Judiciary
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, today voted for, and the House passed, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), which preserves and improves protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The vote was 263 to 158.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today voted to authorize the use of subpoena power to compel the Department of Justice to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report to Congress. The vote in the Judiciary Committee was 24 to 17.
House Democrats raised concerns Wednesday that President Donald Trump, newly emboldened after the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, could seek to pardon associates and allies entangled in the multiyear investigation.
In a House Judiciary Committee hearing with legal experts to examine the limits of the pardon power and a president's ability to pardon himself - scheduled before the end of the Muller probe - Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, said the "academic" discussion "has taken on greater importance" during Trump's presidency.
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Every vote counts.
This week saw yet another push from Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen and some Democratic Presidential candidates to abolish the Electoral College.
While President Donald Trump is against the move, some states are trying to bypass Congress and the White House altogether.
Last election the candidate who got the popular vote, Hillary Clinton, did not win the White House.
Cohen says that doesn't make any sense and it's time for a change.
"The candidates should have to appeal for every state," Cohen said.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said Tuesday the Electoral College was "conceived in sin" and originally designed to effectively perpetuate slavery.
"The country is different than it was when the Constitution was drafted," Cohen said on CNN while issuing support for the push to move to a national popular vote for presidential elections.
Cohen criticized the Electoral College's origins, saying, "When the Constitution was drafted, a lot of it had to do with slavery."
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today presided at a hearing on the history and enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
"The right to vote is the most fundamental right of citizenship in our democracy. Yet for most of our history African Americans were denied this most basic right, especially in the Deep South.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) chaired the first hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties today for a hearing on the National Emergencies Act of 1976 and President Trump's declaration of an emergency on the U.S.-Mexican border. See his opening statement here.
Afterward, Congressman Cohen said:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) voted for, and the House passed, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, the first significant gun violence protection bill in years. The vote was 240 to 190. The measure requires a background check for every gun sale or transfer with some reasonable and explicit exceptions, such as allowing temporary transfers to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, and by law enforcement and the military.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said he'd soon like to have Congressional hearings on the possibility of reparations for slavery. The Memphis Democrat said he's working on the issue with U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.
He said her bill calls for a study of reparations, not the actual reparations themselves, and that he'd like to invite writers such as Ta-Nahesi Coates, Jelani Cobb, and Michelle Alexander to give testimony.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) remembered his friend and mentor Judge Russell B. Sugarmon this evening and made the following statement: