Touring Veterans Facilities with VA Secretary Denis McDonough
Dear Friend,
This week, I welcomed Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough to Memphis and joined him as he toured facilities serving our veterans and spoke with veterans about their needs and the services being provided. It was a good and productive fact-finding visit. I also received the sad and outrageous news that a Russian opposition figure and journalist who recently testified at a hearing I conducted with the Helsinki Commission has been arrested on phony charges in Moscow. I demanded his immediate release. I also followed events in Ukraine and concurred with the findings of independent investigations that what Russia is doing constitutes war crimes that should be prosecuted. I also offered a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see what I'm doing as it happens.
Touring Veterans Facilities with VA Secretary Denis McDonough
Demanding that Russian Opposition Leader Be Freed
Following Events Unfolding in Ukraine
Touring Veterans Venues with VA Secretary Denis McDonough
Congressman Cohen, Secretary McDonough and the staff of the Memphis Vet Center
On Tuesday, I joined Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough during his visit in Memphis, and we toured the Memphis National Cemetery, the Memphis Vet Center on Nonconnah Boulevard and the VA Medical Center on Jefferson. McDonough was President Obama's Chief of Staff from 2013 to 2017, and this was our first meeting since that time. He was extremely impressive in his representation and concern for Veterans Affairs and for each of the employees and the patients who he greeted and listened to with sincere interest. Minnesotan by birth, he was particularly affected by the monument to the Minnesota Union forces at our national cemetery. At the Vet Center, we heard about the various resources available to veterans, including mental health and psychological counselling, readjustment assistance and service record requests. At the Medical Center, we discussed a nursing staff shortage and the time it will take to train and staff existing vacancies. The center's new CEO, Joseph P. Vaughn, conducted the tour and noted that his immediate goal is to get its "trust score," based on surveys of veterans, above the 90-percent range. I think the Secretary benefitted from the visit and local veterans also saw the commitment to their welfare made by the Biden administration and by me. I believe he is the perfect choice for the VA.
Demanding that Russian Opposition Leader Be Freed
On Monday, I learned that Russian opposition leader, journalist and my friend Vladimir Kara-Murza had been arrested in Moscow shortly after giving an interview to CNN. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, on which I serve as Co-Chairman had Mr. Kara-Murza testify on March 29 as a witness on Putin's war on truth. I advised him then, as I have over the past few years, not to return to Russia because his life would be in jeopardy. We have worked together for years on anti-kleptocracy and justice issues. But he went home because he loves his country. Following his arrest, I called for his immediate release in a joint statement with other Helsinki Commission leaders and in my own separate statement. See those here and here. Also this week, I saw the new documentary "Navalny" about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny now serving another nine-year sentence on trumped-up charges. Both Kara-Murza and Navalny have been poisoned by Putin's thugs and yet they return to Russia to pursue freedom for their country. Both are great leaders and men of courage who are widely admired. I am concerned for their safety.
Following Events Unfolding in Ukraine
I agree with the findings of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, President Biden, the State Department and independent investigations that what the Russian armies are doing in Ukraine are war crimes that must be prosecuted. I have said throughout the unjust war that the U.S. and our allies should give President Zelensky and his military everything short of a "no-fly zone."
With the recent uptick in COVID-19 counts, mask mandates are returning to some parts of the country as this more contagious strain of the coronavirus continues to surge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended the mask mandate for planes and public transit through May 3. (It was to have expired next week) I urge everyone to comply with mandates and, even where they are not in effect, wear a mask indoors among strangers. Also, for those over 50, please consider getting the second covid booster shot for which you are now eligible.
"This regime that is in power in our country today is not just corrupt, it's not just kleptocratic, it's not just authoritarian; it's a regime of murderers, and it's important to say it out loud." – Vladimir Kara-Murza in a CNN interview from Moscow on Monday. He was arrested hours later.
I wish everyone a good Passover and a Happy Easter.
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress