DAILY MEMPHIAN: Cohen urges Lee to remove Forrest bust in capitol

Shortly before Bill Lee took the oath of office as Tennessee governor and shortly after, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis urged Lee to work toward removing a bust of Confederate general, slave trader and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state capitol building.

At a townhall meeting Friday at the Randolph Branch library in Berclair, Cohen said Lee responded by offering to push for adding some context to the bust.

"I guess the historical context in his mind is that he was a great tactician. But being a great tactician doesn't overcome being the person who was responsible for the massacre at Fort Pillow," Cohen said, referring to the massacre of African-American Union troops by Forrest's company during a West Tennessee Civil War battle.

Despite the difference, Cohen said he is hopeful he will have a better relationship with Lee than he had with Lee's predecessor, Bill Haslam.

Cohen was a vocal critic of Haslam's Tennessee Promise program offering last-dollar scholarships covering the cost of two years at a state community college or a Tennessee College of Applied Technology for all Tennessee high school graduates.

The program uses proceeds from the Tennessee Lottery in a reserve fund. The lottery, which also funds HOPE scholarships to state colleges and universities, was among Cohen's signature accomplishments during his tenure as a state senator.

He views Haslam's use of the lottery reserve for Tennessee Promise as "pilfering" the money. He's also critical that Tennessee Promise does not require a minimum grade point average and that the poorest high school graduates will apply for and get a federal Pell Grant or other assistance that will mean they don't qualify for Tennessee Promise.

"It doesn't really help the poorest people … There's no merit on it at all," Cohen said. "The higher your ACT, the higher your grade point, the more likely you are going to use that scholarship to your advantage and get a degree."

Cohen was also critical of former President Barack Obama's early support of Tennessee Promise as a possible model for a national program. Cohen was an early political supporter of Obama during his bid for the presidency in 2008 and a close ally on other matters during Obama's two terms in the White House.

Cohen also had differences with former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, when the lottery legislation was passed – specifically how the proceeds would be used.

Tennessee Promise is one of several state programs during Haslam's administration designed to meet a goal of 55 percent of the state's population having a college degree, associate degree or workforce certification by 2025.

"And that's great," Cohen said. "But the way to get there is by funneling your money to the people who are most likely to matriculate and graduate....With no grade point average and no ACT … basically you are giving it to white kids who are slackers."

With the new Democratic majority in the U.S. House from the 2018 midterm elections, Cohen said there are still limits to what that majority can do in terms of legislation while Republicans are still the majority in the U.S. Senate.

He said outgoing Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander could be a force to get some Republicans there to support any pushback on Affordable Care Act changes made in the first two years of the Trump administration that the Democratic House might approve.

"We're not going to get monumental change," he added. "What we can do is set a higher bar. Much of what we do in the next 20 months is laying the groundwork for 2021."

Cohen was referring to Democratic hopes for a majority in the U.S. Senate with the 2020 presidential election year.

So far, the early campaigning is all about a large field of Democratic presidential contenders.

"It shocks me all of these people announcing for president," Cohen said. "We need to have a candidate who can win. And we don't need to sacrifice values."