Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  A bipartisan coalition of ethics experts, former administration officials, and scholars, including the ethics czars for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, today endorsed two separate bills introduced last month in the Senate that would protect special counsels from political interference. In a public letter, the bipartisan group urged Senators to endorse the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act (SCIPA), introduced by Senators Cory Booker... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  A pilot program authored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) that aims to help small manufacturing businesses access capital and expand their operations was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the Senate last night. The language in NDAA directs the Defense Department to increase capital for manufacturing entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to scale-up and commercialize... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An amendment submitted by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) that makes significant improvements to the Taylor Force Act was adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday after it was successfully put forward by bill author Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and supported in committee by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Chris Murphy (D-CT). The changes ensure that no American economic aid will directly benefit the Palestinian... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a bicameral bill in the Senate and House to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol. The Confederate Monument Removal Act would remove all statues of people who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from the National Statuary Hall Collection within 120 days. “The National Statuary Hall Collection is intended to honor American patriots who... Read More

NEWARK, NJ – As part of his ongoing efforts to fight for fair wages for our region’s airport workers, today U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) urged the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to raise the hourly age for workers at airports under its jurisdiction to $15.  In a letter to Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole and Executive Director Rick Cotton, Sen Booker pointed out that not only are airport workers not currently receiving a living wage, but workers at... Read More

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) urged President Trump to reverse his decision made last month to revoke a safeguard that ensures federal buildings, roads, bridges, and other pieces of infrastructure are built to withstand extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Harvey. The Senators also indicated plans to introduce... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the below statement following Trump’s announcement that he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. This decision means that hundreds of thousands of DREAMers who were brought to this country as kids will be at risk of deportation.  “Today’s decision is a moral catastrophe that should shake us all to the core. The President of the United States has... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Coons (D-DE), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Africa and Global Health Policy subcommittee, released the following joint statement on this morning’s decision by the Kenyan Supreme Court to annul the result of last month’s presidential election, citing irregularities. Booker is the Ranking Member of the Africa and Global Health Policy subcommittee.  “Today’s ruling by the Kenyan Supreme... Read More

Washington, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement in response to new guidelines issued by the Federal Bureau of Prisons explicitly requiring all BOP facilities to provide incarcerated women access to feminine hygiene products, including tampons and pads, at no cost to inmates. The BOP had previously only broadly required “sanitary products” to be made available for free, and the specific type of products available at no cost at different BOP... Read More

NEWARK, NJ – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate subcommittee overseeing America's rail infrastructure, today submitted his public comment to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and NJ Transit supporting the construction of a new trans-Hudson rail tunnel as part of the project’s ongoing environmental review process. The third and final public hearing on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS), which was released in early... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Coons (D-DE), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Africa and Global Health Policy subcommittee, released the following joint statement on yesterday’s election in Kenya. Booker is the Ranking Member of the Africa and Global Health Policy subcommittee. “Credible, free, and fair elections are the cornerstone of a democratic society. As members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Africa and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) along with Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) led a letter signed by more than 50 lawmakers criticizing the Department of Education over its current leadership at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), saying OCR is abandoning its responsibilities of ensuring equal access to education for all students. The Office is being run by Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tom Carper (D-DE) urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to “immediately implement” long-overdue chemical facility safety rule updates that provide new protections from chemical disasters to first responders, facility workers, and fenceline communities. The updated safeguards – which were supposed to go into effect this past March – are amendments to the Accidental Release Prevention... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) led a bicameral letter signed by more than 60 lawmakers to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, challenging a Department of Justice (DOJ) brief arguing that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBT Americans from discrimination in the workplace. The brief was filed last month in the case of Zarda v. Altitude Express and directly contradicts the Equal Employment... Read More

ASBURY PARK, NJ – In the wake of President Trump’s announcement that he would ban transgender Americans from serving in the military, today U.S. Senator Cory Booker was joined by LGBT advocates at Garden State Equality’s office in Asbury Park to discuss legislative efforts to protect transgender service members. “To hear the thousands of transgender Americans serving our nation with honor and distinction so cavalierly dismissed by our President as a... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to bring transparency to small business lending by identifying barriers that prevent women and minority entrepreneurs from starting small businesses. The senators pressed the CFPB to follow through with implementing a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that required the CFPB to collect and make available information about barriers women... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would create a judicial check on the executive branch’s ability to remove a special counsel. Booker first announced he was working on such legislation last Monday.  Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) are cosponsors of the effort. The Special Counsel Independence Protection Act (SCIPA) ensures... Read More

Washington, DC – U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernard Sanders (D-VT), and Bob Casey (D-PA) issued the following joint statement in reaction to the preliminary cost estimate of the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act issued by the Congressional Budget Office: “We are glad to see the independent Congressional Budget Office recognize that the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act -- which will help lower prescription drug costs for millions of... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today introduced a landmark bill to reverse decades of failed drug policy that has disproportionately impacted communities of color. Booker announced the bill earlier today on Facebook Live.   The Marijuana Justice Act would remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances, making it legal at the federal level. The bill would also incentivize states through federal funds to change their marijuana laws if those laws were shown... Read More

ELMER, NJ – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) was joined by New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney in visiting Inspira Health Center in Elmer to tour the facility, meet with staff, and highlight the positive impact of the Affordable Care Act on New Jerseyans.  Today’s visit capped off a whirlwind weekend as Sen. Booker crisscrossed the state listening to the issues that matter most to New Jersyans as part of his 2017 Jersey Summer Road Trip.  “After all the... Read More