Steve Cohen

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2 that Chairman DeFazio has helped craft and the en bloc amendment which is being discussed now. Transportation is Memphis. Memphis is blessed to be on the banks of the greatest river in our country, the Mississippi, and fortunate to have Fred Smith born there, which brought the greatest air cargo company in the world to Memphis, Federal Express. That is our number one employer. This bill will help airports, investments in airports, and create jobs, helping FedEx and helping Memphis. It will invest in harbors--we have the fifth largest inland harbor in the country--with dredging. That is important for the Port of Memphis. We have five Class 1 railroads, and there are investments there, and that produces jobs and moves goods and services. We have two interstate systems and roads that need improvement. This bill will put money into roads and bridges and create those jobs. It will further put money into broadband, which it is very important to reach into the inner cities to give an opportunity for young people, African Americans in particular, to get access to the internet and all the information that they need to have a good education and a good livelihood later on. This bill includes several priorities that I have had, including a DUI law that is part of this en bloc amendment that will see to it that there is a study on why DUI convictions aren't shared by States so that people who have multiple DUIs will be punished accordingly and save innocent potential victims from the carnage of a DUI accident. It happened in Mississippi. A young Memphis girl was killed by a multiple offender, but nobody knew they were a multiple offender because their convictions were not submitted to a central base. This also incorporates the Complete Streets Act that makes our planning more in keeping with the 21st century for pedestrians and bicyclers and others who use our roads in alternative ways. This is an excellent bill. I am proud to support it. It creates jobs. It is good for Memphis. It is good for America. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman DeFazio. There is no more important bill than this.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, we have been experiencing a very unusual pattern of behavior by the Attorney General of the United States, behavior that has scared many, and should scare all, for he has abused his power; he has obstructed justice; and he has violated the First Amendment. He has destroyed almost every norm that existed for Attorneys General and their relationship to the rule of law, the rule of law that makes America stand out as the beacon on the hill to nations all over the world. No longer, for the rule of law has been diminished by his actions with Michael Flynn, a person who pled guilty twice, admitted to lying, and, yet, wanted to withdraw the prosecution. And the same for the change in the plea agreement for Roger Stone and that recommendation. He violated the First Amendment at Lafayette Park when he cleared the park for a photo op for the President. He abused his power in the Mueller report when he misled the people in what the Mueller report really said. Mr. Speaker, for those reasons and others, I have been joined by 35 of my colleagues today in introducing a resolution calling for the impeachment of William Barr and calling on the Committee on the Judiciary to look into it.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Mr. Hudson is my friend. I think the world of Mr. Hudson, but Mr. Hudson wasn't in the markup or the hearing of the Committee on the Judiciary on this bill. And what they would have seen is what I saw and what I put into the Hill publication today. I saw shams. I saw ruses. I saw them bringing up antifa. I saw them bringing up ``Russia hoax,'' bringing up Michael Flynn. They brought up abortion. They didn't talk about George Floyd. They didn't talk about attacks on African Americans. They didn't talk about justice and making it better. They brought up sham issues to try to divert the American people's eyes to what is the Trump train propaganda machine. And they were on it. They brought up the sister of a slain officer in Oakland thinking that they were going to change the narrative to the protesters and, really, the rioters. Well, it turned out it was a boogaloo member; people who are white, many are white supremacist, and they want civil war in this country for who killed that officer and then within a week killed a sheriff in Santa Cruz. You don't ever hear them mention boogaloo. They bring up antifa. And there is nothing about antifa to be involved in any of these protests. It is unfortunate what we have seen. This is a good bill. Its time is now. It collects data on bad cops so other police departments will know about it. It collects data on the use of deadly force. It prohibits chokeholds. It makes reforms on deadly-force usage. It sets up an independent system of judgment on officers where there won't be home cooking and hand-in-glove law, as it has been currently, and there will be better training: Racial bias and de-escalation. They brought up defunding the police, that Congress has not brought up defunding the police. That is their ruse. It is ``re-fund,'' if anything, but it is not defund. It is embarrassing. I was embarrassed to see the Republicans did it. It was a shame on the lives of George Floyd, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, all the other people in Memphis-- Steven Atkins and Darrius Stewart--whose lives have been cut short by improper activities and deadly force by police officers. Police are mostly good, but the ones that aren't need to be brought to justice.