Congressman Steve Cohen, a fourth generation native of Memphis, graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1971 and the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis in 1973. He served as the legal advisor to the Memphis Police Department right out of law school and later served as a Shelby County Commissioner where he voted to create the Regional Medical Center (“the Med”).

Congressman Cohen served 24 years as a state senator representing Memphis and authored the legislation and worked nearly 20 years to create the Tennessee Lottery and the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship Program.

Elected to Congress in 2006, Congressman Cohen was named to the Judiciary Committee and to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He served as Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the 117th Congress and served as the senior Democrat on the Aviation Subcommittee. He was recently named to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Congressman Cohen served as the Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, and is currently its House Ranking Member. In 2022, he was named the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Political Prisoners.