Government Reform

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on the Courts, today participated in a hearing on "The Need for Lower Court Judgeships – 30 Years in the Making." Congressman Cohen focused his questions to the panel of expert witnesses on the need for more federal appellate court judgeships and importance of a diverse federal judiciary that fully reflects the American people.

During his questioning, Congressman Cohen said:

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today presided at a hearing on "H.R. 40: Exploring the Path of Reparative Justice." The hearing explored H.R. 40, which would create a commission to study and develop a proposal for reparations for African Americans first proposed more than 30 years ago by the late Congressman John Conyers of Michigan.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today presided over a hearing on "The Constitutional Means to Prevent Abuse of the Clemency Power." As a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, Congressman Cohen has introduced joint resolutions in the current and previous Congresses to limit the pardon power outlined Article 2 of the Constitution.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today participated in a hearing on "Protecting Transportation Workers and Passengers from COVID-19," describing failures he witnessed in enforcing mask mandates at airport terminals and in flight following the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. His questions elicited testimony indicating airports and airlines were not prepared for the belligerence and non-compliance of some passengers.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Subcommittee on Aviation, today wrote to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the results of mandated testing called for in the FAA Reauthorization Act's 2018 Cohen-authored Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act provisions. The testing to determine whether aircraft can be safely evacuated in the regulated minimum time permitted got under way after the bill's mandated deadline in 2019 and the results still remain unknown.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today wrote to Governor Bill Lee after press accounts indicated Shelby County's rate of coronavirus vaccination is the lowest in the state. With Black Americans suffering a disproportionately high share of coronavirus infections, Shelby County mirrors the national situation with 673 of its1,169 COVID-19 deaths being Black Memphians. Congressman Cohen's letter asks Lee to act "proactively," and "rectify this issue immediately."

Congressman Cohen's letter reads in part:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today attended the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today voted to impeach President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors for the second time. Congressman Cohen led an early effort to impeach Trump by introducing five Articles of Impeachment on November 15, 2017, and voted to impeach Trump for the first time on December 18, 2019 but the Senate failed to convict him at trial.