Steve Cohen

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 98th anniversary of the Republic Day of Azerbaijan, and to extend my best wishes to all Azerbaijanis as they celebrate Republic Day. 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, it is noteworthy that 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, with admiration, 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. The last twenty-five years of independence have not been without challenges for the people of Azerbaijan. At the fall of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan found itself in an armed conflict over occupied territory by Armenia. In 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding complete, unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Despite the U.N. resolutions, today, more than 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, remain under Armenian occupation. Additionally, a 1994 ceasefire agreement has been breached over the years with the most recent provocation occurring in 2016 while the Azerbaijani President was en route to Azerbaijan following a successful nuclear summit in the U.S. I am pleased that Azerbaijan immediately called for peace in the aftermath of the skirmish and remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict with Armenia. 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. Azerbaijan also plays an important role in the Northern Distribution Network, a supply route to Afghanistan, by making available its ground and Caspian naval transportation facilities. Azerbaijan has emerged as a key player for enhancing global energy security. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum gas pipeline are the main arteries delivering Caspian Sea energy resources to global markets, and completion of the Southern Gas Corridor--which will run from the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, and Albania into Italy--will increase the energy security of key American allies by increasing the amount of natural gas from the Caspian Sea to European markets. Notably, Azerbaijan also provides roughly 40 percent of Israel's oil consumption. What may be more surprising to some is that Azerbaijan--a predominantly Muslim country--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. As co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, I congratulate the people of Azerbaijan on the monumental occasion of Republic Day in their national history. May the partnership between the United States and Azerbaijan progress and continue to benefit both of our nations.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today is my birthday, and I chose to take this opportunity to address Congress and the American people on things I am blessed with and thoughtful about. First, of course, are my parents, who are no longer alive, but they gave me a great education and gave me a lot of love. My mother got the opportunity to see me get elected to Congress, and when I did, she said: What does that make me? I told her it made her the queen that she has always been. She passed about 5 years ago, so she hasn't been able to see these other years. I am thankful to my mother, my father, and my grandfather, but especially to my great-grandfather, Simon, who left Lithuania with nothing in about 1884 and came to this country. If he wouldn't have taken that bold step to leave his homeland without anything at all, I probably would have been born into some union that would have led to my being killed in the Holocaust. Simon was a great man, and this was a great country that accepted him. We have bills dealing with immigration, and I think about Simon leaving Lithuania and giving me the opportunity to be here. I am most thankful for my constituents for giving me this opportunity to serve in Congress. I love my job. I have been in politics all my life. I got elected for the first time when I was just 27 years old, and I am a lot older than that today. My constituents have blessed me. My district is the most African American district in the United States of America, and the issue of race and my religion--I am Jewish, which makes me a minority in my district--do not come up any longer. I have not lost a precinct in the Democratic primary because I have the best constituents in America who don't see religion and don't see race, but they simply see somebody who works hard at their job and votes their interests and tries to make Memphis more prosperous, more healthy, and more just. And I will always do that. I thank my constituents for giving me the opportunity to serve here, which was always something I longed for. I served in the State senate for a long time. I ran for Congress once before and lost. And I used to look at this building and think, ``I didn't get there; I didn't make it.'' I got a second chance, and the District Nine residents gave me that chance. I will be finishing my 10th year this year. To serve with the men and women I serve with in this Congress, we get a lot of abuse, and some people don't think we do a good job. Sometimes I don't think we do a good job. I will tell you that the people in Congress, the men and women, are all good men and women. They are likeable people. That is why they get elected. They are all winners. They may have a different perspective on what is right for this country, but they come here dedicated, and they work hard and they try to represent their district and make things better for the people in their district. I am thankful for each of you, Democrats and Republicans, for the opportunity to serve with you in this great Hall and to serve America. I thank District Nine, and I thank all my friends and my parents for giving me this opportunity and giving me life.