Judiciary

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses at a Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security hearing on "Undoing the Damage of the War on Drugs: A Renewed Call for Sentencing Reform."

In his remarks, Congressman Cohen noted what he called "the true reason for the War on Drugs" revealed by former Nixon Administration senior domestic adviser John Ehrlichman in a 1994 article in Harper's Magazine.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today presided at a hearing on "Potential Remedies for Unlawful Evictions in Federal Emergency Areas."

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and Chairman of its Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray about whether the agency is investigating former President Trump's role in inciting the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In his exchange with the Director, Congressman Cohen said in part:

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland to reiterate his position that the Department of Justice should comply with a District Court order and release a Barr Justice Department memorandum explaining its decision not to pursue obstruction of justice charges against former President Donald Trump.

SANTA FE, New Mexico -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today addressed remotely a meeting of the European Union – United States Parliamentary Consultation on Human Rights. He said he was speaking following the recent "unfortunate close call with authoritarianism" in the United States, and expressed concerns about the human rights outlook in Hong Kong, Belarus and Ukraine.

In his remarks, Congressman Cohen said in part:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), who was in the House Chamber when a riotous mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, today spoke on the House floor in favor of the bipartisan January 6 Commission modeled on the 9/11 Commission that reviewed the September, 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In his remarks from the floor, Congressman Cohen said in part:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today presided at a historic hearing entitled "Continuing Injustice: The Centennial of the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre." The hearing featured three survivors of the May 31 – June 1, 1921 massacre that destroyed the Black Greenwood section of Tulsa, a prosperous community known as "the Black Wall Street." One survivor, 106-year-old Lessie Beddingfield Randle, told the panel: "I have waited so long for justice."

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today spoke from the House floor in support of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, intended to address violence aimed at Asian Americans during the pandemic and intended to improve the reporting and enforcement of all hate crimes more broadly.

The measure is expected to pass the House later today.

In his remarks, Congressman Cohen said in part: