Getting to Know Presidential Candidate Senator Cory Booker

Eds. Note: TokyoSand, writing at PoliticalCharge.Org, posts some terrific material about the upcoming national elections. She has given me permission to share some first looks at the Democratic candidates running for president. I will be running these on Tuesdays until such time as we run out of candidates. And I’ll have additional commentary under my own byline as the election season progresses. Enjoy!

Let’s get to know Cory Booker!

The Democrats have a big field of candidates running for President in 2020. To briefly use a sports analogy, I see our candidates as the starting players on the Blue team, each bringing their own unique strengths to the table in a bid to take our country in a very different direction than the one we’re on today.

But as we well know from 2016, the media (and especially social media) gets fixated on non-substantial issues that take up all the oxygen. Plus, they don’t give the candidates the same treatment or the same amount of airtime.

In order to help voters get to know the Democratic candidates, I’ve enlisted the help of a team of terrific volunteers who have helped gather quotes and information about what the candidates have said or done in regards to the 7 issues that midterm voters identified as the most important. I hope that these guides serve as a helpful starting point for you as you look into which candidates (or how many candidates!) you are interested in supporting in their bid to become our next President.

Here’s Cory Booker on the 7 Issues.

Career Highlights

✦ Current Senator from New Jersey
✦ Former Mayor of Newark
✦ Former Member of the Newark Municipal Council

Healthcare

Affordable Healthcare: “Senator Booker believes that the ability to access quality, affordable care should not be determined by race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. That’s why Senator Booker worked with Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) to write legislation, the Reducing Disparities Using Care Models and Education (ReDUCE) Act, that would seek to reduce health care disparities by more closely studying contributing factors to illness, evaluating existing programs that deliver health care, and making recommendations to improve care among underserved communities.” Source 

Women’s Health: “Senator Booker is committed to supporting the fundamental rights of women to make their own health care decisions with their doctor. Senator Booker introduced the Access to Birth Control (ABC) Act to ensure that any woman with a valid prescription won’t be denied their medication or intimidated when requesting birth control or emergency contraception at a pharmacy.” Source

Medicare for All: Booker announced his support of the Medicare for All Act in 2017. “I signed up and am a big believer in Medicare for all.” Source 

Mental Health: Booker was a strong supporter of the 21st Century Cures Act, particularly the sections strengthening medical research, access to mental health care, and fighting the opioid epidemic. Source 

Contraceptives: Booker was a primary author of the Access to Birth Control (ABC) Act which “ensures women’s timely access to basic, preventative health care and ensures that women will not be denied birth control or emergency contraception by their pharmacist.” Source 

Pro-Choice: Booker has a 100% voter record on pro-choice issues, per NARAL. Source 

Climate Change

Paris Climate Accord: “When it comes to addressing an issue as urgent as climate change, President Trump is just plain wrong: it’s not economy versus the environment or America versus the world. It’s future versus past; progress and opportunity versus retreat and surrender. Leaving the Paris Agreement means the US will lag behind the rest of the world in creating the jobs of the future and it will set back our collective efforts to confront the dangers of climate change.” Source 

Green New Deal: “Mr. Booker said Friday that “environmental justice” will be one of the three top policy issues of his campaign. He has recently signed on to endorse the Green New Deal.” Source 

Climate Legislation: “Climate change is a pressing economic and national security crisis that especially threatens coastal areas in New Jersey. By even conservative estimates, New Jersey can expect to see a foot and a half of sea level rise by 2050 if no action is taken. … As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Booker has stood up for cleaner, healthier communities. He has worked to ban oil drilling off of New Jersey’s coastline, clean up Superfund sites, improve air quality, support animal welfare safeguards, and strengthen national chemical safety laws to better protect families from toxic substances.” Source

Environmental Accountability: “In September 2018, Booker was one of eight senators to sponsor the Climate Risk Disclosure Act, a bill described by cosponsor Elizabeth Warren as using “market forces to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy — reducing the odds of an environmental and financial disaster without spending a dime of taxpayer money.” Source 

Civil Rights

LGBTQ Rights: “Booker is a strong, outspoken advocate of same-sex marriage and claimed New Jersey’s civil union law was not only bigoted, but also discriminated against New Jersey’s same-sex couples. … In November 2013, Booker co-sponsored and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In January 2014, he co-sponsored the Respect for Marriage Act.” Source 

Marriage Equality: “Newark Mayor Cory Booker officiated the weddings of nine gay, lesbian, and straight couples in City Hall shortly after midnight. Booker announced, “It is officially past midnight. Marriage is equal in New Jersey.” Booker’s office organized the 12:01 a.m. ceremony after a trial-court judge ruled that same-sex couples could begin marrying in NJ on Oct. 21.” Source

Transgender Rights: “Deeply disappointed #SCOTUS decided to temporarily allow the DoD to implement Trump’s transgender military service ban. This policy is an affront to our values & hurts members of our military. This unjust ban should never be implemented & the courts should strike it down.” Source

Women’s Issues: “Feminism is the belief that women’s rights, beliefs, and opportunities should be equal to those of men. I consider myself a feminist because I believe women should be in charge of their future and choices — whether that be to focus on their career, their family, or whatever else they consider important. Let’s move forward and away from outdated beliefs.” Source

