Memphis
As a fourth-generation Memphian, I have dedicated my life to public service in Memphis and Shelby County. My work has defined my life and affected the lives of people in Memphis, across Tennessee and now across America throughout my career in national, state and local politics.
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WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) noted the 153rd anniversary of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, when a Union Army general brought the news to the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, that they, and all slaves in the former Confederacy, were free. It is also the 25th anniversary of the three-day Memphis Juneteenth Music Festival that concluded Sunday. He made the following statement:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded grants totaling more than 12.5 million dollars to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and the Shelby County Board of Education's Head Start Program.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that Children's Bureau, Inc., of Memphis has been awarded a $1,122,265 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support Early Head Start (EHS) projects.
"Today's funding from HHS is an investment in our nation's children and in our future," said Congressman Cohen. "This federal funding will help children from low-income families throughout Memphis and Shelby County to be better prepared to learn and excel when they enter school. Head Start is a valuable program that I'm proud to support."

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) said today that a weekend gathering of white nationalists at Montgomery Bell State Park, and a speech by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, will send the wrong, hateful message from the Volunteer State. He made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) expressed sadness at yet another child killed in gun violence – this time, 12-year-old Tytkeanna James on Tuesday – and urged all gun owners to be more attentive to the safe storage and handling of firearms and to consider using gun-trigger locks available at all Memphis Police Department precincts. He made the following statement:

WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded two grants for projects implemented by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital totaling over $1.26 million.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) offered an amendment to a House spending bill to prohibit the House of Representatives from purchasing plastic drinking straws for its cafeterias and food service areas. The amendment passed late this evening by a voice vote.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
"Congress should lead the effort to limit the introduction of plastic drinking straws, which not only harm our environment but are particularly dangerous for fish and marine mammals, into the public waste system."

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, expressed disappointment at the House Majority's decisions to prevent his amendments that would have prohibited certain federal spending at businesses owned by President Trump from receiving a floor vote. He released the following statement:

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the Memphis Health Center has been awarded a grant of $4,499,085 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The funding comes through the Health Resource and Services Administration's (HRSA) Health Center Cluster grant program.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) attended the memorial service marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Senator Robert Francis Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery today and released the following statement: