menÉndez de nueva jersey, presentÓ una propuesta.ra un repaso de lo que ha estado ocurriendo sobre este tema, nos vamos con angie sandoval. angie, adelante. >>¿quÉ tal, jose? buenos dÍas. este es el aÑo de la reforma migratoria integral. este es el sentir de un grupo de senadores demÓcratas que esta semana regresaron a la carga. nueve meses despuÉs de haber presentado, sin suerte, una reforma migratoria... >>esperamos que esto impulse el diÁlogo. angie: ...los senadores robert menÉndez, patrick leahy y dick durbin vuelven a la carga, esperando que esta vez su acta para una reforma de inmigraciÓn -que incluye el dream act- sÍ sea aceptada por sus colegas republicanos. >>es para impulsar una oportunidad de decir que esto es de suma importacia, de que queremos una oportunidad, que nuestros colegas republicanos se unan a nosotros. angie: este proyecto incluye el refuerzo de la seguridad en la frontera, lo que siempre han frontera, lo que siempre han exigido los republicanos, al igual que la verificaciÓn del estatus de los trabajadores. t

senator men menendez, let me begin with you. the views we heard today on the foreign relations commit tee, skeptical on both sides of the aisle about the course the u.s. is pursuing in afghanistan. how do you see this argument? >> well, i'm extremely skeptical. $19 billion over the last eight years, very little to show for it. i'm not sure that we have a reliable partner in the karzai government. says specially when what we're in is a counterinsurgency effort which means that we are fighting insurgents to try to give the government of afghanistan the ability to stand up on its own, defend itself, governor itself, and that counterinsurgency effort is costing us $10 billion a month. i have to be honest with you when i look at the statistics of the 50 to 100 al qaeda fighters that may exist in afghanistan it seems to me that we have the wrong mission at this time with a government that even calls us an occupying force. so i have a much different vision as to what we should be doing there. >> woodruff: and senator chambliss, you are

and new jersey democrat robert menendez, who sits on the finance committee. senator barrasso, start with you the president said he thinks the republicans must and will give some ground on tax revenues. will they? is there any room for movement? >> no, there really is not. 9.1% unemployment, the worst thing we should do is raise taxes on anyone during economic times like these. we want to get people back to work. the way to increase revenue for the government is to get people back to work. a robust, growing economy is the way to have more tax revenue coming in, not by raising taxes in these economic times. >> but the argument from the president is unless we do that, we won't get an agreement, we'll have a default and that will be even worse for the economy and jobs. >> well, i think the president is making the economy worse in many ways and wanting to raise taxes in s one of them. a lot of the rules and regulations coming out of his administration is making it harder and more expensive for the private sector to create jobs and as a republican, a conservative,

i will turn the gavel over to senator menendez. we're grateful for your service and thank you for your testimony today. with that, i will turn to senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. ambassador, thank you for your service passed a new willingness to serve in the future. we had a good discussion when you came to my office. i want to pursue some of things we talked about at that time. i know you don't determine or strategy -- war strategy but i wonder what your role will be as the ambassador in terms of information to the congress about where we are at. i am one of those who believe that we would be more successful in afghanistan by reducing our troop presence in the south and continuing support for institution-building in the north. it seems to me that a counter- terrorism strategy reverses a counter-insurgency strategy which is where we are, fighting in search is to give the government time to have the wherewithal to stand up for itself and defend itself and govern itself would maybe be a considerate policy if we had a

menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 141 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 141, recognizing the efforts and accomplishments of the god's child project and congratulating the god's child project on its 20th anniversary. the presiding officer: is there an objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the preamble be considered, the conrad amendment to the preamble which is at the desk be agreed to, the preamble as amended be agreed to, the resolution be considered, conrad amendment which is at the desk be agreed to and the resolution as amended be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to the matter be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without object

>> i did not say that, senator menendez. i said we were concerned about these issues and in fact, the egyptians and israelis security forces are working on these issues and there is a very serious concern about smuggling, of course. the egyptians, which is really concurrence, have put additional troops into sinai. the gas is flowing again. there were two attacks on the pipeline, but the gas is flowing again. there are some pricing disputes, but this is an issue we think they can work out. >> many of us have had a, and have still, a high hopes for a transition here that is both more democratic and continually secular, but many of us also have concerns about some of the actions and where we are headed. our support, certainly this senator's support, for the the levels we have been supported is predicating upon a continuing relationship with a major ally of the united states that is important to our national security interests. i hope you understand that there are those of us here who are ready to sign a blank check because of a

i didn't say that, senator menendez. think what i told senator casey is we were concerned about these issues. and, in fact, that the egyptians and israeli security forces are working on these issues, that there is a very serious concern about smuggling, of course and the egyptians with con curens have put additional troops into the sinai the gas is falling again. the law and order situation is bad there, but the gas is falling again. we think this is an issue that they can work out between themselves. >> many of us have and have still high hopes for a transition here that is both more democratic and continually secular. but many of us have concerns about the actions in where we're headed, and our support, certainly this senator's support for assistance to egypt at the levels that we have been supporting it is predicated on on a continuing relationship with a major ally of the united states important to our national security and our national interests. so i hope you understand that that there are those not ready to sign a

we also thank the wonderful hydra menendez for inviting us today. let's have a big hand for the mckinley elementary school choir. [applause] they are being led by second grade teacher miss yang, miss vantia, miss bryant, and miss petrokie. i think our principal is in here somewhere. ok. there is our principal, rosa song. there she is. [applause] all right. we are ready. ♪ [piano playing] ♪ [piano playing] [piano music playing] [applause] [piano playing] [applause] [piano playing] >> give it up one more time for the mckinley elementary second and third graders. [applause] >> i'd like to acknowledge scott wiener. thank you for joining us. i'd like to acknowledge my colleague, sandy, for joinin gus. -- joining us. and at this time, i'd like to welcome ed lee, the mayor of san francisco. [applause] >> thank you, hydra and mckinley students. thank you very much. supervisor weiner, i thin kwe k we have the official song, next time i go t otho the boardf supervisors, we need side by side. we ain't got a barrell of money. thank you for coming today. i want

hablorelos con el senador de nueva jersey bob menendez, promotor de una nueva reforma mi dpra tri ene ser parte de su tarde. y a

we also thank the wonderful hydra menendez for inviting us today.let's have a big hand for the mckinley elementary school choir. [applause] they are being led by second grade teacher miss yang, miss vantia, miss bryant, and miss petrokie. i think our principal is in here somewhere. ok. there is our principal, rosa song. there she is. [applause] all right. we are ready. ♪ [piano playing] ♪ [piano playing]

. >> >> en tanto el senador bob menem negocio menÉndez presentaron una "reforma migratoria" integral,leyes. >> hemos entendido que el senador menÉndez que la propuesta se presentÓ de esta manera para hacerla mÁs vendido. que posibilidades tiene la propuesta realmente? >> bueno, esta propuesta es un vehÍculo por si existe el liderazgo en el congreso, para que pueda retomarse >> estÁn sintiendo en la mira y tanto en los estados como nivel federal en propuesta como smith. iquito a y quitaquitarle la ciudadana. yn contraste en contra de los inmigrantes de parte del partido republicano y la medida de parte del partido demÓcrata. >> o sea, que le ven mÁs posibilidades, presentando proyectos antiinmigrantes. >> bueno, la presiÓn al gobierno federal que estÁ sintiendo, obviamente, tambiÉn tiene la responsabilidad el pueblo hispano de hacerse sentir. porque van a estar escuchando precisamente los grupos antiinmigrantes que no quieren una reforma mi fw"reforma migra mismos votantes hispanos no se estÁn haciendo sentir no sentirÁn la presiÓn. >> seguiremos pendientes al congreso. >> gracias kath

is there -- is there any objection to senator menendez modifying? therefore, we will vote on the rubio amendment as modified. all those in favor? all those opposed? the ayes have it. that brings this now to a vote on final passage. is there any further comment with respect to final passage on the resolution? if not, the clerk will call the roll. >> very briefly. can i include my statement as to why we voted against? >> absolutely. statements of all senators with respect to their votes will be placed in the record as it stated live and in full. may i just say a word to all the members of the committee before the final vote? i want to express my appreciation for the way in which we were able to proceed through this marked up. this can be complicated. it can be contentious. everybody has worked unbelievably diligently and in good faith to work through the best interest of our country. as chair, i just want to express my appreciation to everybody for the cooperative way that this has been approached. i think it has been very responsible and the outcome

but, new jersey democratic senator bob menendez says in effect, much ado about nothing. money saved is not worth the potential environmental risks. "the department of energy has rejected that drilling all our coasts, even the jersey shore, would only reduce gas prices by question, what about that deadbeat senator and his view? it's only going to yield very little. you agree with that? >> probably right. but obama is going through the proper motions a president much appear to be doing something, be he said there's not much a president do to affect gas prices, republican or democrat. but no president gains any points by telling people that truth wow going through the motions of -- drilling leases. >> also, leases take a long time. his administration of a few years ago, three or four years ago, are just coming alive now because -- ding -- >> the long haul you can if effect it [everyone talking at once] >> the problem over the long haul is you have countries like china and india and others booming and consuming more and more oil, and you take all the oil producing countries

the menendez brothers spoke out, blaming killing their parents on years of abuse. >> my dad had beenolesting me. >> reporter: but in the end, they were sentenced to life in prison. what do you think the odds are that she will actually testify? >> i don't think she will testify. when it comes down to it. attorneys want to save her life. >> reporter: ultimately, the decision is casey's and hers alone. at this point, none of us know what she's thinking. >>> a senseless murder at a family-run pharmacy on new york's long island, has left four people dead. a lone gunman entered the shop, killed two workers and two customers. in what was a robbery gone wrong. among them, was a part-time worker who was to go to the prom and graduate from high school this week. >>> a new warning for parents and caregivers, a child dies every five days in portable pools during a warm-weather months, even in water less than 18 inches deep. the study published, in the journal of pediatrics, find that those kiddie pools are as risky as in-ground pools. >>> one of the most uplifting stories this morning comes from

is there any concern in your mind, senator menendez, with a quick drawdown that could be the legacy of the u.s. mission in afghanistan? >> well, the reality is even after 30,000 over the course of a year, you'd have 68,000 u.s. troops, in addition to 40,000, you know, nato and other troops. the reality is you're still talking about a hundred thousand collective troops there. there are only 20,000 taliban insurgents and we have spent billions of dollars, spend 10 billion a month in this counterinsurgency effort. we have spent nearly $38 billion to stand up 290,000 afghan security forces. it seems to me that if 290,000 afghan security forces can't fight 20,000 taliban fighters, that's a 14 in 1 ratio, then we are in deeper trouble than we think. >> unfortunately, i'm told i have to say good-bye. we look forward to speaking about you further in the future. thank you both this morning. >>> cbs news will carry the president's speech on afghanistan beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, 7:00 central. be sure to join us for that. >>> this morning, the chicago area is cleaning up from powerful s

various good tast equally ugly or good democratic representative carolyn maloney and senator bob menendez it is after the supreme court like corporate giant wal-mart get off scot free with discriminating against one half million female workers these two lawmakers reintroduce the equal rights amendment which simply states equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of sex congresswoman maloney defended the amendment by saying women in america will only achieve equality the workplace if it's written into the constitution she's right and we're a couple of hundred years away trying to pass the equal rights of the bat herman cain the republican presidential candidate doesn't seem to be taking too well to jokes it is expense on jon stewart's daily show cain fired back this week with this . big moment. i owe oh. here you will see it is. going to matter most to me. because i happen to be a service in the words of my great american. you're a target on the daily show because you're black. i want disturbing mr cain to realize that

>> creo que estÁn tratando de solucionar algunos problemas internos que menÉndez en la campaÑa del presidentea oportunidad para ganar. >> no es suficiente haber matado a bin laden? >> les importa lo que les afecta el bolsillo. >> para cuando lleguemos a votar, >> el presidente barack obama anunciÓ el retiro de tropas norteamericanas. en el prÓximo mes. y salir de afganistÁn en el 2014. ha habido crÍticas de los republicanos y demÓcratas. >> creo que era una promesa que tenÍa que cumplir. las crÍticas que se han visto en los medios en relaciÓn con la oposiciÓn. muy pronto, dicen que no es lo mÁs apropiado sin que haya riesgo. en realidad, estratÉgicamente, quÉ va a pasar en afganistÁn cuando las fuerzas norteamericanas se retiren y cuÁl será el futuro de esa naciÓn? >> estamos hablando de la guerra mÁs larga en la historia de los estados unidos. 10 aÑos hasta ahora. el presidente habÍa hecho una promesa en su campaÑa electoral de reducir el nÚmero de tropas. >> no ha podido porque es difÍcil hacer la campaÑa que estÁ tratando de llevar a cabo. tratar de cambiar una cultura, en esta regiÓn es i

condiciÓn migratoria de una persona.2í mÁs adelante en primer impacto.m entretanto vamos a mÉxico ÷jesÚs menÉndezmenes. dznkt06qwe >> el gobierno mexicano ofreciÓ una recompensa de 2 millones y medio de dÓlares por este presunto delincuente, quien dice estar arrepentido y sorpresivamente reconoce la labor del gobierno de felipe ñ >> el chango narra la manera en .m >> mirÁbamos que tenÍan el perfil de que fueron buenos. hay que hacer las cosas bien. %Ñ .no es que no anduvieran secuestrando. >> para las autoridades este hombre es la figura clave en el mundo de narcotrÁfico. 12j)/t presuntamente extinto nazario moreno tenÍan dividida la ciudad en dos plazas.é@ >> los entÉrate de la familia son adiestrados en elmanejo de armas. contemplan pcastigos que van dp9"qgolpes hasta la muerte de 4fwnintegrantes cuando que desacatan las instrucciones. las personas prevÉ ingresos en internadasen ñ-9o'sierras para realizar torturas y homicidios.p 0rñ3km >> mÉndez dijo que no contratan mujeres porque no le parece correcto que estuvieran de hombres y confesÓ su arrepentimiento. Án haciendo lo correcto, trabajo. pa

we now turn to senator menendez. excuse me, senator lugar. the purpose of this amendment is to enhance congress's ability to conduct responsible oversight of any continued united states military operations in libya. it would require periodic reporting on the cost of operation and how these costs are being paid for. would also require periodic reporting on the impact of the ongoing operations in libya on other u.s. and nato military operations, including operations taliban and al qaeda. given that the resolution would authorize military operations that could go on for as much as a year, and could expand in scope from current operations, i believe it is important that congress had the necessary tools to conduct oversight of these issues and to know their cost. i urge members to support the amendment. >> senator lugar, this is another excellent addition, and i believe senator corker has the second degree. i believe originally there was a 15-day reporting period 60-day. senator corker is willing to do 30. i think that is reasonable to have adequa

cementer menendez. senator cardin. [laughter] >> seniority, that's good. >> senator ben cardin, state of maryland, class of 2006. [laughter] >> investor crocker, first, thank you very much for your service. you have served our nation with great distinction, and thank you for that. and thank you for your willingness to come back into public service, and i can think of no one who is more qualified for the position than you and a very tough situation. as everyone is suggesting, afghanistan needs to change its u.s. role in afghanistan needs to change. i know that we can talk about the military aspects and the fact that we are looking to words every deployment of our combat troops starting in the next month or two, and that we expect we might be able to accelerate that, considering the current status of terrorist organizations operating in the region. now, having said that, i want to concentrate on the other part of our role. we've had a military presence, but we also have had an effort to provide economic development assis

