Bob Menendez: “El Salvador means ``the Savior'' in Spanish, and I believe that El Salvador represents hope and salvation for all of…”

“El Salvador means ``the Savior'' in Spanish, and I believe that El Salvador represents hope and salvation for all of Central America. During the civil war in the 1980's, about 75,000 Salvadorans lost their lives in this country, a small country of 5 million people, but they have managed to find peace, democracy, and a market economy, and today El Salvador leads the region economically with an average annual growth rate of 6 percent in this decade. This resolution is an expression of good will toward the people of El Salvador and toward President Armando Calderon del Sol who was just recently here, and we have had discussions with him and as he faces the challenges that are still present before El Salvador. But we are confident that El Salvador, as has been mentioned here, will continue to progress, building democratic institutions and improving the lives of the Salvadoran people. We can do our part by making sure that the seeds of democracy which are taking root in El Salvador are fully cemented, and that is why I want to hail the Attorney General's decision not to deport, not to deport Salvadorans who came to the United States, fleeing from civil war, as a result of our foreign policy in part, and now would have made a dramatic economic impact on El Salvador if, in fact, they were massively deported.”