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the debate, and I have been really amazed at what I have heard from the other side. They said the military goes into battle, or is ready to go, and they don't let these things bother them. The military doesn't have a great majority of their members who are 65 years of age and older. And when they do have members that are 65 years of age and older, and they have morbidity systems or past incidents that make them more likely to get a disease, they don't send them into battle. They take care of them. They don't put them out there in harm's way. Some people talked about the Senate. Lamar Alexander came up, and he got exposed to coronavirus from a staff member, so he had to go back to Maryville. Rand Paul came up. He got exposed, took a test, still swam in the Senate pool, exposed everybody over there to COVID, and came back positive. So, it is not about the Senate. This makes good sense. One of our best epidemiologists said that the best place you could find to get the coronavirus is indoors in an enclosed room with a lot of people and a lot of talk. That is the definition of Congress. Washington is a hot spot; it is under a stay-at-home order; and you are not supposed to meet in groups of more than 10 people. We are more than 10. And if they expand it, we will be up to the level of 50, which is maybe the next level. We are just protecting our Members and protecting their loved ones and protecting their constituents. This is a good law. It gives people a chance to vote. We have Members who are going through chemotherapy now. The great John Lewis is going through chemotherapy. That means he cannot come up here and vote. That should not be the facts.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, let me tell you something that is in this bill: There is a repeal of about a $100 billion tax break for the richest people in this country that Trump and McConnell snuck in CARES 1. We didn't see it at first. We found it. We put out a letter asking for support. Do we get one Republican to say yes, I want to join you and get rid of that $100 billion tax break for 80 percent of the people who make $1 million a year or more and had nothing to do with coronavirus? Not one of you. You ought to be for that. That is thievery. That is robbery. Jesse James wouldn't need a mask if he came here. Trump and McConnell didn't have on a mask when they stole from the American people $100 billion for millionaires and billionaires.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a great singer- songwriter and friend, John Prine, who passed away last week in Nashville from complications of the coronavirus. John was an exceptional lyricist, described by his friend and producer Jerry Phillips as ``thinking like nobody else thought'' and writing lines that were ``brilliant in the strangest way.'' John produced three of his 18 albums in Memphis, including his debut, the eponymous ``John Prine,'' in 1971. The album was cut at Chips Moman's American Sound Studio, and included his classics ``Angel from Montgomery'' and ``Paradise.'' His fourth album, ``Common Sense,'' was made in 1975 at Ardent Studios in Memphis and was produced by the legendary Steve Cropper. His sixth album, ``Pink Cadillac,'' was made at the Sam Phillips Recording Service in 1979 by Sam's sons, Knox and Jerry. John's last album, ``The Tree of Forgiveness,'' was recorded in Nashville and produced by his friend Matt Ross-Spang of Memphis. Songs from that album--You Got Gold,'' ``When I Get to Heaven'' and ``No Ordinary Blue''--were part of his last performance in Memphis, at The Orpheum, on September 25, 2018. John's songwriting career took off when, working as a postal worker in Chicago, he was discovered by singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. Bob Dylan said of his work: ``Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the Nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.'' Always gracious and friendly, he seemed to his friends to be delighted with life. As Ross- Spang told The Commercial Appeal: ``If you can imagine a kid eating an ice cream cone for the first time, that's how John looked at life. He had a love of Archie comics, hot dogs, meatloaf, fried chicken and Cadillacs. He always had a twinkle in his eye.'' And as his friend Memphis singer-songwriter Keith Sykes said in tribute: ``I don't think there's many songwriters who can make you laugh and cry in a single line--and make it rhyme.'' John Prine's was a life well-lived and he's been taken too soon. He leaves the treasure of song for future generations to enjoy and learn about life. He will be missed.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, the words above the Speaker's head at the top of this Chamber are from Daniel Webster. He says: `` . . . see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.'' Today, we have something worthy before us and something to be remembered. We should all vote ``aye.'' I am here to vote ``aye'' and to encourage the President to use the Defense Production Act for everyone and to continue talking to the President of China because this is a worldwide pandemic.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, this week marks the 28th anniversary of the massacre of hundreds of people in the town of Khojaly in what was the largest killing of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians in the course of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Khojaly, which is located in the Nagorno- Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, was once home to 7,000 people. Tragically, on February 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces massacred over 600 unarmed people--including 106 women and 83 children--and left less than 2,000 survivors. Hundreds more became disabled due to their injuries. More than one hundred children lost a parent and 25 children lost both parents. At least 8 families were completely killed. Even though a ceasefire went into effect over two decades ago, more than 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, remain occupied and more than 1 million Azerbaijanis remain unable to return to their home villages. Ongoing violence along the line of contact surrounding occupied Azerbaijani territory emphasizes the urgency of robust American participation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group as it works toward a peaceful resolution of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. Azerbaijan has been a strong partner of the United States and its allies. This cooperation has included: playing a leadership role in nonproliferation issues; providing troops to serve shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. forces in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan; allowing transit of non-lethal equipment used by coalition forces through Azerbaijan to Afghanistan; construction of the Southern Gas Corridor from the Caspian Sea to Italy, thereby providing Europe with an alternative to Russian energy sources; and supplying 40 percent of Israel's oil. Azerbaijan also has a thriving Jewish community and has outstanding relations with Israel. As Azerbaijanis throughout the world commemorate the massacre and continue to grieve the loss of loved ones, let us commit ourselves to supporting non-violent efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I strongly support the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. I will be proud to vote in favor of it on the House floor today. I have continuously fought against racial violence and racial discrimination, and this legislation is an important step forward. This bill recognizes the federal role in directly confronting this type of racial violence. In his case, Emmett Till, an innocent African American boy, lost his life. His death came to symbolize the continual threat of violence that hung over the African American community and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. But this bill, named for Till, goes beyond his circumstances. It also provides some modicum of justice for the victims of the People's Grocery Lynching in Memphis. Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart were falsely accused and killed in Memphis on March 9, 1892. These three men were killed because they ``were becoming economic competitors to whites.'' For my district and the country, this vote is recognizing all the men and women who were lynched and never received any justice. In passing this bill, the House of Representatives will clearly say these types of actions--this type of hate--have no place in our country. Unfortunately, this isn't a historic phenomenon. Now, in the year 2020, we still struggle with bias motivated crimes, racial violence, and vigilantism. We see the continuation of racial violence directed at African Americans and other minorities today. I will continue to fight for equality and racial justice. I am proud to support this legislation and thank Rep. Bobby Rush, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, and Chairman Nadler for their leadership. Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which amends 18 U.S. Code 249, to establish the act of lynching as a federal hate crime. I thank our colleague, Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois, for his work in shepherding this legislation and acknowledging the unfathomable, barbaric history of lynching. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is the closest our country has ever come to adopting antilynching legislation. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act is necessary legislation, intended to bring justice to victims of lynching, to heal past and present racial injustice and prevent these wretched, gruesome acts from continuing to occur. Ida B. Wells, the renowned educator, investigative journalist, and Civil Rights activist advocated tirelessly from 1886 to 1931 for the passage of antilynching legislation and collected data to show the vast scope of racial tensions and hate crimes. In October 1892, Ms. Wells published research on lynching in a pamphlet entitled Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases and continued to write, speak and organize for the recognition of lynching as a crime and for civil rights until her death in 1931. She traveled internationally, teaching foreign audiences about the intensity and severity of American racial tensions. Ms. Wells' contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and American political discourse are still immensely influential and we look to her as a leader and role model to this day. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that its research uncovered approximately 75 other people who died violently between 1952 and 1968 under circumstances suggesting that they were victims of racial violence. For most of them, the reason their names were not added to the Memorial is because not enough was known about the details surrounding their deaths. Sadly, the reason so little is known about these cases is because they were not fully investigated or, in some cases, law enforcement officials were involved in the killings or subsequent cover-ups. And because the killings of African Americans were often covered up or not seriously investigated, there is little reason to doubt that many slayings were never even recorded by the authorities. The reason justice had not been served was the callous indifference, and often the criminal collusion, of many white law enforcement officials in the segregated South. The all-white, all-male jury acquitted Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the murder of Emmett Till, with the two men posing for photographs and lighting cigars after the verdict was announced. There simply was no justice for African Americans during the civil rights era. The entire criminal justice system--from the police, to the prosecutors, to the juries, and to the judges--was perverted by racial bigotry. African Americans were routinely beaten, bombed and shot with impunity. Sometimes, the killers picked their victims on a whim. Sometimes, they targeted them for their activism. Many times, prominent white citizens were involved and no consequences flowed. Herbert Lee of Liberty, Mississippi, for example, was shot in the head by a state legislator, E.H. Hurst, in broad daylight in 1961. It is, of course, fitting and proper that this legislation bears the name of Emmett Till, whose slaying in 1955 and his mother's brave decision to have an open casket at his funeral stirred the nation's conscience and galvanized a generation of Americans to join the fight for equality. Sadly, hundreds of them were killed in that struggle, and many of the killers, like those of Emmett himself, were never successfully prosecuted. Madam Speaker, over the past half century, the United States has made tremendous progress in overcoming the badges and vestiges of slavery. But this progress has been purchased at great cost. Examples of unsolved cases include the 1968 ``Orangeburg Massacre'' at South Carolina State University where state police shot and killed three student protesters; the 1967 shooting death of Carrie Brumfield, whose body was found on a rural Louisiana road; the 1957 murder of Willie Joe Sanford, whose body was fished out of a creek in Hawkinsville, Georgia; the 1946 killing of a black couple, including a pregnant woman, who was pulled out of a car in Monroe, Georgia, and dragged down a wagon trail before being shot in front of 200 people. Solving cases like these is part of the unfinished work of America. Madam Speaker, 53 years ago, Medgar Evers was murdered in Jackson, Mississippi; justice would not be done in his case for more than twenty years. But that day was foretold because the evening before the death of Medgar Evers, on June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation from the Oval Office on the state of race relations and civil rights in America. In his historic speech to the nation President Kennedy said: ``We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. ``One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.'' H.R. 35 will help ensure that justice is received by those for whom justice has been delayed. In doing so, this legislation will help this Nation fulfill its hopes and justify its boast that in America all persons live in freedom. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for its passage.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Memphis lawyer, public citizen and community leader James S. Gilliland, who passed away Monday at 86. Jim was one of the great lawyers of Memphis with a sterling national reputation, having received every award for his phenomenal professionalism and active role in community affairs throughout his career. That included the 2018 ``Pillars of Excellence'' Award from the University of Memphis School of Law. Well respected in his hometown, Jim's service in Washington, as general counsel to the Department of Agriculture during the Clinton Administration, added to his prestige. Jim was born in Memphis and graduated from my alma mater, Vanderbilt University, and its law school, being named the Most Outstanding of the Law Class of 1957. After passing the bar, he served as a full-time prosecutor in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific and Far East, after which he returned home to join the then seven-lawyer firm now known as Glankler Brown PLLC. He became a partner and remained with the firm for 30 years. By 1964, he had met and married Lucia Flowers and the couple had three fine children--Katherine, Elizabeth and James Jr.