Revitalizing Downtown Memphis
Dear Friend,
This week, I joined the Memphis Downtown Commission to help our efforts to revitalize the city center, I discussed our nation's response to recent Ebola diagnoses on CNN, and I visited a LeMoyne-Owen College class to have a conversation about our federal government with local students. Keep reading to learn more about what I did this week.
Revitalizing Downtown Memphis
Increasing Funding for Medical Research and Ebola Response
Protecting Memphians and Supporting the Memphis Police Department
Meeting with LeMoyne-Owen College Students
Saving the HOPE Scholarship and Fighting for Tennessee Students
6th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon
2015 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
Supporting Memphis Area Legal Services
Grants for Memphis Research
Building a Healthier Memphis and Fighting Breast Cancer
Memphis Accepting the President's My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge
Here in Memphis, we are lucky that it's easy to take in much of our city's rich history on a walking tour of Downtown to visit attractions like Beale Street, the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Mudd Island, or any of the other many interesting sights in the area. A healthy downtown neighborhood is a key component of ensuring a strong Memphis community, and I believe that the continued revitalization of this area will make our city more attractive to visitors and new residents alike.
Earlier this week, I spoke at a meeting of the Downtown Memphis Commission about the efforts to reenergize the area. I was proud to secure nearly $15 million in federal funding through the TIGER grant program for the Main Street to Main Street Multi-Modal Connector Project, which will help improve livability, increase tourism, drive economic development and create jobs. The $15 million grant is being used to develop the 12 mile regional, multimodal corridor that strengthens and connects the Main Streets of Memphis and West Memphis' downtowns using the historic Harahan Bridge as the centerpiece.
This kind of infrastructure in the heart of Memphis will help our city attract more people looking to make Memphis home. Projects like Main Street to Main Street are helping make our city a better place to live, work, and play. It's important that we support this kind of investment, so I will continue to fight for more federal funding for projects that not only improve the infrastructure of our city, but also help to encourage healthy lifestyles for Memphians.
Increasing Funding for Medical Research and Ebola Response
Last week, I led a coalition of nearly 50 Members of Congress in calling for increased support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Following up this this week, I spoke to The Commercial Appeal about why it's important that our elected leaders follow science and not base policies on fear or politics. Later, I appeared on CNN Newsroom to talk about our nation's response to the outbreak in West Africa. We discussed what we should do to contain it and prevent its spread both in the United States and around the globe. You can watch my interview with CNN's Carol Costello here.
If you would like more information on the current situation, the CDC has launched a regularly-updated web page with information about Ebola and how our nation is working to address and prevent it from spreading. You can visit the CDC's Ebola information page here.
Protecting Memphians and Supporting the Memphis Police Department
This week, I was disturbed to learn that the City of Memphis Police Department was deprived of more than $2.2 million in funding to hire new officers that it rightfully should have received from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009. A new Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General report found that had it not been for inflated, inaccurate crime statistics reported by DeKalb County, the Memphis Police Department would have received those funds, allowing the city to hire the 50 officers it needed, rather than reduced funding that only allowed the city to hire 37 officers.
The Memphis economy has been particularly hard hit in recent years, and losing out on this funding likely forced the redirection of resources away from other important priorities in an already strained budget. Upon learning of the DOJ's findings, I wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to rectify this mistake as soon as possible and ensure that Memphis receives all of the money it is owed. I also spoke with Fox 13 last night to discuss this issue, and you can watch their segment here.
Meeting with LeMoyne-Owen College Students
On Tuesday, I joined James Franklin's Intro to Social Work and Human Behavior class at LeMoyne-Owen College to discuss the legislative process with its promising young Memphians. I enjoyed having this opportunity to discuss my work in Congress and talk about the role of our federal government and how federal laws are interpreted at the local level.
Saving the HOPE Scholarship and Fighting for Tennessee Students
Recently, Governor Haslam defended his "Tennessee Promise" plan that raids $300 million this year and millions more annually from the HOPE Scholarship program by arguing that our state hasn't "increased the number of Tennesseans who are going to school," and that he believes his plan is what the state needs to do that. Guess what? A report released this week shows that the Governor is just plain wrong. Between 2007 and 2012, enrollment in Tennessee's public colleges actually rose by more than 22%. But while enrollment picked up substantially, state funding per student actually fell by nearly 18%, making it harder for our state's best and brightest to afford higher education.
If the Governor truly wants to increase both enrollment and graduation rates, he should support and fully fund the HOPE Scholarship program instead of crippling it by stealing more than $300 million to pay for a completely untested program with no standards. The Governor should work with the General Assembly to provide full tuition HOPE Scholarship so that more high-achieving Tennesseans can go to college, earn degrees with less debt, and contribute to our state's economy.
6th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon
Veterans Day is a special day set aside to honor those men and women who have served our country in uniform. On Tuesday, November 11, 2014, I will host my sixth annual Veterans Day Luncheon from 11AM to 1PM at BRIDGES, located at 477 North 5th Street. If you are a Ninth District veteran, I would like to invite you to attend my luncheon so that you can hear from me about what Congress is doing to address recent concerns at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Special guests, including Memphis VA Medical Center (VAMC) Director Dr. C. Diane Knight and others, will also be in attendance to discuss improvements at the Memphis VAMC. Additionally, caseworkers from my office will be available to help answer questions on specific concerns with your benefits or services. You can RSVP to attend this year's Veterans Day Luncheon here. I hope to see you there.
2015 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available
My office currently has a limited number of 2015 U.S. Capitol Historical Society calendars available. If you would like to receive a calendar, please complete this form on my website. Due to the rules of the House, I am only able to mail calendars to residents of Tennessee's Ninth District. Please feel free to share this email with other citizens of the Ninth District who may be interested in receiving one but who do not receive my eNewsletter.
Supporting Memphis Area Legal Services
Americans are justifiably proud of our legal system, but it can be highly complex with a language all its own to those unfamiliar with its laws and procedures. Even for the highly educated among us, the system can be a very difficult maze to navigate. For poor, uneducated, scared or inadequately represented Americans, it's not only difficult—it can be downright impossible to maneuver effectively. Victims of domestic violence seeking protective orders against their abusers, homeowners facing unfair foreclosures, and seniors who have been preyed upon by fraudulent lenders all may struggle with the complexities of the system. They deserve legal assistance to ensure they are treated fairly and are aware of the rights our judicial system affords them. Unless we ensure legal assistance, we effectively shut the courthouse doors to Americans who rely on attorneys to protect their rights.
That's why I've been such a big champion for the Legal Services Corporation, known as LSC, which helps fund legal aid programs around the nation. Yesterday, I visited the new headquarters of Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS), one of the programs LSC supports, to help celebrate its grand opening. MALS' work is more important than ever in these difficult economic times, but tightening budgets risk limiting their ability to help Memphians. Earlier this year, I led an effort with 100 of my Congressional colleagues to request increased funding for LSC from the Appropriations Committee, but House Republicans ultimately passed a bill that cut a further $15 million from the program. I am hopeful that my colleagues will join my efforts to restore these cuts and increase funding to the program that supports MALS and so many other important legal aid clinics around the nation. I'll continue to be a leader in Washington for increased funding for these important services.
This week, I announced more than $2.4 million in federal funding for several research projects at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. You can read more about these significant federal investments, which will help keep UTHSC and our city at the forefront of the medical research community, here.
Building a Healthier Memphis and Fighting Breast Cancer
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the racial disparity in breast cancer outcomes in Memphis and throughout the county is deplorable, but we can do more to address it. This year, I launched my "Building a Healthier Memphis" series on wellness in the Ninth District with a panel discussion and educational session focused on this important issue. The panel at my event earlier this year discussed the reasons for the current outcome gap and helped identify how Memphians can take advantage of provisions of the President's Affordable Care Act that include no copay and no deductible mammograms to address the disparity and improve outcomes for themselves, their families, and their communities.
If you are interested in learning more about the Affordable Care Act, how it works, and how it can help you and your family, Seedco will be hosting informational sessions at the Ben Hooks Library from 10:30am to 1pm on November 6th and from 10:30am to 5pm on the 13th. When the health care insurance open enrollment period for 2015 coverage begins, Seedco will also host enrollment sessions at the library from 10:30am to 5pm on November 18th, and from 10:30am to 1pm on December 4th, 11th, 16th, and 18th. At each of these sessions, there will be certified health care navigators on site to answer questions you have about the law and assist you in the enrollment process. If you are interested in attending one of the enrollment sessions, please call 901.405.7895 to RSVP.
Memphis Accepting the President's My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge
President Obama announced his "My Brother's Keeper" (MBK) initiative earlier this year to help ensure youth across the country, including boys and young men of color, have opportunities to overcome barriers to succeeding in life and to improving their lives. Just recently, the President announced the MBK Community Challenge to encourage communities to implement a coherent cradle-to-college and career strategy aimed at improving life outcomes for all young people. I am pleased that Memphis is an early acceptor of this challenge which aims to ensure that all children enter school prepared and read at grade level by the 3rd grade and ensure that all young people graduate from high school, complete a post-secondary education, are safe from crime, and that youth who are out of school are employed.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress