Tag: Sen. Booker
Paul clashes with Booker, Harris over anti-lynching bill
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) clashed with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calf.) on Thursday, deepening the stalemate on anti-lynching legislation.
Paul tried twice to amend House-passed legislation that would make lynching a federal hate crime, saying that as currently written it would designate “any bodily injury including a cut, an abrasion, or a bruise, physical pain, illness or any other injury to the body” as lynching.
“I take it seriously and this legislation does not. … The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act should be adopted with my amendment which would apply the criminal penalties for lynching only and not other crimes,” Paul said. Continue reading.
Booker Releases Committee Confidential Documents Related to Yesterday’s Testimony
The following was posted on Sen. Cory Booker’s website September 6, 2018:
Prohibition on publicly releasing key documents reflects deeply flawed process
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today publicly released several documents previously marked Committee confidential from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time as White House Counsel under President George W. Bush.
“As I’ve been saying from the beginning, this process has been a sham,” Senator Booker said. “The fact that tens of thousands of documents revealing a Supreme Court nominee’s views on key issues were deemed Committee Confidential and not available to the public reflects the absurdity of this process. The public has a right to access documents about a Supreme Court nominee’s views on issues that are profoundly important, such as race and the law. This process has demonstrated an unprecedented level of secrecy and opaqueness that undermines the Senate’s Constitutional duty to advice and consent.”
Last month, Booker joined Senate Democrats in advocating for the full public release of the 141,000 documents related to Judge Kavanaugh’s record that had been marked Committee Confidential. Continue reading “Booker Releases Committee Confidential Documents Related to Yesterday’s Testimony”
Booker, Harris Add Historic Diversity to Senate Judiciary
The following article by Todd Ruger was posted on the Roll Call website January 10, 2018:
2020 hopefuls are second and third black senators to serve on panel
The addition of Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday gave the two potential 2020 presidential hopefuls a big platform, but also a spot in the panel’s history.
Booker becomes the first black man to sit on the committee, which oversees civil rights, voting rights, housing discrimination and other Justice Department enforcement efforts that are seen as crucial to African-Americans. Harris, who is biracial, becomes the second black woman to serve on the panel, after Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who left the Senate in 1999.
In one move by Democrats, Booker and Harris become the second and third black senators to serve on the committee and its first black members in nearly two decades. It will be the first time two black senators have been on the panel at the same time, and it comes as minority communities express concern at moves by President Donald Trump and his administration, specifically those by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Continue reading “Booker, Harris Add Historic Diversity to Senate Judiciary”