Disability Rights: “Our Social Security system provides crucial income security for many vulnerable Americans, but with an increase in applications and a growing backlog, millions are waiting for their critical lifesaving and earned benefits. Between FY16 and FY17, over 18,700 people died nationwide while waiting to receive a hearing date for their disability benefits. This is simply unacceptable and Americans deserve better.” Source

Criminal Justice Reform: “Booker played a pivotal role in the passage of one of the First Step Act, one of the Senate’s few bipartisan legislative success stories in 2018. The law implements measures designed to reduce recidivism and offers some protections against severe mandatory minimum sentences.” Source

Gun Reform

Gun Reform: As mayor, Booker was “involved with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors dedicated to bringing sanity to our gun laws.” Source 

Assault Weapons & Background Checks: “He supports legislation to require background checks for all gun purchases and introduced legislation to ban high-capacity magazines and assault weapons. Booker previously sponsored legislation to ban bump stocks, devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into fully-automatic guns.” Source

Gun Trafficking: “I even personally appealed to the ATF for law enforcement access to crime gun trace data so that my department, and departments across New Jersey, could do more to understand and battle against gun trafficking.” Source

Crime & 2nd Amendment Rights: “So take, for example, gun violence in my city. The majority of guns that we recover don’t even come from New Jersey. They come from criminal gun runners who are not law-abiding citizens who should have a Second Amendment right. They come from criminals who can walk into secondary markets & buy weapons.” Source

Voting Rights

Voter ID: Booker has introduced legislation to reduce or abolish voter ID as they “have a disproportionate impact on poor folks.” Source

Felony Voting Disenfranchisement: “Booker also pointed to the mass imprisonment of nonviolent felons as a threat to voting rights. In 2010, he said, 5.85 million citizens were denied their right to vote because of previous convictions, which he described as a population equivalent to the “20th biggest state in our nation.” Source 

Restoring the Voting Rights Act: “Voting is a right. But due to restrictive voter ID laws, many are denied their right to vote. We must restore the Voting Rights Act and ensure everyone has the ability to cast their vote.” Source 

Expanding Voting Rights: “I am troubled by continued efforts to roll back provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which still has a central role to play in protecting vital American civil rights. The right to vote is fundamental and must be protected.” In 2015, Booker introduced the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) to target certain voter suppression practices. Source 

Economic Inequality

Taxes: “The New Jersey Democrat in 2011 endorsed a cut to federal spending, and proposed tax incentives in urban areas to stimulate hiring. Booker will likely tout his work with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to create “opportunity zones” (which are essentially a form of a tax-break in low-income neighborhoods).” Source 

Minimum Wage: Booker has supported legislation that would raise the minimum wage to $15. “The minimum wage working at a lot of these contract companies only affords them about $22,000 a year. You cannot live and raise a family on $22,000 a year. You can’t afford housing, you can’t afford child care and since your company isn’t helping you with retirement, you can’t save for retirement.” Source 

Wealth Inequality: “In November [2018], Booker introduced a bill intended to combat mass wealth inequality, which would be paid for making “common sense reforms to federal estate and inheritance taxes,” and by restoring the 2009 estate tax law.” Source

Opportunity Accounts: Booker’s “American Opportunity Accounts Act would give each child born in the United States a savings account with $1,000. Each year, until the child turns 18, the government would deposit as much as $2,000 into that account. The size of the annual payments would depend on the child’s family income, with lower-income families receiving larger checks.” Source

Equal Pay: “On a broader level, as a US senator, I’m a co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable.” Source

Jobs: “Senator Booker is committed to fighting unemployment by promoting policies that grow our economy, provide Americans with job opportunities, and arm them with the skills they need to succeed. Among other efforts, he has partnered with a Republican colleague to introduce the bipartisan Leveraging and Energizing America’s Apprenticeship Programs (LEAP) Act.” Source

Affordable Housing: As a strategy to encourage cities to have more affordable housing, “Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the “Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act” (S.3342). This bill would provide a refundable tax credit to households who spend more than 30% of their income on rent.” Source

Foreign Affairs

Russia: “Any Russian efforts to influence the results of our election should be of grave concern to every American, and must be fully investigated. Attacks on America’s democratic institutions by a foreign nation simply cannot be tolerated. … This isn’t about who won or lost in November – it’s about preserving the integrity of our democratic system and faith in our governing institutions.” Source

North Korea: Booker was one of three co-sponsors on a bill “to prohibit the president from taking military action against North Korea—whether nuclear or non-nuclear—without congressional authorization.” Source

China: “American workers can compete and win on a level playing field, which is why China’s cheating–through artificially depressing its currency and other unfair trade practices–is so damaging. While currency appreciation has occurred, keeping it artificially low hurts our economic competitiveness and undermines the trust that is essential to a strong relationship. That doesn’t mean we should start a trade war–that would hurt our economy just as much as it would hurt China’s.” Source

Iran: “In December 2013, Booker was one of the original cosponsors of Bob Menéndez’s Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013, which would toughen sanctions against Iran. He wants all options, including military action, that prevents Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.” Source

Saudi Arabia: “For several years I’ve voted to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia over human rights abuses & killings of innocent civilians in Yemen. This tragedy raises more concerns over Saudi actions & reinforces the need to stop future arms sales & reassess our relationship with the Saudis.” Source

Legislative Record (includes enacted legislation & bills sponsored): Cory Booker

Campaign website: Cory Booker 2020

https://youtu.be/amFehKjjteo

Check out our other 7 Issues Guides: Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper, Beto O’Rourke

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