--who continue to reflect their parents' spirit of community involvement. Jim's civic commitment was seen in his service chairing the Liberty Bowl, the Memphis Cotton Carnival, the Memphis Arts Council and LeMoyne-Owen College boards of directors. Jim also oversaw the Memphis Mayoral Transition Team for our city's first African American Mayor, Willie Herenton. He received the Memphis Bar's Sam A. Myar, Jr. Award as the most outstanding young lawyer in 1972. In 1995, baseball champion Hank Aaron presented him with the United Negro College Fund's ``Beacon of Hope'' Award for his work supporting minority education. He was a close friend and counsel to Al Gore throughout his political career. In 1993, President Clinton nominated Jim for the general counsel post at the Department of Agriculture and he was confirmed by the Senate. There he managed a legal staff of 200 lawyers in 23 regional offices around the country, dealing with the legal issues involved in agricultural production, international trade, food policy, the interests of the forestry industry and rural small towns. Returning to Memphis after his federal service, Jim became involved in local and national boards, including serving as chair of the American Battlefield Trust, the private partner of the National Park Service focused on preserving American battlefields. Jim was always supportive of me and other public servants and he and Lucia helped make Memphis a more tolerant and inclusive community. I extend my heartfelt condolences to Lucia, his wife of 55 years, and his children, his grandchildren, his colleagues and his many friends. His was a life well-lived.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein of Brooklyn on his retirement after 53 years on the bench at the age of 98. Judge Weinstein is well known for his liberal sensibilities, especially for his suggested reforms of sentencing guidelines to reduce the length of time most offenders spend behind bars. I related to him as a champion of women's rights, criminal justice reform and the lack of sentencing alternatives for young offenders. A submarine officer in the Pacific Theatre in World War II, he returned home and was a 1948 graduate of Columbia University Law School. As a young lawyer, he worked on briefs in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case and recently lamented that, in New York as in so many other places, re-segregation of public schools is the reality. In a long and colorful career on the bench after being nominated to the district court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, Judge Weinstein presided at the trial of Vincent ``The Chin'' Gigante, the head of the Genovese crime family, and massive tort cases involving asbestos and Agent Orange. In a recent interview with The New York Times, he said that, although the country is ``going downhill'' with a ``very conservative'' Supreme Court at the moment, he was optimistic for the future because it is ``essentially a good country made up of people who will fight for what's right.'' It's nice to know that Judge Weinstein, in retirement with his newly retired physician son, will be studying how post-Civil War Reconstruction devolved into Jim Crowism as they both pursue master's degrees in history. I wish Judge Weinstein, a productive and fulfilling retirement and thank him for his long service to our country

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in admiration of the life of A.E. Hotchner, the novelist, bon vivant, friend-of-the-famous and philanthropist who died last Saturday at the age of 102. Mr. Hotchner led a charmed life filled with movie stars, musicians, and literary lions. He was known as a loyal friend and companion, particularly to the likes of Ernest Hemingway and his Connecticut neighbor Paul Newman. With Mr. Newman, he founded Newman's Own, a nonprofit brand of salad dressings and sauces created to underwrite charitable causes that has, since 1982, delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to good causes. He and Mr. Newman also founded the Hole in the Wall Gang in 1988 for children with life-threatening illnesses, underwritten in part by a 1991 Lincoln Center benefit gala starring Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Matt Damon, Joanne Woodward and her husband, Mr. Newman. It was Mr. Hotchner's adaptation of one of Hemingway's short stories, ``The Boxer,'' that introduced him to a young Paul Newman, who played the part of the boxer originally intended for James Dean after Dean was killed in a car crash in 1955. A St. Louis native and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and its law school, Mr. Hotchner met Hemingway in 1948 as a literary agent for Cosmopolitan magazine, where his job was to persuade famous people to write for the publication. He found Hemingway in Cuba, beginning a friendship of travel and drinking that included Spanish bullfights and hunting in Idaho and only ended with Hemingway's suicide in 1961. The best known of his many works about celebrities was Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir (1966). He also published a book of their correspondence, Dear Papa, Dear Hotch (2005) and two plays about the Nobel Prize winning novelist. Mr. Hotchner also wrote about film stars Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Doris Day, and Sophia Loren; about the heiress Barbara Hutton and the French fashion designer Coco Chanel; and the illustrated history Everyone Comes to Elaine's, about the Manhattan nightspot famous for its prominent clientele. Mr. Hotchner was famous in his own right for a series of memoirs, historical novels and plays. His play ``The White House'' was staged at the White House for President Clinton. His service in the Army Air Forces in World War II was chronicled in The Day I Fired Alan Ladd (2002), the third of four autobiographies. A series of essays on aging, written in his 90s, was titled O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night. His last book, a novel about a 12-year-old living in his native St. Louis, came out in 2018, when he was 101. It's a joy to muse upon such a complicated and full life. The world was better for having Mr. Hotchner in it.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 79, which takes a key step to ensure that the equal rights amendment will become part of our Constitution. Nearly 100 years after women gained the right to vote, it is difficult to believe we still haven't given women equal rights. It is hard to believe it is a serious disagreement in this Chamber. In the year 2020, it is unacceptable that women still make only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men and that women are still subject to violence, harassment and attacks on their freedom to control their own bodies. In Judiciary Committee this morning, a brilliant female law clerk is describing sexual harassment by a distinguished and respected ninth circuit judge. This should never happen. And with ongoing efforts to undermine progress we have made; the equal rights amendment is more important than ever. It took over 130 years to give women the right to vote. It is almost 100 years since they have gotten it. It is time to give women their proper place in the Constitution of the United States, which most modern constitutions have, equality regardless of sex.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 58 and YEA on Roll Call No. 59.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I adamantly oppose Tennessee's proposal to block grant its version of Medicaid, TennCare, and the Administration's proposal for all states to have the opportunity to restrict Medicaid funding. This proposal would harm Americans most in need across the country. We should not be encouraging states to limit resources and cap budgets. In Tennessee, one in ten people have no health insurance. When this is the case, we should be expanding options for affordable health care options. Instead, this Administration has relentlessly attacked Medicaid and the people who depend on its support to stay healthy. The fact is, the majority of non-disabled, non-elderly adults on Medicaid are working hard and rely on Medicaid to help get the basic health care that they need. I am proud to support H. Res. 826 and will continue to fight for access to health care for all Americans. I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I am concerned about the lack of diversity, the lack of care about diversity that this administration shows in its appointments and its actions. In the Federal judiciary, the President has appointed approximately 250 judges, 6 of whom are African American. That is a disturbing and chilling number. In a Super Bowl ad, he showed Alice Marie Johnson, whom he gave executive clemency to, a commutation, and said he was trying to help people who looked like her, an African American woman. He has given two executive clemencies to African Americans. One was Jack Johnson, posthumous, dead for 80 years. Only one living African American has gotten a commutation, and that was when Kim Kardashian championed her case, as Sylvester Stallone championed that of Jack Johnson. During his speech, he talked about the Tuskegee Airman, the woman who he said would get a scholarship, the young girl. The fact is he just appointed a TVA Board, Tennessee Valley Board, nine members--no African Americans, one woman. The lack of diversity is chilling. America is diverse. It is our strength. We need to embrace it and not have an all White world.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember the great actor, humanitarian and philanthropist Kirk Douglas, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 103. Americans of a certain age will remember Kirk Douglas in his roles as Spartacus, leader of a slave revolt in ancient Rome; the painter Vincent Van Gogh; the gunfighter Doc Holliday; and General George S. Patton. Others will recall that he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Jimmy Carter and the Kennedy Center Honors award from President Bill Clinton. I will remember him for the personal note he sent to me in 2015 after I wished him well from the House floor on the occasion of his 99th birthday. I said that he would go down in Hollywood and American history for his courageous role in breaking the McCarthy era blacklist by putting the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's name in the film credits for ``Spartacus.'' In his note to me, he said: ``Unfortunately, I have lived long enough to see that climate of fear and xenophobia reborn. I sincerely hope you and your fellow legislators will find a way to come together in these troubling times. It is essential that our leaders lead rather than follow the hateful messages of the new demagogues.'' He added that no one should take for granted ``the privilege of living in America.'' Mr. Douglas' humanitarianism was displayed not only in his choice of roles but in the messages of the films he produced. He said he loved the theme of ``Lonely Are the Brave'' that, ``if you try to be an individual, society will crush you.'' He said he chose to play characters who were ``part scoundrel,'' because ``I don't find virtue photogenic.'' His philanthropic activities through the Douglas Foundation, created in 