President Obama Talks Affordable Care Act in Tennessee
Dear Friend,
Next Friday from 10am to 1pm, my office will hold “Congress On Your Corner” office hours at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library. If you have questions or problems with Social Security, Medicare, FHA, the VA or any other federal agencies, my staff will be on hand to answer questions and provide assistance. We hope to see you there.
This week, President Obama visited Tennessee to discuss the Affordable Care Act, he announced the re-opening of our embassy in Cuba, and he also offered a plan to give middle-class workers throughout the country a raise. I was also pleased to announce more than $4 million for St. Jude in Memphis. Keep reading to learn more about what happened this week, and don’t forget to like my Facebook page to receive these updates, and more, as they happen.
President Obama Talks Affordable Care Act in Tennessee
Giving Hardworking Middle-Class Memphians a Raise
Who’s Burning Black Churches
Charting a New Course with Cuba
Federal Grants for St. Jude
Getting Things Done for the Ninth District
Taking Politics out of Redistricting
President Obama Talks Affordable Care Act in Tennessee
On the heels of last week’s Supreme Court ruling reaffirming the landmark healthcare reform law, it was good to see the President here in Tennessee showing America how the law is working and how expanding Medicaid in our state can make it work even better. Now that the court challenges are decided, it’s time for our state’s lawmakers to act to expand Medicaid. The state legislature’s failure to expand TennCare is not only costing our state $1.77 billion each year, but it leaves 179,000 Tennesseans without coverage—and hundreds of them will die every year as the state legislature fails to act.
Giving Hardworking Middle-Class Memphians a Raise
On Monday, President Obama’s proposed a new rule that would help ensure 5 million middle-class Americans receive fair compensation for their overtime hours. When this overtime rule was last updated—40 years ago—it covered 62% of the nation’s salaried employees. Today though, it covers just 8% and leaves millions of Americans at risk of being taken advantage of by their employer’s demands. It’s time we give middle-class workers a raise.
President Obama’s proposal, which raises the salary beneath which employees receive overtime pay from $23,660 to $50,440, will help ensure that hardworking Memphians receive fair compensation for their overtime hours. It is a positive step to help workers and keep the economy growing.
I am very concerned with the recent string of fires at black churches across the South. We must fully and quickly investigate them and bring any responsible parties to justice. As a State Senator, I sponsored legislation to strengthen penalties for those found guilty of burning churches in Tennessee. Places of worship should be sacred, and those who seek to destroy them cannot be tolerated by our society.
Charting a New Course with Cuba
The re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, along with the reopening of our embassy in Havana, will eventually open new trade avenues for Memphis entrepreneurs and businesses as well as improve Americans’ freedom to travel—and it is the right thing to do. These decisions will also help promote human rights and freedom in a country where we have had little influence for too long. I am proud of the quick, but no doubt difficult, work our President has done to chart a new course in our relationship with Cuba, and I wholeheartedly support his efforts to tear down the walls that separate us.
St. Jude is one of the world’s finest health care institutions and with the $4.3 million in federal funding I announced this week its position among the leaders in global medicine will only be strengthened. The funding will help launch a new Precision Medicine Center to tailor treatments to individuals and improve outcomes for patients.
Since arriving in Congress, I have led the charge for increasing resources available for medical research through the NIH so that we can find new and better treatments and cures. While we more than adequately fund the Department of Defense, we have significantly cut funding for the NIH—a department of defense that protects us from deadly diseases and illnesses—and for biomedical research, preventing and slowing critically important research for cures and treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, stroke, cancer, and Parkinson’s. I will continue fighting for increased funding for medical research.
Getting Things Done for the Ninth District
Recently, I’ve worked to help citizens of the Ninth District and to get relief for my constituents. I was pleased to intervene at the request of the citizens of Millington to work with the Navy to save the city money on utility separation on the land the Navy transferred years ago. I was also happy to lend my voice to the successful effort to have the United States Postal Service reverse their decision at the Mallory Post Office Station and turn around mailboxes to allow customers direct access without leaving their vehicles.
Taking Politics out of Redistricting
The Supreme Court made the right decision on Monday, putting people over politics and protecting the rights of Arizona’s voters to determine how their districts are drawn. The people of Arizona voted to eliminate gerrymandering, and the Supreme Court has affirmed their right to do that. Elected officials should focus on effectively and equitably representing their constituents, not merely winning partisan battles. Read my statement on the decision here.
Have a happy and safe July 4th.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress