Press Releases

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.) today urged Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the Trump Administration to take action to help ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply and protect essential workers in the food supply chain. There have been numerous reports of essential workers in meatpacking plants, processing facilities, farms, grocery stores, and markets falling ill from COVID-19.“The severe shortages of adequate COVID-19 testing... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.), urged 15 pharmaceutical companies engaged in COVID-19 related work and their trade organization to prioritize diversity in any coronavirus vaccine or trial. Given the disproportionate impact of the outbreak on communities of color and other minority groups, the senators underscored the critical need for comprehensive demographic and racial data to ensure new treatments work for all Americans. “The disparities in the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the below statement following news that the Centers for Disease Control had released data on the racial and ethnic breakdown of COVID-19 cases. Booker, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) had been pushing for such detailed information, writing a letter to the Health and Human Services Department late last month and introducing a bill earlier this week to require... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today urged more than a dozen bank CEOs to temporarily ban charging customers burdensome bank overdraft fees during the coronavirus 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. Such fees fall disproportionately on those who are least able to afford them. “We are writing to urge [you] to take steps to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Steve Daines (R-MT) today unveiled an ambitious new $50 billion proposal to provide greater relief to small businesses left out of the Paycheck Protection Program, and urged Senate Leaders to include the bipartisan proposal in the next COVID-19 stimulus package. In a letter sent today to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senators outlined their proposal, which would create a $50 billion “Small... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led members of New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation in urging Congressional leadership to incorporate provisions in future COVID-19 legislation that will bolster the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and protect those facing food insecurity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. SNAP is the largest federal nutrition assistance program and will serve a critical role in supporting an increased number of Americans during this... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) today led more than 30 of their congressional colleagues in blasting the Trump Administration for continuing to garnish wages of millions of struggling student loan borrowers, despite a new law passed by Congress last month that prohibits such wage seizures during the coronavirus public health emergency. The protective measure was included as part of the larger CARES Act package to provide relief to... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker penned an op-ed published on APP.com and NorthJersey.com calling on Amazon to do more to protect its workers after several employees at its facilities in New Jersey and across the country have tested positive for COVID-19. “There is a clear disconnect between what Amazon says it is doing to protect employees and the conditions workers actually face each day on the job,” the senators wrote. “We hope that Amazon’s corporate leadership will... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, following calls from U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), the IRS announced that it would issue stimulus checks automatically to recipients of benefits through the Supplemental Security Income program. The Senators also vowed to continue pushing to ensure recipients of benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs would receive their checks automatically. Last week, these Senators led the entire... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker today announced the awarding of $68,864,994 from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to the state of New Jersey through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund to support New Jersey’s K-12 school districts and institutions of higher education hardest hit by COVID-19. There is considerable flexibility in how this funding can be used to fill unmet needs in the state, including helping to ensure that educators have the... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Cory Booker has signed on as a co-sponsor of the bicameral Equitable Data Collection and Disclosure on COVID-19 Act introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and 14 of their Senate colleagues. In the House, the legislation is being introduced by Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) today announced the awarding of $26,135,661.28 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) public assistance grants to the New Jersey State Police to aid first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight. The $2 trillion federal emergency stimulus package included a $45 billion FEMA Disaster Relief Fund to help states, like New Jersey, which is included in the President’s Major Disaster Declaration, provide for... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez today announced the awarding of $323,080,779 from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), with half being promptly released to support New Jersey’s students and institutions of higher education that are suffering tremendous losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal funding comes from the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which allocated approximately $14 billion to help colleges and universities... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that sets national health policy, today announced a combined $30,108,526 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support New Jersey’s 24 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in their efforts to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. The COVID-19 federal stimulus package, signed into law last month, allocated over $1.3 billion to support community health centers across... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent to U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today, the Bureau of Prisons announced it would make phone calls free of charge for people behind bars, a move that follows a formal request by Booker on March 18. Booker, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had urged the Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to allow phone calls and videoconferencing free of charge in the wake of the BOP’s decision to temporarily cancel in-person visits in order to help contain the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) today unveiled new legislation, called the Federal Immigrant Release for Safety and Security Together (FIRST) Act, that would move immigrants out of detention and halt immigration enforcement against individuals not deemed a significant public safety risk during this coronavirus public health emergency and future health emergencies. The bill comes as a growing number of immigrants in federal custody are... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez today joined a bipartisan group of senators in urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide relief for local farmers who are struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The senators urged the USDA to ensure that a portion of the $9.5 billion they secured in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, goes to local farmers who sell directly to consumers, schools, institutions, food hubs, regional... Read More

PATERSON, NJ – U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today led the entire 14-member New Jersey congressional delegation calling on the Trump administration to begin immediately allocating more support provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the Garden State’s frontline hospitals and health care providers. With New Jersey facing the second-most COVID-19 cases in America, the members emphasize the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- United States Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, sent a letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to collect racial and ethnic demographic data on testing and treatment for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in order to identify and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), today pressed Amazon on the treatment and safety of its front-line warehouse workers, and repeated their call for the tech giant to temporarily close any warehouses where a worker tests positive for COVID-19. Additionally, the lawmakers questioned Amazon over its abrupt termination last week of one of its warehouse... Read More