{"id":13157,"name":"Christopher A. Coons","first_name":"Christopher A.","last_name":"Coons","middle_name":null,"suffix":null,"bioguide_id":"C001088","fec_candidate_id":null,"ocd_person_id":null,"govtrack_id":null,"opensecrets_id":null,"votesmart_id":null,"office_id":17794,"party":"Democrat","status":"active","photo_url":"https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c001088_200.jpg","website":"https://www.coons.senate.gov/","campaign_url":null,"email":null,"phone":null,"social_twitter":null,"social_facebook":null,"social_instagram":null,"social_youtube":null,"state":"DE","district":null,"city":null,"assumed_office":"2010","term_end":null,"born":"1963","source":"congress_gov","source_url":"https://api.congress.gov/v3/member/C001088","source_updated":"2026-05-09T12:13:18.242Z","first_seen":"2026-05-09 12:13:18","last_seen":"2026-05-09 12:13:18","created_at":"2026-05-09 12:13:18","updated_at":"2026-05-10 01:05:08","canonical_id":null,"fec_checked_at":null,"contact_email":null,"contact_source_url":null,"contact_captured_at":null,"office_name":"U.S. Senator","level":"federal","branch":"legislative","office_chamber":"senate","positions":[{"topic":"National Security","stance":"Senator Coons is protecting dreams in Washington.","detail":"As a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, he makes it a priority to get Delaware businesses what they need to grow our state’s economy and create good jobs. As a former chair of the Senate subcommittee overseeing intellectual property, he’s a staunch advocate for patent reform so entrepreneurs and innovators can stand on the same stage as giants of industry. Every large company in America began as a small business – as a dream in a garage or kitchen or notebook. He understands that it’s not enough just to create jobs. Delaware also needs workers with the skills to succeed in those jobs. Senator Coons believes you shouldn’t need a college degree to get a good job that pays well and can support a family. He’s introduced legislation to create more apprenticeship programs and connect Delawareans with careers that will help them build a good life. Economic opportunity goes beyond business. It’s how we help everyone in our communities thrive. As a young man, Senator Coons worked for the National Coalition for the Homeless. He knows that housing is foundational to building a family or getting your feet under you. That’s why he’s worked to make housing more affordable in Delaware, whether by securing funding for projects to build more housing up and down the state, or through legislation to make existing federal affordable housing programs more accessible. Some of Senator Coons’ accomplishments for economic opportunity include: Senator Coons has secured tens of millions of dollars for affordable housing projects up and down Delaware, from the Milford Housing Development Corporation’s Maxwell Estates in Harrington to the Todmorden Foundation’s development in Wilmington to Habitat for Humanities in all three counties. That includes a $50 million Choice Neighborhoods grant for REACH Riverside and the City of Wilmington for affordable housing in Northeast Wilmington. These investments will lower rents and bring the dream of homeownership within reach for more Delaware","source_url":"https://www.coons.senate.gov/issues/economic-opportunity/","source_date":"2026-07-21"},{"topic":"Agriculture","stance":"Delaware has a long and proud history as an agricultural state.","detail":"It’s the birthplace of the modern poultry industry and home to more than a half-million acres of farmland growing everything from peaches to corn, sorghum to soybeans. Thanks to our hardworking farmers and poultry growers, agriculture is still the #1 industry in our state, accounting for more than 30,000 jobs and contributing nearly $8 billion annually to the First State’s economy. Delaware doesn’t just have a great agricultural sector. It also grows great agricultural community leaders. Sometimes in the Senate I may have to explain paws, and broilers vs. layers, but that’s meant I can get more things done for the farm families of the Delmarva. Senator Coons is proud to represent Delaware farmers, poultry growers, and agribusinesses in the Senate. He always pushes for a Farm Bill that takes a comprehensive approach to agricultural policy: strengthening crop insurance and expanding the safety net for poultry growers, while investing in conservation and energy programs to build a more sustainable and prosperous future for rural Delaware. He strives to keep Sussex County the No. 1 broiler-producing county in the United States by working with his colleagues from across the aisle. As Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Senate Chicken Caucus, Senator Coons is a leader in poultry policy. Since Delaware feeds not just the Mid-Atlantic, but the world, Senator Coons uses his role as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to open, expand, and protect new global export markets for Delaware’s agricultural products as well as ensuring that the Port of Wilmington continues to import bananas, citrus, and more. Senator Coons is a co-Chair of the Senate Chicken Caucus . Some of Senator Coons’ accomplishments for agriculture include: Senator