Steve Cohen

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, today, President Trump held a press conference and referred to the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution as the ``phony Emoluments Clause.'' I take an oath to support the Constitution, as does he, as do all 435 of us. I am also the chairman of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. I take umbrage at his remarks. The Emoluments Clause was first put in the Articles of Confederation, and before that, 100 years earlier, the Dutch put it in their documents to protect from foreign influence. It was said at the Constitutional Convention that a violation of the Emoluments Clause could result in impeachment. No wonder President Trump thinks it is phony. There is nothing phony about the Emoluments Clause, the impeachment clause, Article I, Congress' powers, or separation of the three branches of government. Madam Speaker, I respect the Constitution, and I wish the President would as well.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to note the passing of art historian E.A. Carmean, Jr., who died Saturday in our nation's capital at age 74. Mr. Carmean was the founding curator of 20th century art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington from 1974 to 1984, working to open the I.M. Pei-designed East Building for its Modernist collection in 1978. During his tenure at the National Gallery of Art, he curated important exhibitions on Georges Braque and David Smith, and on individual works, such as Picasso's The Saltimbanques, in 1980. He also acquired important works for the national gallery, including Jackson Pollack's Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist), and commissioned some of the last public works by such masters as Joan Miro, Henry Moore and Alexander Calder. In 1984, he was appointed director of the Modem Art Museum of Fort Worth and, from 1992 to 1997, led the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. In Memphis during his tenure, the Brooks hosted exhibitions on the watercolors of John James Audubon, the Jewels of the Romanovs and medieval icons. Mr. Carmean left the Brooks to enter Memphis Theological Seminary and later joined the staff of St. George's Episcopal Church in Germantown, Tennessee, and was named Lay Canon for Art and Architecture by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee with a license to preach. Born in Springfield, Illinois, Mr. Carmean received a B.A. in Art History from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, and worked toward but did not complete an M.A. at the University of Illinois, while teaching. He was later given an honorary doctorate from MacMurray. After leaving the museum world, he continued to write about art and religion, often for The Wall Street Journal, which in September published his ``A Choice at the Final Minute,'' a meditation on the 15th century Hieronymous Bosch alterpiece Death and the Miser. He also wrote the forward to Elvis: The Personal Archives, a selection of Elvis photographs that were part of an exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, in 2005. I would like to extend my condolences to his wife, Kathryn Shelton Carmean, his daughter, Elizabeth Carmean Adams, and his two grandchildren, as well as members of the St. George's community in Germantown and his many friends and admirers. He led an inspired life

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, a whistleblower brought a complaint to the DNI, who sent it to the inspector general-- that they found to be a credible person and a credible complaint threatening the security of our country--that a phone conversation had taken place between our President and the President of Ukraine suggesting that he should, the President of Ukraine, go into a criminal investigation that would affect the election of 2020, and conditioned it through actions on military aid to Ukraine. This is suborning the Constitution and threatening our national security. Mr. Speaker, I commend Speaker Pelosi for calling for an impeachment inquiry. It is the right time. It is the right issue. This is an egregious subversion of our Constitution. Long may the United States survive and live as a true democracy.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in praise of my friend Ira A. Lipman, founder of the international private security firm Guardsmark, who was also a passionate advocate for social justice, a defender of journalistic freedom and a lover of history and the arts. Ira died Monday in New York at the age of 78. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Ira was a student at Little Rock Central High School and was an important anonymous source for NBC Newsman John Chancellor during the historic but contentious integration of the school in 1957. That led to a lifelong friendship and, in 1995, Ira created the John Chancellor Award of Excellence at Columbia University School of Journalism, honoring the best in the business with a $50,000 annual award. The selection committee for the award is led by the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism, Jelani Cobb at Columbia. This prestigious award is presented at a dinner, a prized event for those invited. In 2018, Columbia established the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. Mr. Lipman was a leader in social justice organizations, and served as chairman and later as honorary chairman for life of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He stood up to racism wherever it raised its ugly head. In 1983, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He served on the board of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and on the board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Mr. Lipman held many positions with the United Way of America, including as the first chairman of its ethics committee, and headed up its Memphis United Way chapter with record-setting donations. In Memphis, Ira was a model of civic responsibility, a thoughtful philanthropist and, like ``Mr. Anonymous,'' was looked to for his leadership, including financial support for the Memphis and Shelby County Crime Commission. In 1992, when Minister Louis Farrakhan was given the keys to the city by then-Mayor W.W. Herenton, Ira stood up and made it clear the decision was questionable. When he realized his lifelong dream of moving to New York City, he became one of that city's leading patrons, serving on the board of The New-York Historical Society. As New York City's quasi-anthem says, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, and Ira made it there and New York was the better for it. He was a longtime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and, in 2016, his generous gift created the Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security at the Council. Recognized worldwide for his dedication to Jewry, he was a member of the board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for 38 years and last year received its highest honor, the Humanitarian Award. He also served as an officer of the American Jewish Historical Society. Ira served on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University, which conferred on him its Distinguished Achievement Citation for significant accomplishments and service to mankind. Mr. Lipman received the Stanley C. Pace Award for Leadership in Ethics from the Ethics Resource Center in 2002. That same year, the Committee for Economic Development honored him with its Corporate Citizenship Award. In 2004, he received the Dean's Medal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as a member of the Board of Overseers from 1991 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2016. It was Ira Lipman who suggested that I sponsor and pass legislation creating the Tennessee's Holocaust Commission in 1984 when I was a State Senator. In 1963, Mr. Lipman founded Guardsmark, a private security and security guard company, in Memphis, and grew it to a 17,000-employee operation before he sold it in 2015. He wrote How to Protect Yourself From Crime (1975) and was often consulted by law enforcement and private security officials for his expertise. Mr. Lipman's philanthropy will long be remembered. He will be missed by so many for his wisdom, courage and willingness to step up. I want to express my condolences to his wife, Barbara; his sons Gus, Josh and Ben; his extended family and his many friends. His was a life well-lived.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in praise of Dr. Wilbert Greenfield, the 10th President of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as the 10th President of Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia. Dr. Greenfield passed away last month at the age of 86. As President of the historically black university from 1973 to 1982, Dr. Greenfield strengthened Johnson C. Smith by gaining the financial support of several government and community agencies, by creating an Honors Program and by developing an Archival Center for preserving the university's heritage. He garnered funds to build new dormitories, which had not been done for years. The University's Board of Trustees named Wilbert Greenfield Hall in his honor in 1984. While at Johnson C. Smith, Dr. Greenfield became a founding member of NAFEO, the National Association for Equal Opportunity In Higher Education and remained a member until his death. The City of Charlotte benefitted by having a growing Johnson C. Smith University on its west side thanks to Dr. Greenfield's efforts. After ten years of dedicated service at Johnson C. Smith, Dr. Greenfield accepted the position as President of Virginia State University, where he served from 1983 to 1988. During his presidency, the University experienced numerous academic strides. He instituted the expansion and renovation of the Hunter-McDaniel Science building as well as other academic buildings. Additionally, grant funds were secured for an agricultural research building. This vigorous initiative led to the revitalization of the Randolph Experimental Farm, which is located near the University's main campus. It is noted that one of Dr. Greenfield's proudest moments was bringing aquaculture (fish farming) to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Due to his legendary vision, VSU took the lead in Virginia as the pioneer in aquaculture. During his VSU tenure, Dr. Greenfield visited the White House under the Reagan and Bush Administrations to continue strategic initiatives to enhance higher education for minorities. In addition, Dr. Greenfield was named Educator of the Year in 1988 by the Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity, a worldwide organization with more than 150,000 members. Dr. Greenfield was born on July 18, 1933 in Seven Springs, North Carolina, and earned degrees from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State College in Greensboro and was the fifth African American in this country to earn a PhD in Cardiac Physiology from the University of Iowa-Iowa City. Dr. Greenfield began his academic career in 1967 as Professor, Chairman of the Department of Biology and Academic Dean at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi where he taught NFL legend Walter Payton, among others. I wish to express my condolences to Dr. Greenfield's friends, former students and family, and especially to his son George whose technical expertise keeps my Congressional offices running smoothly. Dr. Greenfield will long be remembered in those places where he made such a profound impact and legacy.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mourn the passing of Baxter Leach, a hero of the historic 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike that brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis, where he was assassinated. Mr. Leach, 79, passed away on August 27. Born on September 12, 1939, in Schlater (Leflore County), Mississippi, he worked as a sharecropper from the age of 12. He came to Memphis for a better life, took a job no one wanted for starvation wages, and ended up making history. In 1968, Mr. Leach helped organize sanitation workers for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)-backed strike protesting the inhumane working conditions that resulted in two sanitation workers being crushed to death inside a garbage truck compactor. This was a significant event in the civil rights movement and drew national attention to the poor working conditions of sanitation employees in the South. He was always generous with his time, keeping the memory of the strike, Dr. King's assassination and its aftermath alive for students, labor historians and visitors to the historic Lorraine Motel which has been transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum. He often quoted Proverbs 22: ``a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver or gold.'' Mr. Leach was a voice for the dignity of all workers and an advocate for civil rights and equality. Just last year, he received the National Civil Rights Museum's Freedom Award and played a prominent role in the MLK50 events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the strike and Dr. King's assassination. In addition to his Freedom Award, Mr. Leach received the keys to the cities of Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee, and received recognition from Operation PUSH, the National Action Network, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; the University of Memphis School of Law, Cossitt and Benjamin L. Hooks Libraries; and the Henry Logan Starks ``Lighting Our World'' Award from Memphis Theological Seminary. In 2011, he joined all the living 1968 sanitation workers in being inducted into the White House Hall of Fame by President Obama. On that same visit, he and his fellow strikers were inducted into the U.S. Department of Labor's Hall of Honor by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Often sought out as a guest speaker, he typically finished his speeches with the unforgettable motto of the picketing strikers' placards: ``I AM A MAN.'' When he retired in 2005, Mr. Leach had worked for the City of Memphis for 43 years. In 1984, he and his wife, Jimmie, established Melanie's Soul Food Restaurant which served the Mid-South until it was destroyed by fire in 2012. Melanie's was one of the absolute best soul food restaurants, and Mr. Leach served pastors and community leaders like they were royalty. After the disastrous fire, he and Jimmie established Girlee's, another great soul food restaurant. By the end of his life, he had worked with presidents, union organizers, academics and a wide circle of admirers. At his funeral on Saturday, AFSCME International president Lee Saunders said that, even though he never finished high school, talking with Mr. Leach made you feel good about yourself, a rare quality. He also called Mr. Leach a bold pioneer and a steadfast and true trade unionist, and a friend. Retired AFSCME secretary- treasurer Bill Lucy, who saw the 1968 strike to its successful conclusion, spoke of Leach's work improving working conditions and said a part of Leach's character was to never quit. Mr. Lucy also said Mr. Leach was ``one of a group of men who made the decision to change the course of history.'' Mr. Leach was a big man physically but he was also a big man in every facet of his personality--in heart, courage, generosity and integrity. I wish to extend my deep condolences to Baxter Leach's family and friends. America has lost a true hero. His was a life well lived.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Pallone for yielding. This issue has brought everybody together. It seems to be more popular than ice cream or even fried chicken. It is amazing such a bill could come about, but it is important because we get these calls that take up our time. I have a landline, and I have two cellphones. I don't even answer my landline anymore. When I come home from a trip, coming up to Washington and then going home, my service is full of automatic dialers, robocalls. Constituents who want to get through can't get through because the answering machine has been used up. They try to take advantage of people, scam them into buying products they shouldn't. They waste our time. They ruin our opportunity to have a regular life during the day. Madam Speaker, I thank all the sponsors. I am proud to be a supporter and a cosponsor. I look forward to voting for this. I look forward to the day when I can pick up my phone and it will be Bear Bryant or somebody looking to reach out to call his mama.