Government Reform
In Congress, Congressman Cohen has taken numerous steps to begin to change the way we do business in Washington and to restore accountability and transparency to government.
He has voted for and passed legislation that banned gifts from lobbyists, prohibited the use of corporate jets, and required full disclosure of earmarks. He has supported legislation banning pensions for Members of Congress convicted of certain crimes, and to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act by increasing government transparency.
Congressman Cohen has also taken the lead on important structural reforms, like non-partisan redistricting with the John Tanner and Jim Cooper Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act, and the rigorous, nonpartisan agency oversight with the Independent Acting Inspectors General Act.
More on Government Reform
WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, and today urged Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Chair Joe Ritch and President Jeffrey Lyash not to move forward with a new 1,500 megawatt gas plant and 122-mile pipeline based on an incomplete and insufficient environmental impact statement, which has been called out directly by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its inadequacy.
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Richard Hudson (NC-09) today announced the official relaunch of the Congressional Global Road Safety Caucus. The Caucus will continue to bring awareness to road safety initiatives and mobilize Congressional support to tackle the significant domestic and global health and safety crisis. Congressmen Hudson and Cohen will serve as Co-Chairs.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that the Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will receive a Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) grant of $2,693,160 for the Over and Under I-40 project, in which the CRA will lead a community-driven planning effort to mitigate the impacts of Interstate 40 (I-40) for seven historically African American and disadvantaged North Memphis neighborhoods including Klondike, Smokey City, New Chicago, North Parkway-Forest, Speedway Terrace, Medical District and Crosstown.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today applauded the passage of his TVA Salary Transparency Act, which would reinstate and modernize the Tennessee Valley Authority’s annual reporting requirement to Congress on its management structure and on the compensation of its top executives and managers. Specifically, the legislation would correct a change enacted in 1995 that removed a requirement to disclose the management structure and salaries of TVA executives as part of legislation to eliminate antiquated federal agency reporting requirements.
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Tim Burchett (TN-2) today introduced the TVA Increase Rate of Participation (IRP) Act to require greater transparency and accountability in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process. The IRP process is a comprehensive study projecting how the nation’s largest federal utility meets energy needs.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today voted once again for a continuing budget resolution before the looming March 1 deadline for a partial federal government shutdown so that negotiators can finalize full-year spending bills through September 30.
The vote on passage was 320 to 99.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the Ranking Member of the Aviation Subcommittee, today attended the White House announcement of a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed rule with DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Assistant to the President and White House Office of Public Engagement Director Stephen Benjamin, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, and advocates for people with disabilities, aviation workers, and other stakeholders.
WASHINGTON - Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Chairman Garret Graves (R-LA) led a bipartisan group of House Members in sending a letter to Michael Whitaker, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), encouraging the FAA to modernize its mental health protocols to ensure aviation professionals can obtain mental health care in a timely and efficient manner.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, today questioned expert witnesses at a hearing entitled “The Southern Border Crisis: The Constitution and the States.” The hearing established that federal law overrules state initiatives when it comes to immigration policy and that solving the immigration problem is not in Donald Trump’s best interests as he runs for president.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) again today voted to avoid a federal government shutdown as Republican disunity and dysfunction required Democratic votes to prevent a catastrophe. This is the third time – after votes on September 30 and November 14 – when the House has had to take up temporary spending bills to keep the doors open.
The vote on passage was 314 to 108.