Skip to main content

Honoring our Veterans and Working for Progress in the Next Congress

November 7, 2014
Enewsletters

Dear Friend,

This week saw low voter turnout for the midterm elections. Those who exercised their right to vote sent a message to Washington that they are frustrated by gridlock. I am pleased to continue representing the Ninth District in my 5th term in Congress and I look forward to continuing my work to find common ground and help hardworking Memphians get a fair shot at the American Dream. Keep reading to learn more about what I did this week.

Honoring Our Veterans and Hosting My 6th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon
Working for Progress in the Next Congress
Building a Healthier Memphis with the Affordable Care Act
Supporting Whitehaven High School and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology
2015 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
Saving the HOPE Scholarship and Fighting for Tennessee Students

Honoring Our Veterans and Hosting My 6th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon

Veterans Day is a special day set aside to honor those men and women who have served our country in uniform. On Tuesday, November 11, 2014, I will host my sixth annual Veterans Day Luncheon from 11AM to 1PM at BRIDGES, located at 477 North 5th Street. If you are a Ninth District veteran, I would like to invite you to attend my luncheon so that you can hear from me about what Congress is doing to address recent concerns at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Special guests, including Memphis VA Medical Center (VAMC) Director Dr. C. Diane Knight and others, will also be in attendance to discuss improvements at the Memphis VAMC. Additionally, caseworkers from my office will be available to help answer questions on specific concerns with your benefits or services. You can RSVP to attend this year’s Veterans Day Luncheon here or by calling my Memphis office at 901.544.4131. I hope to see you there.

After reports of substandard care arose last year, I am pleased that follow-up reports show that the Memphis VA has implemented almost all of the VA Inspector General’s recommendations and is moving in the right direction. This week, I gave a keynote address to the Memphis VAMC Annual Medical Staff Meeting to help highlight that the doctors, nurses, administrative and support staff here in our VAMC are among the best health care service providers we have, but we can do more to help them. That’s one of the reasons I was proud to support the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act which was signed into law by President Obama and will help VAMCs around the country hire more doctors, reduce wait times, and allow veterans who live far from their closest VAMC to seek care from closer private doctors. I will continue working to ensure that the Memphis VAMC receives needed resources including funding and improvements that will help minimize preventable deaths, eliminate redundancies that can impact patient care, and increase efficiency and veterans’ trust in the system.

Working for Progress in the Next Congress

This week saw low voter turnout for the midterm elections. Those who exercised their right to vote sent a message to Washington that they aren’t happy with the gridlock in Congress. The American people want us to get things done, but the results of the midterm elections will make it harder to achieve their goals. It will be harder to raise the minimum wage, reform our nation’s outdated and racially-biased criminal drug laws, build and maintain our roads and bridges, and protect Social Security for our seniors. And while many young people in Shelby County got involved and voted against Tennessee’s restrictive abortion amendment, the amendment’s passage will make it harder for us to protect women’s rights in our state.

On Wednesday, I was on Al Jazeera America to discuss what this week’s elections mean and what I hope we can get done over the next two years. You can watch my interview here. And this morning, I was on both Fox 13’s Good Morning Memphis (watch here) and Channel 3’s Live at 9 (watch here).

Building a Healthier Memphis with the Affordable Care Act

This year’s open enrollment period for health insurance through the HealthCare.gov marketplace opens on November 15th, and I want to make sure that Memphians don’t miss out on potential savings and additional options available this year. Yesterday, I joined the “C3” (Connecting Consumers to Coverage) Symposium at the Urban Child Institute to highlight best practices for enrolling in coverage when the open enrollment period begins. The President’s landmark Affordable Care Act is already working for thousands of Ninth District families, but everyone should visit HealthCare.gov to make sure they are enrolled in the plan that keeps the most money in their pockets and to update their information to ensure they receive the full tax credit to which they are entitled next year.

While the application process at HealthCare.gov has been streamlined and simplified for many this year, if you are interested in receiving assistance to enroll, Seedco will be hosting several enrollment assistance sessions over the coming weeks. Their Open Enrollment Kick-Off and Health Fair will be held from 9am to 1pm at First Baptist Broad Church (2835 Broad Avenue) on the 15th, as well as additional enrollment sessions at the Ben Hooks Library from 10:30am to 5pm on November 18th, and from 10:30am to 1pm on December 4th, 11th, 16th, and 18th. At each of these sessions, there will be certified health care navigators on site to answer questions you have about the law and assist you in the enrollment process. If you are interested in attending one of the enrollment sessions, please call 901.405.7895 to RSVP.

Supporting Whitehaven High School and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology

This week, I had the opportunity to support and visit with some of the brightest students in Memphis. On Saturday, I was pleased to join the first annual Whitehaven High School PTSA Tiger 5k Walk and Run. The event will help support academic and student activities, parental and community engagement, and improve and update technology and other programs. I was also happy to visit the Tennessee College of Applied Technology to answer students’ questions about the importance of the Constitution and my role in Congress.

2015 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available

My office currently has a limited number of 2015 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.

Saving the HOPE Scholarship and Fighting for Tennessee Students

Recently, Governor Haslam defended his “Tennessee Promise” plan that raids $300 million this year and millions more annually from the HOPE Scholarship program by arguing that our state hasn’t “increased the number of Tennesseans who are going to school,” and that he believes his plan is what the state needs to do that. However, a new report shows that the Governor is just plain wrong. Between 2007 and 2012, enrollment in Tennessee’s public colleges actually rose by more than 22%. But while enrollment picked up substantially, state funding per student actually fell by nearly 18%, making it harder for our state’s best and brightest to afford higher education.

If the Governor truly wants to increase both enrollment and graduation rates, he should support and fully fund the HOPE Scholarship program instead of crippling it by raiding more than $300 million from lottery revenue to pay for a completely untested program with no standards. The Governor should work with the General Assembly to provide full tuition HOPE Scholarship so that more high-achieving Tennesseans can go to college, earn degrees with less debt, and contribute to our state’s economy.

As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress

Issues:9th DistrictEducationHealth CareJudiciaryMemphisScience and TechnologyShelby CountyTennesseeVeterans' Affairs