{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cohen.house.gov/keeping-country-running-and-helping-middle-class", "Keeping the Country Running and Helping the Middle Class", "2013-09-20", "2013", "2013-09", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friend,\u00a0\nI know we are all shocked, stunned, and saddened by the tragic events that unfolded on Monday morning at the Navy Yard in Washington. I have spent much of this week thinking of the victims and all those affected by the horrors\u2014but I simply cannot imagine the horror they must have experienced and the grief felt by their families. I hope we keep them all in our thoughts and prayers as they begin the recovery process.\nFighting for Children and Middle Class Families  Preventing Another Government Shutdown  Protecting Memphis Consumers  Holding the NSA Accountable  Raising Awareness\u00a0Of Tourette Syndrome  Fighting Human Trafficking and Organ Harvesting  Grants for Memphis  Saving Americans Money on Health Insurance  Grant Announcements\nAfter the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the NRA\u2019s CEO said that \u201cthe only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.\u201d On Monday, there were a lot of good guys with guns that weren\u2019t able to stop this madman from ending 12 innocent lives. But less than a month ago, a good woman with a heart was able to prevent another school shooting in Georgia\u2014she was able to save countless young lives that day. I don\u2019t agree with the NRA that the only way to protect people is by making more guns available. I think there\u2019s more we can do. I support the 2ndAmendment\u2014I even wrote Tennessee\u2019s concealed carry legislation\u2014but we clearly need to pass some reasonable reforms.\nSome have said that it is too soon after Monday\u2019s tragedy to begin talking about gun violence and how to fix it. When isn\u2019t it \u201ctoo soon\u201d though? Next week? Next month? Next year? Senseless mass shootings like Monday\u2019s are happening more and more frequently\u2014each day we wait to talk about this is one day closer to the next one, unless we do something about it. That starts with talking about it. We simply cannot wait for shootings to stop before we are allowed to talk about how to stop them\u2014that\u2019s obviously backwards. I spoke with Alex Wagner on MSNBC about some reasonable reforms I hope that Congress considers; you can watch my interview here. Keep reading to learn what else has happened this week.\nFighting for Children and Middle Class Families\nLast night, House Republicans rushed through a bill that cuts $40 billion from a critical part of our nation\u2019s safety net, the SNAP food-stamp program. I urged my colleagues to vote against these cuts on the floor of the House just before the vote, but unfortunately the legislation passed 217-210. SNAP is a vital tool to fight hunger and help struggling Americans feed their families as they seek new employment, send their children to school, and get themselves back on their feet.\nWith 1 in 5 children in this country struggling with hunger, Republicans voted to take food out of the mouths of nearly 4 million Americans next year\u2014all in the name of so-called \u201cfraud.\u201d Where is their outrage over the billions in fraud at the Pentagon and with defense contractors? Instead of focusing on helping people get out of poverty, Republicans once again chose to make things harder for our middle class families. The cuts included in the bill that passed\u2014narrowly\u2014last night will devastate the 68,000 Ninth District residents and millions of Americans who see SNAP as a lifeline during a difficult time.\nPreventing Another Government Shutdown\nWith funding for the federal government set to expire in less than two weeks, Congress must pass a new budget resolution or risk yet another government shutdown that would harm our economy and kill jobs. This morning, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans pushed the nation even closer to the brink by passing a budget that they know will die in the Senate, which will put us right back at square one.\nThey could have worked with us to come up with a compromise budget resolution that would have averted a shutdown, but the Tea Party demanded a vote on a politically-motivated resolution that cannot pass Congress. They know that their legislation has no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate, and they also know that if it somehow did pass that chamber, the President would veto it. But they are willing to shut down the government to jam through their unreasonable, unrealistic policies that will just end up hurting the middle-class.\nInstead of working with us to stop a shutdown, House Republicans are willing to cut off pay to our troops. They are willing to stop social security beneficiaries from receiving the checks they rely on. I hope they come to their senses and work in a bipartisan manner to keep the government running.\nProtecting Memphis Consumers\nLast year, I asked the Department of Justice to help address the problems Memphians were having with the tax preparation firm Mo\u2019 Money. In addition to other problems, Ninth District residents had received checks for tax refunds from the firm that bounced and had seen the company deduct excessive fees from their refunds. Earlier this week, a federal court permanently barred the owners and a former manager of Mo\u2019 Money Taxes from preparing tax returns for others and owning or operating a tax return preparation business.\nThis court order against Mo\u2019 Money sends a striking message that businesses cannot take advantage of Memphians or victimize America through tax fraud. Those perpetrating tax preparation scams that prey on the poor and the middle class should be punished as severely as possible under the law, and I\u2019m glad the Department of Justice responded to the concerns of my constituents and took action against these individuals.\nHolding the NSA Accountable\nOn Wednesday, I attended a classified briefing on Congressional oversight of the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act\u2014which Administrations have used to protect America from the threat of terrorism. As we learned earlier this year, the NSA may have also used the law as a basis for improperly and unfairly spying on American citizens without suspecting them of ties to terrorism.\nThat\u2019s unacceptable, and the NSA should be held accountable for these violations. But so far, the only court with the authority to reign in the NSA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (or FISA Court), has done little to protect American citizens. I have introduced a bill that could help. My FISA Court Accountability Act\u00a0would change the way that members of the court are appointed by giving the American people, through their elected representatives, a say in who ends up on the court and also addresses several other issues.\nThe FISA Court should act as a check on violations and overreaches from the federal government, but it is unlikely to effectively prevent and fix violations if the vast majority of its members share similar views on personal privacy. My legislation won\u2019t resolve all of our concerns about the FISA Court or NSA surveillance of American citizens, but it\u2019s a start. It will bring accountability and transparency to the FISA Court, and hopefully lead to stronger enforcement of privacy rules meant to protect American citizens.\nRaising Awareness\u00a0Of Tourette Syndrome\nI\u00a0started\u00a0and now co-chair the Congressional Tourette Syndrome\u00a0Caucus, and on Tuesday, I hosted a\u00a0Congressional briefing to raise awareness of the Syndrome and help people understand it. Jazz Pianist and former Musical Director for the Arsenio Hall show Michael Wolff, who lives with Tourette Syndrome, spoke\u00a0to a standing room only crowd at the briefing. \u00a0\nFighting Human Trafficking and Organ Harvesting\nI attended a\u00a0hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, earlier this week where\u00a0I discussed the\u00a0urgent need to combat human trafficking and\u00a0how we can work to\u00a0end organ harvesting. I was appointed to the important Commission by Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2011 and am honored to serve on it.\nGrants for Memphis\nThis week, I announced more than $3.5 million in federal funding to help Shelby County. The County itself was awarded $977,334 for crime prevention and safety programs, and Southwest Tennessee Community College was awarded $2.66 million to develop and expand innovative training programs. You can read more about SWTCC\u2019s funding here.\nSaving Americans Money on Health Insurance\nOn Tuesday, USA Today published a new report\u00a0showing that 6.4 million Americans who are eligible to purchase insurance through the new Affordable Care Act Marketplaces will pay $100 or less per month for their insurance plans. This is just one more example of how the President\u2019s landmark health care reform law, also known as Obamacare, will save consumers like you money on your health care while improving quality and accessibility of care.\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/keeping-country-running-and-helping-middle-class"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.248161006718874, "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"}