Listening to Memphis
Dear Friend,
This week, I spoke with FOX News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly about my bill to help bring sanity to our nation’s marijuana policy, hosted a telephone town hall with nearly 4,000 Ninth District citizens, and helped break ground at the Hampline. Keep reading to find out what else happened this week.
Listening to Memphis
Making It Easier to Bike in Memphis
Fighting for a Sane Marijuana Policy
Preventing Abuse of Horses
Building Ladders of Opportunity for Boys and Young Men of Color
Building a Healthier Memphis
Fully Funding the HOPE Scholarships
Ensuring Memphians Get the Tax Returns They Deserve
Recognizing the Monuments Men
Helping Memphians Get Covered
VA Rolls Out Secure Veteran Health ID Cards
Helping St. Jude
United States Naval Academy Summer Programs
Helping Veterans Become Homeowners
Grant Announcements
On Tuesday night, I hosted a telephone town hall meeting to answer questions about the issues facing our nation and our city. Telephone town halls give Memphians another way to speak directly to me and give me a chance to hear what’s really on the minds of citizens of the Ninth District.
During this week’s telephone town hall, I discussed with nearly 4,000 Memphians the importance of keeping college affordable and fully funding HOPE Scholarships, what citizens can do to protect themselves and their families from the racial disparity in breast cancer outcomes, and how they can enroll for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act before the March 31st enrollment deadline, and several other issues.
Whether working to grow our economy and create jobs or fighting to protect the voting rights of all Americans, the opinions and ideas of Ninth District constituents help us move forward with legislation in Congress.
Making It Easier to Bike in Memphis
On Monday, I was pleased to be in Memphis helping break ground at the Hampline, which will make our city more livable and sustainable and give Memphians more opportunities to explore the city on foot or bike. As you may know, Memphis was recently named America’s Most Improved Bike City by Bicycling Magazine, and projects like the Hampline—spearheaded by Mayor A C Wharton—will help the city take another step towards being one of the nation’s best cities for cyclists. That helps attract young, successful people to our city and brings in investment and jobs that we need. I will continue fighting for more federal funding for projects like these to make Memphis healthier, improve our infrastructure, and improve our economy.
Fighting for a Sane Marijuana Policy
Nobody dies from marijuana, but people die from heroin overdoses every day. Every second that we spend trying to enforce marijuana possession laws is a moment that we’re not enforcing laws meant to protect Americans from the ravages of drugs like heroin and methamphetamine. That’s where our priority should be. When we put marijuana on the same level as LSD, crack, heroin, meth, and cocaine—as the federal government has—it makes young people distrust what they are being told about hard drugs because they know that what they are being told about marijuana is wrong. Not only that, but African Americans are 4 times more likely than Caucasians to be arrested for marijuana. That isn’t right. There is a cultural lag in this country, and Congress and this Administration must fix it.
One of the reasons for our current policy is that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), commonly referred to as our “Drug Czar,” is required by law to oppose changing the legal status of marijuana, even though it has been proven to have medical benefits. The ONDCP is also prohibited by law from studying whether or not there could be any benefits. That troubles me, because the ONDCP’s job should be to develop and recommend sane drug control policies, not be handcuffed or muzzled from telling the American people the truth.
How can we trust what the Drug Czar says if the law already preordains the ONDCP’s position? That’s why I introduced my “Unmuzzle the Drug Czar Act” to remove those restrictions and give the ONDCP the freedom to recommend more sane drug policies for our nation. My bill would give the ONDCP the freedom to use science rather than ideology in its recommendations and give the American people a reason to trust what they are told. I had a spirited discussion with FOX News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly about why we should pass my bill. You can watch my interview here.
I am also a co-signer with several other Members of Congress on a letter to President Obama encouraging the reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I on our nation’s controlled substances “schedule,” as it is currently listed, to a less strict classification. This is a higher listing than cocaine and methamphetamine. If a drug is listed under Schedule I, it means that the federal government recognizes no medical use. Including marijuana in this classification disregards both scientific medical evidence and the laws of nearly half of the states that have legalized it for medical purposes. This morning, I discussed the scheduling of marijuana at a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee Over-Criminalization Task Force. You can watch the conversation here.
This week, I joined my friend Priscilla Presley and my colleague Congressman Ed Whitfield to discuss efforts to protect all horses from the abusive training method called “soring.” Horse trainers often go to great lengths to avoid detection rather than comply with current federal law and train horses using humane methods. That is why Congressman Whitfield and I introduced the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act would help stop these practices, and it wouldn’t increase the deficit by a penny. I am glad that Ms. Presley has joined us in support of the legislation.