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of an amendment Congressman Jerry McNerney and I are offering today to the Fiscal Year 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations Act. Our amendment would increase funding for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account by $2 million for the SuperTruck II program, and it is fully offset. The SuperTruck program at the Department of Energy (DOE) helps research and develop more fuel efficient long-haul, tractor-trailers, which is important not just for our environment but also for our economy. The types of improvements we may see as a result of this program include better engine efficiency, aerodynamics, and truck weight. The Appropriations Committee included $20 million of the requested $60 million for the SuperTruck II program. While I am grateful for the funding, I believe we can do more. I would like to thank Congressman McNerney for his help on this amendment as well as Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Kaptur for all their efforts on this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the DUI Reporting Act, a bill which I filed yesterday with my Judiciary Committee colleague, Steve Chabot of Ohio. If enacted, this bill would plug a glaring hole in our Nation's drunk driving laws that enables repeat offenders to be tried as first-time offenders, and repeat offenders are the ones most likely to cause serious accidents and death. Currently, when police make a driving-under-the-influence arrest, they don't always have access to information about all of the driver's previous DUI convictions or arrests. The reason is because not all agencies report DUI arrests and/or convictions to the National Crime Information Center, known as the NCIC. That is the national crime database that is made instantly available to police and law enforcement right in their patrol cars. The consequences of this lack of reporting can prove tragic. Last year, there was an awful, awful accident, a crash in northern Mississippi just outside of my district. Two teenage girls, Maddie Kruse and Rachel Lynch, were headed out of Memphis on the way to a vacation. Their grandmother was driving the car. At about 6:30 in the morning, a man who had registered .17 at 6:30 in the morning hit their vehicle and killed Maddie and Rachel. This man had accrued seven DUI charges since 2008 but had been allowed to plead guilty five times to DUI first. He represented himself and had five first-offense DUI convictions. Mississippi didn't have a system and still doesn't have a system to require those reportages. This story broke my heart and, I believe, the hearts of everybody in the Midsouth who read about it. This was a drunk driver who should have been in jail serving time off the road or have received treatment. The reason he wasn't, according to local investigations, is because none of his DUI history had been reported to the NCIC and was not available to the highway patrolman. When that patrolman ran his driving record in the national database, his past DUI convictions never showed up because they weren't reported. This is shameful in this day and age. This information should be reported so that law enforcement can get access to it and get drunk drivers off the road and save lives like Maddie's and Rachel's. Our bill would make that happen by creating a financial incentive for States to require DUI arrests and convictions to be reported to the NCIC and, therefore, available to law enforcement. The bill is bipartisan. It has the support of people throughout the country; but in Memphis, Billy Bond, at the Prosecutor's Office, worked on this for a while and tried to get laws like this passed. We have had a good response from MADD. This bill will save lives. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass it quickly.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the DUI Reporting Act, a bill I introduced today with my Judiciary Committee colleague Steve Chabot. If enacted, it would plug a glaring hole in our nation's drunk driving laws that inadvertently enables repeat offenders to be tried as first time offenders. Currently, when police make a drunk driving arrest, they don't always have access to information about all of the driver's previous arrests for driving under the influence. The reason is because not all police report DUI arrests to the National Crime Information Center, or ``NCIC'' for short, which is the national crime database that is made instantly available to police right from their patrol cars. The consequences of this lack of reporting can prove tragic. Just last year there was a terrible accident in northern Mississippi, just outside of my Congressional District. Two teenagers were killed when the car they were driving was struck by a drunk driver who had accrued seven DUI charges since 2008 and had been allowed to plead guilty five times to a first-offense DUI. The reason, according to a local investigation, was that none of the driver's DUI history had been reported to the NCIC. When the highway patrol ran his driving record in the national database, his past DUI convictions never showed up. This is shameful. This information should be reported so police can access it and get drunk drivers off the road. Our bill would make that happen, by creating a financial incentive for states to require DUI arrests to be reported to the NCIC. This bipartisan bill will save lives, and I urge my colleagues to help pass it quickly.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today on our calendar we have got about 10 bills dealing with a very serious issue in America: opioids and heroin. This is an awful problem we have in our Nation. There is more and more use of opioids and heroin and death resulting from it than at any time that I can recall in the past. I had a young friend a few years back who died of a heroin overdose. I have known of other promising young people in Memphis who have died of heroin overdoses. This is a problem all over the country, but predominantly in the northeast and predominantly in Caucasian areas. It has become an issue, as it should, of importance. But none of the bills that we are going to deal with today--all of which are good, and all of which I will support--deal with the real problem; and that is, the recognition in our country that we treat all drugs as a law enforcement problem, a criminal problem, and not as a health problem; and that we treat most all drugs on the same level and give law enforcement the same incentives to arrest dealers and/or users for any drug and not encourage them and give them reasons--besides public safety--to emphasize their enforcement on opioids and heroin. In the drug schedules which we have in our country that lay out the order in which we think drugs are the most serious, Schedule I is at the top; and in that classification are heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and marijuana. I ask you each not to answer reflexively which of those four don't fit. Marijuana does not fit. Our laws should show that heroin is a serious problem and that marijuana is not as serious a problem; that users should be dealt with in ways that don't put them in jail and, in the case of marijuana possession, don't cause them to lose scholarship opportunities, housing opportunities in Federal facilities, or jobs later on. We also shouldn't have law enforcement, through asset forfeiture, get moneys from people they arrest; fund their activities by making arrests; and have it be presumed in law that moneys and/or properties that are involved in the transactions of those drug deals are involved and that law enforcement gets to keep those items. It gives law enforcement a reason to go after marijuana--which is easier to find and make money--rather than heroin. We need to study marijuana to see what its medical uses are. We don't need to use it to incarcerate and cripple for the future jobs for young people. We need to encourage young people not to do any drugs at all, not to do alcohol, not to smoke cigarettes, and to take their time as youths to be youths, to be young, to learn, and to fill their minds with knowledge for a better life later. But if, as a youth or as an adult, they should use an illegal substance, they should be dealt with as having a problem and not be given a scarlet letter that stays with them for the rest of their lives. So my work has been and will continue to be to try to make more sense of our drug laws; to see that the scheduling is smarter, that heroin and opioids continue to be at the top, and that marijuana is not in that listing; and to do things that encourage law enforcement to arrest people that are dealing in and selling heroin and opioids, which cause death and cause people to be addicted to the point where they will commit crimes to secure moneys to keep their habit going, and to not have equal incentives to go after marijuana that does none of those things.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, the city of Memphis and the United States lost a great clergyman and civil rights leader this past week in Reverend Samuel ``Billy'' Kyles. Samuel ``Billy'' Kyles was born in Mississippi, moved to Chicago, but found his home and his purpose in Memphis, Tennessee, where he founded Monumental Baptist Church and served there for 55 years. He was a courageous man who helped integrate the Memphis schools. One of his daughters was one of the 13 young children that integrated the schools. He got on a bus and refused to go to the back of the bus in 1964 with six others and helped integrate the buses in Memphis. His life was dedicated to civil rights, making Memphis better, and serving his church members. He is well known and remembered for being at the Lorraine Motel on the day that Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. On that occasion, he was near Dr. King and was a witness to the assassination, which he told people about throughout the country and is part of a documentary film called ``The Witness.'' He remembered Dr. King's work to all, witnessed what he did and what happened in Memphis. He lived his life as Dr. King would have wanted: trying to move civil rights forward and making America the country that it was supposed to be. A life well lived.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Ensuring Useful Research Expenditures is Key for Alzheimer's Act--also known as the ``EUREKA Act'', a bill I introduced earlier today with my fellow Tennessean John Duncan, which would establish a prize competition to accelerate the discovery and development of treatments to alleviate, prevent, and/or cure Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. This is a bipartisan House companion to a bipartisan bill introduced previously by Senators Roger Wicker, Kelly Ayotte, John Barrasso, Shelley Capito, Susan Collins, Angus King, and Brian Schatz. Alzheimer's disease is a tragic disease affecting millions of Americans, and it has reached crisis proportions. There is no effective treatment, no means of prevention, and no method for slowing the progression of the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, five million Americans were living with Alzheimer's in 2013, and those numbers have swelled since then. Because of the large numbers of patients and the length of time living with the disease, the Alzheimer's Association has called it ``the most expensive disease in America.'' They estimate that the U.S. will spend $236 billion in 2016 on patients who have Alzheimer's and related dementias. Earlier this month, I and over 70 of my colleagues in the House signed a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations to request a $500 million increase in National Institutes of Health (``NIH'') funding for Alzheimer's research in fiscal year 2017. And while funding Alzheimer's research directly by the NIH is important to combating the disease, it is not the only way that Congress can act to stimulate discovery and development of new treatments. The creation of prizes to be awarded for solving difficult problems is a new strategy for U.S. agencies to tap into the limitless ingenuity and creativity of the American people. Prize competitions are run by more than 80 agencies across the federal government. The EUREKA Act builds upon these efforts to seek innovative solutions from the public, and bring the best ideas and talent together to solve difficult problems. If enacted, the EUREKA Act will provide $10 million for the NIH and other agencies to create prizes for new prevention measures, treatments, and cures for Alzheimer's disease. I urge my colleagues to join our bipartisan effort and help pass the EUREKA Act.