Shelby County
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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MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) tonight listened to President Biden's first prime time address from the East Room and commended the President for his historic efforts to address the pandemic and its economic fallout.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today participated in a Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security hearing on "Controlled Substances: Federal Policies and Enforcement." Congressman Cohen, a longtime member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, was an original cosponsor and voted for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which passed the House in December.
MEMPHIS – Representatives Steve Cohen (TN-09), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Robert Aderholt (AL-04) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large) today introduced the bipartisan John R. Lewis Voting Rights Highway Act, honoring their former colleague, the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who nearly lost his life at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, on U.S. 80, on the historic "Bloody Sunday" voting rights march 56 years ago this week.
The bill would name the highway "The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Highway."
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today voted for and the House passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, to clarify and strengthen firearms transfer laws.
H.R. 8 requires a background check for every gun sale or transfer. The bill provides some specific commonsense exceptions such as allowing a person to give a gun as a gift to a family member; loaning a gun for hunting or target shooting; or temporarily transferring a gun for self-defense.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, today questioned expert witnesses at a hearing on "Full Steam Ahead for Rail: Why Rail is More Relevant than Ever for Economic and Environmental Progress."
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today voted for and the House passed the Senate amendment to the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion measure addressing the coronavirus pandemic and its unprecedented economic consequences. The measure now goes to President Biden who is expected to sign it into law.
Today's vote on passage was 220 to 211.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) tonight voted for and the House passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would re-orient federal labor law to favor worker rights and do away with "right to work" laws that hamper labor organizing in 27 states, including Tennessee. It is the most significant pro-labor legislation in a generation.
The vote on passage was 225 to 206.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will receive a $486,599 grant from the National Cancer Institute for research on pediatric tumors that currently have no clinical treatments.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
"I'm pleased to see St. Jude is receiving this important childhood cancer research grant which will both improve the quality of life for many young patients and keep the hospital at the forefront of this critical scientific work."
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WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Kelly Armstrong (ND-At Large) today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2021. The legislation would end the unjust practice of judges increasing sentences based on conduct for which a defendant has been acquitted by a jury.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa introduced the measure in the Senate last Thursday.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today attended his first hearing of the Committee on Natural Resources that he joined in January. The hearing, which he attended remotely, was on Discussion Draft of the Insular Area Climate Change Act. The insular areas of the United States are territories that do not belong to one of the 50 states, and include Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.