Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On the heels of Attorney General William Barr's decision earlier this month to withhold bail from asylum seekers, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) today announced they will re-introduce their Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act this week. The news also follows the Trump Administration's proposed new rules for asylum seekers announced last night, which further erode the ability of individuals to seek asylum in the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Mike Lee (R-UT), the lead sponsors of the recently-enacted First Step Act, pushed back on the Trump Administration's proposal to require federal job applicants to disclose their participation in criminal diversion programs. In a letter to Margaret Weichert, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director, the Senators wrote: "Our nation's legal and moral underpinnings provide that... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate's Judiciary Committee, issued the below statement on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report released today on Russian interference in the 2016 election: "The President's actions described in the report released today are a severe and striking departure from the misleading spin Attorney General Barr attempted to spoonfeed to the American people earlier today with his press conference and last month with his four-page... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate's Judiciary Committee, issued the below statement following Attorney General William Barr's press conference on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the 2016 election: "In 20 minutes this morning Barr undermined a two-year investigation by going out of his way to frame the evidence in a light most favorable to the President. Barr made clear this morning that he is more concerned about... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today joined 14 of his Senate colleagues in introducing the Medicare for All Act of 2019, a bill to guarantee health care to every American as a right, not a privilege. The United States spends far more per capita on health care than any other nation; however, 34 million Americans do not have health insurance, thousands of people die each year because they cannot afford medical care, almost one in three adults with insurance have been unable... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, issued the below statement following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in Sudan: "After nearly four months of sustained citizen protests around the country, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been removed from office. The courage, determination, and energy of the protesters -- who met in largely peaceful... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) introduced legislation to ease the barriers to re-entry for formerly incarcerated individuals. The bicameral New Pathways Act provides more specific guidance for the Bureau of Prison to help individuals obtain federal identification documents upon release from prison, such as a driver's license, birth certificate, Social Security card, photo ID, or work... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) today introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which requires companies to study and fix flawed computer algorithms that result in inaccurate, unfair, biased or discriminatory decisions impacting Americans. "50 years ago my parents encountered a practice called 'real estate steering' where black couples were steered away from certain neighborhoods in New Jersey. With the help... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, formally filed a bill to form a commission for the study of reparation proposals for African-Americans. Full legislative text of the HR 40 Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act can be viewed here. Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) re-introduced the Access to Birth Control Act, a bill that would guarantee patients' timely access to birth control at the pharmacy. Contraception is an essential part of reproductive health care, and patients who need this care should be able to access it in a timely manner. However, there have been reports of pharmacies in at least 25 states that have refused to dispense contraception to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced he will introduce a bill to form a commission for the study of reparation proposals for African-Americans. Final legislative language of the bill will be filed shortly. The bill is the Senate companion to HR40, introduced earlier this year by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). The Commission will aim to study the impact of slavery and continuing discrimination against African-Americans... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Key criminal justice measures authored by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) were included in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), which passed the House of Representatives today on a vote of 263-158. The measures would reform the way women are treated behind bars and close an egregious loophole in federal law that allows law enforcement officers to claim consent as a defense when accused of sexually assaulting someone in their custody. "Today's passage marks... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. House Assistant Democratic Leader Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC) today introduced a sweeping anti-poverty bill to better target federal grant dollars to high-poverty urban, rural, and tribal communities. The bill, An Act Targeting Resources into Communities in Need, expands the successful 10-20-30 anti-poverty formula to include a significantly larger group of struggling communities and broader universe of federal accounts. "While... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) along with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Karen Bass (D-CA) today reintroduced the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, a bill that would make serious reforms to the way women are treated behind bars. The bill would make it easier for women behind bars to keep in touch with their families, better prepare incarcerated women to return to their communities, and provide better trauma-informed care for women behind... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a hearing on gun violence prevention in the Senate's Judiciary Committee today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) blasted inaction on gun safety legislation in the wake of continuous mass shootings: "There's something really wrong with a society that can't get things done where overwhelmingly the majority of people agree that we need to get it done," Booker said in the hearing. "Black men make up six percent of this nations' population, but we are more than half of all the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A bipartisan, bicameral bill authored by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to give formerly incarcerated individuals a fairer shot at finding a job sailed through the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today on a voice vote. The bill is led in the House by Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Doug Collins (R-GA). Booker's co-author in the Senate is Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI). "There are more than 650,000 people released from prison each year, people who have served... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate's Judiciary Committee and author of the landmark Marijuana Justice Act, issued the following statement in support of New Jersey's efforts to legalize marijuana. "New Jersey is the first state in the country to couple decriminalizing marijuana with strong criminal justice reform measures to redress the decades of immense harm inflicted by an unfair system. All too often, communities of color and low-income individuals are... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) reintroduced the Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act, a bill that prohibits oil, gas, and methane hydrate-related seismic activities in the Atlantic Ocean. The bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Ed Markey (D-MA). The bill bans the use... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today introduced historic, comprehensive federal legislation -- the Equality Act of 2019 -- to explicitly ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans. They were joined by 43 of their Senate colleagues. The legislation was filed simultaneously in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), joined by 293 Representatives. "We cannot profess to be a nation of liberty and justice... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. -- U.S. Senator Cory Booker today joined N.J. Citizen Action, Seth Frotman of the Student Borrower Protection Center, and New Jersey student loan borrowers to address the growing student debt crisis. Last year, U.S. student loan debt hit an unprecedented $1.5 trillion and in New Jersey alone, students carry a staggering $43 billion in student debt. Earlier this week, Senator Booker helped reintroduce the Debt-Free College Act, which would provide incentives to states to increase... Read More