Dear Friend,

This week, as the Republican House leadership doubled down on dangerous and harmful legislation on orders from Donald Trump, I voted against their plans to dismantle public broadcasting and shut down life-saving foreign aid. I also applauded decisions by Appropriations subcommittees that approved $18.8 million for projects in Tennessee’s 9^th Congressional District, was re-appointed to the Helsinki Commission, spoke from the House floor on Trump’s misguided law enforcement priorities, sought clarity about the Jeffrey Epstein case, spoke on CNN about Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot and his supercomputer in Memphis, and offered a Friday Flashback, a Bill Day cartoon and a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens.

Voting to Protect Our Soft Power and Public Broadcasting

Applauding Approval of $18.8 Million in Appropriations Projects

Continuing to Promote Human Rights Abroad

Questioning Immigration and Customs Enforcement Priorities

Seeking Transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein Case

Discussing Musk’s xAI and Harm to Air Quality on CNN

Meeting with the Ukrainian Ambassador about Drones

The Friday Flashback

A Bill Day Cartoon

Weekly Health Tip

Quote of the Week

Voting to Protect Our Soft Power and Public Broadcasting

Just after midnight this morning, I voted against a terrible bill rescinding $9 billion already appropriated by Congress for PBS, NPR and critical foreign aid. The foreign aid measures now repealed were our soft power, the influence we have overseas that prevents war. I agree with retired Navy Admiral William McRaven that reducing the effectiveness of the State Department’s USAID soft power diplomacy is a mistake. The only winners are China and Russia. Republicans raised issues with some foreign aid they characterized as “woke,” but the bulk of our assistance is food for the hungry and medicines for the sick.

I’ve always admired the work PBS does with Ken Burns documentaries and its serious approach to news with the longstanding NewsHour, not to mention its children’s programing. Before the vote, I put out a statement explaining why the measure was ill-advised and why I would vote against it. See that statement here.

Applauding Approval of $18.8 Million in Appropriations Projects

It is still early in the process, but I am pleased that three Appropriations subcommittees have approved $18,827,487 for 15 projects in the 9^th Congressional District for which I sought funding. Among the projects is $3,150,000 for the restoration of historic Clayborn Temple, where organizers of the 1968 sanitation workers strike met, which burned down in April. See a list of all the projects given preliminary approval in this release.  

Continuing to Promote Human Rights Abroad

Last Friday, I was reappointed to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, and will again serve as the top House Democrat on the bicameral, bipartisan panel overseeing human rights that I have been a member of since March of 2011. See my release on the appointment detailing the commission’s duties here.

Questioning Immigration and Customs Enforcement Priorities

On Tuesday, I spoke from the House floor about the Big, Ugly Bill Trump signed into law on the 4^th of July and noted it contains more funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) than for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Trump told us he was going to go after the “worst of the worst” undocumented criminals but it turns out he’s only looking to break deportation records by detaining and deporting busboys, landscapers, hospital orderlies, poultry processers and the millions of our immigrant neighbors who make America work. This cruel and unnecessary policy will harm the economy. We should be better than this. See my floor speech here.

Seeking Transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein Case

I joined my Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee in asking Republican Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio for a hearing on the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump and his Attorney General Pam Bondi have the MAGAverse up in arms over efforts to quell longstanding demands to know what the FBI found when it executed search warrants at his Manhattan townhouse in 2019. I questioned then-Attorney General Bill Barr about the case in 2020 and FBI Director Christopher Wray last year. See a statement I put out on Tuesday here.

Discussing Musk’s xAI and Harm to Air Quality on CNN

Also Tuesday, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown interviewed me about Elon Musk and his Grok chatbot’s antisemitic ravings. They also asked about Grok contracting with the Pentagon. I noted that Musk’s energy-hungry supercomputer is in my 9^th Congressional District and that I am concerned about its use of natural gas turbines to power it while adding to the poor air quality and its negative health effects, as well as its massive local tax breaks. I also said that Musk’s access to sensitive national security information is more than problematic. See the CNN interview here.

Meeting with the Ukrainian Ambassador about Drones

As a member of the Ukraine Caucus, I attended a briefing Wednesday on Ukraine’s successful use of drones in attacks on Russian air bases and defense against Russian missiles with Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova and Air Force General Borys Kremenetskyi. We discussed the progress Ukraine is making and its need for weaponry so it can hold on.

The Friday Flashback

This is me with my longtime friend, the actress Cybill Shepherd in Memphis in 2003

A Bill Day Cartoon – “We don’t need no education”

Weekly Health Tip

Wednesday was the third anniversary of the rollout of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline phone number. In those three years, 16.5 million people with mental health, substance abuse or thoughts of suicide have dialed the lifeline, but a poll shows that just 74 percent of the population even knows it exists. Just yesterday, the Trump Administration ended specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth through 988. I joined my Congressional colleagues in a letter opposing the termination. These young people are particularly susceptible to mental health issues so the termination could cause real harm. Though the specialized services have been terminated, counseling is still available.

If you are struggling, please know that the 988 lifeline is available to you via phone, text or chat.

Quote of the Week

“(Elon) Musk said that the great weakness of Western civilization is empathy. You fool. Empathy is the glue of humanity. It is the basis of civilization.” -- Bob Geldof, promoter of the epic Live Aid concerts addressing famine in Africa, on their 40^th anniversary last Sunday 

As always, I remain…

Sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress