Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement after the Department of Justice announced that it will reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug.  “Moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III is a step in the right direction, and I’m deeply grateful for it. The long-term solution to righting the injustices of our federal marijuana laws is for Congress to act. We have long known that federal law should not treat marijuana the same way it does meth and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced the introduction of the AI Grand Challenges Act, a bipartisan bill to harness the promise of artificial intelligence to solve complex problems across a range of sectors, including health, energy, environment, national security, materials science, and cybersecurity – as well as address AI system-specific challenges like bias mitigation, content provenance, and explainability.  The... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism, led colleagues in calling on the Federal Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) Director Colette Peters to take immediate action to ensure proper medical care and humane treatment for individuals remaining in custody at FCI Dublin and those currently being transferred. FCI Dublin is a low-security federal prison for female inmates in Dublin, California which has been... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement: “I’m heartbroken at the loss of Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. Like his father before him, Donald was a trailblazing figure in our civic institutions, dedicating his career to the soul-feeding work of serving others. Over the almost three decades I knew Donald, he was a dear friend and a powerful colleague in Newark and in Washington.  He was never about adulation or applause; the cause of his life was fighting for... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) led colleagues in writing a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra urging the bureau to finalize their proposed rule to rein in excessive overdraft fees charged by the nation’s largest financial institutions. Last December, CFPB announced they would begin a crackdown on exploitative overdraft fees, and take aim at financial institutions charging overdraft fees on debit card... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement: “In passing this national security and foreign aid package by wide, bipartisan majorities, Congress is sending a clear message: the United States stands with its allies and will rise to address humanitarian needs that are causing enormous human suffering in the world.   “Supporting the defense of other democracies under urgent threat and working to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), reintroduced theProtecting Communities from Plastics Act, legislation that addresses the plastic production crisis that is fueling climate change and perpetuating environmental injustice. With plastic production and consumption on track to double in the next decade, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions threaten to put our climate goals further out of... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development announced that they are moving forward with $1 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funding to purchase U.S.-grown commodities to provide emergency international food assistance: “I am grateful that the process has... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on federal food purchases that shows large scale opportunities for federal agencies to increase local sourcing of fruits and vegetables. The report focused on federal food purchases made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, including the extent of small business... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Laphonza Butler (D-CA) along with U.S. Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC-12) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), introduced the bicameral resolution recognizing April 11 through April 17 as Black Maternal Health Week. This resolution serves to bring national attention to the maternal health crisis in the United States and the critical need to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates among Black mothers.  The resolution underscores... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced theForest Biomass Emissions Act of 2024, legislation that would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with forest biomass combustion for electricity and study the impact of the industry on communities living in direct proximity to forest biomass industrial areas, including mills.   The... Read More

Washington, DC — US Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement: “Through its proxies, Iran has been fostering, supplying, and funding terrorism against Israel and throughout the Middle East. Now, Iran has launched a direct attack against the Israeli people. The United States stands with Israel against Iranian aggression. This attack will only strengthen US resolve in supporting our ally against threats from Iran and its... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced the Samaritan Efforts to Ensure Key Health Emergency and Life-saving Protections Act (SEEK HELP Act), a bipartisan bill that would provide limited legal protections to individuals who administer naloxone or other FDA-approved opioid reversal drugs to save a life in the event of an overdose. The bill also directs federal government resources towards raising... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Justice announced a new rule that would reduce the number of firearms sold without a background check and address the fire sale loophole.  “For too long, families across our country have been ripped apart by the scourge of gun violence. Under the Biden Administration, we passed and signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, has returned from a week-long official trip to Nigeria, Ghana, and Chad – including a visit to the Chad-Sudan border, where Booker’s delegation was the first group of Members of Congress to meet with refugees fleeing war, violence, and food insecurity since the war in Sudan began last year. The trip comes on the heels of a Booker official visit to Tanzania... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, and Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA), ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, issued the following joint statement after returning from Chad, where they had meetings in N’Djamena with the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led 19 colleagues in calling on Senate leadership to oppose any efforts to limit existing state and local authority to regulate pesticides in the upcoming Farm Bill or any other legislation.   “More than thirty states and hundreds of cities and counties have adopted pesticide laws and ordinances to protect workers, children, rural communities, and wildlife. State and local governments have long acted to supplement federal pesticide laws to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) announced the Equal Health Care for All Act, bicameral legislation that would make equal access to medical care a protected civil right to help address the racial inequities and structural failures in America’s health care system that have led to higher mortality rates in communities of color. The Equal Health Care for All Act would establish a definition for inequitable health care to help ensure that hospitals... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. — Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced $191.6 million in funding for New Jersey programs he secured in the Fiscal Year 2024 government funding bills.  “One of my highest privileges and priorities in Washington is to fight to bring home federal resources to invest in worthy New Jersey projects,” Booker said. “The New Jersey projects funded in this bill include vital investments in our infrastructure and in the leaders who work tirelessly, often away from the limelight, to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) reintroduced the Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act, legislation that seeks to improve care for pregnant and postpartum people who are incarcerated. The legislation would provide funding to supply exceptional care, commission a study aimed at understanding how to better address the maternal health crisis within our prison system, and ban the use of restraints or shackles for... Read More