Building Ladders of Opportunity for Boys and Young Men of Color
Yesterday at the White House, President Obama launched his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative to help build ladders of opportunity for young men and boys of color. Young men and boys of color are six times more likely than their Caucasian peers to be murdered, and by 4thgrade more than 80% of them are likely to be behind in reading proficiency. The President’s collaborative initiative with leading foundations and businesses seeks to address this disparity and unlock the full potential of these young people. I applaud President Obama’s attention to this problem and his work with major stakeholders to address it. I hope to work with him to ensure that all young Memphians have an equal chance at success in life.
Among the many benefits of the Affordable Care Act is free preventive care for services like mammograms that can detect breast cancer. A New York Times story noted that Memphis is “the deadliest major American city for African-American women with breast cancer.”
The racial disparity in breast cancer outcomes is deplorable, but we can take steps to reduce it. A primary reason for the high mortality rate among African American women is late diagnosis, when the disease is harder to treat and has much lower survival rates. That’s why I launched my “Building a Healthier Memphis” series on wellness in the Ninth District by hosting an expert panel discussion and education session about this disparity and what we can do to address it and improve outcomes for victims of breast cancer in our city. I’m encouraged by all of the Memphians who attended the event to learn how they can help improve their own health and the health of their families and communities, and I look forward to hosting the next “Building a Healthier Memphis” event at Church Health Center Wellness on the morning of Saturday, April 19th.
Everyone in the Ninth District should know that provisions of the President’s Affordable Care Act enable them to get mammograms with no co-pays or deductibles. Taking advantage of the Affordable Care Act could help save lives in our city and around the country. And don’t forget that the open season deadline to enroll in health coverage for this year at HealthCare.gov is March 31st.
Fully Funding the HOPE Scholarships
Over the last 10 years, the HOPE Scholarship program that I worked for 20 years as a State Senator to create has been an outstanding success that has provided $2.9 billion to Tennessee’s best and brightest. And while this funding has been critical to helping students attend college and complete 4-year degrees, the HOPE Scholarship has never fully funded college scholarships, as intended, because state lawmakers have not allowed it to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of higher education.
Today’s HOPE Scholarships pay a smaller portion of college costs than it did 10 years ago and, if Governor Haslam’s newly-announced plan to slash the first two years of HOPE Scholarships by 25% is implemented, it will provide even smaller scholarships for freshmen and sophomores. The first two years of college are crucial for students finding their way. With scholarships paying a smaller portion of tuition, families will have to pay more and students may need to work more hours while juggling their scholastic responsibilities, making academic success and retention of the HOPE Scholarship more difficult. Today’s college students are graduating with more student loan debt than ever before, crippling their chances of economic success.
To ensure that HOPE Scholarships continue to help Tennessee’s students afford college and succeed, the program must keep pace with the rising cost of higher education. But the Governor’s newly-announced “Tennessee Promise” actually cuts funding from high-achieving students beginning 4-year degree programs. I am extremely concerned and remain cautious about any plan that would make it harder for our state’s proven young people to begin attending the best universities in Tennessee, or any plan that places additional financial burden on schools like the University of Memphis which are already struggling to keep costs down and provide high-quality educations.
Rather than raiding the scholarship fund’s excess to create a new government program, those funds should be used to provide full HOPE scholarships. Tennesseans voted to repeal our state’s constitutional prohibition on lotteries based on the idea of replicating the success of Georgia’s successful HOPE program which provides full college scholarships. That promise to the people moves farther from being realized with every new idea to siphon money from the scholarship program. Once scholarships are fully funded, the excess funds would be better used, as I personally expressed last year to Governor Haslam, by raising the income cap on or raising the amount of Aspire Awards that give middle- and low-income students who work hard extra help to give them a fair shot at success.
Ensuring Memphians Get the Tax Returns They Deserve
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is too important for people to overlook, and everyone who is eligible should claim it when filing their taxes. But historically, eligible taxpayers in Memphis and Shelby County have not taken full advantage of the program—last year alone, as much as $70 million in potential tax credits were left on the table by area taxpayers.
Memphians shouldn’t pay more than they owe, and they should receive every penny they deserve in refunds. That’s why I attended the grand opening of one of 15 new Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites that recently opened throughout Shelby County to provide guidance and advice free of charge to ensure that eligible Shelby County citizens take advantage of programs like the EITC and get the tax refund they are entitled to. Click here to find a VITA site near you to help ensure you get every penny you are owed.
This week, I enjoyed seeing Monuments Men—a movie that is based on a true story. In 2007, I voted for the first Congressional bill to recognize the work that the real-life Monuments Men did during World War II to protect and preserve important art and culture. I also met author Robert Edsel as well as a surviving Monuments Man Harry Ettlinger. Their work during World War II deserves a Congressional Gold Medal, and I am joining my colleague Congresswoman Kay Granger to see that they receive it.
