Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Expanding Nationwide Access to Test Strips Act, legislation that would expand access to and decriminalize drug test strips nationwide in order to prevent drug overdoses and deaths. The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Hirono, Blumenthal, Ossoff, Feinstein, Padilla, Whitehouse, and Markey.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 109,000... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representatives Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) reintroduced the bicameral Second Chance for Justice Package, bills that would reform the United States’ criminal and juvenile justice system. Studies have proven that locking up children does not reduce crime or the rate of juvenile recidivism - it has the opposite effect. While incarcerated, children often receive with inadequate education... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. House Representatives Andrea Salinas (OR-06) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) introduced the Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act, legislation that would reform federal crop insurance subsidies to better incentivize crop insurance agents to provide coverage to small farms and specialty crop farmers. Right now, specialty crop farms and small farms have much lower rates of coverage than large, commodity crop... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) announced a bipartisan discussion draft of legislation to reform college athletics and prioritize athletes’ health, education, and economic rights. The College Athletes Protection & Compensation Act would set national standards for name, image, and likeness (NIL), establish a Medical Trust Fund to provide care to injured athletes, prioritize athletes’... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) reintroduced the bicameral Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act, legislation that would require more health insurers to provide coverage for infertility treatment, as well as fertility preservation services for individuals who undergo medically necessary procedures that may cause infertility, such as chemotherapy. “Infertility is a prevalent medical condition, but treatments... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) announced the reintroduction of the bipartisan Partnering Aspiring Teachers with High-Need Schools (PATHS) to Tutor Act, legislation that would expand access to one-on-one and small group tutoring in underserved communities. The legislation will also strengthen the pipeline of future teachers by placing teacher-candidates into tutoring roles. According to the 2023 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the bipartisan SNAP Nutrition Security Act, legislation that would amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to prioritize, measure and improve diet quality and nutrition security in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), especially for children. Diet-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers are the leading causes of death and disability... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced the bipartisan Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act, legislation that would expand research and raise awareness through public education programs to support women suffering from uterine fibroids. The legislation is named after the late U.S. Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, who championed this issue. U.S. Representatives Yvette Clarke (D-NY),... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both-D-N.J.) cosponsored the reintroduction of the Kira Johnson Act, legislation to provide funding to community-based organizations leading the charge to improve maternal health outcomes, especially for Black women. The legislation creates a 5-year, $50 million grant program at the Department of Health and Human Services to improve outcomes and reduce bias, racism, and discrimination in maternal care... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) introduced the bipartisan Public Health Response and Emergency Detection Through Integrated Wastewater Surveillance (PREDICT) Act, legislation that would strengthen and expand the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS), which was initially developed to coordinate and build the United States’ capacity to track the presence of SARS-CoV-2, and other infectious-disease causing pathogens... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ) today applauded the announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation that the Federal Transit Administration is awarding $6.88 billion in federal funds to the Hudson River Tunnel project – the largest ever federal investment in mass transit. “Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone in the construction of the Hudson River Tunnel project,” said Senator Booker. “Entering the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Sue Gove following reports that the company attempted to avoid paying severance to its workers during the store closings leading up to its bankruptcy after spending more than $11 billion in stock buybacks since 2004. Following years of declining profits, Bed Bath & Beyond declared bankruptcy in April of this year. Despite the more than $11 billion paid out in... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. Representatives Gregory Meeks (N.Y.-05) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) introduced a bicameral resolution recognizing the contributions of African American music to America’s musical heritage, addressing the need for greater access to music education for African American students, and supporting the designation of June 2023 as African American Music Appreciation Month. The bill acknowledges the legacy of African... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) led 80 Senate and House Democrats in a comment letter expressing support for the Biden administration’s proposed rule to extend eligibility for ACA coverage and certain other federal health insurance programs to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In the 2010 Patient... Read More

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Fly Pet Exception for Traveling Swiftly (PETS) Act, legislation that facilitates easier overseas transport of pets for all U.S. Government (USG) personnel when they are being assigned to a post abroad. Current law requires USG personnel, both military and civilian, to deploy via U.S.-flagged air carriers when traveling on commercial flights with funds provided by the federal government when they receive orders... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism, today released a policy brief detailing the success of the CARES Act home confinement program three years after its inception. In March 2020, Congress passed the CARES Act, which included provisions that permitted the Department of Justice to expand home confinement during the “covered emergency period” to... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Representative Mark Takano (D-CA-39), joined by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), introduced the bicameral Equality Act—historic, comprehensive legislation that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans, just as religious, racial, and ethnic discrimination are illegal everywhere in the United States. The bill introduction comes amid an alarming uptick in discrimination and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement in response to the findings of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department. “Three years ago, the brutality of George Floyd’s murder sparked a global movement to reform policing as we know it and prompted the Biden administration’s Justice Department to begin an urgently needed investigation... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.) announced a $24.18 million grant for Cumberland County and Salem County to expand broadband infrastructure to serve underserved residents with slow or no broadband. The grant, administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), will fund the construction of 220 route miles of fiber throughout the two counties, especially along paths that are underserved by current... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) introduced the bicameral Opt for Health with SNAP (OH SNAP), Close the Fruit and Vegetable Gap Act of 2023, legislation that would significantly expand the successful Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), which incentivizes low-income recipients to consume fruits and vegetables. Approximately... Read More