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this is an important bill for reservists and National Guardsmen who protect our country in times of war. We are in the longest war of our Nation's history. The bankruptcy bill of 2005 was a bad bill that made it more difficult for people to claim bankruptcy; hurt guardsmen and reservists whose bases are oftentimes surrounded by payday lenders, and they become subject to large loans in difficult times while in service, having to even file bankruptcy, let alone, respond to debts that they incur on behalf of the American people. But I want to thank Mr. Cline, a great American, and supporter of reservists and people serving our country, our National Guard and reservists. For being a cosponsor, Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, and Tim Burchett, an outstanding Tennessean and a volunteer for joining me in reintroducing this bill. I would like to thank all the National Guard and reservists who protect us, both here and abroad. I ask for unanimous passage.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in praise of a 20-year partnership between Memphis-based FedEx and Safe Kids Worldwide and to congratulate FedEx for receiving the 20th Anniversary Award at this Thursday's Childhood Prevention Convention Awards Luncheon here in Washington, D.C. For 20 years, FedEx has worked with Safe Kids to advance pedestrian safety for children in school zones around the country, reaching 17 million children and improving safety at 13,000 schools with educational outreach and infrastructure improvements. I especially want to call attention to the dramatic improvements this partnership has produced in my own district. Between 2003 and 2011, Treadwell Elementary School in Memphis saw 16 pedestrians hit in its school zone, ten under the age of 15, resulting in serious injuries. With a $40,000 contribution from FedEx, Safe Kids and the City of Memphis created a safe zone and there has not been a single crash in that zone in the eight years since the intervention. Treadwell's safe zone became a model and has resulted in upgrades to the safety zone at Grahamwood Elementary, also in my district. I'd also like to applaud Tennessee's proud legacy in promoting child safety as the first state to pass a child passenger safety law in 1978. I would also like to commend Safe Kids MidSouth, part of the Tennessee network of Safe Kids coalitions, supported by Memphis-based LeBonheur Children's Hospital. FedEx, with more than 100,000 vehicles on the road, understands the importance of protecting pedestrians. I want to commend its leadership for the forethought that has brought the FedEx- Safe Kids partnership to this 20-year milestone.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I join in supporting this resolution. I felt that we should have had a stronger resolution that censured the President, H. Res. 490, because the conduct that has been charged is beneath the Office of the President. He should not disparage people and suggest they go back to where they were born. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx, and her parents were born in Puerto Rico. Mr. Trump should know that Puerto Rico is the United States of America. From references to Haiti and African countries as ``-hole'' countries to the ``fine people on both sides'' in Charlottesville with neo-Nazis and Klansmen there, he has gone out of his way to find opportunities to besmirch Hispanic Americans, people of Mexican descent, African Americans, and African countries. This is wrong and beneath the Office of the President.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Robert J. Gilliland, the first man to fly the world's fastest supersonic manned aircraft--the SR-71 Blackbird--who died on Independence Day last week at the age of 93. Mr. Gilliland, a native of Memphis, attended what is now the Campus School at the University of Memphis and the Webb School at Bell Buckle, Tennessee. He was a 1949 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he took his commission in the newly created U.S. Air Force. After patrolling the skies over post-war Germany, he won his air wing's ``top gun'' competition. In the Korean War, he flew F-84s from the Taegu Air Base with the call sign ``Dutch 51.'' Returning to the United States, Mr. Gilliland got a plum assignment to the Air Force's research and development group at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, but soon left that post to help his father run the family's Memphis commercial real estate business. After his father died, Mr. Gilliland joined Lockheed as a test pilot for the F-104 Starfighter in California, then as chief pilot for the European production of the F- 104 at Turin, Italy. In 1962, he got a call from Clarence L. ``Kelly'' Johnson, the chief of Lockheed's advanced research and development team at what is called the Skunk Works outside Burbank, California. There, he worked on the secretive SR-71 Blackbird, the first manned stealth aircraft and the fastest of its day, sometimes at the super-secret Area 51 in the Nevada desert. On December 22, 1964, he piloted the hypersonic SR-71 for the first time and continued testing an aircraft that could attain speeds in excess of Mach 3.2 and climb to the edge of outer space at 85,000 feet. Mr. Gilliland logged more test flight hours at or above Mach 3 than any other pilot. His life is the subject of a book due for release next year with a forward by Captain Chesley ``Sully'' Sullenberger, who landed a U.S. Airways flight on the Hudson River in 2009. I want to extend my condolences to Mr. Gilliland's daughter Anne Gilliland Hayes and her husband Richard; to his son Robert J. Gilliland Jr. and his wife Kim; to his grandchildren Laura, Nathaniel, Stuart, Scott and Heather; and to his brother, my friend James S. Gilliland and his wife Lucia. Service was a family quality that was instilled in Mr. Gilliland and he was a true hero whose bravery was repeatedly demonstrated in the harshest possible circumstances. He was the embodiment of the Air Force motto, ``Aim High, Fly-Fight-Win.'' The nation owes him a debt of gratitude for an American life well lived.