Chris Coons

It is difficult for me to go home and say that I am giving duty-free, quota-free access to the markets of the United States when there is not a comparable fair attitude.

I want to specifically thank you and your staff for your very responsive attitude when we had a challenge with the I-495 bridge in Delaware.

We are steadily falling behind.

By not moving these projects, I think we continue to put at risk jobs, infrastructure, and competitiveness.

This is just another, I think, example, Mr. Secretary, of an area where you have real command of the underlying facts and issues

I do not want AGOA to become subject to one country's trade violations one way or another.

The recent Corker-Coons proposal, which completely unties U.S. food aid from U.S. agriculture and cargo preference requirements, is estimated to increase the reach of title II by as many as 12 million more people.

The budget proposals by the administration as well as the legislative proposal introduced by Senators Corker and Coons deserve consideration and vote by Congress

The appropriations for food aid have gone down in recent years.

They provide valued and needed services. But the inefficiency of it really is striking.

David, I want to commend CARE and you for giving up what is tens of millions of dollars of potential cash for CARE.

The twin challenges we face are how to make this program more efficient so that it reaches more people.

Thank you, Chairman Corker, for convening this and leading this effort.

I would love to hear from all three of you, what is your guesstimate of the impact on food aid for the long-term, if we were, in fact, to make it more efficient?

If we were to simply more directly fund through DOD the maintenance of a DOD appropriate sealift capacity, what difference might there be in efficiency of outcome?

I want to pursue three lines of inquiry, if I might.

Food aid reform is one that has eluded any significant progress for a long time.

I just want to thank Ranking Member Cardin and you, Chairman Corker, for continuing to bring forward a spirit of bipartisanship and a focus on important and difficult issues.

I think there is huge potential for us to make a difference.

I want to specifically thank you for your real leadership over many years in making sure that our investments in foreign assistance contribute to our national security.

Thank you, Chairman Graham, for calling this hearing, and I would like to just follow the line of questioning my good friend, Senator Moran, has been leading.

Mobile telephone technology has transformed the possibilities of connection to the modern economy through mobile banking.

I am also concerned about how DOE EPSCoR handled last year's Implementation Grant award process.

As you know, Delaware is an EPSCoR/IDeA State, and the EPSCoR/IDeA programs have been beneficial for many universities around the country.

There are a couple places in your opening comments, you stated that there are places where we need to make investments in order to save money.