Announcing $1.2 Billion in Infrastructure Spending for Tennessee
Dear Friend, This week, I announced the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that I voted for last year will deliver more than $1.2 billion for Tennessee roads and bridges, improving transportation across the state. I also held a webinar to help student loan borrowers working in public service avail themselves of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF); applauded the 8.7 percent cost of living increase for Social Security beneficiaries announced this week; watched the proceedings of the Select Committee on the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol which presented evidence Donald Trump instigated the insurrection; met with the French ambassador; celebrated the swearing in of new U.S. citizens; visited the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Arkansas; invited students to enter the Congressional App Challenge; and offered a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens. Announcing $1.2 Billion in Infrastructure Spending for Tennessee Hosting Webinar on Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Applauding Cost-of-Living Increase for Social Security Benefits Holding Donald Trump Accountable for January 6 Insurrection Meeting with the French Ambassador Visiting the Sultana Disaster Museum Calling for Congressional App Challenge Contestants Announcing $1.2 Billion in Infrastructure Spending for Tennessee This week, I announced that the state of Tennessee will receive more than $1.2 billion for highways and bridges from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Congressman Jim Cooper and I were the only members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation who voted for this transformational legislation that will benefit all of Tennessee. See my release on the funding here. Earlier this year, I announced $76.3 million for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) to build a bus maintenance facility and other improvements including $22.3 million to help the agency transition to electric buses. Earlier in the year, I that the Biden-Harris Administration recommended an additional $46 million for the Memphis Innovation Corridor Project, a proposed eight-mile bus rapid transit route connecting downtown to the University of Memphis and providing convenient and reliable access to jobs, education, health services, and civic centers. The project includes one mile of exclusive bus lanes, off-vehicle fare collection, transit signal priority, and streetscape and pedestrian improvements. Hosting Webinar on Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Earlier today, I held an online webinar on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) with a senior official of the U.S. Department of Education. Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to make it easier for college graduates to serve the country in the public sector by forgiving their federal student loan debt after ten years The Program forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans (Consolidation Loans and Parent PLUS Loans) after 120 monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan for those working full-time for a qualifying public service-related employer (for example: firefighters, police, public school teachers). Last October, the Department of Education announced a set of improvements to the PSLF Program, which included waiving certain program requirements. But this time-limited waiver will only be available to borrowers until the end of this month -- October 31, 2022 -- so apply soon if you are eligible. For those who missed today’s webinar, it is available on my Facebook page at Facebook.com/CongressmanSteveCohen. Applauding Cost-of-Living Increase for Social Security Benefits This week, the Social Security Administration announced that Social Security recipients will see their benefits rise by 8.7 percent next year. This is in addition to an earlier announcement that Medicare Part B premiums are dropping by 3 percent. In addition to bringing down prescription drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats are working to make sure our senior citizens can afford the cost of living. Holding Donald Trump Accountable for January 6 Insurrection Like much of the country, I have been riveted by the revelations coming from the public hearings of the Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. I watched Thursday’s meeting and the evidence presented that the former president actively planned to overturn the election results even before the election and he should be held accountable. One way to do that is to pass my bill to help enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and prohibit insurrectionists from holding public office. I applaud the Committee’s principled 9-0 vote to subpoena Trump and give him an opportunity to answer questions, under oath, that the American people deserve to have answered. Meeting with the French Ambassador On Monday, I was pleased to meet with the French ambassador to the United States Philippe Etienne, his wife Patricia and our new French General Consul Anne-Laure Desjonqueres at my Memphis office. We discussed trans-Atlantic relations, the war in Ukraine and other matters. I later drove the ambassador in my French-made 1976 Peugeot from the Odell Horton Federal Building over into Harbor Town. I value these meetings because they help strengthen diplomatic and cultural ties between our two countries. On Thursday, 55 new American citizens were sworn in during a naturalization ceremony at the downtown federal building. U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. welcomed applicants from 25 countries including, Japan, Sudan, the Republic of Congo, Cuba, Yemen, China, Canada, Iran, and Syria. “I am proud and honored to be here today, and remember: the future is wide open to you,” Judge Fowlkes told them. “We are a nation of immigrants and immigration is the strength of the United States.” Visiting the Sultana Disaster Museum Congressman Cohen with retired Arkansas Circuit Judge John Fogleman at the museum On Tuesday, I accepted an invitation from former Arkansas Congressman Vic Snyder to visit the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Arkansas. The explosion and sinking of the U.S.S. Sultana paddleboat in the Mississippi River just north of Memphis in April 1865 remains the nation’s worst maritime disaster. The museum does a great job placing the disaster in its historical context. It appears the site of the Sultana disaster, because of changes in the meandering current of the Mississippi River, is now in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. Calling for Congressional App Challenge Contestants As the November 1st deadline approaches for contestants, I would like to make sure everyone is aware of the Congressional App Challenge, which is a competition aimed at encouraging middle and high school students to learn how to code by creating their own iOS and Android apps. The Challenge aims to instill the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and requires contestants to design, code, and demonstrate their innovations. Students participating in the competition may register and submit their app here through November 1, 2022. To learn more about the district’s competition, please visit my website here. For complete registration information and resources, please visit the Congressional App Challenge Website here. Also, check out last year’s winning app, “My College Financial,” by White Station high schooler Shanaya Thomas. I lost a very dear friend to COVID-19 this week so I want to emphasize again how important it is to follow public health protocols – wearing masks inside among those whose vaccination status is unknown to you and to stay up to date on available booster shots. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Tuesday, October 18, is National Mammography Day. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among women in the United States, and breast cancer claims the lives of more than 40,000 women each year. The Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) urges all Shelby County women to speak with their health care provider about breast checkups and screenings, including mammography. Uninsured and underinsured women may qualify for free screenings through SCHD’s Tennessee Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (TBCSP). The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a mammogram screening for breast cancer every two years for average-risk women aged 50 and older and women aged 40 to 49 may also opt for screening mammography every two years. The TBCSP program connects women who qualify to participating breast health care practitioners who provide screenings, mammograms, and referrals for additional testing or treatment at no charge to the patient. To find out more about the program and eligibility, please visit SCHD’s TBCSP webpage at https://shelbytnhealth.com/267/Tennessee-Breast-Cervical-Cancer-Program. “The vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us that the central cause of January 6 was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed…None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it. Exactly how did one man cause all of this? Today we will focus on President Trump's state of mind, his intent, his motivations and how he spurred others to do his bidding. And how another January 6 could happen again if we do not take necessary action to prevent it.” – January 6 Committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney in her opening statement on Thursday. As always, I remain. Steve Cohen |