LAWRENCE: Budgets show values, says Sen. Menendez

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The United States is facing some difficult choices in the days and years ahead, both at home and abroad — but for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, those decisions will be reached on the basis of “doing the right thing.”
   Sen. Menendez spoke to about 100 people, including students, at Rider University Tuesday night. He was invited to speak by the university’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, as part of its ongoing “Governing New Jersey” series.
   ”We need to think as a people and as a country. What is our vision? What do we stand for? What do we want life to be like?” said the senator, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by former U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine upon his election as New Jersey governor in January 2006.
   Sen. Menendez, who was elected as a U.S. senator in his own right in November 2006, credited his upbringing as the son of immigrants for his philosophy of “doing the right thing.” He said his mother often invited to dinner some of the people who lived in the same tenement as they did, but who were much worse off.
   ”The opportunity to share with them was the right thing to do. She believed in that principle and in the power of education,” Sen. Menendez said, adding doing what is right and the power of education can make a difference.
   Relying on the principle of doing the right thing helped to inform Sen. Menendez’s decisions to bail out the financial institutions and the automobile industry in 2008. Top government financial officials warned that if steps were not taken, the United States was facing an economic depression that would rival the Great Depression of the 1930s, he said.
   While the bailouts were controversial, at the end of the day, Sen. Mendendez said, the money was repaid, and the federal government made a profit. The automobile industry is thriving and profitable, which also has had a positive impact on the supply chain for the industry, he said.
   The challenge now is how to grow the economy, create prosperity and put people back to work, Sen. Menendez said. The choices that are made in the days ahead will help determine whether the economy grows.
   ”Show me your budget, and I’ll show you your values,” he said. “We all have budgets — how we decide what we are going to spend on our home, education, health care and charity. It speaks to people’s values. (The national budget) speaks to the national values.”
   Sen. Menendez said he has worked “very hard” to reach across the political aisle and to work with Republican politicians. It is important to realize “our view is not the only view,” and issues will not be resolved “if we are entrenched in our views,” he said.
   Meanwhile, Sen. Menendez said his vision for the United States is one of civility in politics and in life. There is a need to reach common ground and to work together. He said he had worked with Republican senators and legislators on numerous issues.
   ”The United States that I envision — part of the process — is that it’s cool to be smart,” he said.
   The ticket to prosperity is all about innovation, the senator said. New Jersey was the home of Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb as well as the home to the solar energy industry and the pharmaceutical industry.
   Referring back to the theme of education, Sen. Menendez said the discussion in Washington, D.C., about proposed cuts in the federal Pell Grant program is “not esoteric.” To be a leader in the world and to be a center for innovation and research and development, the United States needs to have “the most highly educated generation (of young people) in the world,” he said.
   He questioned how the United States can promote prosperity when there is debate in the nation’s capitol about “massive” cuts in education funding, adding, “Show me your budget, and I will show you your values.”
   International events also have an impact on the United States, he said, suggesting a quick glance at the gas pumps would offer proof. The unrest in the Middle East and North Africa presents challenges for this country, he said, adding, “The economy is in recovery, and it cannot withstand a body blow.”
   Reflecting on the challenges facing the United States, “I think of the old Chinese proverb, ‘May you live in interesting times,’” Sen. Mendendez said.