Press Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) released the following statement after the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed the Mobile Now Act, legislation that aims to increase wireless spectrum availability and improve broadband infrastructure. The legislation included several of Senator Booker’s technology priorities that will help expand broadband access and advance responsible national spectrum policy.   “In a society and an economy that is... Read More

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced a resolution along with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) congratulating NASA astronaut Scott Kelly on his record-breaking year in space and thanking him for his service to the United States and his contribution to science. The resolution was introduced following Kelly’s return to Earth after a 340-day voyage aboard the International Space Station -- a record for the longest amount of time any American has spent in... Read More

WASHINGTON– This morning, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced bipartisan legislation addressing the future impact of new technology known as the “Internet of Things.” The bill, known as the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act builds upon the senators’ resolution, which called for a national strategy on the Internet of Things. This resolution passed the Senate... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker pressed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Huerta on the agency’s plans to provide guidelines for commercial use of drones under 4.4 pounds/lbs, known as micro UAS. The FAA, earlier this week announced plans to set up an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to make recommendations in advance of the FAA’s micro UAS rulemaking.  UAS technologies are being used around the world in various commercial capacities, but... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement regarding the National Mediation Board’s announcement that they will convene a public interest meeting on March 4th with parties involved in the NJ Transit labor negotiations. "I welcome the National Mediation Board’s offer of public interest mediation in the NJ Transit labor dispute, and I am encouraged to see the parties take the NMB up on the offer,” said Sen. Booker. "With a... Read More

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) today announced he is signing on to the Fair Day in Court for Kids Act, legislation that seeks tobetter protect unaccompanied minors and vulnerable individuals, including those with disabilities and victims of abuse, torture, or violence, who enter the United States to escape harsh conditions in their home countries. The bill was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).   “We cannot... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker was joined by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and Congressmen Albio Sires (NJ-08) and Donald Payne, Jr. (NJ-10) in calling on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to address staffing issues at Newark Liberty International Airport amid significant delays at security check points during peak travel times, including unusually long delays this past holiday season. In a letter to TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger, the lawmakers expressed... Read More

  WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and a group of 11 senators calling on Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to provide guidance on the issuance of waivers for individuals who are dual nationals of a country participating in the Visa Waiver Program and Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria.   Under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which was included in the end of year Omnibus spending bill,... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC –Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)and Ron Johnson (R-WI)that seeks to strengthen the United States’ ability to counter the online recruitment efforts of violent extremists was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs today. The Countering Online Recruitment of Violent Extremists Act, S. 2418, was introduced in December 2015.    “The digital... Read More

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Patty Murray (D-WA) along with Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent a letter to Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressing their concern over the continued practice of sexual orientation change efforts, commonly referred to as “conversion therapy.” In the letter, the lawmakers explained how the widely discredited practice harms the healthy development of youth,... Read More

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) today released the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal: “Budgets are about priorities, and President Obama’s budget would help close persistent gaps in fairness, access, and opportunity for New Jersey working families. It sets big goals in a host of critical areas, from prioritizing criminal justice reform and public safety to expanding apprenticeship training and college... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) today announced that he has signed on to a legislative effort that would expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to protect grieving parents from losing their jobs in the event of a child’s death. The Parental Bereavement Act would amend the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to give parents up to 12 weeks of unpaid, but job-protected, time off of work to cope with the death of a child. According to the Centers for Disease Control and... Read More

Washington–   U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) today announced the passage of an amendment he authored that will block seismic testing for methane hydrate in the Atlantic Ocean. He was joined by U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who cosponsored the amendment. ‎Methane Hydrate, a form of natural gas, is estimated to have 25 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide over a 100 year period. Booker's Methane Hydrate Amendment passed the Senate by voice vote as... Read More

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), joined by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), today praised the passage of amendment 2991 to the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, S. 2012, a bipartisan amendment that advanced through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee late last night. The amendment would reauthorize the EPA Brownfields program through 2018 and was... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today announced that George Helmy will serve as his State Director, succeeding Mo Butler as Booker’s top staffer in New Jersey.  Helmy, a native of Jersey City, has served as Sen. Booker’s Deputy New Jersey Chief of Staff for two years, where he ran the day to day operations of his state offices. “George embodies the greatest qualities of our state: he’s hard-working, tenacious, and compassionate,” said... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, joined Sen. Bob Menendez and nine of his colleagues in the New Jersey Congressional Delegation in expressing concern regarding the continued decline in Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) funding for New Jersey.  In a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson, the lawmakers also requested a meeting with DHS officials and... Read More

  Washington–  A resolution authored by U.S. Sens. Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), and nine other senators honoring Anita Ashok Datar, the only American killed in the horrific November 2015 attack at the Raddisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali, which killed innocent civilians from seven countries, including the United States, Mali, Russia, China, Belgium, Israel and Senegal, was advanced through the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations today. Booker and... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) along with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), announced today the introduction of the bipartisan Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2016.   Currently, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has significant budget authority over taxpayer dollars without their appointment having been subject to confirmation by the United States Senate.  Unlike most Department of... Read More

Washington, DC – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement after President Barack Obama announced executive action regarding solitary confinement in federal facilities: “The solitary confinement of juveniles -- of children -- is a cruel and inhumane practice that has no place in American life. It can inflict lasting psychological and physical harm and does nothing to help adolescents become productive members of society or make our communities safer. “The... Read More

Washington, DC – U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) today announced that they will introduce the Equal Protection in Travel Act.  The bill is a commonsense fix to the dual national provision in the recently approved omnibus spending bill that prohibits dual nationals of countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan from participating in the Visa Waiver Program, regardless of their travel history. The proposed bipartisan legislation would... Read More