NEWARK, N.J. - On the day that marked 45 years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy in America, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), met with African-American leaders and clergy of New Jersey in roundtable discussions he hosted today. During the discussion, Senator Menendez spoke about the progress on civil rights in America, as well as his optimism about the Senate achieving Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) legislation. He also decried the looming impact of the sequester's across-the-board cuts on New Jersey.
"Like everyone here, I've supported every effort to make sure that every citizen in every community has had every chance to succeed and be part of the democratic process. I voted to extend the Voting Rights Act that was front and center across the country in this last election and is again being raised as an issue by those who would repeal it. Let me say - as far as I'm concerned that will never happen," said Senator Menendez. "There can be no second class citizens in America. There can be no obstacles to any registered voter casting a ballot in this country, which is why we passed the Voting Rights Act in the first place. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but, looking back, we have a record of working together we can be proud of."
Senator Menendez, a member of the U.S. Senate's bipartisan "Gang of Eight," said that work was continuing toward work in earnest on the legislation.
"Immigration reform to protect families who are here and make sure no one in America is treated as a second-class citizen is long overdue," said Senator Menendez. "Now is the time to make it happen... and I'm confident, more confident than I've been in a long time... that we can get a bill to the President's desk this year."
With the federal sequester in its second month, Sen. Menendez explained why he voted against the legislation that triggered it.
"While we need to be smart about the budget challenges we face, this is no way to reduce the deficit, and it's no way to cut spending," he said. "It's simply bad policy to ask struggling, working families to sacrifice health care, education and their children's well being to continue protecting tax loopholes that benefit only the wealthiest Americans, which is exactly what will happen under sequestration."
Among those who attended the roundtable discussions were:
Clergy
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