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today is Jackie Robinson Day, declared such by Major League Baseball, but it should be declared such by the United States of America. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. For 80- some odd years, there were no African American players in the major leagues. Branch Rickey put Jackie Robinson on the Brooklyn Dodgers and baseball became integrated. It truly became America's national pastime. Today, Major League Baseball players will all wear number 42, a number retired and allowed to be worn only on this day in honor of Jackie Robinson on the occasion of integrating Major League Baseball. Jackie Robinson was a great American and a great athlete. He lettered in four sports at UCLA. He was a great major league player with the Brooklyn Dodgers and was honored by being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Today there is a Jackie Robinson Foundation that gives young people scholarships to go to college and to do good deeds. He was very much interested in moving America forward in civil rights, and he did all he could. I was fortunate to travel to Cuba with the President. I met his widow, Rachel, and his daughter, Sharon, who gave me a button--and this is a replica of it--designating April 15 as Jackie Robinson Day. I think we should all think about his contributions to America and what contributions we can make to America to make us a more perfect Union. Thank you, Jackie Robinson.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, on February 12, 2016, I was unable to attend House Roll Call Vote Numbers 79 through 82. If present, I would have voted Yes on vote numbers 79 and 82 and voted No on vote numbers 80 and 81.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend House Roll Call Vote Numbers 71 through 78 on February 11, 2016. If present, I would have voted Yes on vote numbers 71, 73, 74, and 75 and voted No on vote numbers 72, 76, 77 and 78.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Yesterday we had a program at which we honored the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. One of the Republican Senators confessed: ``I should have done more.'' I hear that from a lot of folks from the South. They go to Selma and they march and they say they should have done more. Meanwhile, one can do something today because there is a Voting Rights Act that needs to be extended or amended and approved to give people the ultimate thing that America is most well-known for, which is the right to vote in a democracy. Voting rights are in peril in our country, income inequality continues, and millions of Americans of both parties are voting for candidates who appeal to those folks. Race relations between police and minority communities are fraught, young people have tremendous burdens of student loan debt, and our infrastructure is in danger. Let's deal with those issues and let's make Congress great again.

Mr. COHEN. I thank the ranking member. Mr. Chairman, this bill which has come before our committee is one that the President has said he will veto because the President says that it is a ``solution that is looking for a problem'' or something to that effect. This bill will make it more difficult for plaintiffs--people who have been harmed--to get relief because their cases in State courts can more easily be removed to Federal courts. Now, the gentleman from Virginia is exactly right in that it has always been permitted. You can remove a case to Federal court if you can show that the plaintiff in the State court is not a proper plaintiff, if you can show that there is diversity of citizenship and not complete diversity. The problem is that this has always been the rule, and it is the way the rule is now; but the courts have not come to us and said this is a problem and have asked us to correct it. We are correcting this because the corporate defendants want to make it easier for them to remove these cases to courts at which they will get better results. It will make it more difficult for plaintiffs to get judgments in State courts, which have historically been a bit healthier. This makes it almost impossible. It increases litigation. It makes you, on the front end, have to show your case. It increases the cost to the courts and the burden on the courts. It will make the government larger because there will be more activity in Federal court if this becomes law. It will take from the States the right to determine their own State laws, which is generally the position of my friends on the other side--being for states' rights. In certain parts of our country, including in my part of the country, they have been known to sometimes talk poorly about the Federal courts. This gives the Federal courts more power. It is an aberrant position that this side has taken, kind of like they took when we had reciprocity on gun permits. Rather than having States' laws be paramount, they thought the Federal law should superimpose it. We have got a situation by which the idea of States' laws being sovereign and States having more authority and giving more power to the States falls second to being for things that corporations and the NRA desire. In those cases, states' rights come second, and that is an unusual aberration. This bill will probably not pass the Senate, but if it does, it will be vetoed, and it won't be overridden.