1964, included building 400 playgrounds in Los Angeles; creating the Douglas Family Early Childhood Center at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles; substantial underwriting of programs at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and establishing the Anne Douglas Center for Homeless Women, named for his wife. Mr. Douglas was born into poverty in Amsterdam, New York, the son of illiterate Russian Jewish immigrants; his father was a ragman, a seller of discarded goods. His best-selling autobiography was The Ragman's Son, published in 1988. He knew anti-Semitism from an early age, but also knew he wanted to be an actor, changing his name from Isadore Demsky to Kirk Douglas and making his Broadway debut in 1941 as a singing Western Union messenger in ``Spring Again.'' Known for his rugged good looks and dimpled chin, he received three Academy Award nominations. In 1996, the Academy honored his body of work with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar. America will long remember Kirk Douglas. His was a storied life.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, it can't be the sole reason for denying a job, number one. That is what the bill says. And there are exemptions for circumstances when Federal, State, or local law call for it, or a national security clearance. Indeed, I think that if you are an administrator, if you are over, say, the foreign policy of the United States and the Defense Department, people should know if you have great debts to, like, Russia or something. People should have a right to know that because it could relate to your employment. But that is another issue. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, is the gentleman ready to close? Is the gentleman ready to learn if a President has debts to Russia before he can count the money?

Mr. COHEN. I am still having trouble hearing. Like in the 8 years when I was in the minority, I couldn't hear the majority party give me a chance to bring this to a vote. But I don't think the answer is yes. The answer is no.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, first, I would just like to make some closing remarks on the previous argument. The gentleman is right. We need to make college more affordable, and I passed a bill in Tennessee when I was a senator, a referendum on the ballot that has raised over $5 billion to send kids to college in Tennessee, $5 billion free scholarship money. So, yes, I don't talk the talk, I walk the walk. Mr. Chairman, my amendment makes it unequivocally clear that credit reports should not be used as the sole reason for the denial of employment. This amendment is for the countless constituents who have contacted my office with disturbing stories of being denied a job opportunity because of their credit report. This amendment is for the many people in this country who are currently in a vicious cycle: To pay down their debt, they need a job, but they can't get hired because of their debt. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 43 percent of employers are conducting pre-employment credit checks, claiming that a potential employee's credit score is somehow an accurate predictor of future job performance. Nobody says that. Like nobody says that you have to have a crime in an impeachment article to impeach a President. Abuse of power is sufficient. Yet, there has not been any proof that a credit report or a credit score can predict how an employee will perform, none whatsoever. A credit report doesn't tell the whole story. Maybe a person had a long stretch of unemployment. Maybe they unexpectedly had a health or a medical crisis. This practice has had a disproportionate impact on some of our most vulnerable, credit-challenged citizens; recent college grads, divorced women, low-income families, senior citizens, and minorities. Everyone deserves the opportunity to begin rebuilding their credit history by obtaining employment. We should be doing everything in our power to help people find jobs during these tough economic times, not hinder them. Making sure credit reports are not used as a means for denial of employment has been a very important issue to me and my office, and I have introduced a bill, the Equal Employment for All Act, every Congress for the last 11 years. Unfortunately, in eight of those years, we were in the minority and so we couldn't get a hearing. But now, Mr. Lawson has brought a bill, which I appreciate greatly, and he is on the committee and this issue is now before us. What matters most is that important issues like this are addressed and fixed by Congress and get to the floor for a vote. I would like to thank Mr. Lawson. I would also like to go back and thank my former staffer, Michael Fulton, who worked tirelessly on the Equal Employment for All Act and the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act. I am happy to see that language to provide free credit scores is also included in the Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020. I want to thank again Chairwoman Waters and the dedicated staff on the Financial Services Committee. And I encourage all of my colleagues to support my amendment and vote for the overall bill. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. Right.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, as I have an amendment at the desk, I stand and seek recognition.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.