menendez: mr. president, first of all, i didn't come to the floor for this purpose, but i would be remiss if i didn't thank the distinguished senator from illinois, the democratic whip, for his incredible commitment and passion to this issue. i've seen him just about every session take out time every day to both dramatize and put a human face on this opportunity to turn some of america's greatest prospects into opportunity prosperity for this entire country. and i am thrilled that he has adopted various of my lines, and i'm honored by it. but it is true, these young people came to this country through no choice of their oefpblt the only -- their own. the only country they have known is the united states of america. they put their hand on their heart and pledge allegiance to the united states, the only national anthem they have ever learned to sing or believe in is ""the star-spangled banner"." and we have a tremendous opportunity. i want to thank the distinguished senator for his incredible commitm

menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for 25 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, to the millions of americans who are struggling to find jobs or make ends meet, this is simply stating the obvious, but i rise today a decade after we were told that the bush tax cuts for the wealthy would stimulate the economy and create jobs to say that they have done neither. a decade of the bush tax cuts have proven what we knew from the beginning: that they disproportionately benefited the wealthy, shifted wealth, did nothing for the middle class, and nothing trickle the down. -- trickled down. the tax cuts exploded the debt and continued to be an economic burden that be with twisted into a republican man infrastructure, an ironic rallying cry for what clearly is a failed economic policy. and yet addherence to the tax cuts for the wealth economy is a republican political litmus test no matter how clear the evidence is that they hav

i want to ask you to listen to a sound bite here, democratic senator bob menendez was on cbs this morningitical of the president's decision to leave so many troops there to keep fighting. let's listen. >> spending $10 billion a month in this counter insurgency effort. we spent nearly $38 billion to stand up, 290,000 afghan security forces. seems to me if 290,000 afghan security forces can't fight 20,000 taliban fighters, 14 to 1 ratio, then we're in deeper trouble than we think. >> what do you think. number one, do the numbers sound about accurate to you? i guess the other question is just about the afghan forces. are they ready to do this themselves? >> the numbers, if those are the correct numbers, i have no doubt they are correct, however, i think he comes across missing a point. if every american leaves now, there will be a security vacuum that will not be filled by the afghan national security forces, it will be filled by the taliban, and all the work, the blood and treasure that's been given by the soldiers and by the country will be for naught. we saw that happen before. soviet lef

be leaving and turning the gavel over to senator menendez. thank you for the testimony and with that, i will turn to senator menendez. >> thank you for your service past and a willingness to serve in the future. we had a good discussion and i want to pursue some of the things we talked about. i know you do not determine war strategy, but i do wonder what your role will be as the ambassador in terms of information to the congress about where we're at. i am one of those who believe that we would be more successful in afghanistan by reducing our troop presence in the south and support for institution building in the north. it seems that a counterterrorism strategy versus a strategy, having the wherewithal to stand up and govern itself, it would maybe consider it a policy if we had a partner which we do not have a solid partner in this regard. so that present policy has had an enormous toll on american lives, on american treasure, and i do not think we have won the hearts and minds. do you believe we're making sustainable progress in the south? w

senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman.rm supporter of yours i think you're an extraordinary secretary of state at an incredibly momentous time in history where there are few ton nick shifts taking place in different parts of world. i very much appreciate your service. but that does not abide a deep and nagging set of concerns i have on the course that we are on both where we send the sons and daughters of america to fight and sometimes die and in the national treasure of the united states. so i want to express those concerns that i have. we went into afghanistan for very clear reasons, reasons that i supported when i was in the house of representatives. these were the perpetrators of september 11th. that you and i vividly understand from the number of citizens that we lost both as americans and from our respective states. this is where usama bin laden was at the time. this is the where al qaeda was. they were the perpetrators. bin laden is dead. there are less than 100 al qaeda fighters in afghanistan. i look at this $10 b

