Applauding President Biden's State of the Union Address
Dear Friend, This week, I attended the annual State of the Union address by President Biden where he made clear the contrast between competing visions for the country and the competing forces in battle for the soul of our nation. I also voted on the first appropriations package containing my community funding projects as we finally begin to complete the budget for the 2024 fiscal year. Earlier today, I introduced legislation with my colleague Tim Burchett of Tennessee’s Second Congressional District that will lend transparency to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s planning process. I have also been working to refine a measure to enforce the Constitution’s provision disqualifying insurrectionists from holding public office, continued to advocate the expansion of Medicaid in Tennessee and the nine other states that shortchange their uninsured residents, received recognition for my work advancing animal welfare, wrote an opinion column addressing pedestrian deaths and traffic fatalities in Memphis, and offered a health tip concerning auto safety. Keep reading and follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens. Applauding President Biden’s State of the Union Address Voting on $15.5 Million for TN-9 Community Projects Introducing a TVA Transparency Bill Enforcing Constitution’s “Insurrection or Rebellion” Clause for Office Holders Encouraging States Like Tennessee to Expand Medicaid Receiving Humane Society Recognition as an Animal Champion Advocating “Complete Streets” Principles in Newspaper Columns Applauding the Improving State of the Union President Biden and Congressman Cohen on the House floor Thursday night On Thursday night, I attended the annual State of the Union address by President Biden to a joint session of Congress, the President’s Cabinet, the Supreme Court, military leaders, diplomats and other dignitaries. The President laid out a solid case that his administration has made vast improvements in health care, infrastructure investments, employment, and other domestic priorities while taming inflation and addressing the ongoing wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas. His solid leadership encourages optimism for the future of our country, and I am proud to stand with him. The contrast between the Biden agenda and the MAGA Republican agenda was made evidently clear. Voting on $15.5 Million for In-District Community Projects Congressman Cohen and Felisha Mason On Wednesday, I voted for the first of two spending bills for the current fiscal year, this one sending $15.5 million to fund 13 community projects in the 9th Congressional District. See my release detailing all 13 projects here. On Thursday, I met in my D.C. office with Felisha Mason, the chief executive of the Boys and Girls Club of the Hatchie River Region in Tipton County, one of the organizations that will receive community project funding from the bill’s passage. She and I are hopeful the investment will make a positive change in the lives of young people in Tipton County. Introducing TVA Planning Transparency Bill On Friday, I was joined by my colleague Tim Burchett (TN-2) in introducing the TVA Increase Rate of Participation (IRP) Act to require greater transparency and accountability in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process. The IRP process is a comprehensive study projecting how the nation’s largest federal utility meets energy needs. The measure would increase public participation and input and make the process more transparent in an effort to ensure the most efficient, affordable, environmentally conscious and reliable plan for meeting customers’ energy needs. See our release, including the groups endorsing the measure, here. Enforcing the Constitution’s “Insurrection or Rebellion” Clause for Office Holders I have been working with Constitutional scholars, democracy organizations, and others for years to make the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment disqualification of insurrectionists holding office enforceable. I was the first to introduce a measure shortly after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and plan to introduce updated legislation in the days ahead in response to Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing Donald Trump to remain on 2024 state primary ballots. Encouraging States Like Tennessee to Expand Medicaid Left to right: Ryan Loke of Grady Health System in Atlanta, Congressman Cohen and Dr. Karen L. Smith, a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Tish Towns (not pictured) of Regional One Health in Memphis also spoke at the event. On Thursday, I participated in a policy briefing calling attention to the need for states that have yet to do so – such as Tennessee – to expand their Medicaid programs and address the needs of their uninsured residents. Tish Towns, the executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Regional One Health in Memphis was a panelist and noted that Tennessee would save millions in unnecessary visits to emergency rooms and other expensive interventions with a commonsense expansion. Tennessee ranks second – behind only Texas – in the number of hospitals that have closed since 2010, which has left 30 of our state’s 95 counties entirely without a community medical center. I acknowledged being “befuddled” at state lawmakers’ intransigence and reminded those present, and remind you, that state legislatures can solve this problem and citizens should speak up and demand it of them. Receiving Humane Society Recognition as an Animal Champion On Wednesday evening, I was recognized at a U.S. Capitol reception as the recipient of Tennessee’s only “100 percent +” score from the Humane Society Legislative Fund. I was pleased to accept the award for my work advancing the humane treatment of all animals with my hardworking office quadrupeds Stevie (a goldendoodle) and Marley (a beautiful mutt). Advocating “Complete Streets” Principles in Newspaper Columns The headline in The Commercial Appeal summed it up: “Memphis has a pedestrian death and bad drivers crisis. Here’s how we fix it.” This week, all of the Gannett newspapers in Tennessee published my opinion piece calling attention to the problem and what I have been doing in Washington to address it through the Complete Streets Act and other action. Read The CA column here. As a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I want to call attention to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) new tool allowing consumers to check for recalls using only a vehicle’s license plate number, making it easy to learn about new recalls. During Vehicle Safety Recalls Week, which runs through March 10, NHTSA is asking everyone to check for safety recalls and get any recalled vehicle fixed immediately for free. Nearly 35 million vehicles were recalled in 2023, highlighting the importance of checking for recalls and completing needed recall repairs. Vehicle owners should check for open recalls at least twice a year. A good reminder is to check when daylight saving time begins and ends (it begins on Sunday). “My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are, it’s how old are our ideas. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are the oldest of ideas. But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future and what can and should be done. Tonight you’ve heard mine. I see a future where defending democracy, you don’t diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms, not take them away…Above all, I see a future for all Americans. I see a country for all Americans. And I will always be a president for all Americans because I believe in America.” – President Biden at Thursday’s State of the Union address. Steve Cohen |