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend Bernell Jones, a seventh grade mathematics teacher at the White Station Middle School in Memphis for the last 16 years, who was recently nationally recognized as an inspiring educator. Before he became a math teacher, Mr. Jones was a computer specialist in the Marines, which explains his effectiveness in keeping discipline in his classroom. ``Classroom management from a military perspective is fairly easy,'' Mr. Jones told The Commercial Appeal newspaper. ``You're just so used to telling people what to do. These are young kids, and at school they will do the right thing.'' Mr. Jones earned a master's degree in teaching at Christian Brothers University he began teaching at White Station Middle School. An innovator in the classroom, he said he seeks to make mathematics fun with ``pi'' days and a waffle festival. He has changed the minds of many students who didn't initially like math--one became a math teacher herself. Mr. Jones is an inspiration to his students and to our whole community, and I congratulate him for this recognition.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I just want to add my support to this. We have added these prohibitions on three other bills that have come through here, State, and Foreign Operations; Commerce, Justice, and Science; and Financial Services and General Government. It is in the Constitution. Moneys are not supposed to be spent there, and this is wrong. The country will go on with them staying at Hiltons or, as Mr. Lieu said, Ritz Carltons, or Holiday Inns, or even Red Roof Inns. I just say that this is the right thing to do, and I add my name as a supporter.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate and celebrate the accomplishments of the Vanderbilt Baseball Team and their College World Series Championship victory. Vanderbilt University won the College World Series on Wednesday, June 26, 2019 for the second time in school history. I also want to commend head coach Tim Corbin for leading the team to a record-setting 59 victories this season. They showed tremendous perseverance through the season, but most especially when they came back once again in Game 3 to beat Michigan 8-2 and clinch the Championship. The team's season was also saved by a remarkable pitching effort, led by Kumar Rocker, who pitched a no-hitter against Duke during the Super Regional. The Commodores represented Vanderbilt University and the state of Tennessee with distinction and did so while remembering their fallen teammate, Donny Everett. As the Vanderbilt fight song states: ``if vict'ry's won, when battle's done, Then Vandy's name will rise in fame; Dynamite; Dynamite.'' I'd like to once again congratulate the 2019 Vanderbilt Baseball team for their College World Series Championship and dynamite season.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased, and America should be very pleased, that Robert Mueller is responding to a subpoena that was issued through the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Nadler, and through HPSCI, Mr. Schiff. On July 17 Robert Mueller will appear before our two committees for 2 hours of questioning by each committee and let us know more about the Mueller report. The Mueller report is the most important book or document in this country. Everyone should look at it, read it, and learn about contacts that the Trump administration and campaign had with the Russian Government and how Russia influenced our elections and will try to do it again. That is what is in the Mueller report. Attempts to obstruct justice that did not exonerate our President and specifically that Mr. Mueller said that if he could say he didn't commit a crime, he would. It is important that he testify, and it is important that people learn about the Mueller report and the danger that lurks not only beyond our House and Senate but within our government.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, this should be bipartisan because this is protecting America and protecting our Constitution, which we have all sworn an oath to uphold. This amendment will require the Trump administration to abide by the Emoluments Clause. The Emoluments Clause to the Constitution says that the President shouldn't be getting moneys from the Federal Government over and beyond his salary. Yet, money spent at the Trump Hotel, at the Trump Hotel in Ireland where they went to Doonbeg, and at the Trump Hotel in Scotland and other places where Trump makes his journeys, whether they are within the scope of his original overseas purpose of going to London and D-day but diverting to Doonbeg to play golf and to let people know about his golf course and his hotel there, charging the government for the golf carts that the Secret Service uses, and the rooms, drinks, and food at his hotel, et cetera. The Washington Post reported nearly $1 million in revenue already spent by Federal Government agencies at Trump properties. The Constitution does not permit it. It should be bipartisan. The gentleman says that these are attacks and that the administration needs certain types of latitude. It needs resources. Well, the Trump family doesn't. If this President did like every other President and divested himself of ownership of his properties, then we wouldn't have this problem, but he didn't do it. From day one, they have been making money, and they have also been advertising their product. Every time they advertise Trump properties, they are using the government as a way to expand the President's wealth. So I would ask that we abide by our oaths, enforce the Emoluments Clause, and stop the Trump businesses from taking money from the Federal Government, which they are not supposed to do.