Cory Booker (D)

Pro
Should Universal Background Checks for Gun Purchases Be Made Law?

"Just as a driver’s license demonstrates a person’s eligibility and proficiency to drive a car, a gun license demonstrates that a person is eligible and can meet certain basic safety and training standards necessary to own a gun.

Here’s how it would work: Individuals could seek a gun license at a designated local office, widely available in urban and rural areas, similar to applying for or renewing a passport. They would submit fingerprints, provide basic background information, and demonstrate completion of a certified gun safety course."

Pro
Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legal Federally?

"The failed War on Drugs has really been a war on people—disproportionately criminalizing poor people, people of color & people with mental illness. I’m reintroducing the #MarijuanaJustice Act to begin reversing our failed federal drug policies...

The Marijuana Justice Act doesn't just end the federal prohibition on marijuana—it also incentivizes states to change their marijuana laws if those laws are being enforced in a way that disproportionately impacts people of color and the poor.

Black people are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white peers even though they use marijuana at similar rates. If we truly want to be a fair and just nation we need to correct for this disparate treatment of enforcement practices...

Finally, my bill includes community reinvestment provisions like job training for areas hardest hit by the failed drug war—to make them more economically vibrant, fair and just. Let's make marijuana legal but also invest in undoing the damage done by a war gone horribly wrong."

Pro
Should the Federal Government Provide Universal Childcare?

"The greatest natural resource in a global, knowledge-based society is the genius of our children... We are going to make sure that we have affordable child care in this country once and for all. And we are going to make sure that we have universal preschool."

Pro
Should Federal Taxes Be Increased?

"I will use reconciliation to roll back the Trump tax credits and do the kind of things that I think, to have a tax system that reflects our our values, our morals and frankly is better for our economy. You know, giving a hedge fund guy, to be able to pay lower percent of his salary in taxes than a teacher doesn’t reflect our values nor does it reflect what’s best for our economy."

Pro
Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?

"For too long, America’s economic agenda has centered on further enriching the already-rich, with massive windfalls for multinational companies, tax breaks for the wealthy, and trade deals that boost corporate profits at the expense of hard-working Americans.

As president, Cory will pursue an ambitious agenda to build an economy where everyone has a stake in its success... [including a plan to] Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour."

Pro
Should the Federal Funding to Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCUs) Be Increased?

"Cory believes that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) play a central role in creating pathways to opportunity and empowering Black communities...

Cory would:
 

• Build on the investments of the Future Act by investing an additional $30 billion in competitively-awarded grants by the Department of Education to enable HBCUs and MSIs to expand and improve STEM education and help with recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. Importantly, an investment of this scale would provide schools the security of funding for years to come, avoiding a situation where STEM funding for HBCUs can be held hostage by Congressional Republicans seeking leverage to push their legislative agenda.


• Provide $30 billion in grants to upgrade infrastructure, including facilities and technology, at HBCUs and MSIs to ensure all students have access to a world-class education in world-class facilities."

Pro
Should Public College Be Tuition-Free?

"Today, student loans are the fastest growing segment of US household debt, and too many young people see college as out of reach.

As president, Cory will fight for every young person’s right to pursue their dreams — whether that’s pursuing higher education without crushing student loan debt, starting a small business or getting on the job skills training through an apprenticeship program or vocational training schools:

Establish a path to debt-free college, because choosing to pursue higher education should not mean a lifetime of debt... [and] Make tuition-free community college and vocational training a reality across the country."

Pro
Should Election Day Be a National Holiday?

"Voting is one of our most sacred duties and hard fought rights and Election Day should be recognized as a federal holiday."

Pro
Should the US Abolish the Electoral College?

Audience member: "Do you believe there should be some type of reform to the Electoral College or should it remain as it is?"

Booker: "I believe very simply that in presidential elections the person with the most votes should be the President of the United States. But, I want to tell you, for us to ever get to a point where we can address that issue, we have got to win this next election under the rules that are there now."

Pro
Should the US Adopt a Climate Change Plan such as the Green New Deal?

"The time to act is now for a 100% clean energy economy, millions of good-paying jobs, and a guaranteed right to clean air, water, and soil for all Americans.

Cory was an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal resolution in the Senate because he believes we need to act with an urgency and force that meets the scale of the challenge that we face. As president, Cory will unite Americans to heal our atmosphere, our lands, and our communities with a bold vision for achieving a 100% clean energy economy quickly and equitably. Together, we will create millions of new high-paying jobs building the energy technologies, infrastructure, buildings, and vehicles of the future. We will invent new technologies and materials as innovative and resilient as we are. And we will be a moral leader on the world stage.

The reality is that we can’t afford not to act. We spend more than $100 billion each year solely on the health impacts of burning fossil fuels, and have spent $450 billion on climate-related disasters in the last three years alone. A recent paper in the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the U.S. economy could shrink by more than 10 percent by 2100 if we don’t act decisively on climate change."

Pro
Should the US Expand Its Use of Nuclear Power?

Don Lemon: "I want to talk about nuclear energy. Because you say nuclear energy is key to fighting climate change."

Cory Booker: "So my plan says that we need to be at a zero carbon electricity by 2030. That's 10 years from the time that I will win the presidency of the United States of America. And right now, nuclear is more than 50 percent of our non-carbon causing energy. So people who think that we can get there without nuclear being part of the blend just aren't looking at the facts...

[W]here the science is going right now is new nuclear actually portends of exciting things where you have no risk of the kind of meltdowns we're seeing, where they eat spent fuel rods. We actually can go to the kind of innovations that make nuclear safer or safe."

Pro
Should Abortion Be Legal?

"All people deserve to control their own bodies. That’s why Cory fights alongside those working to protect the constitutional right to abortion and to ensure that everyone has real access to reproductive health care... As president, Cory will work to:

Nominate judges who are committed to upholding reproductive rights.

Pass legislation to codify the protections guaranteed by Roe v. Wade.

Create a White House Office of Reproductive Freedom charged with coordinating and affirmatively advancing abortion rights and access to reproductive health care."

Pro
Should the US Switch to a Medicare-for-All Healthcare System?

"I stand by supporting Medicare for All, but I'm also that pragmatist that, when I'm chief executive of the country, like I was (as mayor of Newark, New Jersey), I'm going to find the immediate things that we can do. Because I'm telling you right now, we're not going to pull health insurance from 150 million Americans who have private insurance who like their insurance -- my union friends, brothers and sisters, who have negotiated for their health insurance. I believe if we're designing our system, Medicare for All is the right way to go. But I'm also realistic to say -- and you know this -- when I become President we may have only maybe a 50-50 tie in the Senate. And my vice president, whoever she is, is going to have to get a lot of exercise going to the Senate and breaking ties. We are going to have to do things that might get me towards my goal of expanding access and lowering cost [of healthcare]."

Pro
Should the Federal Government Intervene to Lower Prescription Drugs Costs?

"As president, Cory will fight for access to quality, affordable and universal health care, end attacks on the Affordable Care Act, and act to bring down prescription drug costs:...
 

• Lower prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices and import drugs from Canada and other countries.
• Take patents away from drug companies that sell the same medication for less in other countries...
• Impose a tax penalty on drug companies that unfairly raise the cost of their drugs and take patents away from drug companies that sell the same medication for less in other countries."

Pro
Should the US Decriminalize Illegal Border Crossings?

"[W]e are not going to just let people cross the border. An unlawful crossing is an unlawful crossing, if you do it in the civil courts, or if you do in the criminal courts.

But the criminal courts is what is giving Donald Trump the ability to truly violate the human rights of people coming to our country, who no one surrenders their human rights. And so, doing it through the civil courts means that you won't need these awful detention facilities that I have been to; seeing children sleeping on pavement, people being put in cages, nursing mothers, small children.

This is not necessary. We have seen, using the civil system, piloted programs that have 100 percent compliance with the civil courts, where people are evaluated. If they have no justifiable reason to be here, they are returned. If they are, like the people I met in Juarez, who were survivors of sexual assault, who we wouldn't even let come and present for asylum. We are butchering our values... and making ourselves less safe."

Pro
Should LGBTQ+ People Have Protection from Being Fired for Being LGBTQ+?

"The future of LGBTQ+ workplace protections is in the hands of #SCOTUS.

No one should be fired for being who they are. No one should face discrimination—anywhere.

LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. SCOTUS must affirm LGBTQ+ protections under federal law. #RiseUpOct8"

Pro
Should Transgender People Be Allowed to Serve in the US Military?

“When I am president of the United States, right away I will end this ridiculous, insulting, un-American ban on transgender Americans serving in the military."