurging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to reinstate once in, always in.\r\n\r\nOn June 25, 2019, EPA proposed to permanently change once in, always in. On August 15, 2019, Senator Carper submitted testimony to EPA in opposition to the agency's proposal.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/9/carper-statement-on-senate-vote-to-provide-one-year-extension-of-our-nation-s-surface-transportation-funding", "Carper Statement on Senate Vote to Provide One-Year Extension of Our Nations Surface Transportation Funding", "2020-09-30", "2020", "2020-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted 84-10 to pass the Continuing Resolution, which included a one-year extension for surface transportation programs through September 30, 2021.\r\n\r\nThis one-year extension of our nation's surface transportation systems will provide state and local transportation agencies with the certainty they need to plan and manage their programs and projects through the next year. By helping to keep job sites open, this one-year extension will also help to ensure that hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women can keep taking home their well-earned pay after an honest day's of work.\r\n\r\nNo doubt, it is a relief that Congress just narrowly missed a completely avoidable transportation funding crisis. This is good news given what the wide-ranging consequences of our inaction could have been. But, to be clear, this is nowhere near the investment and long-term certainty that our states, cities, businesses and constituents so desperately need right now.  The Environment and Public Works Committee reported surface transportation reauthorization legislation unanimously out of committee last summer. It is beyond a shame that the Senate has not been able to take action on that bill given the strong support for it. We could be working right now to reconcile it with the comprehensive transportation legislation passed by the House of Representatives this summer. Making significant investments to repair, rebuild and modernize our nation's roads, bridges, highways, railways and transit systems is a high priority for the American people.\r\n\r\nAs the countdown begins for this one-year extension to expire, I'm committed to ensure that a robust surface transportation reauthorization remains at the top of Congress's to do list. We have an opportunity and an obligation to the American people to make significant investments in our transportation systems in a way that creates millions of new jobs, improves the conditions of our roads, highways, bridges and transit systems, enhances resilience in the face of the climate crisis and reduces harmful pollution. The American people are counting on us, andwe can't let them down again.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/9/carney-carper-coons-blunt-rochester-announce-1-5-million-eda-grant-to-delaware-innovation-space-to-launch-hard-science-startup-accelerator", "Carney, Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester Announce $1.5 Million EDA Grant to Delaware Innovation Space to Launch Hard Science Startup Accelerator", "2020-09-24", "2020", "2020-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, Delaware Governor John Carney, U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.) announced a $1.5 million grant award from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to Delaware Innovation Space to create a Hard Science Startup Accelerator. The grant was awarded through the national Build to Scale (B2S) competition run by the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) at EDA.\r\nDelaware Innovation Space is a nonprofit incubator and accelerator at the Experimental Station where scientists, business leaders, community members, investors, and service providers in the industrial biotech, advanced materials, chemical ingredients, renewable energy, nutrition and healthcare fields can build business concepts together and accelerate the path to commercialization. It is the result of a public-private partnership between the State of Delaware, DuPont and the University of Delaware. This grant award will provide mentorship and training to entrepreneurs to help them develop and grow their business.\r\nDelaware Innovation Space was awarded the top amount of $1.5 million in the competition placing it in the top 10 percent of more than 600 applications that were submitted from across the United States.\r\nThe lack of physical lab space with expert business mentorship and training is a road block to the ultimate success of emerging entrepreneurs in the hard sciences, said Bill Provine, Delaware Innovation Space President & CEO. The Hard Science Startup Accelerator will provide science entrepreneurs with access to structured programs and a customized learning experience that will improve their business concepts and plans, making them more attractive to investors. This combined with the physical assets of the Delaware Innovation Space which includes a more than 130,000-square-foot physical and virtual collaboration ecosystem will assist and equip scalable startups with the tools and expert insights that they need to transform the markets in which they operate.\r\nWe want innovators and entrepreneurs to start in Delaware, stay in Delaware, and grow in Delaware, saidGovernor John Carney. The accelerator program funded by this grant will assist emerging science-based startups to grow and thrive right here in Delaware. The world has changed. We have to continue being nimble and supporting our entrepreneurial ecosystem. We've already seen success out of the Delaware Innovation Space from companies like Prelude Therapeutics, and I look forward to seeing the Delaware companies that this program willlaunch and grow.\r\nThe Delaware Innovation Space was born out of Delaware's long history of scientific innovation. As we push through this pandemic, the Innovation Space will continue to be an important part of research and discovery  and economy recovery,said Senator Carper, ranking member on the Environment and Public Works committee in the U.S. Senate, which has jurisdiction over EDA.The Delaware Innovation Space will leverage this federal investment and use the resources of the University of Delaware and DuPont to mentor entrepreneurs through its Hard Science Startup Accelerator. We must continue to find ways to grow our economy for the long-term, and this grant will help foster that innovation.\r\nThe Hard Science Startup Accelerator program aims to help startup companies and science entrepreneurs be competitive in today's global economy, said Senator Coons. The Delaware Innovation Space has helped companies like Yushan Yan's W7 Energy to spin out of the University of Delaware their fuel cell technology, and this $1.5-million grant will continue advancing innovation and economic development with other startups in the First State. This federal funding, combined with investments from other partners, helps make sure that Delaware  the birthplace of Nylon, Kevlar, Teflon, and Oliver Evans' Automated Flour Mill  can provide capital-intensive wet lab space and world-class mentorship well into the future to many more promising technologies.\r\nIn the midst of our national period of economic hardship, we must continue to help our emerging entrepreneurs innovate and succeed, said Rep. Blunt Rochester. The Delaware Innovation Space represents the best kind of partnership that we must continue to utilize and leverage. I'm excited to see how this federal investment will help catalyze some truly exciting results. The Hard Science Startup Accelerator will be offered at no-charge to startup companies and the application window for the first cohort class along with other supporting programs will open in late 2020; with the first cohort class beginning work in 2021.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/9/carper-statement-on-republicans-efforts-to-promote-russian-disinformation-and-failed-attempt-to-smear-vice-president-biden", "Carper Statement on Republicans Efforts to Promote Russian Disinformation and Failed Attempt to Smear Vice President Biden", "2020-09-23", "2020", "2020-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), released the following statement regarding Chairman Ron Johnson's (R-Wis.) continued efforts to promote Russian disinformation and use official Senate time and resources to advance partisan objectives. \r\n\r\nRight now, the United States Senate should be engaged in an all hands on deck effort to address the unprecedented crises affecting millions of the Americans we all represent  from a deadly pandemic that has claimed over 200,000 innocent lives and the fallout from the highest jobless rates we've seen since the Great Depression to life-threatening storms and wildfires impacting thousands of communities across our country. But, instead, Senate Republicans, led by Chairman Johnson, have spent months of our time  and taxpayer dollars  pursuing political investigations that are squarely based on conspiracy theories and Russian disinformation all in attempt to smear President Trump's political opponent. It is absolutely shameful that this Committee in particular, with our history of working together in a bipartisan way to tackle major challenges, has been so blatantly used as a political tool. After months of searching for a problem, the report released today has managed to compromise our national security all on its own while finding absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing by Vice President Biden. It is long past time for this sad chapter in our Committee's history to come to close and for us to get back to the real work we should be doing to actually serve our constituents.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/9/carper-statement-on-the-passing-of-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg", "Carper Statement on the Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg", "2020-09-18", "2020", "2020-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement regarding the passing of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:\r\nJustice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have been small in stature, but, tonight, our nation lost an absolute giant. Her intellect was unmatched. Her work ethic was unrivaled; neither cancer nor chemotherapy could keep her from the important business of our nation's highest court. And her lifelong pursuit of true equality under the law  for women, for people of color, for LGBTQ Americans, for workers  was unparalleled.\r\nJustice Ginsburg was a trailblazer whose profound impact on our laws and the very fabric of our society cannot be overstated. At Harvard Law School, she was one of only nine women in a class of 500 students. Despite graduating from Columbia Law School with top honors, Ginsburg  a Jewish woman and mother at the time  received no offers from New York City law firms. She went on to begin her legal career in academia at a time when the laws in this country allowed women to be discriminated against solely on the basis of their sex. But none of that stopped her. Ginsburg made it her life's work to challenge the laws and systems in this country that limited opportunities for women. In doing so, she was a pioneer in her own right, but also paved the way for generations of women behind her. She went on to be the second woman ever appointed to the United States Supreme Court, where she served the American people admirably for nearly three decades.\r\nIt is with heavy hearts tonight that Martha and I mourn the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and pray for her family and loved ones. I know her legacy will live on, especially in all the women and young girls she inspired throughout her remarkable life.\r\nOn a night that should be reserved for lauding this incredible jurist's achievements, I am loathe to even mention the political implications of Justice Ginsburg's passing. However, I believe that I should make clear my views on the nominating process. We are in the midst of a presidential election; early voting is already underway in some states and millions of Americans are requesting ballots. The American people deserve to choose the president who will fill this vacancy. The American people also remember the unprecedented and shameful blockade of Merrick Garland in 2016. If my Republican colleagues reverse course a few short years later and try to fill this vacancy before the next president is sworn in, it would be hypocrisy of the highest order. Therefore, I will oppose any Supreme Court nominee until after Inauguration Day, and I will do everything I can to fight for fairness  the principle to which Ruth Bader Ginsburg dedicated her entire life. I urge my Republican colleagues to avoid a hurried and politicized process that will further erode the American public's trust in both the United States Senate and the Supreme Court. The American people deserve to have their voice heard.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 75, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "DE", "p2": "2020"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=DE&year=2020", "results": [{"value": "Democrat", "label": "Democrat", "count": 75, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=DE&year=2020&party=Democrat", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=DE&year=2020", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 75, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=DE&year=2020", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=DE&year=2020", "results": [{"value": "DE", "label": "DE", "count": 75, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&year=2020", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=DE&year=2020", "results": [{"value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 75, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=DE", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": null, "next_url": null, "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 122.23593587987125, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}