{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/taxonomy/story-type/enewsletters/honoring-51st-anniversary-historic-voting-rights-act", "Honoring the 51st Anniversary of the Historic Voting Rights Act", "2016-08-12", "2016", "2016-08", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friend,\nThis week, I honored the 51st anniversary of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, remembered TBI Special Agent De\u2019Greaun Frazier who was killed in the line of duty and my friend and the Queen of Beale Street Ruby Wilson, commended President Obama for lifting barriers on medical marijuana research but criticized the DEA for failing to reschedule marijuana, spoke at the re-opening of the Memphis Health Center, and joined my staff at the Whitehaven Branch Library for \u201cCongress on your Corner\u201d to assist constituents with navigating federal agencies. Keep reading to learn more about my week and follow me on Twitter\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook\u00a0to see these updates as they happen.\nHonoring the 51st Anniversary of the Historic Voting Rights Act  Remembering TBI Special Agent De\u2019Greaun Frazier  Remembering the Queen of Beale Street Ruby Wilson  Fighting for Sensible Drug Laws  Speaking at the Re-Opening of the Memphis Health Center  Bringing Congress to your Corner\nHonoring the 51st Anniversary of the Historic Voting Rights Act\nSaturday was the 51st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. The right to vote is the most fundamental right of citizenship in our democracy. Therefore, the Supreme Court was wrong to undermine the Voting Rights Act in 2013 by striking down a key provision preventing voter discrimination, and Congress needs to fix it. Read my statement about the anniversary here.\nRemembering TBI Special Agent De\u2019Greaun Frazier\nOn Tuesday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Special Agent and former Millington Police Officer De\u2019Greaun Frazier was tragically killed in the line of duty. Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. My thoughts go out to Agent Frazier's family, friends and colleagues.\nRemembering the Queen of Beale Street Ruby Wilson\nToday, Memphis lost a legend, my friend and the Queen of Beale Street Ruby Wilson.\u00a0Ruby was a sweetheart of a human being. She was always smiling, upbeat and caring for others in addition to being a fabulous talent who sang of, for and about Memphis. She had a phenomenal life. Ruby brought joy to people\u2019s hearts all over the world and was a legend in her hometown. She was truly the queen of the Blues, Beale Street and Memphis.\nFighting for Sensible Drug Laws\nOn Thursday, the Obama Administration announced it would remove barriers on universities so they can apply to grow marijuana for medical research. While I am encouraged by this progress and believe this new policy will lead to more scientific studies that could be used to treat dozens of diseases, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) should have removed marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the most dangerous and addictive schedule. Read my statement on the decision here.\nSpeaking at the Re-Opening of the Memphis Health Center\nOn Tuesday, I spoke at the re-opening of the Memphis Health Center (MHC). The health center received a $4,725,000 dollar grant in 2012 from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The newly renovated MHC includes updated recordkeeping technology and a 5,000 square foot expansion allowing MHC to hire two additional providers and increase access to care by 9,000 patient encounters.\nBringing Congress to your Corner\nOn Friday, I joined my staff for \u201cCongress on your Corner\u201d at the Whitehaven Branch Library to assist constituents with questions or problems with federal agencies such as Social Security, Medicare, FHA, the VA and more. Thank you to everyone who attended. Over the summer and fall, my office will hold more \u201cCongress on your Corner\u201d events.\u00a0Please mark these dates on your calendar.\u00a0\n Thursday, September 1st from 12pm-2pm at the Orange Mound Community Center\u00a0 (2572 Park Ave)\n\tFriday, October 14th from 12pm-2pm at the Ed Rice Community Center (2907 N. Watkins St.)\n Please visit my website at\u00a0https://cohen.house.gov for more information on Congress on your Corner.\nAs always, I remain.\u00a0  \n\tMost sincerely,  \u00a0  \n\tSteve Cohen  \n\tMember of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/taxonomy/story-type/enewsletters/honoring-51st-anniversary-historic-voting-rights-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8127829059958458, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}