Financial Services and Banking
In light of the Great Recession of 2008, during which Memphis and the nation suffered an unprecedented foreclosure crisis in large part due to unfair, under-regulated and predatory mortgage lending practices, Congressman Cohen strongly supports efforts to prevent future foreclosure crises and dangerous housing market practices.
During the years preceding the mortgage crisis, too many mortgages were made to consumers without regard to the consumer's ability to repay the loans. Loose underwriting practices by some creditors contributed to a mortgage crisis that led to the nation's most serious recession since the Great Depression.
Congressman Cohen voted for the Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law in 2010 by President Barack Obama, to reform the U.S. financial industry in order to prevent a recurrence of the 2008 market crash, and continues to oppose efforts to reverse the protections put into the law as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act.
More on Financial Services and Banking
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today managed the floor debate and then voted for his National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act that extends for four more years the exemption from the bankruptcy code’s means test for certain members of the National Guard and reservists. Congressman Cohen led the effort to exempt members of the National Guard and reservists in 2008 and extensions of the exemption in 2015 and 2019.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today voted for his National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act that he introduced in May. The bipartisan measure passed the Judiciary Committee on a 24-0 vote and is now headed for the full House of Representatives. The legislation would provide the same means-test treatment under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code for guard members and reservists who were recently federally deployed as that of active duty servicemembers.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) today introduced the bicameral Equal Employment for All Act, which would prohibit employers from using credit reports to evaluate job applicants.
Congressman Cohen, who has introduced the measure in each of the past five Congresses, made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) will attend this evening’s State of the Union address by President Biden as the nation continues to register major progress in employment, rising wages, investments in infrastructure, ending the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing inflation, and addressing domestic and international threats to democracy. Prior to the President’s remarks, Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) voted for commonsense legislation to guard the public trust and ensure tax laws are applied evenly and justly to every American – especially the President of the United States. The Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act will require the IRS to conduct an annual, publicly disclosed audit of the President's finances.
WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today applauded the decision by the House Ways & Means Committee to release former President Donald Trump’s income tax returns.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the Orion Federal Credit Union, a non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI), will receive $105 million from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Emergency Capital Investment Program. The credit union will also receive $213,497 from Treasury’s CDFI Fund Small Dollar Loan Program.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today applauded President Biden's decision to cancel up to $10,000 for most student borrowers, and up to $20,000 for Pell grant recipients, as he met a campaign pledge to ease the burden on low- and moderate-income borrowers facing higher costs and pandemic disruptions.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Don Beyer (VA-08), after extensive consultation with the White House and Treasury Department officials, today introduced the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act, to ensure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes.
The bill would enact President Biden's proposal to require households worth over $100 million to pay at least a 20 percent tax rate on their full income, including unrealized gains.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and John R. Curtis (UT-03) today wrote to President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken recommending sanctions against the Deposit Insurance Agency of Russia for its actions protecting sanctioned oligarchs and targeting Kremlin opponents. Congressman Cohen is the Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission.