Rep. Steve Cohen, Democrat (TN-09)

Before running for Congress in 2006, Rep. Steve Cohen served as a Tennessee state senator for over twenty years. During his tenure in the State Senate, Cohen championed and passed in a legendary effort – the Tennessee Education Lottery – which has raised over a billion dollars for college scholarships, pre-kindergarten education, and after school programs. Cohen was widely regarded as one of the legislature’s toughest and most articulate debaters.

Besides being the "father of the lottery," Cohen passed legislation to create the Tennessee Holocaust Commission in 1984. Cohen served on the board of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission for 20 years and was honored by the Commission with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He has been honored by the Tennessee Council of Jewish Women and a speaker to the B’nai B’rith Board in New York City about his work on anti-Semitism, among other issues. Cohen has also been nationally recognized for his work on the separation of Church and State.

Rep. Cohen believes in the unbreakable relationship between the US and Israel but he takes issue with the notion that there is only "one way" to be pro-Israel. Cohen first traveled to Israel in 1987 and has been involved personally in the issues ever since.

Cohen’s support for Israel is through the belief that there must be a peaceful end to the conflict. He signed the Cohen-Boustany-Carnahan letter expressing support for President Obama’s Middle East policies and co-sponsored a House Resolution expressing support for the President’s appointment of Senator George Mitchell as US envoy to the Middle East.

Mr. Cohen opposed the Iraq war at the outset of hostilities in Iraq and has continued to oppose an indefinite presence of US troops in that country. He understands that engagement in the Middle East as a whole is vital for US and Israeli security interests, and advocates for aggressive US diplomacy with both Iran and Syria.

From his opposition to the war in Iraq, to his support of tough diplomacy with Iran and Syria, and his deep commitment to Israel and a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, JStreetPAC is proud to re-endorse Rep. Steve Cohen.