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this week marks the 24th 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. However, on February 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces descended on the town in a final attempt to take over the city. In doing so, they 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 horrific injuries. More than one hundred children lost a parent and 25 children lost both parents. At least 8 families were completely obliterated. 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 refugees unable to return to their home villages. Ongoing violence along the line of contact surrounding occupied Azerbaijani territory reinforces 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 is the only country that borders both Russia and Iran, and yet Azerbaijan has been a strong partner of the United States and its allies in security and energy matters. This cooperation has included: enforcing sanctions against Iran; providing troops to serve shoulder- to-shoulder with U.S. forces in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan; allowing transit for 40 percent of all non-lethal equipment used by NATO 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. I invite my colleagues to join me and our Azerbaijani friends in recognizing and remembering the horrible events that occurred during the Khojaly Massacre twenty-four years ago. As Azerbaijanis in all parts of the world continue to grieve the loss of loved ones, let us commemorate their losses with support of non-violent efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and of reforms that promote peace and stability throughout the Southern Caucasus region.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, we are nearing the end of Black History Month. We had a special program yesterday recognizing foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. It reminded me of a man who is a foot soldier up here in Washington, Wade Henderson. Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund. He announced he is going to be retiring after 20 years as the head of that organization at the end of this year. Wade Henderson has worked with Republicans and Democrats both to bring about change in our country. He was largely responsible for work on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act when it passed and had been working on trying to get it renewed in this Congress. He worked in a major way on the Fair Sentencing Act that took away the disparity in crack and cocaine sentences that was wrongful. Before he came to his position at the Leadership Conference, he was active in the NAACP here in Washington, where he was the bureau director, and he worked on other issues with the ACLU and other groups on civil and human rights. When Wade Henderson came to the Capitol, he was a voice of conscience. He and Hilary Shelton, together with the NAACP, are two of the most conscientious men I know. They have served this country well. I will miss him in his retirement. I appreciate the remaining time he has. He is a foot soldier. I thank him for his service.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Memphis singer, drummer, songwriter, producer and founder of the world-renowned band Earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White. Maurice White was born in Memphis, Tennessee on December 19, 1941, and attended Booker T. Washington High School where he was in the drum corps. After graduating, he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois and Maurice White enrolled at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Having developed a love for drums while singing in his church choir in Memphis and watching marching bands, Maurice found work as a drummer in nightclubs and in 1963, he became a session drummer for Chess Records. While at Chess Records, Maurice recorded with music legends Etta James, Fontella Bass, Muddy Waters, The Impressions, Betty Everett and many more. In 1966, he joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio during a time when the group was one of only a few jazz groups to rise to the upper levels of the pop charts. Maurice White left the group to form the Salty Peppers in 1969 alongside his two friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead. After little success, he moved to Los Angeles, California, recruited new band members including his brother Verdine White and, drawing inspiration from the astrological chart, changed the group's name to Earth, Wind & Fire. Earth, Wind & Fire signed with Warner Bros. in 1971 but did not gain renowned fame until Maurice, again, brought on new band members, with the exception of Verdine, and signed the band with Columbia. It was then that Earth, Wind & Fire infused its sound with jazz, funk, soul and pop, and recorded the album Head to the Sky in 1973, which sold over 500,000 copies and included hit songs Evil and Keep Your Head to the Sky. In 1974, Earth, Wind & Fire released the album Open Our Eyes and reached the pop Top 40 for the first time with the song Mighty Mighty. Their next album released just a year later, That's the Way of the World, included the group's first and only No. 1 pop hit, Shining Star. Earth, Wind & Fire also recorded hit songs Reasons (1975), That's the Way of the World (1975), Fantasy (1977), September (1978), Boogie Wonderland (1979), and Let's Groove (1981), including many more hits and popular songs. Maurice White helped produce seven double platinum albums, two platinum albums, two gold albums and two gold singles. In addition to writing or co-writing many of the songs for Earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White produced music for the Emotions, Ramsey Lewis and Deniece Williams, and in 1985, he released a solo, eponymous album and earned a hit with his cover of Ben E. King's Stand by Me. In all, Earth, Wind & Fire had 16 Top 40 singles and sold an estimated 90 million albums worldwide. The group has won six Grammy Awards from seventeen nominations, four American Music Awards from twelve nominations, the BET Lifetime Achievement Award, the NAACP Hall of Fame Award, Soul Train's Legend Award, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as well as earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010, Maurice White was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame along with band members Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Al McKay and Larry Dunn. Earth, Wind & Fire has earned a list of other awards and recognitions and will receive the 2016 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Maurice White's music was written and produced to inspire and bring all people together. Maurice once said, ``Being joyful and positive was the whole objective of our group. Our goal was to reach all the people and to keep a universal atmosphere--to create positive energy. All of our songs had that positive energy. To create uplifting music was the objective.'' Maurice's goal was easily recognized by all who heard and loved his work. President Barack Obama stated, ``Only Maurice could make such sophisticated songs so catchy. Only he could inspire generations of such diverse artists. And only he could get everyone-- old and young, black and white--to let the groove move them on the dance floor.'' Maurice's universal sound was remembered by Flea, bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, who said, ``In my junior high school, the white kids loved Zeppelin, the black kids loved p funk [Parliament Funkadelic], the freaky kids loved Bowie, but everyone loved Earth, Wind & Fire. They were just undeniable. Old people loved 'em, kids loved 'em, every race and economic class loved 'em. They just crossed every line with the power of incredible music and amazing performances.'' Tributes from artists from all genres include mentions of Maurice as a genius, a king, a masterful artist, a leader and a teacher. Maurice White passed away on February 3, 2016 in Los Angeles at 74 years of age. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1992. The music community has lost one of the greatest musical minds of our time. Maurice White's influence cannot be denied and his contributions are lasting. Maurice White was a true ``shining star'' and his legacy will shine on for generations to come.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act. This bill would direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish minimum seat size standards for passenger seats on aircrafts operated by carriers in the U.S. for the health and safety of passengers. Consumers are tired of being squeezed--both physically and fiscally. The average distance between rows of seats has dropped from 35 inches before airline deregulation in the 1970s to about 31 inches today. The average width of an airline seat has also shrunk from 18 inches to about 16\1/2\. This isn't just a matter of comfort. It is about safety and health. The FAA requires that planes be capable of evacuation in 90 seconds or less, but the FAA hasn't conducted emergency evacuation tests on airlines with a distance between rows of less than 29 inches. Some airlines fly with rows as close as 28 inches apart. Furthermore, doctors warn of deep vein thrombosis which can afflict passengers who don't move their legs enough on longer flights. Moreover, average seat sizes have been shrinking while the average size of Americans has been growing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average man in 1960 weighed 166, and the average woman weighed 140 pounds. Now the average man is 196 pounds and the average woman is 166 pounds--and both are about an inch taller. This just doesn't make any sense. I hope that Congress will quickly act on this bill to direct the FAA to establish minimum seat size standards to provide appropriately for the safety and health of airline passengers.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Gary Faulkner, Jr. of Memphis, Tennessee for winning the 2015 Rolltech Professional Bowlers Association World Championship at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. In his first professional television appearance, Gary Faulkner beat top qualifier EJ Tackett to become the second African American ever to win a PBA Tour title in the PBA's 57- year history after George Branham III won the Brunswick Memorial World Open in 1986. Gary learned the game of bowling at the early age of two when he bowled with his father, Pastor Gary Faulkner, Sr. of Cummings Street Baptist Church. As a sophomore at Germantown High School, Gary won the Division I Bowling Championship title in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association individual bowling tournament. At that time, his best series bowling score was 833. While enrolled at Webber International University, Gary helped lead his team to the 2012 Intercollegiate Team Championship. Gary Faulkner maintained his focus and determination to win the Rolltech Championship. On his way to victory, Gary threw 10 strikes on his first 11 shots to ultimately defeat Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, California 262-218. He also defeated Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, New York, 247-237, who was seeking to win his third title, back-to-back, to become the first player to win three consecutive PBA titles on American soil since 1971. Gary opened this match with a spare and four strikes. In his final three-game match, Gary impressively rolled six strikes on his first eight attempts and threw only two bad shots. Gary's opponent, EJ Tackett of Huntington, Indiana, on the other hand, left three splits in his first five frames, setting up a 49 pin deficit from which he could not rebound against Faulkner. Gary Faulkner won the title 216-178. After winning, Gary said, ``The first shot I was nervous, but after that I didn't think about anything. My mind was free. I didn't watch the other guys. I don't show a lot of emotions. My goal is always to win; I didn't come here to lose.'' With a goal set in mind to win, Gary Faulkner has represented his family and the city of Memphis well, and I look forward to reading about his future accomplishments. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating Gary Faulkner, Jr. on winning the 2015 Rolltech Professional Bowlers Association World Championship.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Fresh Start Act, a bill I reintroduced earlier today. If enacted, it would allow certain individuals who have been convicted of nonviolent offenses, have paid their debt to society, and are now law-abiding members of the community to petition courts to have their nonviolent conviction expunged from their records. A criminal record, even for a minor, nonviolent offense, can pose a barrier to employment, education and housing opportunities--the very things necessary to start one's life over. This is not only bad for rehabilitated offenders, it is bad for their families and for the community in which they live. The Fresh Start Act would give nonviolent offenders a chance to start over again, a chance to become productive members of society. The bill allows offenders to apply for expungement to the court where they were sentenced and allows the United States Attorney for that District to submit recommendations to the court. Applicants who are denied could reapply once every two years. Once seven years have elapsed since an offender has completed their sentence, expungement would be automatically granted. However, sex offenders and those who commit crimes causing a loss of over $25,000 would not be eligible for automatic expungement. Finally, the bill would also encourage states to pass their own expungement laws for state offenses. States that pass a substantially similar law would receive a 5 percent increase in their Byrne funding while those that do not would lose 5 percent of their Byrne funds. It is one thing to convict someone of a nonviolent crime. It is quite another to condemn him to a de facto life sentence for it. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 26th anniversary of ``Black January'' in Azerbaijan. Imbedded in the memory of all Azerbaijanis regardless of where they live, Black January commemorates Azerbaijan's stand against Soviet soldiers for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity over all lands under Azerbaijani jurisdiction, and freedom from communism and dictatorship. On the evening of January 19, 1990, the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet Presidium backed by then-President Mikhail Gorbachev, declared a state of emergency in response to the growing national independence movement in Azerbaijan, which led to Russian troops storming the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku. In an attempt to suppress the movement and ``restore order,'' Soviet invaders indiscriminately fired on peaceful demonstrators, including women and children. That night, more than 130 people died, over 700 people were injured, 841 were arrested and 5 went missing. The invasion, however, focused not just on peaceful protestors but also on critical infrastructure and workers. According to a report by Human Rights Watch entitled Black January in Azerbaijan, ``among the most heinous violations of human rights during the Baku incursion were the numerous attacks on medical personnel, ambulances and even hospitals.'' Additionally, the attack was an act of intimidation for all then-Soviet countries with independence ambitions. The Human Rights Watch report concluded that, ``indeed the violence used by the Soviet Army on the night of January 19-20 constitutes an exercise in collective punishment. The punishment inflicted on Baku by Soviet soldiers may have been intended as a warning to nationalists, not only in Azerbaijan, but in other Republics of the Soviet Union.'' Azerbaijani citizens, however, refused to succumb to Soviet aggression. Instead, the invasion inflamed Azerbaijani nationalism. In the days after the invasion, thousands of Azerbaijanis surrounded Communist Party headquarters demanding the resignation of the republic's leadership, the Baku City Council demanded that Soviet troops be withdrawn and the Soviet legislature in Azerbaijan threatened to call a referendum on secession unless Soviet troops were withdrawn within 48 hours. Soviet troops were eventually withdrawn and January 20th became known as ``the Day of the Nationwide Sorrow.'' It would not be for nearly two years, however, before Azerbaijan gained political control from the Soviet Union. In October 1991, Azerbaijan's parliament--the National Assembly--declared its independence. Today, Azerbaijan has developed into a thriving country with double digit growth, in large part due to a freely elected president and parliament, free market reforms led by the energy sector, and, most importantly, no foreign troops on its soil. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the tragic events of Black January that precipitated the independent Republic of Azerbaijan and the fall of the USSR.

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 44 on January 13, 2016, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' personal explanation

Mr. COHEN

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, having seen the outcome of the last vote where there was one Member of the other side and four Members of this side, and the vote was given to the other side, I just think that it would be best for the process if I withdrew this amendment because I can see the writing on the wall. And I am going to withdraw the amendment and hope that maybe on the floor we will pass something that takes care of the victims of terror and see that they aren't deterred by this. I would like to just mention my friend, Warren Zevon, again. He had a song called ``Lawyers, Guns and Money'' and the other side is certainly for two-thirds of that. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to ask that the amendment be considered.

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