{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/during-banned-books-week-booker-introduces-bill-to-fight-book-bans-and-support-educators-librarians", "During Banned Books Week, Booker Introduces Bill to Fight Book Bans and Support Educators, Librarians", "2024-09-26", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker introduced the Fight Book Bans Act, legislation aimed at taking a stand against censorship by giving school districts the funding they need to oppose challenges to educational and library materials that have kept over 3,000 books off school bookshelves in the last year. U.S. Representatives Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL-10), Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08) introduced companion legislation in the House last year.\n\nBanned Books Week is September 22 \u2013 28, 2024.\n\nThe Fight Book Bans Act would enable the Department of Education (DOE) to provide grants to school districts to cover expenses they might have incurred while they are fighting off a bad book ban, including the cost of retaining legal representation, the cost of traveling to hearings on the bans, and the logistics for those hearings, as well as the cost of obtaining expert research and advice while trying to fight off a book ban. The legislation would address the problem facing thousands of school districts that cannot fight book bans because the costs incurred are beyond their budgets. The DOE would be able to provide up to $100,000 for a school district with the total appropriations capped at $15 million over five years.\n\n\u201cBook bans represent a disturbing form of censorship increasingly impacting our nation\u2019s schools,\u201d said Senator Booker. \u201cIdeologically-driven book ban efforts are being weaponized against educators and are undermining our children's education. We must not let political agendas dictate what our children can read. The Fight Book Bans Act will empower our schools, libraries, and educators to fight back against radical agendas so that our students have access to diverse narratives and can maintain their freedom to read stories and enter new worlds through literature.\u201d\n\n\u201cBook bans in Florida and in states across the nation are a direct attack on our freedoms and liberties everywhere. As my home state shamefully leads the country in book bans, we cannot let this censorship and dismantling of our education system go unchecked,\u201d said Congressman Frost. \u201cWhat we are seeing in Florida and states like Texas, Utah, and Missouri are loud and clear attempts by far-right conservative leaders to silence and erase our Black, brown, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities. The Fight Book Bans Act takes a stand against censorship to firmly stand on the side of history, education, our students, teachers, and schools who don\u2019t deserve to suffer the consequences of radical politics in the classroom. This is about protecting our libraries and protecting truth and history.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmerica is in the middle of an escalating book ban crisis that requires our full attention and a strong response,\u201d said Congressman Jamie Raskin. \u201cSinister campaigns to remove books from our schools and libraries are a hallmark of authoritarian and fascist regimes. Many books are being targeted for censorship these days simply because they address the historical realities of racism and white supremacy or address LGBTQ+ issues. I\u2019m proud to join Senator Booker and Rep. Frost to advance this critical legislation, which will provide much-needed resources to the freedom-loving teachers, school librarians and school administrators working to keep books on our shelves.\u201d\n\n\u201cBook bans stain the integrity of our educational institutions, contradicting the very principles of freedom our nation upholds. In Florida alone, over 1,000 books have been banned, disproportionately targeting works by Black or LGBTQI+ authors. As a former teacher and principal, I can only imagine the struggle current school teachers and librarians must be facing when trying to educate our children in light of attempts by our state to shove right-wing propaganda down our children\u2019s throats,\u201d said Congresswoman Wilson. \u201cIf true freedom is to prevail in Florida and beyond, we must eradicate the censorship imposed by book bans. That\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to join Senator Cory Booker and Congressman Maxwell Frost to fight back against authoritarian tactics to ban books by empowering our schools to challenge autocratic book bans. This fight transcends politics; it\u2019s about the future of our nation and whether we stand with censorship or champion freedom. I for one, will always champion freedom.\u201d\n\n\u201cBanning books in schools is not only unpopular; it\u2019s expensive. As school districts around the country divert resources to address widespread efforts to curtail students\u2019 freedom to read, it is once again students who ultimately suffer the most. PEN America thanks Congressman Frost, Congressman Raskin, and Congresswoman Wilson for their leadership in introducing the Fight Book Bans Act, which will help school districts as they work to get school library books back on the shelves,\u201d said Laura Schroeder, Congressional Affairs Lead at PEN America.\n\n\u201cBanning books in public schools is a dangerous infringement on students\u2019 First Amendment right to access information,\u201d said Jenna Leventoff, Senior Policy Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union. \u201cRobust and diverse school libraries are critical to ensuring that all students, regardless of their family\u2019s income, education, race, or geographic location, have free and open access to the vast world of information each book contains. We thank Rep. Frost for working to ensure that schools have the resources they need to fight censorship and preserve the freedom to read.\u201d\n\n\u201cAccess to diverse books and critical ideas are vital to the nation\u2019s history as a multicultural democracy,\u201d said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. \u201cThe Fight Book Bans Act would help school districts fight back against book ban attempts and defend diversity in literature for students. We thank Congressman Frost for his leadership on this issue.\u201d\n\n\u201cChristian nationalists have launched a coordinated campaign to censor our classrooms, demonize teachers, and erase diverse perspectives \u2013 all in the name of their extreme religious views,\u201d said Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. \u201cPeople of faith across the country hold the freedoms of religion and expression to be sacred and will not tolerate the abuse of faith to justify discrimination and censorship. With the Fight Book Bans Act, Representatives Frost, Raskin, and Wilson are taking a strong stand to protect American schools from censorship and create healthy learning environments for our teachers and children. We are grateful for their leadership.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Fight Book Bans Act is a step towards protecting our nation\u2019s history. Our elected officials owe the children of their state the best education possible. A great education is an inclusive, truthful and well-rounded one that does not exclude Black, hispanic, religious or LGTBQ+ books and courses due to bigotry. LGBTQ communities and young students benefit greatly from the freedom to explore their identities and others through literature,\u201d said Brandon Tucker, Senior Policy Director of Federal Policy, Color Of Change. \u201cBy supporting the Fight Book Bans Act, we can ensure that everyone has the opportunity to access materials that promote acceptance, understanding, and personal growth.\u201d\n\n\u201cBook bans are an affront to students\u2019 rights. We deserve to make decisions regarding our education, not politicians who seek to undermine our liberty to learn,\u201d said Cameron Samuels, Executive Director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT). \u201cCensorship dictates our understanding of history and what is acceptable, reinforcing an unjust status quo and impacting our futures. Our nation's youngest generation must maintain the freedom to explore our curiosities, follow our passions, and discover ourselves through the lens of literature. Book bans won\u2019t help students succeed, but empowering students and facilitating constructive collaboration between families and educators will cultivate the future our youth deserve.\u201d\n\nThe Fight Books Bans Act has been endorsed by PEN America, ACLU National, American Library Association, Interfaith Alliance, The Trevor Project, Catholics for Choice, Color of Change, National Urban League, UnidosUS, Equality Florida, Florida Freedom to Read Project, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), and NAACP DC.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/during-banned-books-week-booker-introduces-bill-to-fight-book-bans-and-support-educators-librarians"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.452099997550249, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}