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Traveling to the U.S.-Mexico Border

August 2, 2019
Enewsletters

August 2, 2019

Dear Friend,
This week, I traveled to the Texas-Mexico border towns of El Paso and Juarez with a Congressional delegation to investigate the implementation of Trump Administration border and immigration policies. I also led a letter from 31 Members of Congress demanding answers from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler about the agency's efforts to roll back a 2015 rule on the cleanup of toxic coal ash dumps like the one at the Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis; announced a significant Federal Aviation Administration grant to improve Concourse B at Memphis International Airport; condemned the President's ongoing racist attacks on Members of Congress of color; and offered a health tip about August being National Immunization Awareness Month. Keep reading to learn more about my week and follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see more updates as they happen.

Visiting the United States-Mexico Border
Demanding Answers from Environmental Protection Agency on Coal Ash Pollution
Announcing $11.2 Million Grant to Memphis International Airport
Condemning the President's Racism
Weekly Health Tip
Quote of the Week


Visiting the United States-Mexico Border

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The Delegation outside U.S. Consulate in Juarez. Congressman. Cohen at a press conference

On Wednesday afternoon, I flew down to El Paso, Texas, to join 24 other Members of Congress in investigating the impact of Trump Administration immigration policies. On Thursday, we traveled across the border into Juarez, Mexico, and talked to Mexican immigration officials and officials at the U.S. Consulate. On Friday, we traveled to a shelter for children aged 12 or older who arrived in our country unaccompanied or who were separated from their parents or guardians. We also visited an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility and talked with Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers at the El Paso Port of Entry to the United States. We need a new policy at the border and regarding Central America. For more than 200 years, we followed the Monroe Doctrine to make Central America ours for our economic and political advantage with the help of corrupt Latin American rulers. We need a new Monroe Doctrine focused on investments in the people of Central America. See my remarks at a press conference on the border here. It was important for me to see the condition of these immigration shelters and talk to immigration officials so that we can have proper oversight of Trump immigration policies. We are a nation of immigrants and the reports of the Trump Administration's treatment of people coming to the United States, mainly from Central America, are disturbing.

Demanding Answers from the Environmental Protection Agency on Coal Ash Pollution

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On Wednesday, I led a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler that was signed by 30 fellow Members of Congress. In the letter, we urge the EPA to immediately refrain from efforts to roll back the Coal Ash Rule and instead make good on its promise to expeditiously complete new rulemakings that strengthen the rule. We are concerned that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to weaken several critical health and environmental protections for the disposal of coal ash, rather than protect the health of communities near the hundreds of contaminated sites identified by the industry's own monitoring data. Vulnerable communities have been living with the devastating impacts of coal ash contamination for far too long. See my release and the letter to Wheeler here.

Announcing $11.2 Million Grant to Memphis International Airport

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On Monday, I announced that the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority will be receiving an $11.2 million grant to upgrade the infrastructure of Concourse B and replaces some passenger bridges. See my release here.

Condemning the President's Racism

I am growing increasingly concerned with President Trump's strident racism and his attacks on Members of Congress of color who have been rightly critical of his policy positions, most recently Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland who represents parts of Baltimore and is Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Trump's use of racism is intentional and strategic, meaning Members of Congress must continue to unabashedly speak out against him and exercise our Constitutional duty of oversight of this lawless President.

Weekly Health Tip

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August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and a good time to review your and your school children's immunization status before the new school year begins. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines here.

Quote of the Week

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"The Trump Administration's actions at the southern border are grotesque and dehumanizing. There seems to be open contempt for the rule of law and for basic human decency." – Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland, July 2, 2019.

As always, I remain
Most sincerely,

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Steve Cohen
Member of Congress