Children and Families

[MEMPHIS, TN] – After President Obama announced a new agenda to fight rising college costs and keep higher education within reach for middle class families this morning, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) highlighted his work to make college more affordable for Memphians and Tennesseans. When he served in the Tennessee Senate, Congressman Cohen led the fight to create the HOPE Scholarship program and in Washington he has fought to keep student loan rates down as well as to treat private student loan debt the same as other types of private loan debt.

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that Shelby County has been awarded a $3,629,895 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support Head Start projects that help promote school readiness of children from birth until the age of 5 by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development. This announcement completes the current year’s funding for a total of $23,249,312.

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced today that the Memphis-based Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (Seedco) Mid-South has been awarded $1,216,013 in grant funding to help provide in-person assistance to area residents who want additional help in shopping for and enrolling in plans available through the health insurance Marketplaces that will open this fall. This funding comes through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Navigator grant program.

[WASHINGTON, DC] – After a dozen organizations from across the political spectrum thanked him for leading a successful effort to curb wasteful and risky spending in the Fiscal Year 2014 Defense Department Appropriations bill, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today highlighted his work to rein in our overgrown defense sector and protect taxpayers as well as critically important projects, programs and agencies—from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and early childhood education to infrastructure and food stamps—from the disastrous effects of though

[MEMPHIS, TN] — Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) joined Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and more than 200 of his House colleagues in calling on Speaker Boehner not to push more Americans into hunger. In a letter, they urged the Speaker to include funding for nutrition programs in any future Farm Bill that comes before the House of Representatives. Nearly 270,000 residents of Shelby County, Tennessee, rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—more than double any other county in the state.

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a national leader in the effort to reduce prison overcrowding and reform federal mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses that unfairly and unequally affect people of color and minority communities, today applauded United States Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will overhaul its draconian prosecution policies for non-violent drug offenders.