Finalizing Draft Resolution Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike
Dear Friend,
This week, I finalized a Congressional resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, called attention to my bill protecting special counsel appointees, attended a Judiciary Committee field hearing in New York, voted to re-open the federal government after a three-day shutdown, noted with some regret that the Diocese of Memphis plans to end its Jubilee Schools, commended Governor Bill Haslam on his comprehensive approach to the opioid crisis, attended Washington's Women's March since I couldn't be in Memphis because of the Republican-caused shutdown, mourned the death of Overton Square founder Jimmy Robinson, and wrote to the Treasury Department to encourage it to continue its policies permitting marijuana businesses access to financial institutions in states where the substance is legal. Keep reading to learn more about my week and follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see more updates as they happen.
Finalizing Draft Resolution Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike
Protecting the Integrity of Special Counsel Appointees
Voting to Re-Open the Government After a Three-Day Shutdown
Speaking at the Women's March at the Lincoln Memorial
Regretting the Announced Closure of the Jubilee Schools
Commending Governor Haslam for a Compassionate and Comprehensive Response to the Opioid Crisis
Attending a Judiciary Committee Field Hearing in New York
Mourning the Death of Jimmy Robinson, a founder of Overton Square
Writing to Treasury Regarding Marijuana Businesses Access to Banks
Remembering Hugh Masekela
Weekly Health Tip
Quote of the Week
This week, I finished drafting a resolution that will commemorate the sacrifices undergone by Memphis Sanitation Workers during the strike that began 50 years ago next month and led to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis.
I was reminded of all the work done behind the scenes by brave lawyers and the Memphis Ministerial Association and the dramatic discord that tore our city apart and led to a temporary state of martial law. It was a historic time and led to an early integration of the Civil Rights and Labor movements from which we can still learn lessons today. I plan to introduce the resolution when Congress reconvenes next week.
Protecting the Integrity of Special Counsel Appointees
The news that President Trump had ordered the firing of Robert Mueller last June prompted news organizations to seek me out about my bill, H.R. 4669, the Special Counsel Integrity Act, that lays out the requirements and limitations for disciplining or removing special counsel appointed under Department of Justice regulations. I have been concerned about the possible firing of Mr. Mueller, who has obtained two indictments and two guilty pleas while investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. My bill would clarify that a special counsel can only be removed for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest or other good cause; be informed of the cause in writing; and may seek judicial review of the removal. This story from Buzzfeed News on Friday explains my reasoning.
Voting to Re-Open the Government After a Three-Day Shutdown
On Monday, I voted with a bipartisan group of members to re-open the federal government after a shutdown caused by Republican intransigence on children's health care and a humane solution to dealing with immigrants who came to our country as children. Many of my constituents have government jobs and need government programs. A government shutdown makes it difficult for them to live day to day. Government serves the people; it's an important facet of our society, and it needs to work.
Many of my colleagues held out for a resolution to the situation with individuals brought to this country as children, and I was pleased to hear that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to bring the issue to a vote in the weeks ahead. However House Speaker Paul Ryan has made no such pledge and I seriously doubt he will bring the Senate measure to the floor. Instead, I suspect the House will be offered a more draconian immigration bill that the Senate won't accept and the matter may well end in a stalemate. I am committed to doing my part to get these issues resolved before the February 8th deadline.
Speaking at the Women's March at the Lincoln Memorial
Although I had planned to speak at the Women's March at First Congregational Church on South Cooper last Saturday, I had to stay in Washington as negotiations to end the Republican-led government shutdown progressed. After some business on the House floor, I drove my colleagues Debbie Wasserman Shultz of Florida, Pramila Jayapal of Washington State and Jimmy Gomez of California down Independence Avenue and joined Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others in addressing those in attendance on the National Mall. In my speech, I said I'd hoped to be in Memphis, but I also told the crowd I introduced Articles of Impeachment against President Trump in November, and the crowd roared its approval. See my remarks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial here.
Regretting the Announced Closure of the Jubilee Schools
I was disappointed to learn that, due to financial factors beyond its control the Catholic Diocese of Memphis will be ending its noble experiment with Jubilee Schools in 2019. The schools have been a boon to a generation of Memphis students who have benefited from high academic standards and character-building discipline over the years and whose lives were immeasurably changed for the better by repeated acts of kindness and dedication to the children of poor neighborhoods. The good the Jubilee Schools have done and will continue to do for a while longer will never be forgotten.
Commending Governor Haslam for a Compassionate and Comprehensive Response to the Opioid Crisis
On Tuesday, I commended Governor Bill Haslam for making the opioid crisis a top legislative priority this year and for placing the emphasis on prevention and treatment.
Haslam's "TN Together," a statewide program targeting an opioid crisis that is killing three Tennesseans a day, is a smart move and focuses on the right priorities – prevention and treatment rather than punishment. It's best to treat this crisis compassionately as a public health issue and address it with proven solutions.
The plan would limit the supply and dosage of opioid prescriptions, with initial prescriptions limited to a five-day supply. It would also provide naloxone, a drug reverses or blocks the effect of opioids for people who have overdosed, to Tennessee State Troopers.
The federal money for the plan comes from the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill I was proud to vote for in 2016. I am glad that funding from this important legislation is going to help Tennesseans struggling with opioid addiction.
Attending a Judiciary Committee Field Hearing in New York
Congressman Cohen with Booker T. Jones and with Dionne Warwick at Friday's hearing
On Friday, I attended a Judiciary Committee field hearing at Fordham University Law School New York and heard testimony on a variety of music copyright and licensing issues. I also got to talk with hearing witnesses Dionne Warwick and Memphis native Booker T Jones. In her testimony, Ms. Warwick noted that artists and labels only get paid for music played on radio that was recorded after February 15, 1972. "How could it be that 1979's ‘I'll Never Love This Way Again' receives compensation but 1969's ‘I'll Never Fall in Love Again' -- or my exceptional co-panelist Booker T Jones's 1962 hit ‘Green Onions' – does not?" she asked. In his testimony, Booker T (of Booker T and the MGs) made a similar point. He said "Green Onions" might be "ground-breaking" or even a "classic," but others have "a less-dignified name for it: ‘Pre-72.' " I continue to work with colleagues to assure fairness for artists and performers and am a co-sponsor of Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society Act, (CLASSICS Act), which would address Dionne's and Booker's situation.
Mourning the Death of Jimmy Robinson, a founder of Overton Square
This week, I learned that my old friend Jimmy Robinson, an innovator who helped bring music and liquor by the drink, good food and fun to the corner of Madison and North Cooper with the creation of Overton Square, had died in New Orleans.
Robinson -- along with Ben Woodson, Charlie Hull and Frank Doggrell and developer George Saig -- led the effort in 1969 to allow restaurants to sell liquor by the drink. Their work paid off when the first T.G.I. Friday's franchise outside New York City received a liquor license. With Friday's as an anchor, Overton Square took off, with 11 restaurants and 27 shops employing 800 people in the 1970s.
Jimmy was instrumental in the opening and management of Trader Dicks and the Ritz venues west of the square where music thrived in Memphis. He brought Jesse Winchester home from Canada to perform, among many others.
Jimmy was a brilliant, charitable, knowledgeable and creative thinker and a loyal, good friend, and he taught me a lot. He made Memphis a better place.
Writing to Treasury Regarding Marijuana Businesses Access to Banks
Also this week, I joined my colleagues in writing a letter the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Director Ken Blanco asking him to keep in place the 2014 guidance regarding the banking infrastructure and access to financial institutions for businesses that are operating in accord with state laws permitting the production, possession and sale of marijuana. The letter cautioned that rescinding the guidance would inject uncertainty into financial markets and disrupt the market for marijuana now legal in some form in 30 states and the District of Columbia.
This week also brought news of the death of South African jazz trumpeter, composer and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Masekela, one of last year's National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award winners. Although he was too sick to make it to Memphis in October, his son accepted the award for him at The Orpheum. Let's remember this towering hero with one of the songs he sang around the world. Listen here.
Each week, I share a health tip in the hopes 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending that individuals over 50 consider getting vaccinated against shingles. Shingles is a painful rash that can result in long-lasting pain known as postherpetic neuralgia. Chances of getting either condition increase with age. See the CDC's advice and useful information here.
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."
Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting opinion, Olmstead v. United States (1928)
As always, I remain,
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress