Robert Menendez

Robert “Bob” Menendez (born January 1, 1954) is the junior United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. In January 2006, he was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jon Corzine. Menendez was elected to a full six-year term in the 2006 U.S. Senate election and was re-elected in 2012.

Early life, education, and law career
Bob Menendez was born in New York City to Cuban immigrants who left their homeland a few months earlier, in 1953. His father, Mario Menendez, was a carpenter, and his mother, Evangelina, a seamstress. The family subsequently moved to neighboring New Jersey where, growing up in Union City, he graduated from Union Hill High School, where he was student body president.

After a B.A. in political science from Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, in 1979. He is a brother of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1980 and became a lawyer in private practice.

Early political career (1986–1993)
In 1973, at age 19, while attending Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, he launched a successful petition drive against his mentor, then-Union City Mayor William Musto, to reform the local school board. He was elected to the Union City Board of Education in 1974. He would stay close to Musto throughout the 1970s, however, and supported Musto in his re-election to the New Jersey Senate in 1978.

Menendez was elected mayor of Union City in 1986 after an unsuccessful run against the popular Musto in 1982. Menendez served as mayor until 1992. While mayor, he simultaneously served in the New Jersey Legislature, a common practice for New Jersey politicians. He was in the General Assembly from 1987 until 1991 and in the New Jersey Senate from 1991 to 1993, following the death of Christopher Jackman.

U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2006)
In 1992, incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Congressman Frank Guarini, of New Jersey's 14th congressional district, decided to retire after redistricting. The 14th district was eliminated, and renumbered as New Jersey's 13th congressional district and had a Hispanic majority. Menendez decided to run and defeated Robert Haney Jr. in the Democratic primary 68%–32%. He won the general election with 64% of the vote. After that, he won re-election every two years with at least 71% of the vote until he was appointed to the U.S. Senate in January 2006.

U.S. Senate (2006–present)


In January 2006, Menendez was appointed by Jon Corzine to fill the remaining year in the Senate seat from which Corzine resigned upon being elected the previous month as Governor of New Jersey. While several other names had been mentioned, Menendez was the early favorite among pundits for Governor-elect Corzine's replacement to fill the vacancy that would be created when Corzine resigned from the Senate. Corzine's decision to appoint Menendez got the support of several Latino groups, including the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Menendez was the sixth Latino to serve in the United States Senate.

Elections

 * 1996

When incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Bill Bradley decided to retire in August 1995, Menendez decided to retire his seat in the U.S. House to run. However, he dropped out and endorsed Democrat Robert Torricelli.

In 1999, when incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg decided to retire, Menendez decided not to run for the seat.


 * 2006

In the midterm elections held November 7, 2006, near the end of his one-year appointment, Menendez successfully ran to retain his seat in the Senate. He defeated Republican Thomas Kean, Jr., current minority whip in the New Jersey Senate and son of former state governor Thomas Kean, with 53% of the vote to Kean's 45%.

Menendez was endorsed by several newspapers including The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Star-Ledger, and The Record.


 * 2012

Menendez ran for re-election a full second term and successfully defeated Republican Joe Kyrillos on November 6th, 2012.

Committee assignments
Menendez is on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Finance and Foreign Relations committees.
 * Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development (Chairman)
 * Committee on Finance
 * Subcommittee on Health Care
 * Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-Term Growth
 * Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
 * Committee on Foreign Relations
 * Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs (Chairman)
 * Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women's Issues
 * Subcommittee on European Affairs
 * Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection

Caucus memberships

 * Armenian Caucus
 * Congressional Autism Caucus
 * International Conservation Caucus
 * Human Rights Caucus
 * Narcotics Abuse and Control Caucus

House of Representatives (1993–2006)
In 2002 Menendez voted against the Iraq Resolution to authorize the invasion of Iraq.

Senate (2006–present)


In February 2006, Menendez cosponsored legislation with New York Senator Hillary Clinton to make it illegal for foreign governments to buy U.S. port operations. The legislation was a direct response to Dubai Ports World's efforts to purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) of the United Kingdom, which operates six major U.S. ports. Menendez said, "Our ports are the front lines of the war on terrorism. They are both vulnerable targets for attack and venues for smuggling and human trafficking. We wouldn't turn the Border Patrol or the Customs Service over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either."

On September 28, 2006 Menendez voted for the Military Commissions Act.

On June 12, 2007, Menendez endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and was given the position of National Campaign Co-Chair. Subsequently he made numerous media appearances voicing his support for her campaign.

On April 25, 2008, a former undercover F.B.I. agent revealed in the book Ruse: Undercover with FBI Counterintelligence that Cuban diplomats approached Robert Eringer to investigate Menendez. It was suggested that the Cuban government was determined to generate scandalous information about the senator, along with Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, because of their anti-Castro lobbying efforts.

In 2009, Menendez succeeded Senator Chuck Schumer of New York as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Menendez's tenure, which has followed two straight election cycles of dramatic Democratic gains, has been marked by more troubled Democratic outlook. Critics of Menendez have pointed out the surprising Democratic loss in the 2010 Massachusetts Senate special election that followed the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy; Menendez's lower-key, more cautious management style; and Democratic problems caused by retirements in Indiana and elsewhere. Others, such as Schumer, have defended Menendez's performance, citing the political climate.

In October 2009, Menendez sent a strongly worded letter of protest to Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias, castigating him for his praise of Cuba's totalitarian system. Christofias, the leader of AKEL, Cyprus' Communist Party, since 1988 and president since 2008, had paid a state visit to Cuba in September 2009 for the opening of Cyprus' new embassy and, in his speech, made a number of anti-American embargo references, and spoke of the "common struggle of Cyprus and Cuba". In his letter to Christofias, Menendez said "you cannot claim human rights violations by Turkey in your country and then ignore such violations in Cuba. Second, you cannot call for property rights for Greek Cypriots and then deny them on Cuba. Finally, you cannot take issue with the militarization of northern Cyprus and then ignore the state security apparatus that oppresses the Cuban people."

On December 18, 2011, Menendez came out in support of the Respect for Marriage Act. He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act as a congressman in 1996.

Controversies
Menendez testified against Musto in a court case that resulted in a prison sentence for Musto. The trial was very controversial; Menendez told reporters that he had to wear a "bullet-proof vest to the trial."

Although he had sometimes been portrayed as the political boss of Hudson County, he strongly dislikes this appellation, particularly because, according to an anonymous close source quoted in the December 11, 2005 Union City Reporter, "there is no boss of Hudson County". In 2005 a New York Times Op-Ed characterized Menendez by stating, "Since entering politics as a corruption-fighting mayor of Union City, N.J., Mr. Menendez has become a proponent of business as usual. He has long been an entrenched de facto leader of the Hudson County Democratic machine."

On August 27, 2006, two Republican state lawmakers filed an ethics complaint against Menendez, alleging he broke conflict-of-interest rules when he rented property out to a nonprofit agency that receives federal funds. Menendez helped the organization win designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center in 1998. That designation allowed the agency to receive additional federal grants. Menendez allies note that the organization in question, the North Hudson Community Action Corp., which provides social services and health care to the poor and was founded in 1960, had received federal funding for years before Menendez was in Congress, and receives its funding based on mathematical formulas. Menendez maintains that he rented the property out below market-value because "he was supportive of its work". The total rent collected over nine years was over $300,000.

In September, 2006, just a few weeks before the 2006 senate elections, the Republican US District Attorney began investigating the rental deal with NHCAC, subpoenaing records from them. Democrats criticized the investigation, particularly the timing of the investigation and news leaks as being politically motivated. To date, no charges have been brought and the accusations remain unsubstantiated, one of many in the so-called US Attorneys scandal.

An effort to recall Senator Menendez was launched in early 2010 by a group of New Jersey citizens. Although Article 1, Paragraph 2(b) of the New Jersey Constitution expressly authorizes such a recall, state officials fought the effort in court. On March 16, 2010, a State Appeals court ruled that the recall petition could go forward. Menendez said he was surprised that a group claiming to be true to the Constitution is trying now, in his words, "to undermine it". Menendez appealed the ruling. Legal experts have debated the constitutionality of a state recall of a federal officeholder. On November 18, 2010, the New Jersey Supreme Court found that the New Jersey provision violated the U.S. Constitution.

In 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that Menendez had written to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, asking him to approve an acquisition that would rescue from the prospect of receivership a New Jersey bank, First Bank Americano, operated by Menendez contributors. It was discovered that "eight of 15 directors, including the bank’s chairman and vice-chairman, have been contributors to Menendez or his political action committee." Former federal bank regulator, William Black, called the letter "grotesquely inappropriate" and said that "the letter crossed an unofficial line by asking regulators to approve an application instead of simply asking that it be given consideration." An aide to the senator said that his decision to write the letter was not influenced by political contributions. A highly critical report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation also found that the institution had engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices, including operating without adequate supervision by its board of directors, an excessive level of delinquent or bad loans, inadequate earnings and insufficient coverage of its assets.

On January 5, 2012 Menendez blocked Judge Patty Shwartz, an Obama administration nominee to a federal judgeship, drawing speculation that the block was placed because of Shwartz's relationship with the head of the public corruption unit for New Jersey’s federal prosecutor who had investigated the senator during his 2006 election fight. Menendez denied personal motivation for the block. He has long contended that the corruption investigation was politically motivated. The investigation was closed in the late 2011, with no charges filed.

On December 12, 2012 it was reported that the Senator's office had an unpaid intern volunteering who had let his visitor visa expire and who was a registered sex offender. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been aware of the man as early as October 2012 but according to the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instructed federal agents not to arrest the man until after Election Day. Menendez denied knowing about the allegation of the directive to delay the arrest and only recently learned of the arrest. According to two federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, the intern was arrested in front of his home in New Jersey on December 6, 2012.

Personal life
In 1976, Menendez married Jane Jacobsen, a teacher for the Union City Board of Education. They divorced in 2005. The couple has two children: news correspondent Alicia Menendez, and Robert, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

House
Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1992, Donald K. Stoveken as an America First Populist received 682 votes. In 2000, Alina Lydia Fonteboa received 233 votes and Kari Sachs received 168 votes. In 2002, a candidate listed only as Independent (The American Party) received 34 votes; also, Herbert Shaw's full party name was "Politicians are Crooks – Politicos son Corruptos" (shortened for display purposes above).

Senate
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