Dear Friend, On Tuesday evening, March 18, I will hold an in-person town hall at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church to discuss the ongoing assault on our federal government, the federal workforce, and essential public services eight weeks into this disastrous Donald Trump-Elon Musk Administration. This week, I voted against a cruel and careless continuing resolution funding the federal government through September 30, reintroduced the NEWBORN Act, met with members of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, pointed out the various conflicts of interest Musk has as he dismantles the agencies that regulate his companies, reintroduced the Tax Return Preparer Accountability Act, met with local Shelby County office holders and their mother visiting Washington, and offered a Friday Flashback, a Bill Day cartoon, a health tip on vaccinations, and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Keep reading and follow me on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (X) to see what I am doing as it happens. Hosting an In-Person Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday Voting “No” on Horrific Continuing Budget Resolution Re-Introducing the NEWBORN Act Meeting with Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority Calling Out Obvious Conflicts as Musk Upends Operations Re-Introducing the Tax Return Preparer Accountability Act Meeting with the Swearengen Sisters and Their Mother The Friday Flashback A Bill Day Cartoon Weekly Health Tip Quote of the Week
Hosting an In-Person Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday 
The dangerous actions being pursued by the Trump administration are extremely worrisome and some are downright illegal. I will be holding an in-person town hall on Tuesday at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, 70 North Bellevue Boulevard (38104), from 6 to 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 5:30) to answer your questions and listen to your thoughts and concerns about this destructive assault on our federal government, federal workforce, and essential services as the Trump Administration enters its ninth week. I hope you can join me and that you’ll bring a friend. Click here to RSVP. Voting “No” on Horrific Continuing Budget Resolution
On Tuesday, I voted against a dangerous and short-sighted continuing budget resolution designed to let Trump and Musk continue dismantling the federal government. It passed the House on a narrow 217-213 vote and passed the Senate on a 54-46 vote tonight to avert a midnight shutdown deadline. It’s worth noting that the last time there was a government shutdown, the same callous conman was in the White House. See my statement on my “no” vote here. Re-Introducing the NEWBORN Act I’ve been working on infant-mortality and maternal health issues since my days on the Shelby County Commission and in the state senate. In 2018, I held a symposium on those issues at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church with a panel of medical and social services experts from across the Mid-South that inspired my original introduction of the Nationally Enhancing the Wellbeing of Babies through Outreach and Research Now (NEWBORN) Act. On Tuesday, I reintroduced the measure. Read details of the legislation in my release here. Meeting with Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority
Also Tuesday, I met with Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority President and CEO Terry Blue and Board of Commissioners members and leaders to discuss the progress being made on Memphis’ terminal modernization and other priorities for the year. As Ranking Member of the Aviation Subcommittee, I always advocate for our district’s airport and will continue to do so despite the change in administrations. Calling Out Obvious Conflicts as Musk Upends Operations When President Trump turned the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla auto showroom for his patron Elon Musk on Tuesday, I’d seldom seen a more tawdry spectacle. Musk’s conflicts of interest with NASA (SpaceX), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (X) and the Federal Aviation Administration (Starlink) are obvious and obviously troubling. I joined members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in a letter to the FAA’s acting administrator about Musk’s undue influence. See that letter here. Reintroducing the Tax Return Preparer Accountability Act In late 2013, a federal court permanently barred Mo’ Money Taxes from preparing tax returns for others after the U.S. Department of Justice accused it of preparing false returns. A few months later, I introduced the Tax Return Preparer Accountability Act to give the Internal Revenue Service explicit authorization to regulate and set standards for the tax preparation industry and have in subsequent Congresses. On Tuesday, I reintroduced the measure again. See my release here. Meeting with the Swearengen Sisters and Their Mother
On Tuesday, City Council Member Jana Swearengen-Washington, Circuit Court Clerk Jamita E. Swearengen and their 92-year-old mother, Hattie Tuggle, and their friend Brona Marrion came by my office to talk about local issues and how I can help them in Washington. In particular, they asked me to contact the Tennessee Department of Transportation and ask it to do a better job of keeping our state roads clean, which is its responsibility. I have heard the same concern from other constituents and have written TDOT on the issue. We had a friendly, productive visit. The Friday Flashback
On the 60th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” this week, I remembered my friend and Congressional colleague John Lewis and a Congressional Delegation fact-finding trip we made to South Africa in 2016. I took this picture of John Lewis and Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the University of Cape Town where we were marking the 50th Anniversary of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s June 6, 1966 “Ripples of Hope” human rights speech that so inspired opponents of apartheid. (See Quote of the Week below.) A Bill Day Cartoon – “Putin’s Asset”
Weekly Health Tip
With bird flu on the rise and measles spreading to 15 states, it’s good to make sure you are up to date on these routine vaccines: COVID-19 vaccine, Flu vaccine (influenza), Tdap vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough) and Td vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC recommends all those born after 1957 should be vaccinated for measles with the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. Those born earlier have presumptive immunity. See measles vaccine recommendations here. Quote of the Week
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” – Senator Robert F. Kennedy “Ripples of Hope” speech, University of Cape Town, June 6, 1966 (The picture above, hanging in my Washington office, was a gift from Kennedy's daughter, Kerry.) I want to wish all my friends and neighbors of Hibernian heritage or affinity a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress | 
