Summary

News

Chris Coons

Current Position: US Senator since 2010
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2020 US Senator

Chris Coons has spent his career in the Senate focused on working across the aisle to get things done for the people of Delaware. In March 2017, the Bipartisan Policy Center recognized Chris for his commitment to bipartisanship and awarded him its Legislative Action Award. In November 2016, the independent congressional tracking website GovTrack ranked Chris in the top three most productive Senators of both parties.

Putting pragmatism ahead of politics, Chris has partnered with Republicans and Democrats alike to address key issues facing Delaware and the country. Chris has worked relentlessly with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to provide resources for those struggling with drug addiction and to curb the impact of the opioid crisis.

For more information, see this Chris Coons post.

Lauren Witzke

Current Position: Political activist
Affiliation: Republican
Candidate: 2020 US Senator

Lauren Witzke is a Delaware native from Sussex County, graduate of Goldey Beacom Business College with a degree in Business Management, and former Teen Challenge program Director. She is an experienced political activist, promoting pro-life movements at CPAC, and a public speaker pushing for more restrictive immigration policies. She is a young, passionate conservative who spent several years working in the pharmaceutical industry.

Lauren unwittingly participated in the pharmaceutical industries agenda which led to the nationwide opioid addiction crisis. Ironically, she found herself hopelessly addicted as well, and even worked for drug cartel families and illicit organized crime gangs from Detroit.

For more information, see this Lauren Witzke post.

Issues

Governance

Chris Coons 

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Lauren Witzke 

Ending Visa Abuse

According to the political class in Washington, D.C and their Big Business friends, Americans are thrilled by the endless importation of foreign labor to compete with them in the workplace. That is flat wrong. Never have Americans asked for MORE immigration. They have always asked for LESS.

For the first time in our nation’s history, even college-educated Americans are being replaced in the workforce by foreign counterparts. According to the U.S Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 50% of students with a bachelor’s degree in STEM fields, are NOT employed in STEM occupations.

Through various visa programs, Americans are being fired from their jobs and forced to train their foreign replacements. The F-1 optimal training program is a prime example, relieving at least 500,000 Americans of their duties in favor of cheaper labor from foreign nations. It allows foreign students who went to American universities to stay here after they graduate to work for American companies (otherwise known as “stapling green cards to diplomas”).

Employers who use F-1 visas do not have to pay payroll taxes. In turn, they get tax subsidies to hire foreign labor. American college graduates, who often incur massive student debt hoping for a slot in the middle class, are being left behind. They’re stuck with a monthly bill, but no job to pay for it. While an entire generation suffers, Big Business and the Cheap Labor Lobby profit.

Democrats used to care about America workers. Now they care about abstract ideas like “social justice” perpetuated by urban elites, and have left the majority of American workers behind.

Worse? There are THOUSANDS of visa programs just like F-1.

Lauren will pass legislation to restrict these visa abuses and tax cheats. Combined with Lauren’s immigration platform, which will restrict the endless supply of labor into the market, Delawareans and the rest of America will see a rise in wages, and American college students will compete in the labor market without being put at a massive disadvantage. This plan relies on the basic principles of supply and demand, and common sense. Beltway elites seem to understand neither.

Civil Rights

Chris Coons 

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Our country’s Constitution and federal laws contain critical protections that form the foundation of our inclusive society – the right to be free from discrimination, the freedom to worship as we choose, the right to vote for our elected representatives, the protections of due process, the right to privacy.  Senator Coons believes we must vigilantly protect these rights and work to expand their reach.

Lauren Witzke 

2nd Amendment

The Second Amendment is not up for negotiation. It’s not a bargaining chip to be used by lawmakers to cut deals.

There are many free countries in the world. America is the freest. And it’s the freest because at the end of the day, our citizenry has the tools to defend itself against rogue tyrants or an overbearing government.

Let’s be clear: There will be no “Red Flag” laws. There will be no “assault weapons” bans. There will be no gun-grabbing by political elites who travel with armed security.

Lauren will vote against every measure that seeks to restrict the Second Amendment, and will pass legislation to take back Americans’ gun rights that have already been usurped by feckless lawmakers of the past.

Economy

Chris Coons 

Economic Opportunity

All Americans—regardless of race, gender, or background—deserve the opportunity to earn a secure middle-class life. That value is the core of Senator Coons’ economic vision. Senator Coons supports a variety of strategies that create more American jobs, help workers find pathways to those jobs, and that improve the pay and benefits offered to American workers.

Manufacturing & Innovation

The hallmark of our nation’s economy has long been that anyone with creativity, ambition, and a good work ethic can realize their dreams and move America forward. Yet while our culture of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit remain strong, the United States faces stiff competition abroad.

Agriculture

Our nation has long been sustained by the hard work and spirit of its farmers. Delaware, in particular, has a long history as an agricultural state, and the quality of our produce, poultry, and grain products is well known both regionally and globally. Agriculture contributes nearly $8 billion a year to Delaware’s economy and accounts for 30,000 jobs in the state. From Sussex County’s vibrant poultry industry to fresh bananas shipped through the Port of Wilmington, Delaware plays a vital role in feeding America’s families.

Lauren Witzke 

American Workers First

As America harnesses and restores its manufacturing and industrial power, we plan to support its time-honored traditions in the labor sector, such as collective bargaining. Democrats are no longer the party of the worker. They’ve sold out to the cheap labor lobby, driving down the bargaining power of American workers.

Retaining power for the American workers who are the backbone of the national economy is critical to keep working families and their communities prospering. We will moderate the rapid technological and domestic/global growing pains experienced by our current labor force, striking a balance between innovation and quality of life for American workers. We will provide checks and balances in the economic sector so that the ordinary American worker isn’t overrun by the might of ever-expanding corporate business interests, and left behind by the Cheap Labor Lobby. We will provide the negotiating tools for men and women to provide for their families and invest in their communities.

In 2016, the working men and women in America’s industrial heartland took a leap of faith and put their trust in President Donald Trump. In 2020, we will continue to put the honest working men and women of America first, and further empower the strength of their families and our nation as a whole.

Education

Chris Coons 

Education

To strengthen our nation’s economic prosperity, we must invest in its future. That means supporting teachers, protecting our most disadvantaged students, helping low-income families save for college, and ensuring that higher education prepares students for success. Senator Coons was proud to vote for the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to help states and school districts serve the needs of students of all backgrounds. Still, he knows that there is more work to be done if we are to ensure students are excelling in reading, science, and math, equipping them with the skills that will be central to our twenty-first century economy.

Lauren Witzke

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Environment

Chris Coons 

Energy and the Environment

Both energy and the environment are key elements of our everyday lives. We need energy to power our homes, businesses, transportation systems, electronic devices, and more. However, we must also be careful stewards of our natural resources so that we have enough to meet our needs in the present while also planning for the future. The United States is a global leader in innovation, and Senator Coons believes we should prioritize discovery, development, and commercialization of sustainable next-generation technologies that can both protect our environment and drive our economy. He also believes we must enact policies that place reasonable limits on activities with negative environmental impact, ensuring that we leave clean air, clean water, and healthy, vibrant ecosystems to our children.

Lauren Witzke 

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Health Care

Chris Coons 

Health Care

The 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), a landmark health care reform law, represented a milestone in the expansion of access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans and the development of long-needed protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Senator Coons believes we should improve upon the landmark reform law and continue to build a strong foundation for a healthy future.

Lauren Witzke 

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Immigration

Chris Coons

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Luaren Witzke 

Immigration

The GOP Establishment elites have been promising Americans the abstract idea of “common sense border reforms” for decades. They have not delivered.

Instead, they’ve given us mass amnesty, open borders, pseudo-citizenship programs like DACA, and disastrous LEGAL immigration policies like chain migration and birthright citizenship. America now imports ONE MILLION legal immigrants every year, on top of at least ONE MILLION illegal aliens.

It is time for a moratorium on immigration to the United States, until such a time as Congress closes the borders with a wall, and figures out a system of immigration that does not hurt the job prospects of ordinary Americans, or erase American culture.

Lauren plans to pass legislation to fix America’s broken immigration system — and not in the abstract.

She will fight for an immigration moratorium, along with a fully funded and erected border wall, an end to chain migration and birthright citizenship, and to stop massive visa abuses.

Veterans

Chris Coons 

Military and Veterans

Supporting the National Guard. Senator Coons is committed to helping the Guard fulfill its dual role as a first responder at the state and local levels and supporting its role as an operational reserve with the Active Duty military abroad.  Senator Coons is an active member of the Senate National Guard Caucus and an advocate for Guard-related legislation, including his successful efforts to enhance the Guard’s State Partnership Program and ensure benefits for Guardsmen deployed abroad.

Securing the Role of Dover Air Force Base. Dover Air Force Base is central to the economy of Kent County and provides good jobs to thousands of Delawareans.  Dover is both a strategic airlift hub vital to U.S. military operations abroad and the first place on American soil to which our fallen service members return.  Senator Coons is dedicated to expanding these two important duties and supporting continued military construction at Dover.

Upholding our Sacred Bond to Veterans. The American people have a sacred bond with our servicemembers.  We must maintain that bond when they serve abroad and when they return home.  Senator Coons is committed to preventing veterans’ homelessness and to helping veterans find employment, both through legislation and veterans’ jobs fairs he hosts with the Delaware Congressional delegation twice per year.

Lauren Witzke 

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