Helping Eliminate the Memphis Rape Kit Backlog

Dear Friend,

This week, the House passed my amendment to provide an extra $5 million to help eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits in America, on the House Floor I highlighted the importance of making sure our veterans receive the care they deserve, and an impressive Memphian was interviewed by Katie Couric for her work to help foster youth. Keep reading to learn more about what happened this week.

Helping Eliminate the Memphis Rape Kit Backlog
Working to Ensure that our Veterans Receive High-Quality Care
Finding Justice for the Unfairly Incarcerated
An Inspiring Memphian Making A Difference for Foster Children
Promoting Sanity in our Criminal Drug Sentencing Laws
Helping Ensure Everyone Has a Fair Shot in our Justice System
Make Sure to Claim Unclaimed Property

Helping Eliminate the Memphis Rape Kit Backlog

This week, the United States House of Representatives debated the Fiscal Year 2015 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, which determines funding levels for a large number of federal programs and agencies. I am pleased that yesterday, my colleagues voted to pass an amendment that I introduced to provide more federal resources to local law enforcement agencies working to reduce their backlogs of untested rape kits. Of roughly 400,000 untested rape kits sitting in evidence rooms nationwide, an estimated 12,000 remain untested in Memphis—more than anywhere else in the country. Untested rape kits prevent law enforcement from apprehending violent criminals, increase the risk of additional crimes, and rob victims of the justice they deserve.

Absolutely no one should be a victim of sexual assault, but it is a travesty when communities are terrorized and innocent people are victimized simply because evidence that could be used to prevent these crimes sits untested on a shelf somewhere. We know that these untested rape kits, if they had been properly processed, could have led to the capture of perpetrators and prevented additional attacks and more victims, and we must do everything in our power to eliminate a rape kit backlog that is worse in Memphis than anywhere else in the country. Adding federal funding to help cut down the nation’s backlog improves the chances that Memphis will receive the resources it needs to do the same. It’s the least we can do to give victims the justice they deserve and it is an imperative if we want to keep our communities safe from predators. You can watch my interview with News Channel 3 about my amendment here.

Working to Ensure that our Veterans Receive High-Quality Care

Over Memorial Day weekend, I participated in three different events around Memphis. I also spoke about the importance of keeping our promises to those who bravely served our country by ensuring they receive the care they deserve—something both President Obama and I are committed to doing. With more and more of our nation’s veterans returning from combat suffering from PTSD and other serious conditions, I will continue working with President Obama to make sure they are treated with the utmost respect and receive timely, high-quality care at the Memphis VAMC or any other VAMC.

Unfortunately, we know for many veterans, our commitment to them has not been fulfilled. Veterans and their families have suffered. Earlier today, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, chose to resign. While I join with President Obama in applauding Secretary Shinseki for his service, I also commend him on stepping down, knowing that the Department of Veterans Affairs needs a new beginning with the focus firmly placed on our veterans. While his resignation will not solve the systemic and severe problems at the VA that have called into question the care provided to our nation’s heroes, I hope that it will convince some in Congress that not every solution begins with spending cuts.

Before Secretary Shinseki resigned, I spoke about my efforts to support Memphis veterans on the US House Floor. You can watch my remarks here. Whether fighting to ensure the VA has the resources necessary to reduce its backlog or working to bring senior Administration officials to Memphis to assess the best way to improve care, I will do everything I can—as I always have—to support the dedicated Memphians who put their lives on the line and to see that they are treated with dignity and respect and that they receive the finest medical care possible.

Finding Justice for the Unfairly Incarcerated

From my first day in Congress, advocating for fairer sentencing laws and realistically examining sentencing disparities has been a centerpiece of my legislative agenda. That’s why I offered another amendment to the CJS Appropriations bill that would provide additional resources to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Pardon Attorney to help President Obama’s Administration more fully realize the goals of its newly-expanded criteria for executive clemency. My amendment, had it passed, would have provided an additional $2 million in funding to help ensure that the Office of the Pardon Attorney has a sufficient number of attorneys to adequately review the expected influx of clemency applications soon-to-be-submitted by non-violent offenders as a result of the new criteria.

In 2010, the President signed the Fair Sentencing Act into law, which dramatically reduced the mandatory minimum sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine. That was a major achievement but, because it wasn’t made retroactive, the people who were sentenced prior to that law are now sitting in prison serving sentences that Congress has found void against public policy. For these men and women, every day that they continue to sit in prison, separated from their families and their communities, is an injustice—and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “fierce urgency of now” demands that we help them immediately. I also spoke about the unfairness of mandatory minimum sentences that keep these people in prison at an Over-Criminalization Task Force hearing this morning.

While the President expanding the criteria for clemency applications is encouraging, the good it will do is limited by the number of attorneys available to process those applications. Congress must act to ensure that we give deserving non-violent drug offenders a true second chance at freedom, improve our justice system, and save taxpayers money.

An Inspiring Memphians Making A Difference for Foster Children

Every year, around 26,000 young people age out of the foster care system in our country without ever being reunited with their families or finding permanency through adoption. They are more likely to become homeless and very unlikely to attend college. Some of our nation’s foster youth, including Memphian Darrah Hall, are trying to do something to change that. I met Darrah last month when she visited my Capitol Hill office during a visit to Washington representing Youth Villages at a White House event with the First Lady. Youth Villages is a non-profit organization that has partnered with the Tennessee Department of Children's Services to offer comprehensive services to every foster youth who ages out of state custody. I'm proud that our state is becoming a national model for how to best help these vulnerable young people.

Youth Villages' transitional living program began in 1999 through the generosity of the late Clarence Day, a Memphis philanthropist, and has since expanded to help more than 6,000 young adults. Darrah is a very impressive young woman, and I am pleased that Katie Couric recognized her accomplishments in an interview on her show this week. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch the interview here.

Promoting Sanity in our Criminal Drug Sentencing Laws

Late Wednesday night, I participated in an all-too-rare genuine debate on the Floor of the United States House of Representatives on the merits of our nation’s failed War on Drugs and our continued federal prohibition on marijuana. The entire floor debate is available to watch here, and I recommend that you take a few minutes to do so. At one point, a Republican Congressman tried to argue that marijuana isn’t culturally acceptable while at the same time defending bourbon being legal because alcohol is occasionally used in religious ceremonies.

I also joined Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, Sam Farr and others in offering a bipartisan amendment to respect the states that have enacted medical marijuana laws. Our amendment, which passed by a strong bipartisan vote, prohibits the Justice Department from interfering with state medical marijuana laws, including Tennessee’s new law allowing research on cannabis oil. After fighting for many years to protect patients with multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma and other diseases who rely on medical marijuana to ease their suffering, I was pleased that our amendment was successful.

Helping Ensure Everyone Has a Fair Shot in our Justice System

I also offered an amendment to the CJS Appropriations bill this week that would reverse devastating cuts to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which helps those who cannot afford high-priced attorneys navigate the justice system. Whether helping victims of domestic violence who need protective orders from abusive partners, homeowners facing foreclosure, or helping seniors who’ve been victimized by fraudulent lenders, the LSC is vital to ensuring that everyone gets a fair shot.

That’s why I’ve been such a big champion for the Legal Services Corporation, which helps fund legal aid programs throughout the country. If it had passed, my amendment would have restored $15 million that was cut from its budget by Republicans this year—and even that would be more than $200 million less than what its budget would be if it had just kept pace with inflation over the last 2 decades.

In our city, Memphis Area Legal Services lost 5% of its funding due to sequestration. When you add in state and local funds lost over recent years because of budget cuts, its funding was reduced by more than $300,000 and its staff was reduced from 50 to 38. The attorneys there do heroic work, but to further reduce its funding will have serious consequences for their ability to serve those in need.

The rights we’re guaranteed under the law mean little if we don’t have the expertise needed to protect them. And with no money to hire a lawyer and no ability to navigate the court system on their own, too many people are effectively left without access to justice. Unless we ensure legal assistance, we effectively shut the courthouse doors to Americans who rely on attorneys to protect their rights.

Make Sure to Claim Unclaimed Property

The State of Tennessee maintains a searchable database of unclaimed property, which can include bank accounts, stocks and dividends, wages, refunds, insurance payments, gift certificates, credit balances and overpayments, and a number of other things. There is no cost for accessing the database, and you may find that you are owed money or property. If you have not searched the database yet or if you haven’t searched in a while, you can visit https://www.claimittn.gov and see for yourself whether the state is holding any property or assets for you. And you may pass this information along to your friends and family as well!

As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress