on the slavery apology bill and served as the keynote speaker for their international symposium on the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. Cohen supported the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act (H.R. 2919; 113th Congress), a bill that would require the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) to prepare a report each year on the amount of fees and other expenses awarded by federal courts to nonfederal entities when they prevail in a case against the United States. An original co-sponsor of the bill, he argued that "Americans have a right to know what their government is doing and their government has a duty to be as transparent as possible." Civil rights Cohen received the American Bar Association's Day Award along with Representative John Lewis, Senator Olympia Snowe and Senator Richard Lugar. The ABA recognized him for his efforts to improve access to the justice system by providing more funding for the Legal Services Corporation, which provides legal counsel for low income individuals and families. Cohen dedicated the award to Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Dr. Dorothy Height during his acceptance speech. Cohen sponsored the SPEECH Act banning the practice of libel tourism, rendering libel lawsuits unenforceable if the judgments were issued in a nation where the legal standard for libel is set lower than our own. The Senate Sponsor was Senator Patrick Leahy. The bill passed both houses of Congress in July 2010 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama the following month. Abortion Cohen supports legal abortion. He opposes the repeal of federally funded abortions and supports a focus on preventing pregnancies with the availability of emergency contraceptives if needed. Iraq War In 2006, he opposed Republican policy regarding the War in Iraq. Cohen made a trip to Iraq from October 4 to 7, 2007, as part of a congressional fact-finding delegation. He said that his impression was that Iraq was "not in very good shape" and that its economy has been "ravaged." Cohen met with soldiers who complained that long deployments are causing divorces. When he raised this concern with General David Petraeus, Petraeus told him that the claims were being exaggerated. After meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Cohen described him as "overly optimistic", noting his "bizarre" statement that sectarian war in Iraq was over. Afghanistan infrastructure In 2012, Cohen sponsored the Cohen Amendment reducing infrastructure funding to Afghanistan. The