Honoring My Friend and Civil Rights Icon Julian Bond
Dear Friend,
This week, I attended a memorial service for my friend and civil rights icon Julian Bond, praised the President's Administration for bringing justice to 6,000 offenders whose long sentences are not consistent with current public policy and accordingly waste federal tax dollars, defended Planned Parenthood from partisan attacks by House Republicans, met with State Rep. Johnnie Turner to discuss international diplomacy, voted to keep us energy secure by voting against a bill to open the floodgates for Big Oil to export American energy, and commemorated the anniversary of the integration of Memphis schools. Keep reading to learn more or follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see these updates as they happen.
Honoring My Friend and Civil Rights Icon Julian Bond
Fighting for Justice
Bringing Congress to your Corner
Defending Planned Parenthood
Meeting with State Representative Johnnie Turner
Commemorating the Anniversary of the Integration of Memphis Schools
Reforming our Nation’s Outdated Criminal Drug Policies
Fighting Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Outcomes
2016 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
Honoring My Friend and Civil Rights Icon Julian Bond
On Tuesday, I attended a memorial service honoring my friend, Julian Bond. Julian was a warrior for civil and human rights, serving as Chairman of the NAACP, and a long time hero of mine who I was fortunate enough to call a friend. Julian always spoke truth to power and forged a path for many others in the ongoing fight for justice and progress.
At Julian’s memorial service, I was honored to have gotten a shout out for being Julian's friend and enjoyed the chance to converse with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb. Both women were delightful and smart and it was a pleasure to spend time with them. They honored Julian and their parents with their presence.
Fighting for Justice
This week, the Justice Department announced it would be releasing 6,000 inmates from prison who received excessively lengthy sentences for non-violent drug-related crimes. Throughout my career, I’ve fought for fairer sentencing laws and worked to eliminate racially-biased sentencing disparities. After years of advocating on behalf of Americans who are unfairly incarcerated, I am pleased that our nation’s policies are beginning to bend further towards justice.
These offenders released by the Justice Department would have already completed their sentences and been freed if convicted under today’s guidelines. I am pleased the President’s Administration is acting to bring these inmates the justice they deserve, reunite them with their families, and save American taxpayers money. You can read more about the Department of Justice’s decision here.
Bringing Congress to your Corner
This morning, staff from my Memphis office was on hand at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library for my regular “Congress on your Corner” office hours to help address Memphians’ problems with and questions about Social Security, Medicare, FHA, the VA and other federal agencies. Stay tuned to these newsletters for information about the next Congress on your Corner event.
Defending Planned Parenthood
On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee on which I sit held yet another hearing to investigate Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood provides critical health care services, including health screenings and birth control counseling to women, and this hearing was another example of Republicans in Congress wasting tax payer dollars scoring political points. You can see my statement during the committee hearing here.
House Republicans also voted this week to set up a costly select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood. Congress needs to get back to what we were sent here to do: focus on solving our nation’s problems by helping people find jobs, get an affordable education, and provide access to high-quality health care.
Meeting with State Representative Johnnie Turner
On Tuesday, I met with Tennessee State Representative Johnnie Turner in my Washington, D.C., office to discuss how our nation should try diplomacy first to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear weapon. It was a pleasure to spend time with her while she was on Capitol Hill, and I was pleased to be able to get her a ticket to the Julian Bond memorial service. After 14 years as the executive director of the NAACP Memphis Branch, she deserved to be there.
Commemorating the Anniversary of the Integration of Memphis Schools
On Saturday, I spoke at Bruce Elementary School to commemorate the events of October 6, 1961, when 13 African American first graders were the first students to integrate four Memphis elementary schools. The 13 young students and their parents were courageous to volunteer to break the barriers of racial segregation in our schools, and it is right to recognize their bravery and lasting contributions to our city and country. Historical markers were placed at Bruce, Gordon, Rozelle, and Springdale Elementary Schools. Read more about the event here.
Reforming our Nation’s Outdated Criminal Drug Policies
I am pleased to report 6 new cosponsors (3 Democrats and 3 Republicans) of the bipartisan marijuana reform bill—the CARERS Act—that I introduced with Senator Rand Paul, Senator Cory Booker, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand along with Congressman Don Young. I appreciate the support of Congressman Mike Coffman, Congressman Mark Sanford, Congressman Mick Mulvaney, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Peter DeFazio and Congressman Ted Deutch. It’s been a long fight to bring sanity to our outdated criminal drug laws, but it’s good to see momentum is finally on our side.
Fighting Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Outcomes
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. With black women twice as likely to die from breast cancer as their white counterparts, I’ll spend the month fighting to expand Medicaid in Tennessee so that we can help reduce the gap in breast cancer outcomes and provide Tennessee women the health care coverage they need to stay alive.
2016 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
My office currently has a limited number of 2016 U.S. Capitol Historical Society calendars available. If you would like to receive a calendar, please complete this form on my website. Due to the rules of the House, I am only able to mail calendars to residents of Tennessee’s Ninth District. Please feel free to share this email with other citizens of the Ninth District who may be interested in receiving one but who do not receive my eNewsletter.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress