My Recommendation to President Obama Confirmed as Next District Court Judge
Dear Friend,
This week, I spoke with more than 15,000 Memphians in a telephone town hall meeting, Sheri Lipman was confirmed as a District Court Judge (without a single Senator voting against her) after I recommended her to President Obama, and Shelby County was awarded more than $5 million to help fight HIV and AIDS. Keep reading to learn more.
My Recommendation to President Obama Confirmed as Next District Court Judge
Listening to Constituents
Working for the Middle Class
Fighting for Our Veterans
Preventing Sex Trafficking
Fighting AIDS and HIV in Shelby County
Helping Reformed Ex-Offenders Re-Enter the Workforce
Google’s Self-Driving Car
Make Sure to Claim Unclaimed Property
Helping Veterans Find Jobs
My Recommendation to President Obama Confirmed as Next District Court Judge
On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Senate confirmed Sheri Lipman—who I recommended to the President after convening a diverse screening panel of Memphians—to be the next U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Tennessee by a vote of 95 to 0. Just before the Senate’s vote, I urged her confirmation on the House floor.
Throughout her career, Sheri Lipman has proven herself a stellar attorney. She fully deserved to be confirmed to the bench, and I am confident that she will be a superb federal judge. Her breadth of experience, strong work ethic, and unimpeachable integrity easily made her the overwhelming first choice of the screening committee of local attorneys.
I commend President Obama for taking my recommendation and nominating such a skilled Memphis attorney to the federal bench, and I am pleased that she has been confirmed overwhelmingly by the United States Senate. I know that she will serve the Western District of Tennessee and the people of Memphis with distinction.
On Wednesday evening, I hosted a telephone town hall meeting for the citizens of the Ninth District. I enjoyed the opportunity to speak to more than 15,000 constituents and discuss a number of issues, including the Affordable Care Act and services that are available to veterans We also discussed my “Building a Healthier Memphis” wellness series.
Town hall meetings give citizens of the Ninth District like you another way to speak directly with me and share what’s really on your mind. I appreciated having this opportunity to listen to your perspective on the issues facing our city and enjoyed discussing my work to promote Memphis to President Obama’s Administration and help the middle class by raising the minimum wage as well as give the unemployed a helping hand by extending unemployment insurance. Regardless of the issue, the perspective, opinions and ideas of the citizens of the Ninth District like you help me move forward with legislation in Congress.
If you would like to sign up to participate in my future telephone town halls—including one scheduled this coming Tuesday (May 6th) which will focus on issues affecting our seniors—please fill out this form. Please enter a landline phone number, as cell phones cannot be called during telephone town halls.
Throughout my career, I have always fought to ensure that hard-working Memphians can earn a living wage and won’t have to struggle to provide for themselves and their families. No one who works hard and plays by the rules should have to raise their families in poverty.
When I came to Congress in 2007, I was proud to vote for an increase in the federal minimum wage, but since then the cost of basic necessities has risen and the minimum wage has become less valuable.
I am disappointed that earlier this week Republicans blocked the Senate from even debating an increase in the minimum wage. That’s why I renewed my call for Speaker John Boehner to schedule an immediate vote on the Fair Minimum Wage Act, which would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour and tie the wage to inflation moving forward. Increasing the minimum wage would help more than 600,000 Tennesseans and help lift as many as 4.5 million Americans out of poverty. The millions of Americans working for the minimum wage—who average 35 years old—deserve a raise for their hard work.
This week, the House debated the 2015 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bill. With too many veterans waiting for months and even years to get their benefits, I’m pleased that some of the amendments included in the bill will help speed up the VA’s efforts to cut down on the claim backlog and ensure veterans can receive treatment in a timelier manner. I am, however, very disappointed that an amendment failed which would have helped veterans in states where cannabis is a legal medicine receive full, complete, and accurate advice from their doctors. I spoke out in support of the amendment on the House floor because we shouldn’t muzzle doctors from giving their medical advice to their patients, and our veterans deserve the best advice there is.
On Wednesday, I joined my colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee in supporting a number of bills to help victims of sex trafficking and stop people from benefitting from advertising the services of sex traffickers. It is outrageous that so many women and girls in this country are forced or coerced into sexual exploitation. We must do everything we can to stop these heinous acts and to protect the victims of trafficking.
Fighting AIDS and HIV in Shelby County
On Tuesday, I announced more than $5 million in funding through the Ryan White Program to provide care and health services to those living with HIV and AIDS in the Ninth District. While there have been major breakthroughs in treatment in recent years, the HIV epidemic continues to plague the Ninth District. This funding will help thousands of Memphians living with these terrible illnesses better access to the high-quality, comprehensive care they need and deserve but otherwise may not have had access to.
Helping Reformed Ex-Offenders Re-Enter the Workforce
It has been proven that recidivism rates are significantly reduced when an ex-offender has a decent job and community support in place. But too often, those who have already paid their debts to society face significant barriers when looking for a job.
We can and should ensure that readiness is not one of those barriers. That’s why yesterday I introduced my Re-Integration of Ex-Offenders Through Technology Act, which will help lower recidivism rates by providing rehabilitated ex-offenders with the tech literacy skills they need to compete for many of today’s jobs and it will help ensure a qualified workforce for small business owners.
My legislation would give reformed ex-offenders who have repaid their debts to society a fair chance to compete in today’s job market by incorporating technology literacy programs into the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) offender re-entry job assistance programs. These programs provide job training and assistance to ex-offenders who have served their time and are seeking to contribute to society through gainful employment. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass it in the House.
This week, I was given the opportunity to take a ride in one of Google’s driverless cars. I am impressed by the innovation and ingenuity that Google’s engineers have shown in developing this car, and look forward to what these sorts of self-driving cars could do in the future.
Make Sure to Claim Unclaimed Property
The State of Tennessee maintains a searchable database of unclaimed property, which can include bank accounts, stocks and dividends, wages, refunds, insurance payments, gift certificates, credit balances and overpayments, and a number of other things. There is no cost for accessing the database, and you may find that you are owed money or property. If you have not searched the database yet or if you haven’t searched in a while, you can visit https://www.claimittn.gov and see for yourself whether the state is holding any property or assets for you. And you may pass this information along to your friends and family as well!
Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden announced the launch of a new integrated employment tool to connect veterans and service members with employers, and to help translate military skills into the civilian workforce. The Veterans Employment Center, an integrated, online tool connecting veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses with both public and private-sector employers, is the result of an interagency effort to improve, simplify and consolidate the current array of employment resources for veterans. Additionally, this will provide one comprehensive database of resumes for employers who are seeking to leverage the skills and talents of veterans, service members, and their spouses. A video tutorial on how to use the Veterans Employment Center can be viewed here.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress