Tennessee
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.
More on Tennessee
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today led a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Chairs of the Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science asking them for their continued support for Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) business centers and extended funding through September 30, 2021. Without an extension, businesses centers across the country will shutter on March31, 2021when their five-year grants expire.
The letter reads in part:
MEMPHIS -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today introduced the Emergency Eviction Enforcement Act of 2020 to protect vulnerable tenants from evictions during a public health crisis.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today read with concern press accounts suggesting that Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were directed to the tenants of properties owned by President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner and renewed his request to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for details on PPP loans and loan forgiveness.
Twenty-five loans worth $3.65 million reportedly went to Trump or Kushner property tenants to pay for rent (to Trump and Kushner properties).
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and a longtime member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, today voted for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, removing marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. The bill would also establish a method of expunging criminal records for marijuana-related offenses which are often an impediment to employment.
The vote on passage was 228 to 164.
In a statement released after the vote, Congressman Cohen said:
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Steve Cohen (TN-09) joined Reps. Dina Titus (NV-1), Brian Mast (FL-18) and 18 other House colleagues in introducing the bipartisan Cat Abuse in Testing Stops (CATS) Act to permanently end painful and unnecessary taxpayer-funded experiments on cats by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Don Beyer (VA-08) today wrote to President Trump and urged him to abandon plans to liquidate the unarmed surveillance airplanes used to assure compliance under the 2002 Treaty on Open Skies. The Trump Administration announced that the U.S. would unilaterally withdraw from the agreement last week. Cohen and Beyer maintain the decision should be made by the next Administration and note that the Trump Administration did not comply with a required 120-day notice to Congress of plans to withdraw from the treaty.
The letter reads in part:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the Delta Regional Authority will provide a $102,410 grant to ProGeny Place, a Memphis-based collaborative partnership, to train domestic violence victims in the food-based manufacturing and distribution industry certification program at Southwest Tennessee Community College. The grant is expected to train 20 people.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) released the following statement upon hearing of the passing of blues and jazz saxophonist Herman Green:
"We will all miss the music Herman Green brought to Memphis, and to the whole world, for more than half a century. Mr. Green was a beautiful man with a big heart. Memphis has lost another of its magnificent musical artists, and he will be missed."
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, today condemned President Trump's pardon of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn with the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) and state Senator Raumesh Akbari sent a letter to Governor Bill Lee asking him to redouble efforts to see that Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) cards reach eligible families. The P-EBT program allows families with children who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches to receive food benefits if their schools shut down or they are otherwise not able to attend school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.