Judiciary
[NASHVILLE, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s visit to Nashville today:
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen will fly with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One to Nashville on Tuesday when Obama goes to Music City to deliver a speech on immigration.
Obama is scheduled to talk about his recent executive actions to protect 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to obtain work permits. The president will speak at Casa Azafran, a community center and home to a number of immigrant-related nonprofits in Nashville’s most international and socially diverse district.
The grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, was bitterly disappointing to many whose fervent hope is to see all Americans treated with dignity and equality under our laws. Brown’s death is a tragedy that cannot be denied. His devastated family understandably feels they did not receive justice.
The grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, was bitterly disappointing to many whose fervent hope is to see all Americans treated with dignity and equality under our laws. Brown’s death is a tragedy that cannot be denied. His devastated family understandably feels they did not receive justice.
[MEMPHIS, TN] – With time running out for this Congress to pass a budget for next year, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today led a coalition of 18 Members of Congress in urging appropriators to include in their forthcoming budget compromise bill $5 million aimed at cutting through the backlog of untested rape kits that he secured in the House-passed Fiscal Year 2015 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill. In May, an amendment authored by Congressman Cohen to add this important funding passed the House on a voice vote.
As Americans gather at their Thanksgiving table this month and join in the annual Black Friday sales, there are thousands of people who will be left out of this holiday cheer. They are far away from their families, serving lengthy sentences for non-violent, and often minor, offenses. Even though they pose no danger to the public, and taxpayers spend as much as $30,000 a year to incarcerate them, they remain in prison because of an antiquated sentencing system, with little hope of release anytime soon. That is, unless the President commutes their sentences.
As Americans gather at their Thanksgiving table this month and join in the annual Black Friday sales, there are thousands of people who will be left out of this holiday cheer. They are far away from their families, serving lengthy sentences for non-violent, and often minor, offenses. Even though they pose no danger to the public, and taxpayers spend as much as $30,000 a year to incarcerate them, they remain in prison because of an antiquated sentencing system, with little hope of release anytime soon. That is, unless the President commutes their sentences.
Dear Friend,
This week, the HealthCare.gov marketplace opened for 2015 plan selections, I spoke with nearly 7,300 Ninth District citizens during a telephone town hall meeting, and the President laid out his plan to help alleviate some of the problems with our broken immigration system. Keep reading to learn what else happened this week.
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) released the following statement after President Barack Obama announced a series of executive actions to alleviate several dysfunctional aspects of the United States’ immigration system: