Congressman Steve Cohen: My return back to 'dystopian' nation's capital | Opinion
I’ve noted that the word of 2019 was “dystopian.” My most recent visit to Washington showed it still applies.
- Congressman Steve Cohen represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.
Correction: The anniversary date for Tennessee's ratification of the 19th amendment and the percentage of vote required for ratification of that amendment have been updated.
Last week, I returned to Washington to participate in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Police Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability. At the Memphis airport, there were only five scheduled departures that evening.
In Charlotte, the concourse restaurants were closed. The airport was busy and there were lines 25-deep at the available terminal restaurants but, unfortunately, most weren’t wearing facemasks. At Reagan National, there were only 10 departing flights at 5 p.m. when there are usually three panels of departures at that hour.
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Our hearing was held at the Capitol Visitor Center auditorium so we could maintain our social distancing. Chairman Jerry Nadler asked all the members to wear face masks, and the Democratic members did. But Ranking Member Jim Jordan, and Republicans Louie Gohmert, Ken Buck, Mike Johnson, Georgia Senate candidate Doug Collins and a few others apparently see taking such precautions as cowardly, or impolitic, and did not adhere to the chairman’s request.
During a lunch break, I visited the cavernous Emancipation Hall, named for the slaves who helped build our U.S. Capitol. I was the only one there, my footsteps echoing in the silence. I read the citations on all the statues, and was pleased to see Helen Keller representing Alabama instead of some Confederate soldier.
As always, I touched the bronze beaded moccasin of the statue of the Shoshone Chief Washakie of Wyoming, placed in the U.S. Capitol through the efforts of former Commercial Appeal Editor Chris Peck’s father, the late Wyoming state Senator Bob Peck.
I went to the new exhibit honoring Women’s Suffrage, recalling we’re approaching August 18 and the 100th anniversary of Tennessee’s ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. I was reminded of the work of my friend Paula Casey in making sure that milestone is recognized as “the Perfect 36,” or as the 36th state needed to make the three-fourths needed for ratification.
I also paid my respects at the statue of Frederick Douglass, representing the District of Columbia, mindful of his efforts that we are advancing in our work to end police violence against African Americans.
I returned to my office in the Rayburn Building, walking empty halls usually bustling with people, and opened a month’s worth of held mail in the silence, alone. It felt like the empty staterooms of The Titanic, stark and void.
Returning to my Washington apartment downtown, I passed block after block of closed and boarded up storefronts, and businesses that may never reopen, and thought of all the changes this pandemic will bring.
Like most Americans, I revere our nation’s capital, its iconic monuments, its timeless beauty. I’m saddened that America’s Hyde Park-Speakers Corner – Lafayette Square – the historic site of protests and demonstrations across the street from the White House – was closed down for a photo op and then fenced off to show further disdain for our First Amendment.
I’ve noted that the word of 2019 was “dystopian.” My most recent visit to Washington showed it still applies.
Congressman Steve Cohen represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.