Cory Booker in June Democratic candidates debate in Miami FL
On Civil Rights:
Threats to LGBTQ people can no longer be ignored
We do not talk enough about trans Americans, especially African-American trans Americans and the incredibly high rates of murder right now. We don't talk enough about how many children, about 30% of LGBTQ kids, who do not go to school because of fear.
It's not enough just to be on the Equality Act. I'm an original co-sponsor. We need to have a president that will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every single day from violence in America.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Corporations:
Deal with corporate consolidation to let free market work
Q: Senator Warren put out a plan to break up tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. You've said we should not "be running around pointing at companies and breaking them up without any kind of process." Why do you disagree?BOOKER: I don't
think I disagree. I think we have a serious problem in our country with corporate consolidation. And you see the evidence of that in how dignity is being stripped from labor, and we have people that work full-time jobs and still can't make a living wage.
One of the most aggressive bills in the Senate to deal with corporate consolidation is mine about corporate consolidation in the ag sector. So I feel very strongly about the need to check the corporate consolidation and let the free market work.
Q:
But you did say that you didn't think it was right to name companies and single them out, as Senator Warren has.
BOOKER: I will single out companies like Halliburton or Amazon that pay nothing in taxes and our need to change that.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Crime:
More black men are in jails now than under slavery
NYC Mayor Bill de BLASIO [leading to Sen. BOOKER]: For the last 21 years, I have been raising a black son in America. And I have had to have very, very serious talks with my son, Dante, about how to protect himself on the streets of our city and all
over this country, including how to deal with the fact that he has to take special caution because there have been too many tragedies between our young men and our police. We need to have a different conversation about policing that brings police
and community together. We've done that in New York City and we've driven down crime while we've done it.BOOKER: You know, when I got to the United States Senate, going back to what De Blasio said, as an African-American man in an African-
American-dominated community, I knew one of the biggest issue was criminal justice reform, from police accountability to dealing with the fact that we have a nation that has more African-Americans under criminal supervision than all the slaves in 1850.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Drugs:
Opioid manufacturers should be held criminally liable
Q: Should pharmaceutical companies that manufacture [opioids] be held criminally liable?A: They should absolutely be held criminally liable, because they are liable and responsible. We have been seeing how we've tried to arrest our way out of
addiction for too long. It is time that we have a national urgency to deal with this problem and make the solutions that are working to actually be the law of our land and make the pharmaceutical companies that are responsible help to pay for that.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Gun Control:
Tired of "thoughts and prayers"--this is personal
I hope I'm the only one on this panel here that had seven people shot in their neighborhood just last week. Someone I knew, Shahad Smith, was killed with an assault rifle at the top of my block last year. I'm tired of hearing people all they have to
offer is thoughts and prayers.In my faith, people say faith without works is dead. The reason we have a problem is we've let the corporate gun lobby frame this debate. It is time that we have bold actions. This is not about policy. This is personal.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Gun Control:
We require licenses to drive; so require licenses for guns
There's one thing we don't all agree with when it comes to guns, and I think it's common sense, and over 70 percent of Americans agree with me. If you need a license to drive a car, you should need a license to buy and own a firearm.
And not everybody in this field agrees with that. But in states like Connecticut that did that, they saw 40 percent drops in gun violence and 15 percent drops in suicides. We need to start having bold agendas on guns.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Health Care:
Too many profiting off of people's pain
Health care should be an American right. I believe the best way to get there is Medicare for all. But I have an urgency about this. There are too many people profiteering off of the pain of people in America, from pharmaceutical companies to insurers.
The overhead for insurance that they charge is 15%, while Medicare's overhead is only at 2%. We can do this better. more access and more affordable costs until we get to my goal which is every American having health care.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Immigration:
Make major investments in the Northern Triangle
Secretary Julian CASTRO: [On immigration, we should] get to the root cause of the issue, which is we need a Marshall Plan for Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvador.Sen. Cory BOOKER: [SPEAKING IN SPANISH]: The situation right now is unacceptable.
This president has attacked, has demonized immigrants. [SWITCHING TO ENGLISH]: I will make sure that, number one, we end the ICE policies and the Customs and Border Policies that are violating the human rights. When people come to this country, they do
not leave their human rights at the border. Number two, I will make sure that we reinstate DACA, that we reinstate pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients. And then, finally, we need to make major investments in the Northern Triangle, not like this
president is doing, by ripping away the resources we need to actually solve this problem. We cannot surrender our values and think that we're going to get border security. We actually will lose security and our values. We must fight for both.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Immigration:
Get rid of section 1325 & deal with ICE abuses at home
Julian CASTRO: We see all of this horrendous family separation. They use that law, Section 1325, to justify under the law separating little children from their families. I want to challenge every single candidate on this stage to support the repeal of
Section 1325.Cory BOOKER: I agree on that issue, but folks should understand that the separation of children from families doesn't just go on at our border. It happens in our communities, as ICE are ripping away parents from their American children,
spouses and the like, and are creating fear in cities all across this country. We must end those policies, as well. I have been to some of the largest private prisons and their immigration lockups. Our country has made so many mistakes by criminalizing
things, whether it's immigration, whether it's mental illness, whether it's addiction. We know that this is not the way to deal with problems. There is a humane way that affirms human rights and human dignity and actually solves this problem.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On Principles & Values:
I've taken on bullies & won, by seeing common purpose
I've taken on bullies and beat them. I've taken on tough fights and we've won. And we win those fights not by showing the worst of who we are, by rising to who's best. Donald Trump wants us to fight him on his turf and his terms.
We will beat him, I will beat him by calling this country to a sense of common purpose again.
This is a referendum on him and getting rid of him, but it's also a referendum on us, who we are, and who we must be to each other. It's time we win this election.
And the way I'll govern is by showing the best of who we are because that's what this country needs and deserves.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
On War & Peace:
Get back into nuclear deal with Iran; negotiate if possible
It was a mistake to pull out of that deal. Trump is marching us to a far more dangerous situation. He took us out of a deal that gave us transparency into their nuclear program and pushed back a nuclear breakout 10, 20 years. Now we see
Iran threatening to go further. We need to renegotiate and get back into a deal, but I'm not going to say unilaterally I'm going to rejoin that deal. If I have an opportunity to leverage a better deal, I'm going to do it.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Jun 26, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021