Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led more than a dozen of his colleagues today in urging Senate leaders to provide full funding for the U.S. Postal Service in the next COVID-19 relief package. Without such funding, the lawmakers warned, the USPS “may have to reduce or limit its services…as early as June.” “We write to urge you to provide appropriate funding to the United States Postal Service (USPS) in the next coronavirus package that Congress takes up,” the lawmakers wrote in... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today urged the Department of Labor (DOL) to reconsider its decision to strip emergency paid sick and family leave from millions of workers, a benefit established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the second Coronavirus aid package passed in mid-March. Last week, the DOL issued guidance that broadly expanded the categories of workers exempt from such emergency leave benefits, in effect... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in a letter addressed to the head of the FEMA Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) urged FEMA to create a national database of existing U.S. ventilator supply that is accessible to states as well as a distribution program to immediately get ventilators to the areas that need them the most. While plans for increased production of ventilators that will be available in future is a positive development, those efforts will not help the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ) today urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to waive burdensome collection rules for its Emergency Food Assistance Program in order to better protect food bank workers and speed up the process by which struggling Americans can receive food. As the lawmakers outlined in their letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, food banks around the country are increasingly relying on food provided by the federal government to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today blasted President Trump for his decision against reopening HealthCare.gov so that individuals currently without health insurance could sign up for coverage. Booker was the first lawmaker to propose legislation that would create such an enrollment period so that millions of individuals impacted by COVID-19 could access coverage. “This decision is the height of callousness and irresponsibility,” Booker said. “We’re in the midst of a global... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09) today led the New Jersey and New York congressional delegations, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kristin Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expedite the awarding of funds for hospitals and health care providers as appropriated in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The stimulus package includes $100 billion to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today urged a trade group representing medical technology companies that manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies to begin mobilizing its member companies to increase production to address the dire shortage.“We must work rapidly to increase our nation’s supply of PPE and other necessary equipment, and many of AdvaMed’s member companies are critical to this effort,” Booker wrote in a letter to the President and... Read More

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Congressman Tom Malinowski (N.J.-07) today led the New Jersey congressional delegation’s call to President Trump, urging him to waive the local cost share for all COVID-19-related assistance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Typically, FEMA grants through Direct Federal Assistance and Public Assistance for Emergency Protective Measures during a Major Disaster Declaration come with a federal cost share of 75%, meaning state and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to cease all immigration enforcement operations, unless an individual poses a threat to public safety, and release vulnerable detainees from custody who are particularly susceptible to COVID-19. The letter comes on the heels of yesterday’s order by a federal judge for ICE to immediately release... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker, who was involved in negotiations on the deal, and Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and one of the bipartisan bill negotiators, detailed today how New Jersey will initially benefit from the $2 trillion stimulus package Congress passed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both senators voted in favor of the bipartisan deal and are committed to passing additional funding bills to address the ongoing health and economic... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to skyrocket across the country, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today renewed his call for the Trump Administration to create a special enrollment period so that individuals impacted by COVID-19, or those who currently do not have health insurance, can sign up for coverage at HealthCare.gov. Booker was the first lawmaker to propose legislation that would create such an enrollment period so that millions of individuals fearful of and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The coronavirus relief package passed by the Senate late last night includes a number of key priorities advanced by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). These programs include: Direct cash assistance to Americans struggling from COVID-19 fallout: Each eligible taxpayer will receive a $1,200 cash payment (income restrictions apply, beginning at $75,000); an additional $500 cash payment is available per child.  Senator Booker led the charge on this idea with his bold proposal to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today urged the Postmaster General to do more to protect its hundreds of thousands of postal workers who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 because of their job duties, and who risk spreading the disease to the individuals they deliver mail to. He was joined by New Jersey Democrats Senator Bob Menendez, Rep. Tom Malinowski, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Donald Payne, Rep. Andy Kim, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Rep. Frank... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), both members of the Judiciary Committee, today introduced a bill aimed at the large federal prison population that is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), will introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives this week.  The Emergency Community Supervision Act of 2020 would immediately place vulnerable individuals – those who are pregnant, those with underlying health... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Doug Jones (D-A.L.) and Representative Alma Adams (D-N.C.) urged Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to give underresourced colleges and universities the flexibility they need to use designated federal funding as a part of their COVID-19 response.  The COVID-19 crisis has presented unique challenges for Minority Serving Institutions, which are less likely to have the resources they need immediately available to do things like set up... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the Senate floor opens at 5PM ET today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will file legislation to temporarily ban exploitative bank overdraft fees for the duration of the Coronavirus public health emergency. Banks charge such fees to consumers when they make a purchase or pay a bill but don’t have sufficient funds in their account; typically the charge is $35.Today’s bill builds on more comprehensive legislation the two Senators have co-authored... Read More

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Cory Booker joined an effort led by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Senate Democrats in expressing their concern for children with disabilities amid the school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education Deputy Assistance Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Mark Schultz, the senators pressed the Department on what they’re doing to ensure that children with disabilities are provided a... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), along with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), pressed Amazon on workplace safety, following disturbing reports that the tech company was continuing to implement practices that could be hazardous to workers – and by extension, all of its consumers – in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. The letter comes on the heels of yesterday’s news that the first Amazon warehouse employee in the U.S.... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Doug Jones (D-AL) today urged Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate appropriators to direct $1.5 billion in emergency funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to support urgent COVID-19 related costs. Over the past month, MSIs have had to cover substantial emergency expenses for students from low-income families, yet these colleges tend... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew T. Albence, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark A. Morgan requesting information about the policies and procedures their respective agencies have in place to prepare for and manage a potential spread of the coronavirus among... Read More