Memphians Cooking Up Change in Congress

Dear Friend,

This week, I voted with the overwhelming majority of the Ninth District to oppose “fast-track” trade promotion authority that could hurt the American middle-class, a group of students from Memphis Health Careers Academy competed in a healthy food cooking competition in Washington, I honored late Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, worked to eliminate internet access taxes, and fought to protect taxpayer dollars from waste and fraud overseas. Keep reading to learn more about what happened this week, or if you’d like to receive the updates in this eNewsletter (and more) as they happen, simply “like” my Facebook page. Be sure to check it regularly, as it will be updated often with news, pictures, and videos.

Memphians Cooking up Change in Congress
Honoring Late Chairman Jim Oberstar
Providing Relief to Victims of Unscrupulous For-Profit Colleges
Stopping Internet Access Taxes
Protecting Taxpayer Dollars from Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
Helping Americans Access Foreign Art in Museums
Pushing for Male-Female Equity in Medical Options

Memphians Cooking up Change in Congress

I enjoyed meeting the Memphis students who were selected as national finalists in the Healthy Schools Campaign’s Cooking Up Change competition. Memphis Health Careers Academy’s Shanterica Batts, TyJuan Turner and Raijeen Davis presented their dessert on Capitol Hill this week. Their apple cinnamon delight was delicious.

Honoring Late Chairman Jim Oberstar

Minnesota’s Jim Oberstar, the late Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was a true legislative giant in Congress and the epitome of a fine public servant. I was honored to work closely with him on the committee and was saddened by his passing just over a year ago. He was one of the first Congressmen to support my first bill in Congress to name the Clifford Davis/Odell Horton Federal Building. He was a Congressional Staffer in 1963, Clifford Davis’ last term in office, and he knew Representative Davis.

Chairman Oberstar was passionate about energy efficiency and successfully passed legislation to install photovoltaic cells at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, DC. After he passed away, I led a letter urging the Department to install a plaque honoring Chairman Oberstar so that visitors would know about his role in helping improve energy efficiency in our nation. On Wednesday morning, I attended the dedication of that plaque. Chairman Oberstar loved our country and he worked on a daily basis to make it a better place for all of us. I was pleased to be a part of this effort to honor his work.

Providing Relief to Victims of Unscrupulous For-Profit Colleges

Corinthian-owned colleges engaged in fraudulent practices, including inflating job-placement rates, resulting in millions of dollars in federal fines and the eventual closure of all Corinthian campuses. While the company has since closed or sold its for-profit colleges, too many former Corinthian students still carry the burden of student loans for worthless degrees or programs they cannot complete. I am pleased that this week the Department of Education announced a plan to help provide those students relief. Read more about the plan here.

Stopping Internet Access Taxes

No one wants to pay more for internet access. I am proud to have sponsored the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act that passed the House on Tuesday. Watch my floor speech in support of the bill here.

Protecting Taxpayer Dollars from Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

I am pleased that last night, Democrats and Republicans worked together to protect taxpayers from waste, fraud, and theft overseas by passing an amendment I cosponsored to prohibit additional funds for the Afghan Infrastructure Fund, which has been riddled with problems and has become a sinkhole for taxpayer dollars. Read more about the bipartisan amendment here.

Helping Americans Access Foreign Art in Museums

This week the House passed bipartisan legislation I sponsored with Reps. Bob Goodlatte, Steve Chabot, and John Conyers to help remove barriers to millions of Americans seeing some of the most important art and artifacts the world has to offer. Our legislation will make foreign artwork and artifacts more accessible to the public to study and appreciate in American schools and museums while preserving important protections for Holocaust-related claims. Watch my floor speech on the legislation here.

Pushing for Male-Female Equity in Medical Options

Until last week, the FDA had approved 26 different treatments for sexual dysfunction among men, but hadn’t approved a single treatment for women, even though an effective pill existed. I wrote them a letter asking that they use the same criteria to consider this treatment as they did for the 26 male-focused treatments, and am pleased to report that the medication has been approved. Read more about it here.

As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress