Press Releases

[MEMPHIS, TN] - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today defended Ambassador Susan Rice from charges in a New York Times full-page advertisement that she turned a blind eye to genocides in Rwandans and the Jewish people.

[MEMPHIS, TN] - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) issued the following statement after learning that his friend and hero Minnie Minoso passed away this morning:

"Ever since an exhibition game in Memphis where he--through a white player because of segregation--gave me a baseball and befriended me when I was only 5, Minnie has been a hero of mine. That initial meeting and the fact that he felt he could not give me, a child on crutches because of Polio, the ball directly and had to hand it to a white player instead made him my hero."

[WASHINGTON, DC] – The U.S House of Representatives has approved Congressman Steve Cohen’s (TN-09) amendment to cut short the “School-to-Prison Pipeline” and reduce youth incarceration in America by helping train school personnel in innovative conflict resolution methods that are less likely to result in non-violent juveniles entering the penal system. Currently, many school systems involve the police in non-violent incidents on school property, which helps feed the “school-to-prison” pipeline that is expensive and harmful to America’s youth.

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Congressman Pete King (NY-02) today reconvened the Congressional Tourette Syndrome Caucus for the 114^th Congress along with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and 22 Members of Congress. The Congressional Tourette Syndrome Caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators focused on spreading awareness about Tourette Syndrome (TS) and promoting policies that support people and families coping with the neurological disorder.

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a longtime champion for animal rights and welfare, received a perfect 100% score from the Humane Society on their legislative scorecard for the 113^th Congress. The Congressman, who received the highest rating out of all members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation, was noted for being an original cosponsor of H.R. 1518, the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act.

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today issued the following statement regarding his decision not to attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned address to Congress next week:

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) this week introduced an amendment to reduce youth incarceration in America by helping train school personnel such as teachers and counselors in innovative conflict resolution methods that are less likely to result in non-violent juveniles entering the penal system. Currently, many school systems involve the police in non-violent incidents on school property, which helps feed the “school-to-prison” pipeline that is both expensive and harmful to America’s youth.

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), who is known across the state for his twenty-year fight to create a state lottery as “The Father of the Tennessee Education Lottery” and because Tennessee Lottery money is the source of the funding for Tennessee Promise has already been dubbed by some as “The Grandfather of the Funding of Tennessee Promise,” released the following statement regarding Governor Bill Haslam’s recent criticisms of America’s College Promise, which is President Obama’s new plan to provide two free years of community college: