Washington, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the below statement:
President Trump manufactured a crisis when he ended DACA, throwing the lives of hundreds of thousands of dreamers into chaos and uncertainty. In addition, 113 days have passed since the Children’s Health Insurance Program lapsed, and Senate Republicans have been using uninsured low-income kids as political pawns. President Trump and Republicans, who control the White House, the Senate, and the House, have a duty to govern responsibly.
Pitting the most vulnerable in our country against one another is no way to govern. Neither is passing another short-term funding bill, a practice the Pentagon called “wasteful and destructive” just days ago.
The way to end the Trump Shutdown and solve issues that Republican leaders have been ignoring for months was to take up a bipartisan proposal on the table that Democrats, Republicans, most Americans, and the large majority of Congress supports. That wasn’t the plan voted on today.
I made a commitment a long time ago that I wouldn’t vote for yet another CR that didn’t include a solution for dreamers. My position hasn’t changed.