Financial Services and Banking
In light of the Great Recession of 2008, during which Memphis and the nation suffered an unprecedented foreclosure crisis in large part due to unfair, under-regulated and predatory mortgage lending practices, Congressman Cohen strongly supports efforts to prevent future foreclosure crises and dangerous housing market practices.
During the years preceding the mortgage crisis, too many mortgages were made to consumers without regard to the consumer's ability to repay the loans. Loose underwriting practices by some creditors contributed to a mortgage crisis that led to the nation's most serious recession since the Great Depression.
Congressman Cohen voted for the Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law in 2010 by President Barack Obama, to reform the U.S. financial industry in order to prevent a recurrence of the 2008 market crash, and continues to oppose efforts to reverse the protections put into the law as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act.
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MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today applauded President Biden's decision to cancel up to $10,000 for most student borrowers, and up to $20,000 for Pell grant recipients, as he met a campaign pledge to ease the burden on low- and moderate-income borrowers facing higher costs and pandemic disruptions.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Don Beyer (VA-08), after extensive consultation with the White House and Treasury Department officials, today introduced the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act, to ensure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes.
The bill would enact President Biden's proposal to require households worth over $100 million to pay at least a 20 percent tax rate on their full income, including unrealized gains.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and John R. Curtis (UT-03) today wrote to President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken recommending sanctions against the Deposit Insurance Agency of Russia for its actions protecting sanctioned oligarchs and targeting Kremlin opponents. Congressman Cohen is the Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today spoke from the House floor in favor of the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act during a debate on the measure and later voted for it. Congressman Cohen also took the occasion to explain that partisan blame for inflation and oil prices are misguided because they are worldwide problems, not something for which President Biden should be faulted.