All Memphians should have quality health insurance and the President’s landmark Affordable Care Act is making affordable, higher-quality coverage available to people who have not had access to it in the past. Luckily, many who have been unable to afford quality coverage in the past are now eligible to enroll in Tennessee’s Health Insurance Marketplace. Please don’t forget that the open season deadline to enroll in health coverage for this year at HealthCare.gov is March 31st. And if you do not have health insurance coverage, you may also be eligible to save money on your health care premiums in the Marketplace.
If you are on Medicare or your employer is offering qualified health insurance that you are enrolled in, you’re already covered and won’t need to enter the Marketplace for your health coverage. If you aren’t sure whether or not you should use the Marketplace to get insurance, call the Marketplace Hotline at 1 (800) 318-2596, visit www.HealthCare.gov, or call Tennessee’s navigator, Seedco, at (901) 528-8341. You can also call my office at (901) 544-4131 or the Marketplace Hotline to find out if TennCare (Tennessee’s Medicaid program) is a coverage option for you. If you are one of the millions of Americans who need health insurance, you can sign up for coverage for 2014 until the open enrollment period closes on March 31st, 2014. Visit www.healthcare.gov today to look at your options.
The Affordable Care Act is already working for families across the Ninth District. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 147,000 individuals in the district now have health insurance that covers preventive services without co-pays, $3.1 million in insurance premiums have been returned to consumers, and more than 5,000 seniors on Medicare paid a total of $5.9 million less for their prescription medications as we continue to close the ‘donut hole.’ Also, health insurance companies can no longer discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions and young adults up to age 26 can now stay on their parents’ insurance plan.
Many of the Marketplace website issues that have been in the news have been resolved. However, the Marketplace website is only one tool that you can use to sign up for coverage. If you are having trouble accessing the website, please do not hesitate to call the Marketplace Hotline at 1 (800) 318-2596 or visit the Affordable Care Act Navigators at Seedco's Mid-South office at 22 North Front Street (Suite 900) for in-person help. Seedco can also be reached by phone at (901) 528-8341, and if you have any other questions, you should feel free to call my office at (901) 544-4131.
VA Rolls Out Secure Veteran Health ID Cards
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced the phased roll out of newly designed, more secure Veteran Health Identification Cards. The new cards are distinguished by additional security features and will have a different look and feel. In addition to being more secure, the card has been transformed into a Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC).
Similar to a typical health insurance card, the VHIC displays the veteran’s Member ID, a new unique identifier, as well as a Plan ID, reflecting the veteran’s enrollment in VA health care. The card replaces the Veteran Identification Card (VIC), which was introduced in 2004. As part of a phased rollout, the card will only be offered to newly enrolled and other veterans who have not been issued a VIC. In early April, the VA will begin a three month effort to automatically issue the more secure VHIC to current VIC cardholders. The VA recommends veterans safeguard their VIC as they would a credit card, and cut up or shred the card once it is replaced. While not required to receive VA health care, all enrolled Veterans are encouraged to get a VHIC.
Enrolled veterans can get more information about the VHIC by visiting their VA medical facility enrollment coordinator or the website www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vhic, calling 1-877-222-VETS (8387) or visiting their local VA health care facility. Veterans who are not enrolled in the VA health care system can apply for enrollment at any time by visiting www.va.gov/healthbenefits/enroll, calling 1-877-222-VETS (8387) or visiting their local VA health care facility.
This week, I announced nearly $400,000 in federal grant funds to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to aid in important work related to many autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The funding will be used to continue important research at St. Jude, which is the world’s leading children’s cancer research hospitals and one of the finest health care institutions on the planet.
United States Naval Academy Summer Programs
Each year, the United States Naval Academy invites more than 3,000 students to Annapolis, Maryland, to participate in its summer programs. The Academy’s summer STEM program, which is now accepting applications here, gives rising 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders the opportunity to learn from some of the best college professors in the country and work in world-class lab facilities. The Academy’s Summer Seminars gives rising 12th graders the opportunity to find out if they have what it takes to be midshipmen by allowing them to experience the rigorous academics, physical challenges, and student life at the Naval Academy. More information about the Summer Seminar and how to apply is available here.
Helping Veterans Become Homeowners
Last year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs helped a record number of veterans obtain mortgage loans and become homeowners. In guaranteeing nearly 630,000 home loans, the VA’s Loan Guarantee program helped more veterans become homeowners or move to a new home than at any point in its 70-year history. Not only is this great news for veterans, but it also is another sign that our housing market is rebounding—and that is good news for everyone. The VA Loan Guarantee program has some of the lowest foreclosure rates around and, along with offering low interest rates, their loans do not require a down payment from first-time buyers. If you are a veteran looking to purchase a home, you can learn more about the program here.
I regularly release a list of grant announcements from federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and others. These federal funding opportunities are available to faith-based and neighborhood associations, nonprofits and other community organizations in the Ninth District. The announcements are updated regularly on my website.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress