Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) urged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the VA New Jersey Health Care System – which is now the highest in the nation. In a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, Booker calls for the federal agency to develop a plan to address the increasing fatalities, review existing policies related to patient care, and raises concern regarding inadequate supply of... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Senator Cory Booker and U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, both D-NJ, today celebrated Women Veterans Appreciation Day, recognizing the distinguished service of women in the Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Forces. They marked the day by hosting a virtual roundtable with women veterans across the state this afternoon. June 12 marks the anniversary of the signing of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which allowed women to serve as permanent, regular... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) re-introduced a bicameral bill in the Senate and House to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol. The Confederate Monument Removal Act would remove all statues of people who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from the National Statuary Hall Collection within 120 days.Booker and Lee originally introduced the bill in 2017.“The National Statuary Hall Collection is... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), along with U.S. Representatives Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-51), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.-31), and a bicameral group of colleagues requested that the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) open an investigation into whether the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in its decision to change the agency’s policy to deny Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured loans to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced sweeping police reform legislation, the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The bill is the first comprehensive legislative approach to ending police brutality and changing the culture of law enforcement departments by holding police accountable in court for egregious misconduct, increasing... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today introduced legislation that expands protections for family caregivers from discrimination by their employers. The Protecting Family Caregivers from Discrimination Act would prohibit employers from firing, demoting, mistreating, refusing to hire, or taking other adverse employment action against workers who are caregivers for their loved ones. The bill would also prohibit employers from retaliating against a worker for seeking enforcement of... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09) today announced the awarding of $11,816,087 to the State of New Jersey in Byrne-JAG funding from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to support the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will allow the state to hire additional frontline workers and first responders, purchase personal protective equipment, train staff and address the needs of inmates in state and local... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rob Portman (R-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Paycheck Protection Program Second Chance Act, which will allow small business owners with criminal records to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP provides forgivable loans to small businesses that keep their employees on payroll during the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. But as a result of rules put forward by the Treasury... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- United States Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representatives G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), and Karen Bass (D-CA) today sent a letter requesting further information about the State Department’s handling of complaints by Tianna Spears, a Foreign Service Officer who was repeatedly racially harassed while posted at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico . The letter also urges the Department of State to address and identify steps being taken... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) delivered powerful and emotional remarks on the Senate Floor today on the urgent need for comprehensive police reform in America. After first remembering the lives of “a loving son,” Ahmaud Arbery; “extraordinary” Breonna Taylor; and “gentle giant” George Floyd, Booker spoke movingly on his personal experience with racism as a black man in America. He spoke on the unprecedented and tragic times that we are facing as a nation. Finally, after... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today announced the following framework for comprehensive legislation to stem the tide of racialized police violence in the wake of last week’s horrific murder of George Floyd by law enforcement. “Persistent, unchecked bias in policing and a history of lack of accountability is wreaking havoc on the Black community.” Booker said. “Cities are literally on fire with the pain and anguish wrought by the violence visited upon black and brown bodies.... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and 22 of his Senate colleagues today urged Senate leadership to provide emergency assistance to nonprofit museums in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Senators asked to direct $2 billion to nonprofit museums through the Institute of Museums and Library Services in the upcoming COVID-19 package. The letter comes in the aftermath of a massive loss in revenue for museums due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study conducted by the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) today unveiled comprehensive legislation to tackle the staggering COVID-19 health inequities, including racial inequities. The Community Solutions for COVID-19 Act would establish a $1.5 billion grant program to help grassroots organizations create and expand hyperlocal programs to improve health equity and reduce or eliminate inequities in the prevalence and health outcomes of COVID-19. Such programs are... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Tina Smith (D-MN) are urging Senate leaders to include an array of key maternal health policies in the next COVID-19 legislative package as the pandemic threatens to stress our maternal care system and worsen pre-existing racial disparities. “The maternal mortality rate in the United States exceeds that of almost all of its peer countries, and in fact, the U.S. is one of only a few countries... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez today announced that health care service providers across New Jersey have been awarded a combined $3.25 million in federal funding through the Federal Communications Commission’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program to expand telehealth services throughout the state during the pandemic. The program was created as part of the CARES Act passed by congress in April. “Expanding telehealth services is critical to ensuring the health and safety not only... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez today announced a combined total of $9,713,870, which will help support New Jersey’s health care providers and their response to the COVID-19 public health crisis. Over $6 million was awarded to five federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and $3 million was awarded to the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) to support hospitals across the state. “New Jersey health centers and hospitals continue to lead the fight against COVID-19... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led eight of his Senate colleagues in urging Senate leaders to include language in the next COVID-19 relief package that would bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from allowing meatpacking firms to increase line speeds beyond regulatory limits. In April, the USDA approved more than a dozen such requests from meat plants to exceed regulatory caps, despite the dangers increased line speeds pose to workers, animals, and consumers.... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) joined a group of Senate and House colleagues in introducing the Equitable Nutrition Assistance for the Territories Act of 2020 to ensure that in the face of the economic, public-health, and food-security crises posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the people of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa receive equal access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).The federal SNAP program... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09) today applauded the announcement that New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients will be able to use their benefits to order groceries online from approved online retailers. This will help protect the program’s recipients amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in the state.  “During these challenging times, many Americans are newly unemployed and struggling to... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, along with Congressmen Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09), Albio Sires (N.J.-08), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (N.J.-10) and Tom Malinowski (N.J.-07) today announced over $91.5 million in funding from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to advance replacement of the Portal Bridge and make other upgrades to improve service along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC). Long considered the linchpin of the entire NEC connecting Boston to Washington,... Read More