Dear Friend,

This week, I joined the throng at the re-naming of our airport for trailblazing Memphis promoter Frederick W. Smith. I also announced significant National Institutes of Health grants to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), expressed concern about the direction Donald Trump is taking our country in a CNN interview, encouraged high school students to consider applying to one of the national service academies, announced a deadline for taking on new constituent casework, and offered a Bill Day cartoon and a weekly health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens.

Celebrating the Re-Naming of Memphis Airport for Fred Smith

Announcing NIH Grants to St. Jude and UTHSC

Expressing Concern about the Future in CNN Interview

Encouraging Applications to the Service Academies

Notifying Constituents of a September 1 Deadline for Casework Requests

No 2027 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars

A Bill Day Cartoon

Weekly Health Tip

Quote of the Week

Celebrating the Re-Naming of Memphis Airport for Fred Smith

On Tuesday, I joined the celebration at the re-naming of our airport, now officially the Frederick W. Smith International Airport. Fred did more for our city and region than almost anyone else and made Memphis a cargo transportation and logistics hub based on his vision of overnight deliveries and our city’s prospects for greatness. I was at the ceremony for two purposes: one was my responsibility as a public official, and my invitation was as a public official, but I was also there because of the extreme high regard I hold Fed Smith in – one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever had the opportunity to engage with. Re-naming the airport in his honor was the right thing to do. See my appreciation for all he did for our community in this Congressional Record statement.

Announcing NIH Grants to St. Jude and UTHSC

On Thursday, I announced that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will receive substantial grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). See details in my release here.

Expressing Concern about the Future in CNN Interview

In a lengthy interview with Paula Newton of CNN International on Monday, I expressed grave concern about the future of our country with an incompetent president surrounded by his sycophantic advisors. We talked about the dangerously low level of defensive ordnance in the war we started with Iran and discussed Trump’s efforts to meddle in the mid-term elections. See the interview here.

Encouraging Applications to the Service Academies

Students interested in attending the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis), the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, or the U.S. Coast Guard Academy are encouraged to apply for a congressional nomination through my office. Applicants must reside in Tennessee’s 9^th Congressional District under the existing (pre-redistricting) district boundaries. The deadline is Wednesday, September 30. Click here to get started. If you have questions or need more information, contact my District Director Willie “Hank” Henry Jr. at (901) 544-4131.

Notifying Constituents of a September 1 Deadline for Casework Requests

As I prepare to leave Congress, I am particularly proud of the work my staff and I have done to improve lives by helping constituents with interactions with federal agencies like Medicare, Veterans Affairs, HUD, SNAP, the IRS and others. Realistically, resolving these issues takes more time than I have left in office, so I have set a September 1 deadline for taking on new casework to ensure all constituents who reach out receive the attention and support they deserve. 

No 2027 U.S. Capitol Historical Society Calendars

Over the years, I have offered a limited number of U.S. Capitol Historical Society calendars to constituents. This year, that won’t be possible after Trump asked the Tennessee legislature to carve up the 9^th Congressional District to dilute its African American majority vote and I decided to retire.

A Bill Day Cartoon – “Above the Law”

Weekly Health Tip

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order overhauling the recommended childhood vaccination schedule from 17 diseases down to 11 and suggested the combined Mumps, Measles and Rubella (MMR) shot be separated into individual doses. The order was immediately condemned by public health experts and pediatricians as a dangerous cave-in to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement that will only confuse anxious parents and increase childhood illnesses. Even Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a medical doctor, said the order was a mistake, and he was the deciding vote for RFK Jr. to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. No one is more responsible and he made his view known within a week of voting to make Trump’s lawyer the U.S. Attorney General which will lead to unconstitutional activities and violations of due process. I also signed on to a letter organized by my colleagues Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D., and Senator Michael Bennet asking Trump to rescind the order. My tip this week, as measles cases rise, is to listen to your children’s doctors, not crackpot politicians, when it comes to vaccines.

Quote of the Week

“The President’s declaration of ‘Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations’ largely follows a much-disputed HHS report in January that advised fewer vaccines on the childhood schedule. Mr. Trump likes to paint a golden sheen on everything, but his proposed regimen isn’t based on rigorous science, or really any science at all.” – The Wall Street Journal editorial on Tuesday titled “Trump Jabs at Vaccines for Children”

As always, I remain

Sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress