{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cohen.house.gov/end-shutdown-madness", "An End to the Shutdown Madness", "2013-10-18", "2013", "2013-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friend,\u00a0\nThis week, our nation turned the page on a sad chapter in its history when President Obama signed a consensus agreement to re-open the federal government and prevent our nation from defaulting on our debts for the first time in history.\nAn End to the Shutdown Madness  Repaying Our Debts to Our Veterans  Protecting Your Right to Vote  Delta Grassroots Caucus  LeMoyne-Owen Residence Hall Dedication  Keeping Memphians Healthy  White House Tours Available Once Again  Grant Announcements\nAn End to the Shutdown Madness\nJust after the House voted to pass the agreement late Wednesday evening,\u00a0I discussed the last two weeks and how this shutdown has affected our country on Bloomberg Television. After 16 days of the Tea Party\u2019s unnecessary, reckless, and irresponsible shutdown, Speaker Boehner finally allowed the House to vote to re-open all of the government\u2014something Democrats and even many Republicans had been calling for since the shutdown began.\nI was not pleased with everything that was in the agreement passed by Congress this week, but our nation could not afford another day of the shutdown\u2014a new report shows that the 16 days it lasted cost our country $24 billion dollars. That\u2019s billion\u2014with a \u201cB.\u201d It was too important to put our government back to work for the American people.\nI remain concerned about the damage that has been done to America\u2019s reputation as well as the shaken confidence in the dollar, but I hope that this agreement pushes both parties to work together to repair our economy. We have too many important issues facing us to not have a government working for us. Congress must refocus on those issues\u2014everything from immigration to jobs to transportation and infrastructure. It\u2019s time we get back to work.\u00a0I stopped by Channel 3 this morning\u00a0and talked with Alex Coleman and Marybeth Conley about how we should move forward, and will be on MSNBC\u2019s Up with Steve Kornacki tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM as well. I hope you\u2019ll tune in!\nRepaying Our Debts to Our Veterans\nNow that the shutdown has ended, I am glad that I\u2019ve been able to get back to work in Memphis. I joined the Catholic Charities of West Tennessee (CCWTN) today as they launched their St. Sebastian Veteran Service Program to provide supportive services to Memphis-area veterans and their families. Earlier this year,\u00a0I announced a $907,000 grant\u00a0to help them get the St. Sebastian Veteran Service Program off the ground. CCWTN\u00a0is one of the largest nonprofit, multi-social service providers in the Mid-South with special emphasis in the areas of homelessness, immigration services, Veterans Services and emergency services.\nThe Catholic Charities are doing good work, but today, the cuts to federal programs caused by sequestration is hurting services like the ones they provide around the country\u2014everything from veterans\u2019 services to a program that helps low-income families heat their homes in the winter and from Meals on Wheels to Head Start programs for our children are seeing drastic cuts. These cuts are also making our country\u00a0weaker both domestically and around the globe. We must do everything we can to reverse sequestration\u2019s cuts and restore funding to the critical services that millions of Americans rely on.\nProtecting Your Right to Vote\nYesterday, the Tennessee Supreme Court made an unfortunate decision in upholding our state\u2019s new and restrictive voting law. The law is another attempt by the far right wing to suppress the vote and make it harder for minorities and the elderly to exercise their Constitutional rights.\nWhile I will continue to do everything I can at both the federal and local levels to see this law overturned as well as protect everyone\u2019s right to vote, as long as this law stands it is critically important that each and every Memphian ensure they possess proper identification if they wish to participate in the democratic process. This week\u2019s ruling means that photo IDs issued by the City of Memphis Public Library are no longer valid for voting purposes. If you do not have a state-issued photo ID, you can get one today at one of the\u00a0Tennessee Driver Services Centers in Shelby County. Click\u00a0here\u00a0to learn what documentation you will need to bring with you.\nDelta Grassroots Caucus\nThis afternoon, I gave a keynote address at the Delta Grassroots Caucus\u2019 annual regional conference. I spoke about the agreement that ended the government shutdown and ensured our nation pays its bills, the damage that cuts to the SNAP food-stamp program would cause to our community, my efforts to help create good-paying jobs right here in Memphis, and the Affordable Care Act. The Delta Grassroots Caucus is known for working on behalf of some of the most frequently forgotten and disadvantaged constituencies in our nation, and I was pleased to be able to be there today.\nLeMoyne-Owen Residence Hall Dedication\nThis morning, I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for LeMoyne-Owen College\u2019s new residence hall. The College is helping minorities and women succeed in the high-paying, high-skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields\u2014and earlier this year I\u00a0announced\u00a0a $1.7 million grant to help them expand their efforts. Their new residence hall is the first major construction project LeMoyne-Owen has undertaken in forty years. It will include as many as 336 beds, state of the art technology, and other amenities. This new residence hall is a testament to the future of LeMoyne-Owen College as well as to the many years of hard work by both Board Chairman Robert Lipscomb and President Johnnie B. Watson, who have helped resurrect the college like a phoenix rising from the ashes.\nKeeping Memphians Healthy\nAll Memphians should have quality health coverage. Luckily, many who have been unable to afford quality coverage in the past are now eligible to enroll in\u00a0Tennessee\u2019s Health Insurance Marketplace\u00a0thanks to the President\u2019s landmark Affordable Care Act\u2014also known as Obamacare. If you do not have health insurance coverage, you\u00a0may be eligible to save money on your health care premiums\u00a0in\u00a0the Marketplace.\nIf you are on Medicare or your employer is going to continue offering health insurance\u00a0next year, you\u2019re already covered and won\u2019t need to enter the\u00a0Marketplace for your health coverage. If you aren\u2019t sure whether or not you will need to use the Marketplace to get insurance, call the Marketplace Hotline at1-800-318-2596 or visit www.HealthCare.gov. You can also call my office or the Marketplace Hotline to find out if TennCare (Tennessee\u2019s Medicaid program) is a coverage option for you.\nThe Affordable Care Act is already working for families across the Ninth District and the government shutdown didn\u2019t change that. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 147,000 individuals in the district now have health insurance that covers preventive services without co-pays, $3.1 million in insurance premiums have been returned to consumers, and more than 5,000 seniors on Medicare paid a total of $5.9 million less for their prescription medications as we continue to close the \u2018donut hole.\u2019 Young adults up to age 26 can now stay on their parents\u2019 insurance plan and health insurance companies can no longer discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions.\nIf you are one of the millions of Americans who need health insurance, you can\u00a0sign up\u00a0for coverage today that will take effect January 1, 2014. Enrollment in the marketplace will remain open for six months, but you can go online to\u00a0www.healthcare.gov\u00a0 today to check out your options. Feel free to call my office at 901-544-4131 if you have any additional questions.\nWhite House Tours Available Once Again\nJust hours ago, we learned that the White House will be re-opening for limited public tours starting on November 5th. If you are visiting Washington after November 5th and would like to see the White House, please let me know by submitting a tour request using this form. If you have already submitted a request for a White House tour to my office, those requests have been received by the White House tour office. My office will inform you of the status of those requests as soon as an update is available from the White House.\nGrant Announcements\nI regularly release a list of grant announcements from federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and others. These federal funding opportunities are available to faith-based and neighborhood associations, nonprofits and other community organizations in the 9th district. The announcements are\u00a0updated regularly on my website.\nAs always, I remain.  \n\tMost sincerely,    \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": ["http://cohen.house.gov/end-shutdown-madness"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.722848042845726, "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"}