In The News
MEMPHIS,. Tenn — When it comes to civil rights and social justice, Judge D’Army Bailey was considered as being one of its most important crusaders. Congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis knew Bailey for many years.
“Judge Bailey was an advocate. He wanted to see social change and civil rights early on and had an opinion on many things and traveled in different circles and had an influence on a lot of people and was respected across racial lines,” Cohen said.
U.S. Rep. Phil Roe has deep-seated roots in the old South. Some of his family members fought in the Confederate army during the Civil War.
But asked on a radio show last week whether it’s time for South Carolina to remove the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of its statehouse, the congressman conceded, “It probably is.”
“The state of South Carolina has got to make that decision, not America,” the Johnson City Republican said. “And I think they’ll do the right thing.”
The airline industry has hit the brakes on its program to shrink the size of carry-on luggage “in light of concerns expressed primarily in North America.”
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade group representing most airlines, launched the initiative, called Cabin OK, last week. It would have shrunk the maximum size of luggage carried onto a flight by 21 percent.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is trying to stop U.S. airlines from shrinking the size of carry-on luggage allowed on planes.
The Memphis Democrat filed legislation late Monday that would bar airlines that charge passengers a fee for checked luggage from reducing the maximum size of carry-on bags.
Congressman Steve Cohen introduced an amendment today that would give Downtown the first consideration when the federal government is deciding where to build.
Cohen is proposing an amendment to H.R. 2322 – STRONG Act that would instructs the General Services Administration to give first consideration to urban/downtown areas when deciding the location of new federal buildings.
Ben Gash Garmisa, Cohen’s communications director, said the congressman’s purpose in amending the bill is to help revitalize urban, downtown areas.
In the wake of recent highly publicized tragedies in Ferguson, Cleveland, Staten Island, North Charleston and Baltimore, it is abundantly clear that the gulf of mistrust between some local law enforcement agencies and many communities of color is very deep and in urgent need of repair.
Insurmountable student loan debt has been making headlines in recent years, but it’s not news to Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN). While a state senator in Tennessee, Cohen learned of the plight of a former intern who was in burdened with student loan debt. “I saw that and realized how unfair it was,” Cohen told Blue Nation Review. “It was stifling her life and her advancement.”
Cohen was one of the main architects of the Hope Lottery Scholarship, which has raised over $2 billion to help Tennessee students pay for college since it began in 2003.
Ferguson. Cleveland. Staten Island. North Charleston. Baltimore.
These are not just instances of police brutality. The problem is deeper than that. We have a flawed criminal justice system urgently in need of reform.
The Memphis Health Center has received a federal grant worth more than $3.7 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration.
The funding will be used to help fund the Memphis Health Center, which provides affordable health care services to Shelby County residents.
Cases involving police use of deadly force should be investigated by an independent prosecutor instead of local prosecuting attorneys who often work closely with law-enforcement officers and thus have a conflict of interest, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said Wednesday.
Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., filed legislation that seeks to push state and local governments to require independent investigations and prosecutions into allegations of deadly police force. The lawmakers say the legislation would provide justice to victims of police violence.