A Democratic congressman from Tennessee disagrees with our article about his primary opponent.
Recently, Nation published what looked like PR material for a young man challenging me for a seat in Tennessee's Ninth Congressional District. [“Why Justin Pearson Wants to Unseat a 10-Term Democratic Incumbent in Congress,” by Chris Lehmann, posted on October 8]. Since this is clearly written by someone who doesn't know much about the Memphis area or me, I asked for and was given the opportunity to submit a letter to the editor.
The heart that beats in my chest today is the same one that quickened when, at age 11, I stood with my father on Union Avenue, waiting to see John F. Kennedy, the young senator from Massachusetts running for president. The photograph I took that day, which now hangs in a frame on the wall of my office in Washington, is not very clear, but that is the moment. It captures something enduring: a call to public service that has guided me ever since.
I was a liberal where liberalism was not cool. My progressivism was not born of a passing trend or a social movement of the day. It's not a slogan or a T-shirt I wear or a flag I fly – it's the fabric of who I am.
By the time I reached my challenger age, I had served on the Shelby County Commission and assembled a bipartisan coalition to fund and build a charity hospital, then called MED and now called Regional One. This facility has not only saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Memphis – overwhelmingly the lives of the poorest people in our community – but also serves as a destination for trauma patients throughout the Mid-South.
In the Tennessee State Senate, I was a strong (and often the only) supporter of civil rights, women's rights, economic justice, and equality in a body that technically had more Democrats than today, but very few genuine progressives.
I didn't have many allies, but I had a vision. It took 18 years of hard work, but I was able to forge a complex mosaic of coalitions across party lines to create the Tennessee Education Lottery, which as of this writing has provided more than $8 billion in college, community college and vocational school tuition for children across our state, many of whom would not be able to afford higher education without it. Everywhere I go, I meet people who attended college through this program and share their joy in how they build their families and their communities. Their victories are my victories.
When I was first elected to Congress, although I faced challenges as a freshman, I found that my years of experience in the Tennessee State Senate prepared me for what I would face, and I was able to bring resources back to the Ninth in a way that few others have been able to. This tenacity has only intensified as I have held the positions I have acquired over the years. And just this year, the Center for Effective Lawmaking named me one of the five most effective Democrats in the House of Representatives.
I worked hard to obtain seats on the House Justice and Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) committees. The Judiciary has allowed me to ensure that the Ninth Circuit has a say in legislation affecting important issues such as law enforcement, voting, civil rights and women's choice, and T&I was a natural choice for a city with a busy river port, an international airport, and where so many jobs depend on aviation. FedEx is the economic engine of Memphis and the Mid-South.
As a senior member of the T&I Committee, I have brought home record amounts of federal funding to support Memphis, and that extends far beyond the airport. In 2024, I helped secure the largest infrastructure investment in Tennessee history: nearly $400 million in Kings Crossing, the new I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River between Memphis and Arkansas. I've worked hard to secure major investments in housing, schools and real estate redevelopment in North Memphis, South Memphis, Orange Mound and throughout our city, and just last week we announced the completion of an investment of over $100 million in low-income housing: Foote Park in South City, a project I helped launch, successfully campaigning for a Choice Neighborhood Grant valued at over $30 million. It is now one of the highest quality examples of public housing in the United States.
That's the difference when you have experience and track record and know how to get results.
Earlier this year, I also had the honor of being asked by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to join the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This is a very popular and important assignment of the committee for the security of our country.
Throughout my political career, from the Shelby County Commission to the Tennessee State Senate and finally to the U.S. House of Representatives, I have built and maintained relationships and cultivated support with groups across the progressive spectrum. Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady United, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, Human Rights Campaign, Humane Society of the United States – they all support me because they know that I support them. This relationship is not granted to me because of the words I speak—I earned it through years and decades of progressive action and legislation.
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That's what Congress is. These are coalition building, negotiations, gradual progress and legislative discipline. These are not speeches and parades with ticker tapes. These are not viral videos and endless speeches on the steps of government buildings. This means walking up the porches of these buildings to hold a meeting and deliver information to your community. This is not change for the sake of change – it is a combination of passionate progressivism with experience of getting things done.
Justice Democrats may call me an “absentee,” but that only proves how little they actually know about this district, about me, or what it takes to do this job effectively. For nearly 20 years, I flew to Washington nearly every week because that's where Congress meets and where work gets done. And at the end of each week, I return home to Memphis to meet with constituents, attend community events and be a part of the city I am proud to represent.
WITHhe had WITHCohen,
US Congress, Tennessee 9
PS: I used the phrase “Keep Walking with Cohen” long before this. Wag the dog existed. An old friend told me to use “Get Goin' With Cohen” in 1988 and “Keep Goin' With Cohen” when I was running for re-election in 1992, adapting it from a car dealership whose name rhymed with “goin.”
PPS: Keep going with Cohen!
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