Bob Menendez

I stand second to no one in my desire to see a negotiated solution that rolls back and dismantles Iran's illicit nuclear program.

So from my perspective, it is critical that the Fed not put the cart before the horse and tighten too soon.

I have an intelligence briefing on Iran, but I wanted to come to join the committee and its leadership in welcoming the most outstanding U.S. Senator New Jersey has ever had to represent it.

One of the main themes in the President's budget is the need for extensive investments in roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure.

We still have a stagnant middle class, which you referred to in your opening statement.

I do not want us to be duplicitous in the way in which we look at this

A trade agreement should not have already raised these trafficking issues to countries that are on the TIP Report list.

The government is complicit in trafficking, and that makes it all the more--in my mind, one thing is to have a blind eye to what is happening in your country. The other thing is to be complicit in the trafficking.

I am also outraged at the scourge of diplomats who themselves are trafficking domestic workers.

Justice will not be served until those of us who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

Is there not a better way to go after these recruiters, to think about whether or not they should, as we find recruiters that are actually in the midst of the exploitation, deny them visas to the United States, take other actions, look at…

I am very concerned about the TIP Report this year without a TIP ambassador in place

That a regional bureau raises the question or knowledge that the TIP Report says this about this country... is one thing.

I hope when you do the report that you would share with the committee insights as to trends that you see developing, whatever those trends may be.

It is enforcement that matters in order to send a very clear message that we would, as a government, not tolerate in our own supply chain having that.

The most sustainable and effective way to combat it is to encourage governments to develop the appropriate laws

There should be some type of basis under which you are believed until proven that that is not true.

So I think we have to try to talk to the source countries and try to get that under control.

In January, I sent a letter to the Secretary of State with our concerns about the realities of forced labor and foreign labor during Qatar's infrastructure projects in advance of the 2022 World Cup.

We have to end impunity if we want to end slavery at the end of the day, modern day slavery.

As we speak, there are 50 million refugees and displaced people in the world, the largest number since World War II.

What can we do from your experience, what can governments, and the private sector, and the public sector do to increase protections for potential trafficking victims during conflicts, which increasingly seems to be one of our challenges?

And when you were talking about creating community support, I would assume those are individuals who are not the victims of trafficking, but others in the community who bore the slavery and trafficking that is taking place, and try to…

Human trafficking in the form of sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced marriage, debt bondage, and the sale and exploitation of children is one of the greatest moral challenges of our time.

That is a former congressional staffer.