Homeland Security

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) tonight applauded the inclusion of his priorities in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a measure providing for our national defense in the fiscal year that begins October 1. The measure, which passed the House 295 to 125 and for which Congressman Cohen voted, includes language that authorizes a $2 million multi-drone/multi-sensor intelligence program that will be housed at the University of Memphis.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, today introduced the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Second Screening Act. The bill would permit passengers being screened at TSA checkpoints to opt for a second electronic screening, rather than an automatic physical pat-down, when they believe they have produced a false positive result because of inadvertent movement or mistakenly having a foreign object in a pocket.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the City of Memphis will receive a grant of $183,963 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program – Covid-19 Supplemental for purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The funding is part of the $100 million authorized for that purpose by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that became law in late March.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that Memphis-area organizations will receive $1,738,964 in emergency preparedness funding from the Department of Homeland Security to protect its port and two Memphis Jewish institutions considered at risk of attack.

The grants announced today for the Port Security Grant Program include $1 million for the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division; $37,500 for the Memphis Fire Department; $274,500 for the Memphis Police Department; and $227,464 for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling rejecting the Trump Administration's effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program shielding those brought to this country as children from being deported. The court ruled that the Trump Administration was arbitrary and capricious when it suddenly ended the program.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) returned to Washington and voted this evening for a $3 trillion measure to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the national economy. The measure contains funding for state and local governments, hospitals, first responders, our health care workers, testing, another round of $1,200 economic impact payments and increased spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), among many other things.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) will return to Washington Thursday and plans to vote Friday on a fifth bill in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Heroes Act, H.R.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Aviation Subcommittee, today wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Stephen Dickson urging them to require the use of face masks to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in air travel.