Congratulating Kevin Ritz on his Appointment to the Sixth Circuit
September 20, 2024 |
Dear Friend, This week, I watched intently as the U.S. Senate voted for almost two and a half hours to confirm Kevin Ritz for a seat on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. I congratulated him for reaching this new pinnacle in his stellar legal career. I also welcomed Russian political prisoner and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza to his first appearance on Capitol Hill since he was freed in a Biden-Harris Administration-negotiated prisoner swap. I also led a letter expressing concern over unannounced and potentially dangerous changes to flight paths over the Taiwan Strait; introduced the CAMERA Act to provide body-worn cameras to law enforcement agencies and the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act; announced Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants to Memphis and Covington; remembered my friend the singer-songwriter J.D. Souther with a House floor speech; remembered Memphis lawyer and former Tennessee Attorney General Mike Cody; applauded a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rural development grant to Tipton County; welcomed a major investment in human genome research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), and offered a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens. Congratulating Kevin Ritz on His Appointment to the Sixth Circuit Celebrating Freedom for Political Prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza Urging Restraint in Flights Over the Taiwan Strait Introducing CAMERA Act and the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act Announcing Community Oriented Policing Services (COP) Grants Remembering My Friend Singer-Songwriter J.D. Souther Remembering Former Tennessee Attorney General Mike Cody Applauding Grant to Tipton County for Community Development Specialist Welcoming Major Investment in Human Genome Research at UTHSC Congratulating Kevin Ritz on His Appointment to the Sixth Circuit On Tuesday, Senators took the Senate almost two and a half hours to finish voting to confirm our U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, Kevin Ritz, to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. I have never heard so many superlatives from so many Democrats and Republicans endorsing this nominee, a White Station High School Class President, with bachelor’s, master’s, and law degrees and high honors from prestigious schools. I predict he will have a distinguished career on the bench and wish him well. See my statement after the vote here. Celebrating Freedom for Political Prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza Congressman Cohen speaks to Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife (front row, right) On Tuesday, I welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza to Capitol Hill and praised him for his bravery in standing up to Vladimir Putin. As the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Political Prisoners, I advocated for his release and for the State Department to declare that he had been wrongfully detained. When the Biden-Harris Administration was finally able to negotiate his and other political prisoners’ release in a complicated trade with Russia, I was very pleased. It was good to see him and his dauntless wife, Evgenia, at Tuesday’s event in their honor. Urging Restraint in Flights Over the Taiwan Strait Also Tuesday, I led a letter with 31 other Members to the President of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council expressing our concern about the People’s Republic of China (PRC) unilaterally and without prior notice changing flight routes over the Taiwan Strait. We urged the Council to encourage the PRC to engage in consultations with Taiwan to avoid a catastrophe. See my release and the letter here. Introducing CAMERA Act and the National Statistic on Deadly Force Transparency Act On Wednesday, I reintroduced the Police Creating Accountability by Making Effective Recording Act (CAMERA) to establish a grant program to help local law enforcement purchase body-worn cameras and implement body-worn camera programs. We know that these devices can provide critical evidence and can restore much-needed trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. See my release here. On Friday, I introduced the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act to provide clearer understanding of these incidents. See that release here. Remembering Singer-Songwriter J.D. Souther On Wednesday, I went to the House floor to speak of my friend, the great American singer-songwriter J.D. Souther, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 78. When I first ran for Congress in 2006, J.D. and Jackson Browne came to Memphis and played J.D.’s Eagles’ hit “New Kid in Town” in my honor as I prepared to head to Washington. He was a good friend and I’ll miss him. See my floor speech here. Mike Cody, a highly respected Memphis lawyer who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and went on to serve as U.S. Attorney and Attorney General, passed away on Sunday. I released a press statement on his passing and placed a lengthier statement in the Congressional Record. His was a life well-lived. Announcing Community Oriented Policing Services (COP) Grants On Thursday, I announced that the City of Memphis and the City of Covington will receive grants totaling $1,338,000 from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The City of Memphis will receive $963,000 from the COPS Office of Technology and Equipment, and the City of Covington will receive $375,000 from the COPS Hiring Program. Investments in law enforcement technology and personnel make sense when our efforts to fight crime and ensure justice are daily concerns. Applauding Grant to Tipton County for Community Development Specialist On Wednesday, I announced a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to the MidSouth Development District to hire a community development specialist to be shared by Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale counties. See my release here. Welcoming Major Investment in Human Genome Research at UTHSC On Thursday, I announced that the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will receive a grant of $1,645,076 from the National Human Genome Research Institute to build tools for making pangenomes accessible. I’m always pleased to see one of the National Institutes of Health investing in this revolutionary medical research on the human genome at our Memphis medical school. See my release here. During Child Passenger Safety Week, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urges parents and caregivers of children of all ages to make sure their car seats are installed correctly. On National Seat Check Saturday, which is September 21 this year, certified child passenger safety technicians will be available at car seat check stations around the country to show parents and caregivers how to install and use a car seat correctly, free of charge. Check the link and put in your ZIP code: There are at least 14 car seat check stations in the Memphis area, including three in Tipton County. I encourage all parents and caregivers who have children in car seats to make sure they have the right seat, that it’s installed correctly, and have it checked at a local car seat inspection station on National Seat Check Saturday. “The U.S. economy is in good shape. It’s growing at a solid pace. Inflation is coming down. The labor market is in a strong place. We want to keep it there.” – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday, announcing a half-point interest rate cut As always, I remain. Steve Cohen |