Memphis

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today voted for, and the House passed, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act with an amendment the Congressman offered extending the bill's protections to employees of Alzheimer's and memory care facilities.

Congressman Cohen spoke from the House floor this morning in favor of his amendment. In those remarks, he said:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today voted for, and the House passed, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which closes loopholes and strengthens the 1963 Equal Pay Act, including providing effective remedies for women who are not receiving equal pay for equal work. The vote was 217 to 210.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) led a letter with 26 of their Congressional colleagues asking the Biden Administration to reconsider the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers use of Nationwide 12 (NWP12) authority to construct fossil fuel pipelines over sensitive aquifers and historic Black neighborhoods. Specifically, they ask the Administration to reevaluate the Nationwide Permit 12 for the Byhalia Connection Pipeline Project planned in Memphis.

WASHINGTON – The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment and Climate Change reviewed Congressman Steve Cohen's Ensuring the Safe Disposal of Coal Ash Act, and the measure is expected to be made part of the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation's (CLEAN) Future Act.

Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko and other members of the committee endorsed the measure, as did legislative hearing witness Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today applauded the Judiciary Committee vote sending H.R. 40, legislation to create a commission to study reparations for African Americans, to the House floor. This historic development follows Chairman Cohen's presiding at a February 17 hearing on the measure first proposed more than 30 years ago by the late Congressman John Conyers of Michigan.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Judiciary Committees, has reintroduced 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 University of Memphis will receive a $298,619 grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to study magnetic resonance imaging involving liver disease.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"I'm pleased that the University of Memphis is receiving this research grant to continue its important work in biomedical imaging."

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that Memphis and Shelby County will receive a total of $15,103,245 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help create affordable housing for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. The funding is part of $4.925 billion authorized by the American Rescue Plan that President Biden signed into law last month. Memphis will receive $13,545,982 and Shelby County will receive $1,557,263. This supplemental funding is being allocated through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.