Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) on Sunday made historical past with their appointments to guide two separate Senate subcommittees.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), introduced Booker will chair the subcommittee on legal justice and counterterrorism. He’s the primary Black chair of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.
The committee additionally introduced Padilla will chair the subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border security ― the primary Latino to take action. He turned the primary Latino senator from California final month when he took over Kamala Harris’ seat as she assumed the vice presidency.
In a statement Sunday, Padilla stated he’s honored by the historic appointment, noting his roots because the “proud son of immigrants from Mexico.”
“While no state has more at stake in immigration policy than California, the entire nation stands to benefit from thoughtful immigration reform,” Padilla stated. “I commit to bringing the urgency to immigration reform that this moment demands and millions of hard working immigrants have earned.”
Padilla, who beforehand served as California’s secretary of state, additionally sits on the Senate committees on price range, guidelines and administration, homeland safety and the atmosphere.
Booker, in a statement Sunday, known as the legal justice system a “stain on the soul of our country” attributable to “decades of failed policies.”
“The burden of this broken system has been disproportionately and dramatically borne by Black and brown Americans,” stated Booker, a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. “It’s past time for change.”
Booker additionally serves on the Senate committees on overseas relations, small enterprise and agriculture.
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