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) academic team from White Station High School in Memphis for winning the JROTC Academic National Championship on Sunday. The team, one of 32 invited to compete for the national championship at Catholic University of America in Washington, consists of rising senior Catherine Hu and rising juniors Johnnie Walton, Michael Golden and Diran Tan. Their teacher-coach is Sergeant Major Karen Boldin. The academic championship process began with a written test in October with questions from math, science, history and other academic areas. Previous levels of competition narrowed the field to 1,200 teams, then just 32 who began their rounds on Friday. Michael Golden had the final winning answer to a question about a monument in a British city and deserves a special shout-out. JROTC is a great program that typically leads to academic success after high school and potentially to careers as officers in the military services. The White Station team returns to Memphis as National Champions and I look forward to meeting with the team and with students, faculty and staff at White Station in the weeks ahead. They have made us proud.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I am speaking in favor of the amendment we have that would prohibit the use of funds at businesses owned by President Trump. Mr. Raskin joins me in these amendments. President Trump's refusal to divest himself of his many businesses raises serious questions about compliance with the domestic Emoluments Clause, which protects against Presidential corruption. By prohibiting the use of Federal funds at businesses owned, in whole or in part, by President Trump, we will be sending a strong message to the American people that we will not allow this or any other President to use his high office for personal enrichment. The fact is, when we stay at his hotels and his properties, he makes money. Nobody is supposed to make money from the Presidency, directly or indirectly, and they are supposed to report these possibilities to the Congress, so we have knowledge. That has not been done. We need notice, we need knowledge, and we need prohibition. I urge passage of this amendment to protect the American taxpayer.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity for Congress to reassert itself as an equal branch of government. The fact that it is supposed to be three equal branches of government is not totally accurate. When we came up with the Constitution, we decided that we didn't want to have an autocratic king rule us. That is why we had a revolution. When the men met to write our Constitution, they made Congress Article I. There was a reason they made Congress Article I, because the Congress represents the people. It is not a king, it is not an autocrat, and it is not a despot. It is the Representatives of the people who make the laws. We are supposed to really be the embodiment-- and we are the embodiment--of the American people. This President has thumbed his nose at the Representatives of the people by not complying with lawful requests for documentation and lawful requests for testimony for Congress to do its constitutionally delegated purpose of oversight of the executive branch and laws that are necessary for the betterment of this Nation. This is about time Congress did act. I am proud of Congress for bringing these bills, and I am shocked at the opposition for not wanting the people's House--their House, their legislative body--to stand up for future Congresses as well as this Congress for the rightful power that it deserves to do oversight and perform its functions with the best possible witnesses and testimony and materials that could aid it in its efforts. I support the contempt citations. I condemn the parties that have thumbed their noses at us, subpoena under law, they are supposed to arrive with documentation and appear to testify. If they object, they can object there and then, not just disregard Congresses' subpoenas that are lawful.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 101st anniversary of the Republic Day of Azerbaijan, and to extend my best wishes to all Azerbaijanis. May 28th marks the founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, when the people of Azerbaijan first gained their independence from the Russian Empire in 1918. Although Azerbaijan's independence was ended by Soviet forces in 1920, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was the world's first secular parliamentary democratic republic in a predominantly Muslim nation-- earning diplomatic recognition from the United States during the administration of President Woodrow Wilson. We also recall that the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan granted universal suffrage to its citizens in 1918, making it the first Muslim country to give women the right to vote. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan restored its independence on October 18, 1991, when its Parliament adopted the Constitution Act on the Restoration of the State of Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has emerged as a key player for enhancing global energy security. Azerbaijan also provides roughly 40 percent of Israel's oil consumption and enjoys friendly ties with Israel beyond oil sales. Jews have resided in Azerbaijan for 2,500 years without persecution and today, the Jewish community in Azerbaijan numbers over 12,000. Azerbaijan is also home to Christian communities and has been praised for its religious tolerance by the European Parliament. Azerbaijan is a key global security partner for the United States. As an active member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, Azerbaijan cooperates with the United States in countering terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and narcotics trafficking. Azerbaijani troops serve shoulder to shoulder with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, as they previously did in Kosovo and Iraq. In support of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan has extended important over-flight clearances for U.S. and NATO flights as well as regularly providing landing and refueling operations at its airports for U.S. and NATO forces. As co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, I stand with the Azerbaijani people as they continue to work towards independence and security as well as to embrace human rights and democratic values. I congratulate the people of Azerbaijan on the centennial of their Republic Day. May the partnership between the United States and Azerbaijan progress and continue to benefit both of our nations.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 30th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Starting on April 18, 1989 thousands of students marched through Tiananmen Square calling for a more democratic government and protesting China's Communist government. An estimated 1 million people joined the protests in Tiananmen Square and citizens in over 400 Chinese cities staged protests. After months of protests, late in the afternoon of June 3 thousands of troops moved onto Tiananmen Square and fired into crowds throughout the night into June 4. The People's Republic of China has still not admitted to how many people were killed by the military but despite the Chinese government downplaying the number killed, it was likely in the thousands. The Chinese government has tried to erase this tragedy from history in order to uphold its Communist regime's legitimacy. The Chinese government continues to violate the human rights of its citizens including putting millions of members of its Uyghur minority into ``re-education'' camps and continuing suppression of democratic voices throughout China. We must continue to commit ourselves to supporting the values for which the victims of Tiananmen Square Massacre gave their lives.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony Horwitz who died last week at the age of 60. His 1998 Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches From the Unfinished Civil War was hugely influential on me because, having grown up in the South, I could relate to much of what he wrote. His views on civil rights and even on zoning laws were insightful and illuminating. I recall once visiting my neighbor and friend the Civil War historian Shelby Foote and seeing Confederates in the Attic among his books. He told me Horwitz had recently visited and had dropped off a copy, and Foote said he wished he'd read it before the visit. Horwitz won his Pulitzer Prize as a reporter at The Wall Street Journal for his stories on low-wage workers at garbage recycling and poultry processing plants and worked for The New Yorker before writing Confederates in the Attic. Known for his deep reporting and participatory journalism, Horwitz also wrote Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before (2002) in which he retraced the 18th century explorer's voyages in the Pacific; A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World (2008), which looked at what America was like before its European discovery; Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War (2011) about the abolitionist's 1859 attack on the military arsenal at Harper's Ferry; and Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide that came out in May which followed the future landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead's reporting for The New York Times from the South prior to the Civil War. Horwitz's reputation as a hands- on reporter and writer will be long remembered. I wish to express my condolences to his wife, the novelist Geraldine Brooks; to his sons Nathaniel and Bizu; and to his many fans and friends.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, today is the 200th anniversary of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, the city of my birth, where I am a fourth- generation Memphian. I am proud of my city and honored to represent it in the United States Congress. Memphis is a city that is well known for the National Civil Rights Museum that has turned like a phoenix the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King into a shrine for civil rights history and civil rights work in our country. It is a home of music, Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Sun Records, and Graceland. It is a city of great barbecue, real barbecue, pork. It is a city of basketball, both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Memphis Tigers. And it is a city of marvelous people. It is a great city. Come celebrate with us the 200th birthday of Memphis, the great city that it is.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COHEN. Madam Chairwoman, in the minute that I have, I can't read the bill to the gentleman, but what the gentleman talked about is not the bill. It might be something somewhere up in the stratosphere, but this has nothing to do with picking one company, or Venezuela, or some other communist country. This has to do with giving consumers the fair opportunity to see what their credit score is That is America. That is fairness. That is justice. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.