Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today introduced a bill to reduce barriers to unemployment insurance for workers throughout the country who are unable to work due to the Coronavirus. The bill will address “waiting week” requirements, which forces laid-off workers who have satisfied every other eligibility requirement to wait one week before being able to access unemployment assistance. These requirements exist in 42 states (though New Jersey doesn’t have a waiting period). The... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.) and Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.-09) today wrote to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue urging him to give flexibility to New Jersey schools to ensure they can keep feeding New Jersey students just the accelerating COVID-19 crisis. “We write on behalf of all students in New Jersey who depend on free and reduced school meal programs to ensure they receive meals throughout school closures... Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker today joined a group of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to the CEOs of eight major internet service providers (ISPs) calling on the companies to take steps to accommodate the unprecedented reliance we will likely see on telepresence services, including telework, online education, telehealth, and remote support services. In the letter, sent to the CEOS of AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications,... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Coronavirus pandemic shines a light on serious vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today reintroduced legislation to increase access to capital for U.S. entrepreneurs looking to scale-up and commercialize their advanced manufacturing operations. The Scale-Up Manufacturing Investment Company (SUMIC) Act would establish a fund, administered by the Small Business Administration, that would offer federal loan guarantees to investors who... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) today introduced a bill aimed at helping Americans with the medical costs of any tests, care, or treatment related to the novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The Care for COVID-19 Act would require health insurance plans to cover both diagnostic and treatment services related to the virus, with no cost-sharing to the patient. This includes the cost of prescriptions, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and visits to the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent late yesterday, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ) pressed the White House for answers regarding the Administration’s COVID-19 screening efforts at airports across the country. In a letter to Vice President Pence, the lawmakers cite troubling reports of individuals not being screened for COVID-19 at airports, including Newark Liberty, despite traveling from regions with high cases of the virus. “Travelers report not being screened or even... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and  Bob Menendez (D-NJ) today introduced a bill aimed at helping Americans with the medical costs of any tests, care, or treatment related to the novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The Care for COVID-19 Act would require health insurance plans to cover both diagnostic and treatment services related to the virus, with no cost-sharing to the patient. This includes the cost of prescriptions, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and visits to the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez today joined a group of their Democratic colleagues in urging U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to provide guidance for school districts and institutions of higher education, as well as students and their families, following school closures in New Jersey and across the nation due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  “We do not yet know the scale at which K-12 schools and IHEs across the country may need to close in order to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the heels of the third confirmed case of Coronavirus in New Jersey, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) tonight urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to move swiftly to unlock emergency funds that were specifically allocated for state and local governments in the $8.5 billion supplemental package that Congress passed yesterday. That package earmarked a minimum of $950 million for states, localities, territories, and tribal entities,... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.), along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) today urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to suspend all immigration enforcement actions in and around hospitals and other medical facilities as the nation... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As New Jersey grapples with its first presumptive case of coronavirus, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that sets national health policy, announced the awarding of $1,750,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reimburse the State of New Jersey’s Department of Health (NJDOH) for its response and preparedness efforts to combat COVID-19. The senators are working to pass an... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez joined 39 Democratic Senators in demanding that Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar take immediate action to address the many ways the Trump Administration’s health care sabotage has undermined our preparedness for and ability to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak, specifically calling on Azar to ensure that any potential coronavirus vaccine is affordable to all; stop promoting junk plans that don’t... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan resolution authored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC) celebrating Black History Month and the important contributions made by Black Americans throughout history passed the Senate yesterday by voice vote. The resolution “acknowledges that all people of the U.S. are recipients of the wealth of history provided by Black culture” and “recognizes the importance of Black History Month as an opportunity to reflect on the complex history of the... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A day after the House of Representatives passed historic legislation making lynching a federal crime, family members of Emmett Till today joined architects of that bill, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), and U.S. Rep Bobby Rush (D-IL), for an emotional conversation in the Capitol about America’s painful history of lynching and the long-overdue need for federal anti-lynching legislation.  Airickca Gordon-Taylor is the Executive Director of the... Read More

Text of Bill (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF) WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), today introduced the Part-Time Workers Bill of Rights. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), along with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.),... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA) today introduced the Clean Air, Sharp Minds Act, aimed at improving the air quality in schools by providing grants to schools to purchase, install, and maintain commercial air filters. While a number of studies have shown the negative impact of air pollution on cognitive performance, evidence also exists demonstrating the dramatic extent to which student performance could be improved by installing... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Tim Scott (R-SC) applauded today’s passage of H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, authored by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), in the House of Representatives. H.R. 35 is identical to anti-lynching legislation introduced in the Senate last year by Senator Booker along with Senators Harris (D-CA) and Tim Scott (R-SC). That legislation passed the Senate unanimously last February. “Today brings us one step closer to... Read More

Newark, NJ – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) has allocated $4.1 million in federal funding for the dredging of Cheesequake Creek in Middlesex County.  The announcement comes after the federal lawmakersurged the Army Corps to support the dredging project, citing the adverse impacts on navigation, safety, and the local economy resulting from the lack of... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced a bipartisan bill to establish a new pilot program to fund nutritional education in schools. The Food and Nutrition Education in Schools Act of 2020 would allocate federal funding for projects that educate students while connecting them to healthy food practices, with a priority given to schools in neighborhoods with high rates of childhood diet-related illnesses and those in which 40 percent of students... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), U.S. Representatives Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), today introduced a groundbreaking Farmers Bill of Rights resolution, which affirms the rights of family farmers, ranchers, and traditional agricultural communities in New Jersey and across the country. This resolution outlines ten basic rights for family farmers and ranchers that everyone should have access to. The Farmers Bill of Rights highlights the critical needs and... Read More