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| {{Infobox Senator | name=Robert Menendez | |||
| | image name=Robert Menendez official photo.jpg | |||
| | jr/sr and state=Junior Senator, ] | |||
| | party=] | |||
| | term=]–present | |||
| | preceded=] | |||
| | succeeded=''Incumbent (2007)'' | |||
| | date of birth=], ] | |||
| | place of birth=], ] | |||
| | dead=alive | |||
| | date of death= | |||
| | place of death= | |||
| | spouse=Divorced | |||
| | religion=] | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Robert "Bob" Menendez''' (born ], ]) is a ] junior ] from ]. In January 2006, he was appointed by ] to fill the seat made vacant by Corzine's resignation from the Senate to serve as ]. Before his appointment to the Senate, he represented the state's ] in the ] from 1993-2006. He currently resides in ]. | |||
| ==Personal life== | |||
| Menendez was born in ] to ] parents. Fleeing Cuba in 1953 due to their dislike of the ] government, his parents came to New York<ref> '']'' ], ]</ref>. His father was a carpenter and his mother was a seamstress<ref> '']'', ], ]</ref>. He grew up in ], where he graduated from ]. | |||
| After graduating with a ] from ], he attended ] School of Law in ], from which he obtained his law degree. He was admitted to the New Jersey ] in 1980 and became a lawyer in private practice. | |||
| He married Jane Jacobsen, a teacher for the ], and the couple had two children: Alicia, a graduate of ], and Robert, a student at the ]. Menendez and Jacobsen have since divorced. | |||
| ==Early political career== | |||
| In 1973, at age 19, while attending ] in ], he launched a successful petition drive against his mentor, then-Union City Mayor ], to reform the local school board. He was elected to the Union City ] in 1974, and would later testify against Musto in a court case that resulted in a prison sentence for Musto. | |||
| Menendez was elected mayor of Union City in 1986 and served as mayor until 1992. While mayor, he simultaneously served in the ], a common practice for New Jersey politicians. He was in the ] from 1987 until 1991 and in the ] from 1991 to 1993. | |||
| == United States House of Representatives== | |||
| ].]] | |||
| In 1992, ] Congressman ] retired after seven terms. Menendez won the Democratic nomination for the Jersey City-based district, which was renumbered the 13th after New Jersey lost a district in the ], and was easily elected that November. The district was already heavily Democratic, but had been redrawn with a Hispanic majority after the 1990 census. He was reelected six times with no significant ] opposition. | |||
| In 1996, Menendez was briefly a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by the retiring ], but he backed out and the seat was won by Democrat ]. | |||
| In 2003, Menendez was elected chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, ranking him third in the Democratic hierarchy in the house, behind ] ] of ] and ] ] of ]. He was elected to chair the Credentials Committee of the ] and was a speaker on the first day of the convention. During the ], he was chair of the ] and the ]. | |||
| Although he is often portrayed as the political boss of ], he strongly dislikes this appellation, particularly because, according to an anonymous close source quoted in the ], ] '']'', "there is no boss of Hudson County".<ref>, '']'', ], ]</ref> Menendez is also seen as one leader in a fractured political establishment tenuously united by agreements that permitted the county to generate a significant vote for Corzine in the ].{{fact}} | |||
| Menendez received a "B" on the ] ]'s 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. | |||
| ==United States Senate== | |||
| 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 from several ] groups, including the ]. | |||
| Menendez is the first minority to represent New Jersey in the Senate, and only the sixth Hispanic to serve in that body. He joins Republican ] of ] (also of Cuban descent) and Democrat ] of ] (of ] descent) as the only three Hispanics currently in the Senate. He is on the ], ] and ] committees. | |||
| In February of 2006, Menendez co-sponsored legislation with ] Senator ] to make it illegal for foreign governments to buy U.S. port operations. The legislation was a direct response to ]'s efforts to purchase ] (P&O) of the ], 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 ] or the ] over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either."<ref>, '']'', ], ]</ref> | |||
| On ], ] Menendez voted for the ]. <ref> ''United States Senate''</ref> | |||
| ===Recent allegations of past ethics violations=== | |||
| On ], ], 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 which receives federal funds. Menendez helped the organization win designation as a federally qualified health care center in 1998. That designation allowed the agency to receive additional federal grants<ref>, '']'', ], ]</ref>. 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<ref>, '']'', ], ]</ref>. Menendez maintains that he rented the property out below market-value because "he was supportive of its work"<ref>, '']'', ], ]</ref>. The total rent collected over nine years was over $300,000. | |||
| Another controversy has hit Menendez, forcing him to cut all ties with a close advisor after a tape recording surfaced from 1999 with the advisor's voice boasting about urging a contractor to hire someone as a favor to Menendez . | |||
| == 2006 Senate race == | |||
| {{main|New Jersey United States Senate election, 2006}} | |||
| Menendez is running to retain his seat in the Senate. In the general election in November 2006, he will face Republican ], current minority whip in the ], and son of former state governor ]. | |||
| ==References== | |||
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| ==External links== | |||
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| *{{CongBio|M000639}} | |||
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| * by Al Sullivan, '']'', ], ]. | |||
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| | state = New Jersey | |||
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Revision as of 14:09, 27 October 2006
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