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) today applauded the Biden Administration decision to shorten the path to student debt cancellation under the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Program. Those students who borrowed less than $12,000 and have been in repayment for 10 years will have their entire debt cancelled next month without taking any action. The decision accelerates the SAVE deadlines by six months, making life-changing opportunities for student borrowers.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a longtime advocate of lifting regulatory restrictions on marijuana, today wrote to Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram asking her to act expeditiously on an August 29 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to reschedule marijuana to Schedule 3 under the Controlled Substances Act.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the Ranking Member of the Aviation Subcommittee, today called upon the Senate to swiftly pass a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill when it convenes next week. The House passed its FAA bill, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, by a 351-69 vote last July.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen, whose first vote in Congress, in 2007, helped elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives, today took a historic vote to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
The vote to vacate the Speaker’s chair was 216 to 210.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts have led a letter to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board Chairman William Kilbride and its President and CEO Jeffrey J. Lyash urging them chart a path to 100 percent clean, renewable sources of energy by 2035, in line with the Biden Administration’s executive order on catalyzing a sustainable U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today offered an amended version of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Salary Transparency Act that he and Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-2) introduced last week at a markup of the legislation. The full committee passed the bill by a voice vote, and it is now eligible for consideration by the full House of Representatives.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today questioned Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram about the need to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and about the agency’s approach to stopping fentanyl trafficking. Milgram was testifying at a Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance oversight hearing.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today cosponsored the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act with Congressmen Frank Pallone (NJ-6), Bobby Scott (VA-3) and Richie Neal (MA-1) and will also cosponsor the Affordable Insulin Now Act introduced by Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-2).
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-9) and Tim Burchett (TN-2) today introduced a measure ensuring the public has access to information about the salaries of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) employees making more than $109,908 annually, or the maximum basic pay rate of a General Schedule Grade 13 (GS-13) Federal employee.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today questioned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) CEO Jeff Lyash at a Subcommittee on Water and the Environment hearing reviewing President Biden’s 2024 Budget Request for that agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.