Judiciary
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today spoke in favor of and voted to advance the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act from the Committee to a House floor vote. The measure removes cannabis from the list of federal controlled substances, raises revenue from sales to reinvest in communities disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs and expunges the records of federal criminal marijuana offenses.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today voted for, and the House passed, the Eliminating the Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act, a sentencing reform measure that ends the disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses.
The vote on passage was 361 to 66.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today commemorated Constitution Day. Friday, September 17, marks the 234th anniversary of the formal signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The holiday has been variously known as "Constitution Day," "Citizenship Day" and, since 2004, as "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day."
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today spoke against an amendment to the Budget Reconciliation bill during the full Committee mark up of the measure. The amendment by Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-04) would have allowed community violence prevention grantees to ignore President Biden's vaccination requirement announced last week.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today applauded Attorney General Merrick Garland's decision for the Department of Justice to challenge the constitutionality of Texas' recently enacted SB 8 limiting access to abortion in ways that clearly violate decades of Supreme Court precedent.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today spoke in support of passage for H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The historic measure, named for the late champion of civil rights, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, will protect voting rights by restoring important provisions of the Civil Rights Act that have been steadily eroded by U.S. Supreme Court rulings and restrictive state voter suppression laws.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, today voted for a rule that advances major elements of the Biden-Harris "Build Back Better" infrastructure plan. The rule also set annual budget targets for 2022 through 2031 and sends the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to the floor for a vote later today.
The vote on the rule was 220 to 212.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today presided at a virtual hearing on "Oversight of the Voting Rights Act: Potential Legislative Reforms." The hearing was the sixth on the subject of voting rights this year and comes a day before H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, is expected to be introduced in the House.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today asked the White House to extend the national eviction moratorium that ended Saturday and threatens and put 11.4 million people at risk of homelessness during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Congressman Cohen re-introduced the Emergency Eviction Enforcement Act in March to protect vulnerable tenants from evictions during a national emergency or public health crisis.