[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6992-6993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                                THANKFUL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for 5 minutes.
  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

[[Page 6993]]

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.

                          ____________________