Coons is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Senate Chicken Caucus, a bipartisan group of senators from major poultry-producing states. The caucus’s goal is to educate other senators and their staff about the poultry industry, wo","source_url":"https://www.coons.senate.gov/issues/agriculture/","source_date":"2026-05-23"},{"topic":"Climate","stance":"Building on Delaware’s legacy of innovation, Senator Coons is committed to making Delaware a hub of new, clean energy technology that will create jobs and keep costs down for families while reducing emissions.","detail":"Delaware is the lowest-lying state in the union. As we watch the Atlantic and our rivers rise, eroding our beaches and flooding our cities, it’s painfully clear that climate change is real, it’s here, and it’s having an impact. Senator Coons is making sure the First State is prepared for the climate-fueled disasters of the present while mitigating the worsening of climate change. We have a responsibility to God’s creation, to each other, to Delaware, and to future generations to help this planet, our only home, to survive. He’s securing federal funding to make Delaware a leader in new technologies like solar, wind, and hydrogen power, in addition to improving and protecting existing facilities like the Delaware City Refinery. He’s also trying to protect programs like LIHEAP that directly lower energy costs for Delawareans facing hard times. No parent wants to worry about the air their child is breathing or the water they’re drinking. Senator Coons is working at a federal level to support clean air and water, so our children can breathe and play without fear. He’s also securing funding for our state’s beaches and coastline, so we can keep growing the economy that powers southern Delaware. Some of Senator Coons’ accomplishments on energy and the environment include: Senator Coons worked across the aisle to create the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation. This private-public partnership will invest in protected areas across the globe, preventing extinctions and lessening the effects of climate change. It will also make the United States safer by strengthening local economies and cracking down on the illegal wildlife trafficking that funds global terrorism networks. In 2023, Senator Coons worked with leaders from across industry to secure a $750 million federal investment for our region: the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub. The hub will develop hydrogen energy production in and around Delaware. The project will ensure the Mid-Atlantic is a leader in clean, ren","source_url":"https://www.coons.senate.gov/issues/energy-and-environment/","source_date":"2026-05-23"},{"topic":"Healthcare","stance":"Senator Coons believes that every American deserves access to quality, affordable health care.","detail":"No child, parent, or grandparent should have to suffer because their family can’t afford the treatments they need. He is working every day to make that a reality by protecting and strengthening the programs that give people a health care lifeline: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act. He knows how essential these programs are for kids, seniors, and working class Americans for everything from emergency surgery to combatting opioid addiction. If you don’t have health, it almost doesn’t matter what else you have. If you have good health, you can do almost anything. Senator Coons is making sure no one is left behind as we research new treatments and cures. Like many Americans, Senator Coons has lost family and friends to cancer, ALS, and Alzheimer’s. He knows that sometimes hope is all you have. Cutting-edge biomedical research and clinical trials from Delaware’s pharmaceutical companies or the National Institutes for Health give families the hope they need to fight day after day. Government funding for those trials helps researchers take on more patients and invest in the basic science that will one day lead to cures. As Co-Chair of the Senate ALS Caucus and a member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Coons is supporting legislation that will help Americans focus on living their lives – not fighting for them. Some of Senator Coons’ accomplishments on health care include: Senator Coons is fighting for every Delawarean’s access to affordable health care, regardless of how they get their insurance. He voted to expand tax credits for working families buying insurance on the ACA marketplace in 2021. This investment doubled the number of Americans able to get health coverage through the marketplace. He’s pushing the Senate to make these investments permanent and cut the red tape preventing so many Americans from accessing care. Senator Coons played a key role in passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered the cost of insulin to $35 a month for seniors","source_url":"https://www.coons.senate.gov/issues/health-care/","source_date":"2026-05-23"},{"topic":"Agriculture","stance":"Issues","detail":"Agriculture Delaware has a long and proud history as an agricultural state. It’s the birthplace of the modern poultry industry and home to more than a half-million acres of farmland growing everything... Continue Reading  →