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Introducing Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump

November 17, 2017
Enewsletters

Dear Friend,

This week, I introduced Articles of Impeachment against President Trump, pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions on voting rights and the enforcement of drug laws, voted against a fraudulent tax bill, asked the U.S. Trade Representative to reconsider a proposed point-of-origin trade rule, and noted that the time for signing up for healthcare is growing short. Keep reading to learn more about my week and follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see more updates as they happen.

Introducing Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump

Pressing the Attorney General on Voting Rights and Drug Enforcement Priorities

Voting Against GOP Tax Plan

Calling Attention To Time Left to Sign Up For Healthcare.com

Congratulating Millington Central High School Teacher Katherine Watkins

Remembering Dorothy "Happy" Jones

2018 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available

Health Tip

Quote of the Week

Happy Thanksgiving

 


 

Introducing Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump

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On Wednesday, I was joined by five of my colleagues in introducing five articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The articles accuse the President of obstructing justice, violating the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses of the Constitution, undermining the independence of the federal judiciary and undermining the freedom of the press. At a press conference with my colleagues at the U.S. Capitol, I laid out my reasons for taking this action. See my remarks here.

The time has come to make clear to the American people, and to this President, that his train of injuries to our Constitution must be brought to an end through impeachment. I believe there is evidence that the President attempted to obstruct an investigation into Russia's interference with the U.S. presidential election and links between between Russia and the Trump campaign, most notably the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The President's blatant refusal to separate himself from his businesses has led to clear instances of conflict of interest that appear to violate both the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses. And his attacks on ‘so-called' judges and ‘fake news' have undermined public confidence in the judiciary and the press. It's time for Congress to take action to stop this reckless and harmful behavior by removing Mr. Trump from office and to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States."

 


Pressing the Attorney General on Voting Rights and Drug Enforcement Priorities

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On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to question Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing. See our exchange here. While many of my colleagues asked about his inconsistent statements about Russia, I focused on asking him what he has done to see that African Americans have better access to the ballot box. I asked him if he would stop defending Voter ID law cases since they are proven to discriminate against African Americans and Latinos, but he said he would not. I asked him to look at the impact of Early Voting and Election Day voting and other ballot-access issues.

 

Switching gears, I asked General Sessions if he would abide by Congressional appropriations prohibiting federal interference with state-authorized medical marijuana programs, and he said he would. Sessions also agreed that ending the disparity in sentencing for possession of crack and powder cocaine was a positive development.

After he agreed with me that marijuana is less dangerous than heroin, I urged the attorney general to consider the "opportunity cost" of enforcing drug laws and to concentrate on crack, meth opioids and heroin, and make marijuana enforcement a lower priority. I later learned Whoopi Goldberg gave my line of questioning a shout-out on "The View."

 

We have made progress in criminal justice reform, including drug reform. It would be a shame for this Department of Justice to reverse that progress.

 


Voting Against GOP Tax Plan

 

On Thursday, I voted against the falsely named "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," a gimmicky approach to misleading most Americans into thinking they will get tax relief. See my remarks on the House floor here.

 

I voted against H.R. 1 because it is a con job on the middle class, blows up the national debt, and hurts thousands of families in communities like Memphis. Sold as a tax cut for every American, this ill-conceived plan actually raises taxes on millions of middle class families while giving massive tax cuts to the rich and corporate America. The bill disproportionately benefits the rich, transferring over 50 percent of the plan's benefits to the top 1 percent of income earners.

 

H.R. 1 would raise taxes on 36 million working and middle-class American households making less than $155,000. By 2027, 1 in 4 households will see an average tax increase of about $2,100 per family. These numbers would harm hundreds and thousands of families in Memphis and throughout Tennessee.

 

This bill eliminates important deductions meant to help hard-working Americans. It eliminates the student loan interest deduction which makes college more affordable, the mortgage interest deduction which helps families buy and keep their homes, and it eliminates the medical expense deduction which would cause approximately 144,826 Tennessee families to lose a deduction worth an average of $9,284. Even the over one-hundred year-old deduction for state and local taxes is eliminated, hurting communities' ability to pay for good schools, adequate law enforcement, and other essential community services.

 

The partisan proposal eviscerates Federal revenues by irresponsibly blowing up the national deficit by over a trillion dollars. The result will be devastating cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and important safety net programs that provide food stamps, children's health insurance, and programs to help heat the homes of struggling families.

 

The Republican tax bill is nothing more than a cruel gimmick to line the pockets of the rich by gutting the middle-class.

 


Calling Attention To Time Left to Sign Up For Healthcare.com

Open enrollment for Healthcare.gov ("The Affordable Care Act") will run through December 15. I have been utilizing every possible means way possible to make my constituents aware that the time available to sign up has been sharply reduced this year and is six weeks shorter than last year's enrollment period. It is encouraging to read that, despite cuts to funding for public awareness and for "navigators" to help people with the process, people have been signing up at a faster pace than in recent years – with 60 percent higher enrollment than at this point last year. For more information, see Healthcare.gov.

 


Congratulating Millington Central High School Teacher Katherine Watkins

Millington Central High School teacher Katherine Watkins received a big surprise on Thursday, winning the $25,000 Milken Educator Award. Lowell Milken, the Milken Foundation's chairman and co-founder, was on hand at the impromptu assembly, and said it best: "I'm here today because I believe teachers and principals have the most important jobs in our society." Millington Central is a great school with a lot of great teachers and I'm so proud Katherine has been recognized as a national example of excellence. See more about the award here.

 


Remembering Dorothy "Happy" Jones

No one made Memphis more a City of Good Abode than Happy Jones. She was always in the forefront of progress and justice. Happy was a leader for over 50 years, crossing political and racial lines. Hers was a life well lived. See Paula Casey's moving tribute to her here.


2018 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars Are Available

My office currently has a limited number of 2018 U.S. Capitol Historical Society calendars available. If you would like to receive a calendar, please complete this formon my website. Due to the rules of the House, I am only able to mail calendars to residents of Tennessee's 9th District. Please feel free to share this email with other residents of the 9th District who may be interested in receiving one but who do not receive my eNewsletter.


Weekly Health Tip: High Blood Pressure Guidance Has Changed

Each week, I share a health tip in the hopes of promoting a healthy lifestyle for residents of the 9th Congressional District. As always, it is best to check with your doctor before making any changes to your diet, exercise routine or lifestyle.

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology this week released guidelines that effectively raised the number of people with high blood pressure – sometimes called hypertension – from 72 million to 103 million. See The New York Times article on how the change could affect you.

Here's some good guidance for lowering blood pressure from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

 


Quote of the Week

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"The prosecution (of impeachment) will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and will divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust, and they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself." – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 65, March 7, 1788

 

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish all my constituents a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Go Tigers! Beat SMU!

As always, I remain.

Most sincerely,
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Steve Cohen
Member of Congress

Issues:9th DistrictCivil RightsGovernment ReformJudiciaryMemphisMillingtonShelby CountyTennessee