Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy
Dear Friend,
This week, I celebrated the life of one of my heroes, Robert F. Kennedy, on the 50th anniversary of his untimely death. I also learned Memphis will receive a huge, $71.2 million Department of Transportation grant to redevelop 4.5 miles of the Lamar Avenue Corridor, attended the RFK Human Rights Award ceremony with Lausanne students, presided over a hearing on controversial changes to the U.S. Census questionnaire, wrote an op-ed on the Poor People's Campaign of 1968 for The Hill newspaper, monitored arguments in a lawsuit in which I'm a plaintiff opposing President Trump's violation of the Constitution's anti-corruption provision, expressed concern about Trump's erratic use of the pardon power, succeeded in getting more money for a program to make trucks more fuel-efficient, persuaded the House to stop buying plastic drinking straws for its cafeterias, spoke out against immigration raids in Tennessee and offered a health tip after two high-profile suicides. Keep reading to learn more about my week and follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see more updates as they happen.
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy
Applauding $71.2 million DOT grant for Lamar Avenue Corridor
Attending the RFK Human Rights Award Ceremony with Lausanne Students
Presiding at Hearing on Adding Citizenship Question to 2020 Census
Writing an Opinion article on the 1968 Poor People's Campaign
Supporting Lawsuit Highlighting Trump's Conflicts of Interest
Expressing Concern About Trump's Use of the Pardon Power
Appropriating $2 million more for SuperTruck II Program
Limiting Use of Plastic Straws to Protect the Environment
Speaking Out Against Immigration Raids in Tennessee
Signing Up for "Congress On Your Corner" and this e-Newsletter
Weekly Health Tip
Quote of the Week
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy
On Wednesday, I attended a celebration of the life of Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was assassinated while running for President 50 years ago. Former President Bill Clinton reminded us of the timeless wisdom of his words and encouraged us to advance the work Robert Kennedy could not finish. Seventeen people – including members of Congress John Lewis, Nancy Pelosi and Edward Markey and gun violence student activist Emma Gonzalez – read quotations from RFK's memorable speeches while his 90-year-old widow, Ethel, looked on. Later, I attended a reception hosted by the Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall and the Kennedy Family. The somber anniversary was notably hopeful as it recalled his extraordinary legacy and inspired us to dream of things that never were and ask "why not?"
Applauding $71.2 million DOT grant for Lamar Avenue Corridor
On Tuesday, I learned that Memphis will be awarded a huge, $71.2 million U.S. Department of Transportation Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant for roadway repairs and capacity upgrades to Lamar Avenue, a regionally and nationally important intermodal freight corridor. This project, which will bring jobs and economic development to the region, has been one of my top priorities as a senior Member on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and will result in major redevelopment upgrades along 4.5 miles of Lamar between the Mississippi State Line and Getwell. By making truck and freight traffic in and out of the BNSF intermodal facility more efficient, more goods will be transported through America's Distribution Hub and more jobs will come to the Bluff City. This is a big win for Memphis.
Attending the RFK Human Rights Award Ceremony with Lausanne Students
Above: Congressman Cohen stands with students from Lausanne Collegiate School | Below: Kerry Kennedy and Congressman Cohen
On Tuesday, in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building, where both John F. Kennedy, in 1960, and Robert F. Kennedy, in 1968, declared their candidacies for President, I attended the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award ceremonies with Lausanne Collegiate School teachers Catherine Hammons, Rachel Hammons, Maria Pirani and Julie Cooper and 26 of their students in Washington studying human rights. The awards this year, announced by Robert's daughter Kerry, recognized the work of Color of Change, the International Indigenous Youth Council, March For Our Lives and United We Dream. At one point, a young woman who described herself as "undocumented, unafraid and here to stay," led the crowd in a chorus of "We have come too far; we will not turn back. We'll flood the streets with justice. We are freedom bound."
Presiding at Hearing on Adding Citizenship Question to 2020 Census
As the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, I presided over a hearing Friday morning on the Trump Administration's intention of adding a question about citizenship status to the decennial U.S. Census in 2020. See my opening statement here. This is a transparent effort to suppress the response rate of immigrants and undercount their numbers, with a predictably devastating effect of cities with large numbers of immigrants losing their fair share of Congressional seats, Electoral College votes and federal funding. Six former directors of the U.S. Census serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations have publicly opposed adding the citizenship question. The Constitution is clear that we are to count "the whole number of persons" living in the U.S. Efforts to do otherwise are unacceptable.
Writing an Opinion article on the 1968 Poor People's Campaign
Also Wednesday, The Hill newspaper published an article Congressman Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi and I wrote about the Poor People's Campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. intended to lead before he was assassinated in Memphis in April of 1968. The crusade 50 years ago began in Thompson's district. We praised the work of the Reverend William Barber of the Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C., for raising in our day many of the same issues Dr. King raised in his. See the article here.
Supporting Lawsuit Highlighting Trump's Conflicts of Interest
On Thursday, a federal judge heard arguments in Blumenthal et al. v. Trump, a lawsuit in which I'm one of 198 Congressional plaintiffs. The lawsuit makes the case that the President has been violating a provision in the U.S. Constitution that forbids his receiving payments or things of value from foreign governments. Trump has conflicts of interest arising from his private interests in at least 25 countries and appears to be using his presidency to maximize his companies' profits. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is owned by China, and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, which is owned by the United Arab Emirates, both pay to lease space at Trump properties in New York City. Press accounts have documented the abuse of the provision at several other Trump-owned businesses, including the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue just blocks from the White House.
Expressing Concern About Trump's Use of the Pardon Power
President Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of former Memphian Alice Marie Johnson, who has served 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense. While I sought commutation for Ms. Johnson in a letter to President Obama and am pleased her sentence has been commuted, I find Trump's scattershot rationales for using the pardon power – this time, induced to do so by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West – troubling. I fear Trump's pardons of Joe Arpaio, Scooter Libby and Dinesh D'Souza could be an attempt to send a message to those under suspicion or already indicted in the Special Counsel's probe of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election that they should not cooperate with investigators. If so, this could be considered an obstruction of justice. The President needs to adhere to a consistent policy on pardons and focus on thousands of nonviolent drug offenders whose requests for clemency should be carefully vetted by the Justice Department, and stop acting like a beneficent king granting pardons by royal whim.
Appropriating $2 million more for SuperTruck II Program
On Thursday night, the House passed my amendment to add $2 million to the Department of Energy's SuperTruck II Program. The SuperTruck program was started by the Department of Energy under President Obama and former Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to improve freight and heavy-duty vehicle efficiency. The Appropriations Committee acknowledged in its committee report the success of the SuperTruck II program, and these funds will help SuperTruck II to continue to improve the freight efficiency of heavy-duty Class 8 long-haul and regional-haul vehicles through hybridization, saving more fuel while idling, engineering high-efficiency HVAC technologies and more.
Limiting Use of Plastic Straws to Protect the Environment
My amendment to prohibit the House of Representatives from spending money on plastic drinking straws for its cafeterias and other food services passed the House on Friday morning as part of a broader spending bill. It is my hope that visitors to the House will soon see that we are leading by example and highlighting the problem of plastic trash that harms the environment and threatens animals.
Speaking Out Against Immigration Raids in Tennessee
On Thursday afternoon, I joined my colleagues Luis Gutierrez and Pramila Jayapal in denouncing recent immigration raids, including one at a meat-processing plant in Bean Station, Tennessee, as contrary to American values and reflective of the divisive and pointlessly punitive policies aimed at hardworking immigrants. The overflow crowd heard that the level of arrests and detentions is far higher than in previous years. Several speakers also denounced the new Trump Administration policy of separating parents and children seeking asylum.
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Weekly Health Tip
Each week, I share a health tip in the hope of promoting a healthy lifestyle for residents of the 9thCongressional District. As always, it is best to check with your doctor before making any changes to your diet, exercise routine or lifestyle.
The high-profile suicides this week of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain are a painful reminder that suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States and that rates have risen 25 percent since 1999, according to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). If you or a loved are in crisis or struggling with suicidal thoughts, please consider calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-TALK (8255). Read more about suicide prevention here.
"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black." -- Robert F. Kennedy, Indianapolis, April 4, 1968, on the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and, crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." – Robert F. Kennedy, University of Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966.
As always, I remain,
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress