Tennessee

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, today announced that Shelby County’s Office of Re-Entry will receive a grant of $999,101 from the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide safe, affordable housing and comprehensive services to individuals upon their release from prison. The program is intended to reduce recidivism rates in Memphis and Shelby County by mitigating barriers to housing and employment.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide a $411,000 grant to Shelby County to establish 27 carbon monoxide monitors at five sites in South Memphis. The automated monitors will provide 24/7 real-time reporting of air quality and pollutant concentrations.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today commended the Biden-Harris Administration for its immediate and comprehensive response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in East Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia. On September 27, shortly after Governor Lee submitted a request for a major disaster declaration, Congressman Cohen joined the Tennessee delegation in urging President Biden to swiftly approve the designation.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that the Memphis-based River City Capital Investment Corporation will receive $619,000 from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program.

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that Gooch Park, a 10.2-acre greenspace with an outdoor pool, pavilion, and playing fields, will receive a National Park Service Outdoor Recreation Legacy grant of $3,339,000 to make major improvements. The park, one of the first in Memphis designated for African Americans and named for philanthropists Cecil Milton and Boyce Alexander Gooch, who were known for providing scholarships and educational support to West Tennessee colleges, including Rhodes, was dedicated in 1957.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today voted for a continuing appropriations resolution (known as a CR) to keep the government operating beyond the September 30 fiscal year deadline and until December 20. The measure was stripped of Republican poison pill provisions that caused him to vote against last week’s CR. The measure passed this afternoon would not have passed without Democratic member votes.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today noted the passing of Memphis native and longtime civil rights and labor leader Bill Lucy, who passed Tuesday at the age of 90. Bill Lucy served for 38 years as the international Secretary-Treasurer of AFSCME and co-founded the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the House Ranking Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today called for allowing NATO-supplied weapons to be used by Ukraine within Russia during a commission hearing on “Russia’s Shadow War on NATO.”