Dear Friend,

This week, as contingents of U.S. Marines and U.S. Army 82^nd Airborne paratroopers head for the Persian Gulf, I questioned whether President Trump and his sycophantic advisors know why we’re there and what we can do to end the ongoing disaster. Meanwhile, Trump showed up in Memphis to make misleading claims about his administration’s crime-fighting efforts, and to insult Elvis fans with his visit to a real king’s house. At the moment, I’m in D.C. waiting to vote on measures to fund the Department of Homeland Security and get TSA workers paid but how – or if -- these issues will be resolved this weekend is unclear. This week I also sought clarity on pending drug policy issues, announced three National Institutes of Health grants to St. Jude and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), congratulated Memphis East T-STEM Academy student filmmakers for a coveted C-SPAN award for their documentary “The Pursuit,” planned to attend the Greenbelt Landing groundbreaking on Monday, and offered a weekly health tip, a Friday Flashback and a timely Doonesbury cartoon. Keep reading and follow me on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens.

Standing Up for Memphis During President Trump’s Visit

Expressing Concern at Haphazard Approach to Iran War

Voting to Fund DHS Programs Except Immigration Enforcement

Seeking Clarity on Two Major Drug Policy Initiatives

Announcing Three National Institutes of Health Grants

Congratulating Memphis East T-STEM Academy Students for Winning Prestigious C-SPAN Documentary Award

Breaking Ground at Greenbelt Landing on Monday

Weekly Health Tip

The Friday Flashback

A Doonesbury Cartoon

Quote of the Week

Standing Up for Memphis During President Trump’s Visit

When Donald Trump came to Memphis this week, I spoke out before, during, and after his visit to make clear that Memphians deserve real solutions, not political theater. I raised concerns ahead of his trip, went on CNN Monday morning, and held a press conference here at home to push back on the narrative coming from Washington. Crime was already declining thanks to local leadership. Trump said his task force had reduced crime by 70 percent, which isn’t true, and he said that within two months Memphis would be “crime free.” There were two shootings on Beale Street the night before he arrived, one fatal, and there were shootings in Frasier the day after. Much as I hate to say it, crime is still a problem, and sending in the National Guard and ICE has not stopped the violence that leads to homicide. What Memphis needs are investments in affordable housing, education, health care, and workforce development, which are the root causes of crime. The President offered none of that. I will always stand up for Memphis and fight for the resources our community actually needs.

Expressing Concern at Haphazard Approach to Iran War

Article One, Section Eight: “The Congress shall have Power…

Trump, Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio continue to keep the country in the dark about why we’re attacking Iran and what the ultimate goals might be. I am extremely concerned with Trump’s reckless escalation as contingents of U.S. Marines and U.S. Army 82^nd Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in the region. It’s clear Trump and his advisors either didn’t consider or ignored the consequences of their reckless actions, like soaring gas prices. The American public is justifiably dismayed at the daily incompetence on display. Congress has the sole authority to declare war and even though the Republican majority killed Democrats’ recent efforts to restrain the President, I continue to make my opposition to the war known to my colleagues in Congress and to the administration.

Voting to Fund DHS Programs Except Immigration Enforcement

Sometime later today or perhaps on Saturday, the House is expected to take up measures to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I’d like to vote for the same measure the Senate passed in the early hours on Friday morning, funding most DHS programs but restricting funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CPB) until safeguards protecting civil liberties and guaranteeing transparency are in place. At the moment, what will happen in the hours ahead remains unclear. Republicans are refusing to concur with the Senate action that would have funded TSA agents, the Coast Guard and other agencies, and insist on a measure fully finding ICE and CPB even though they know it’s dead on arrival in the Senate, which has already adjourned for two weeks. I’m embarrassed at how badly Speaker Mike Johnson is mishandling this. He’s in way over his head. And me? I’m stuck inside of D.C., with the Memphis blues again.

Seeking Clarity on Two Major Drug Policy Initiatives

This morning, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Drug Enforcement Administrator Terrance Cole seeking clarity on two issues of national drug policy. Trump asked Bondi to act in “the most expeditious manner” to have marijuana rescheduled in December, but my letter notes that there’s no administrative law judge available to consider the matter. Also, the scientific research provisions of a fentanyl bill aren’t being implemented after the time for compliance has lapsed, the letter notes. See my release and the full text of the letter here.

Congratulating Memphis East T-STEM Academy Students for Winning Prestigious C-SPAN Documentary Award

This week, my office was informed that students Paytn Gibson, Carter Holmes and Ty Miller of Memphis East T-STEM Academy have won the prestigious StudentCam2026 award from C-SPAN for their documentary about immigration in Memphis called “The Pursuit.” This exceptionally well done film explores immigration issues and the lives of our immigrant neighbors through interviews with those immediately affected by current immigration policy and local political leaders. I commend the filmmakers for their fine work. See the five-minute documentary here.

Announcing Three National Institutes of Health Grants

This week, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) received three research grants totaling $1,884,220 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). See details of the work supported by the funding here, here, and here.

Breaking Ground at Greenbelt Landing on Monday

On Monday afternoon, I will help break ground and speak at the site of the Greenbelt Landing Project being developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Memphis for which I secured $3 million in community project federal funding. The 102-acre park at the north end of Mud Island on the Mississippi River will undergo a major renovation, including repairs to the existing boat ramp, a new upstream boat ramp, boat mooring anchors, ADA-compliant parking improvements and enhanced lighting for safety. I look forward to the day we begin seeing riverboats landing at Greenbelt Landing.

Weekly Health Tip

Monday’s health care roundtable

On Monday afternoon, I convened a health care policy roundtable at my District Office with representatives of health and medical fields -- from hands-on practitioners to policy wonks and public employees. Many had never before been in the same room together, and I moderated a lively discussion. Several attending mentioned that Memphis consistently  ranks among the highest in the nation for new HIV infections. Many health partners in the city coordinate to screen as many people as possible, yet some who are most at risk do not get screened. Delaying awareness of an HIV infection worsens health outcomes and can result in more people being infected. HIV infection may cause no symptoms in its early stages. The only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested. Visit https://www.shelbytnhealth.com/657/Free-HIV-Testing to find an HIV screening location near you.

The Friday Flashback

This is me with Ketch Secor, frontman of the Old Crow Medicine Show, at the Germantown Performing Arts Center in 2019. The Old Crow Medicine Show with Mollie Tuttle plays the Overton Park Shell on April 18.

A Doonesbury Cartoon

Quote of the Week

“We have long known that, as he left office in 2021, President Donald Trump stole classified documents, hoarded them in the ballrooms and bathrooms of his Mar-a-Lago clubhouse, defied subpoenas, and obstructed law enforcement. One lingering question has been: why? Why would Donald Trump go to such extraordinary lengths to steal classified documents, hoard them, and refuse to return them?...These new disclosures suggest that Donald Trump stole documents so sensitive that only six people in the entire U.S. government had access to them, that the documents President Trump stole pertained to his business interests, and that Susie Wiles, then the CEO of Donald Trump’s super PAC, witnessed President Trump showing off a classified map to passengers on his private plane. This glimpse into the trove of evidence behind the coverup reveals a President of the United States who may have sold out our national security to enrich himself…

“It is now clear that DOJ is in possession of evidence that President Trump has already endangered national security to further the interests of Trump family businesses. It is time for you to stop the cover-up and allow the American people to know what secrets he betrayed and how he may have cashed in on them. Our country is at war, American lives are at stake, and the answer to these questions has never been more pressing.” – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday

I hope everyone takes the opportunity to celebrate the First Amendment and our cherished liberties with thousands of their like-minded friends on Saturday. I had planned to join the group at Robert R. Church Park, 191 Beale Street, at 2 p.m., but the chaos in Washington and the lack of flights home now make that unlikely. I hope you’ll be there.

I want to wish everyone a deeply memorable Passover and Holy Week next week.

As always, I remain

Sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress