Chris Coons

Second, the bill contains nothing to encourage the innovation that our patent system is designed to support.

While I congratulate my colleagues on their bipartisan effort, this is not a bill that I can support.

First, the reforms in this bill that will make it harder to enforce patents are not targeted toward trolls but will affect all patent holders.

I look forward to continuing to work on Federal, State, and local law enforcement partnerships that can reduce violent crime.

I was frankly very disappointed to see the President's fiscal year 2016 budget request once again only asked for half of the amount needed to fund these crucial programs.

I will submit a question for the record about forensic hair analysis. I was very concerned to see reports that FBI forensic experts may have overstated the strength of evidence.

Thank you. I appreciate the very hard work you are doing with PEPFAR and with The Global Fund to make sure we have data, we are doing analysis, we are delivering services more effectively.

I just want to start by thanking you and Ranking Member Leahy for your bipartisanship.

As both Sir Elton John and Reverend Warren have shown, the capacity of the private sector and charitable individuals to make a significant impact here is impressive and we need to deploy it further.

I appreciate you reminding us we have a scriptural injunction to not withhold good from those who deserve it.

I share the concerns phrased by Senator Moran about fixed-income liquidity.

I think this remains a particularly important area for us to focus on, for us to invest in.

The CFTC works to avoid systemic risk by fostering transparent, open, competitive, and sound futures markets.

We are here to consider the budget requests for the SEC and the CFTC, two financial sector regulators with tremendous responsibilities to preserve the integrity of our markets, protect investors and consumers.

The SEC also oversees investment advisers, mutual funds, securities exchanges, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and many other entities.

I was broadly encouraged by the reforms presented in Title VII, but I am concerned about how they are being implemented.

I hope you will think about the opportunity to mark up and move separately the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act.

Our bill is not just about reauthorization. It is also about modernization.

I think there is tremendous opportunity for us in the Federal Government to save money through energy savings performance contracts.

For every dollar invested the Weatherization Assistance Program returns $2.51 in household savings.

By 2030 if we pass the legislation the bill would create almost 200,000 jobs, cut carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 22,000,000 cars off the road and save consumers over $16 billion a year.

Encouraging the use of energy efficiency policies is just common sense.

I just came back from a trip to Kenya, to Chad, to Senegal, and I could not agree more.

I agree wholeheartedly that some of the market impediments that we are facing really need to be addressed and addressed yesterday, not today.

I think if we look at how far the South African economy has come, there has to be a question whether at some point they need to graduate to an FTA.