identificaron a hombre como josÉ alfredo yaÑez de 40 as de edad >> seguimos con temas migratorio, robert menÉndezn trabajador comparando la informaciÓn con la base de datos del departamento de seguridad interna y como lo dijiste edna, podrÍa ser una luz de esperanza para los indocumentados. regreso contigo. >> esperamos pendientes para ver que sucede con la propuesta del senador >> una masiva redada terminÓ con la detenciÓn de cientos de in inmigrantes. >> desde washington, fernando pizarro nos explica en detalles los operativos quienes son londres arrestados y las reacciones que han causado. >> en una >> en una operaciÓn nacional ice arrestÓ a mÁs de 2.000 inmigrantes con rÉrd criminales. >> a nivel nacional arrestamos a mÁs 14 # cient00 criminales. en Ángeles, miami, dallas, vimos bastante arrestos ahÍ. >> todos los detenido de la operaciÓn habÍan sido sentenciados con robos c armas de fuego etc >> ocurre un dÍa despuÉs de la salida del director de ic en donde dijeron que podrÁ ejercer mayor discreciÓn en determinar que tipo de personas representan una verdadera amenaza pÚblica y tendrÍan que s

tolu joined me at that occasion with senator harry reid who has been a strong supporter, bob menendez, our hispanic colleague here in the senate, and richard bloomen that will from the state of connecticut. here's what tolu said." passing the dream act is critically important to me and so many others. i don't believe i am entitled to anything more than what this great nation has taught me, that we all have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." she is right. thousands of immigrant students were brought to the u.s. as children. it wasn't their decision to come, but they grew up here, they made it their home and they are prepared to make this a better nation. some of my colleagues who come to the floor of the senate criticize the dream act because people under the age of 35 are eligible. they say the dream act should only benefit children. they ignore the obvious. in order to qualify for the dream act, an individual must have come to the united states as a child, just like tolu. now she is 30 years old. she has been waiting patiently for ten years. to say that she is no

. >> thank you, senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary clinton, thank you for coming today. i think everyone here is expressing frustration. when i first came here and look at all this, i was struck by what a -- skewed this is. perhaps eight rybinsk q. but you ik's kubicr -- rubki' you cannot result. it is very difficult to explain our objectives. for one reason, it has been changing. we are becoming more realistic. i noticed what has crept into our dialogue has been able never be perfect. thank goodness we finally recognize that. that clearly is a fact of life. the frustration with the two governments in both countries is overwhelming. we started in afghanistan with motives, as everyone said, that were great. we always hear people talk about winning in afghanistan. we won a long time ago. our objective there was debate al qaeda. references have been made that there are less than 100 left of them in the country. we are left fighting the taliban, who will fight us for centuries if we are so inclined we have to find a way to artic

. >> thank you, senator menendez. mr. crocker, thank you for what you'd do for america. your qualifications are impeccable for this job. i do not envy what you are about to take on. i had been following this hearing electronically because i have had other things going on. let me just say that i share some of the skepticism that -- in fact, that is probably an understatement. i share a lot of the skepticism expressed here this morning. this is a messy situation. it is not getting any better. since i had been elected to the u.s. senate, people back home keep asking me, "what is going to happen? how is this going to end? what kind of progress has been made?" certainly, militarily, we have done it well, i believe. but beyond that, this is very difficult. to articulate what our objectives are and what our goals are and how this is going to end it with us achieving those is very, very difficult to grasp, let alone to convey to the american people. i wish you well. the problems here are very, very significant. i am glad you are the one going there because i think you're the rig

nevada, boxer, conrad, kerry, whitehouse, klobuchar, cardin, binge minimum -- bingaman, merkley, menendez, shaheen, sanders, lautenberg, reed of rhode island, durbin, akaka. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:30 a.m. on tuesday, june 7. following the prayer and pledge the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for use later in the day. following leader remarks, senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to one hour with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. following morning business the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 782, the economic development act. further

speakers included chuck schumer and new jersey senator bob menendez. this is 25 minutes. >> this is a simple question. to the republican leaders and to -- [inaudible] all subsidies be included in a debt limit agreement. in any measure, the answer to that should be obvious. senator mcconnell voted to repeal ethanol subsidies this month as did 33 of his republican colleagues and 38 of democratic colleagues, that is an overwhelming majority in the u.s. senate for peeling ethanol subsidies. at the time of huge deficits it seems this is a bipartisan steps that we can all paid to save money. and to meet our challenges as a country. senger mcconnell has gone out on a limb and come out in favor of opposing read the use of any kind -- revenues of any kind even if that means closing tax breaks. the ethanol one is a huge example of that. we subsidize it. we subsidize the growth of corn and we have tariffs as it relates to potential competition. that would drive down costs for consumers. it is a huge potential saving and i would add to that reality one that i have

menendez: mr. president, i rise to urge my colleagues to vote for the confirmation of two of new jersey's most outstanding judicial professionals to fill two vacancies for the united states district court judges for the district of new jersey. and i understand that vote will be taking place around noon. both of these very qualified women are now united states magistrate judges. judge claire cecchi and judge esther salas are among the most respected leaders in new jersey's district community. both have demonstrated skill and professionalism on the bench and an impressive ability to manage the heavy and complex dockets before them. judge cecchi has a broad range of litigation experience having worked in the private sector for over 14 years. after serving in the office of corporation counsel for the city of new york, she practiced with robinson, st. john and wayne and later with robinson lapidus and level liu, both large and respected firms. she is no stranger as working for both defendants and plaint

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. what happens when this program ceases to exist? what will happen to the real- estate market? >> you would have but the federal government and any hope of getting the private sector back into underwriting mortgages walk away from all properties because of flood risk. this happened in the 1960's when they determined it would no longer cover flood as a risk. it could the taxpayer in an uncovered risk -- it puts the tax payer in the u.n. career risk. what happens there is this is a hazard that currently the federal government is the primary provider of that coverage. without that, those people in the high-risk areas may not be able to receive financing for their homes. the original tenants of the program to protect the mortgages would come back and, i think, it is a great housing market even more than we have seen. >> with that as a promise, it seems like we needed to act. so the question is what do we do? in my state of new jersey in march, the governor filed a request for a federal disaster declaration and fema and the night it -- de

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you. what happens if this program ceases to exist?t happens to the real estate market? >> what would happen is you would have the federal government and any hope of getting the private sector back into underwriting mortgages walk away from all properties at flood risk. this is what happened in the 1960's when the private sector determined that would no longer cover flood as the rest. a risk. i could not fathom with the trillions of dollars of exposure would look like in a flood. this is a hazard that currently the federal government is the primary provider of that coverage. without that, those people that live in the highest risk areas may not be able to receive financing for their home. i think would end up in a situation where the exposure would be so great that the original program to protect the mortgages would be coming back and that housing market would be affected more than we have seen. >> that would be an enormous body blow to this economy. it seems like we need to act. the question is what we do. in march, in my home state o

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you for your long service to our country, ambassador, such a distinguishedareer. you're going to an exceptionally important assignment at this time in history. i heard between my meetings, i was trying to capture your answers to some of senator kay c.'s questions, but i want to pursue that more. hi want to know your views as it relates to what will we tell each of -- i want to know your views as it relates to egypt, its adherents to the peace treaty with israel? think there could be the slightest doubt about egypt's adherence to the camp david treaty with israel. i think the egyptian government at all levels has made utterly clear its commitment to that treaty. it is in its interests. >> and yet there are a series of actions that we have seen that are unsettling to some of us who believe that that is a cornerstone of u.s. foreign assistance to egypt. is this adherence including the peace treaty with israel of prerequisite for u.s. assistance? >> let me put it this way, senator. we entirely anticipate that egypt will abide by its international agreement and t

senator menendez. sartre, -- sorry. class of 2006. >> thank you for your service. you have served our nation with great distinction. i thank you for that and your willingness to come back into public service. i can think of no one as qualified for the position then you. it is a tough situation. at afghanistan needs to change. our role in afghanistan needs to change. we can talk about the military aspects and the fact that we are drifting toward a redeployment of our combat troops starting in the next month or two. we expect that we might be able to accelerate that considering the current status of terrorist organizations operating in the region. having said that, i want to concentrate on the other part of our role, we also had an effort to provide economic assistance to the people of afghanistan. i know you recently got a report commissioned by this committee. let me share with you some observations that should not be a surprise. it is critical of the efficiency of the deliverance of our aid to accomplish any long term economic stability for the people of afghanist

speakers include democratic caucus vice chairman chuck schumer and new jersey senator bob menendez. this is 25 minutes. >> we're here to ask a very simple question to the republican leaders and to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, should a repeal of ethanol subsidies be included in a debt limit agreement? and any measure, the answer to that should be an obvious one. senator mcconnell himself voted to repeal ethanol subsidies this month as did 33 of his republican colleagues and 38 of our democratic colleagues, that is an overwhelming majority in the united states senate. for repealing ethanol subsidies. and at the time of huge deficits it seems to me that that is a bipartisan step that we can all take to save money. and to meet our challenges as a country. however, since that vote, senator mcconnell has gone out on a limb and cut out in favor of opposing revenues of any kind, even if that means closing wasteful and unnecessary tax breaks and certainly the ethanol one is a huge example of that. we subsidize it, we subsidize the growth of corn, we have tariffs as it relat

menendez: mr. president, i rise to speak in favor of the feinstein amendment, and i am a proud cosponsor of this proposal because it will save us money, it will reduce food prices, annandale doing so do it in a responsible manner. mr. president, ethanol enjoys truly unprecedented support from the federal government. first, there is the renewable fuels mandate, mandate that requires, requires ethanol to be blended into gasoline. second, there is a 45% -- 45-cent-per-gallon subsidy to blend ethanol into gasoline that is costing the treasury nearly nearly $6 billion per year. third, there is a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, protecting the domestic industry from any serious competition. and to top it all off, the federal government spends billions every year to subsidize the growth of corn for ethanol. so in a time of fiscal constraint, we simply cannot afford to prop up an industry with such enormous supports, and these supports are not just costing taxpayers money but they are also ca

menendez: mr.president, i -- i regret that our colleagues have objected to consent to go to some of the most critical issues the country are facing, to have the finance committee meet on trade agreements that could expand markets and ultimately create jobs here in america, and that's what we need in america is creating jobs. that on the question of whether there should be a limited use of force that the country and particularly the senate should speak and not being able to do that is pretty amazing to me. and so i hear a lot about wanting to get the people's work done but then i hear objections to trying to move on get the people's work done. it's a pretty -- pretty outrageous. mr. president, i want to -- i came originally to the floor after this vote to thank president obama for yesterday calling and echoing my call to end subsidies for big oil. it's a call that received a bipartisan vote here in the senate, a bipartisan majority vote here in the senate, but, of course, did not pass. did not as if

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think there are some serious questions here. how is it -- we will hear from the next panel. i just want to look get some of the arguments they are presenting and give your sense of it. one is that they will say that this legislation would allow a new breed of credit unions to more aggressively pursue business customers for commercial and real estate loans. it would also serve as an invitation to credit unions that are not near this camp to focus on business lending in order to be eligible for a increase in their business lending cap. are you concerned about that? >> it would be an opportunity for credit unions to expand their business portfolio, but the loan to share ratio is about 68%. there is a great deal of capacity for credit unions to expand business lending and still meet the needs of consumers. >> what about the fact that credit unions by their nature are tax exempt and do not live within all the regulatory requirements that banking institutions live under. if we expand the nature of their portfolio, the argument is that