They asked me what I thought about my father’s support for same-sex marriage, and the incredibly moving moment when President Obama declared his support for ending marriage discrimination.

It was a great discussion — and I’d like you to see it. So if you missed it yesterday, take a few moments to watch the clip today.

-Beau

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden joins Morning Joe to discuss his father’s comments on same-sex marriage on last week’s “Meet the Press.”

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It will feature presenters from the AG’s Office, police and private legal practices. Presentations will cover topics including identifying gang and drug activity, criminal background screening, eviction proceedings.

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Senate Bill 209 was introduced yesterday. Individuals who purposefully provide false information to police investigating a crime would be guilty of a Class G felony under the legislation and face the penalty of up to two years in jail.

The federal government and other states have laws that punish those who lie to police officers. This legislation adds to Delaware’s existing false reporting law by making it a crime to knowingly provide a false statement to law-enforcement in order to prevent, hinder or delay an investigation.

“I’m proud to be working with members of the General Assembly, some of whom are former police officers, to address this significant problem,” Biden said.

“Government’s most fundamental responsibility is to protect the public,” Biden said. “Those who lie to police officers protect criminals, force law enforcement officers to waste valuable time and threaten public safety. I am proud to be working with former police officers in the legislature to address a significant problem that our police agencies confront every day.”

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The attorneys general are seeking an increase in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s use of principal reductions to help homeowners. The FHFA oversees the government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which collectively own approximately 60 percent of U.S. home mortgages.

Edward DeMarco, acting director of FHFA, recently acknowledged that principal forgiveness may be beneficial to homeowners and investors who own mortgages. A letter to Demarco from the coalition of attorneys general advocates for quick action on principal forgiveness in federal loan modification programs. The attorneys general say that principal forgiveness would give borrowers an incentive to maintain their mortgage payments.

Reluctance to participate in principal forgiveness because of the inability of computer systems to handle new programs is not an excuse, the letter also states.

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“Mitt Romney has an economic policy that would make Ronald Reagan look like a progressive. He has a foreign policy that is kind of stuck in the Cold War that just simply doesn’t get the world that we live in.”

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Attorney General Biden will speak on Wednesday in Dover at the 21st Annual Crime Victims’ Tribute.

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Every day across the United States, five children die as a result of abuse. Many, like 3-month-old Marissa Galloway from Seaford, are under the age of 4. Marissa died in 2010 after her father fractured her skull. Jason Galloway was convicted of that crime in February, 2012 and sentenced to life in prison last month.

“We must ask ourselves what we can do to better protect children,” Biden said. “First and foremost, we can never forget that kids are not responsible for protecting themselves; that is our job as adults. We all know the sayings about minding your own business, or that good fences make good neighbors. But that’s not the case when it comes to stopping child abuse. As individuals, as neighbors, and as a community we must remain vigilant on behalf of children.”
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Biden noted that Delaware law is clear when it comes to reporting child abuse. Every adult “who knows or in good faith suspects child abuse or neglect” must report their suspicions to law enforcement by calling Delaware’s Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-292-9582. The potential consequences for failing to report reflect the seriousness of that obligation, with offenders facing fines up to $10,000 for the first offense and up to $50,000 for any subsequent violations.

For reporting to be effective at protecting kids from abuse, adults need to know the signs. To help them better identify the signs of child abuse and understand their obligation to report abuse, last September Biden’s office partnered with the YMCA of Delaware and Prevent Child Abuse Delaware to launch the Stewards of Children training program statewide. With the goal of training 35,000 adults over five years, the program highlights facts about abuse, explores common situations in which it occurs, reviews ways to talk to children and other adults about it, and discusses effective protection strategies.

More than 2,000 citizens, including staff from the Attorney General’s office and Family Court, have already received training, and in February the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Delaware Tech, and Wilmington University announced that their faculty, staff and students would receive training as well. More information about this program is available at www.Darkness2Light.org. Delaware agencies, companies, and civic and community organizations can bring this training to their sites by contacting the Attorney General’s office at 302-577-5206.

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Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden joined forces with attorneys general from 18 other states asking Congress to approve tougher Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

In March, Sen. Tom Carper hosted a Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety hearing on the regulations in Washington, D.C.

“In 1990 the Clean Air Act listed 190 toxics identified as harmful to public health,” Carper said during the hearing’s webcast. “These are silent killers in the food we eat and the air we breathe. They are building up in our bodies without our knowledge.”

Congress established the Clean Air Act to lay out a path to reducing toxic air emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources.

Carper said that 12 percent of sources are already using technology to reduce emissions, but coal and electric utilities remain the largest sources of mercury emissions.

“We are just now starting to curb these harmful pollutants,” he said.

During a decade-long EPA study, mercury and other heavy metals were found to cause many health problems, said Gina McCarthy, EPA assistant administrator for the office of air and radiation, who testified during the hearing.

“This is the first national standard to protect American families from these air toxics,” McCarthy said. “These long overdue standards will help make our children and our communities healthier.”

McCarthy said the EPA finalized mercury standards, known as MATS, in December.

Pollution-controlling equipment will reduce mercury and will also reduce fine particulate pollution, she said. McCarthy estimates the annual benefits associated with mercury reduction to be more than $37 billion.

“This far outweighs the costs,” she said.

McCarthy said the benefits to the public in terms of sick days, healthcare coverage and medicine for illnesses caused by poor air quality make the regulations worth the cost.

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