OCF Candidate Survey 2006

Candidate: Robert Menendez
Party: Democrat
District: NJ
Running For: US Senate
State: New Jersey

1

QDo you think organic agriculture should receive a fair share (at least 2.5%) of government resources spent on agriculture?

A Yes

Comment: The distribution of federal spending on agriculture is currently skewed towards states that receive corn, wheat, rice, and other commodity subsidies. New Jersey is not a major supplier of these commodities, so we do much worse than other states in terms of agricultural spending. I am in favor of shifting the balance of federal agricultural spending so as to better support New Jersey farmers, who have a very difficult time staying afloat in a high-cost state.
2

QDo you support strict standards for processed foods, dairy, and body care products that are labeled or marketed as organic?

A Yes

Comment:
3

QDo you support more aggressive government action to assess the harms of pesticides, take harmful pesticides off the market, and hold companies responsible for diseases and environmental damage caused by pesticides?

A Yes

Comment: I strongly support more aggressive government action to determine the potential health risks caused by pesticide use, particularly the effect of pesticides on children, and if certain pesticides are found to pose an unacceptable health risk, I believe they should be pulled off the market immediately.
4

QShould people have the right to pass consumer safety laws at the state or local level that require food labels to include information on dangerous ingredients?

A Yes

Comment: I am opposed to the National Uniformity for Food Act that passed the House earlier this year, and I have expressed that opposition in a letter to Majority Leader Frist.
5a

QDo you support Country of Origin and labeling that helps consumers choose local products?

A Yes

Comment: I support Country of Origin labeling, and have voted against attempts to delay its implementation.
5b

QDo you support government action to help US farmers develop local and regional markets and to reduce non-renewable energy use on their farms?

A Yes

Comment: I strongly support initiatives to encourage the use of renewable energy by farmers.
6a

QDo you support mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients?

A Undecided

Comment: I would have to see the specifics of the proposal. The practice of selective breeding to produce new varieties of plants has been crucial for developing strains of crops that are resistant to disease and tolerant of diverse weather conditions. In some cases, this has helped to avert famine and starvation in the developing world. If the labeling of genetically engineered foods was to include all selectively bred crops, I would be concerned that this would hinder the process of developing new crops. I would need to know much more about the details of such a labeling program before being able to come to a decision on it.
6b

QDo you support mandatory pre-market safety testing for all genetically modified foods and crops?

A Undecided

Comment: Again, this depends on how “genetically modified” is defined, and I would need to know more before being able to answer.
7

QDo you support universal testing for Mad Cow disease and a ban on feeding slaughterhouse waste to farm animals?

A Yes

Comment:
8

QDo you support a restructuring of trade-distorting US farm subsidies?

A Undecided

Comment: My first priority is to the farmers of New Jersey, and I have heard from a number of them concerns about the current farm subsidy programs. I look forward to reviewing these issues as part of the farm bill reauthorization next year.
9

QDo you support a significant shift in US farm subsidies to help family farmers and ranchers make the transition to organic?

A Yes

Comment: As described in my answer to Question #1, I believe that there is a tremendous amount of inequity in the current agricultural subsidy system, and there are certainly opportunities to correct that imbalance. Organic agriculture deserves to be well supported in the upcoming farm bill.
10

QDo you support a significant shift in subsidies to help US farmers adopt conservation and renewable energy practices on farms?

A Yes

Comment: I am a strong supporter of providing additional resources towards agricultural conservation programs and renewable energy initiatives.
11

QDo you support increases for WIC (Women, Infant and Children), the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and other programs to help low-income Americans buy organic food?

A Yes

Comment:
12

QDo you support universal health care with a preventive focus and a major emphasis on better nutrition?

A Yes

Comment: I strongly support expanding access to affordable health care for all Americans. I believe we should expand programs that have proven to be effective and efficient in delivering care to people who have no insurance – Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicare – as well as provide tax credits and pooling opportunities to help small businesses provide coverage for their employees. I also wrote legislation, which recently became law, to promote preventive health care and provide ongoing outreach to underserved communities. The goal of this program is to keep people healthy through prevention and education, including healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.
13

QDo you support 80%-by-2050 reduction in climate destabilizing greenhouse gas pollution?

A Yes

Comment: I am a cosponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 3698), which calls for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
14

QDo you support ending the Iraq war and redirecting funds from the $500 billion annual military spending in the U.S. toward greening the U.S. economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and converting U.S. agriculture to organic practices?

A Yes

Comment: I voted against the Iraq war when I was in the House, and most recently, I voted for the Kerry amendment in the Senate to redeploy our troops by next July. I believe this is a war of choice, not a war of necessity. It has distracted us from finding and punishing Osama bin Laden, who led the attacks on our country. And it continues to demonstrate the president’s misplaced priorities by diverting funding from programs vital to American families, such as health care, education, the economy, and the environment. I believe we have to change the direction our country’s headed by changing the course in Iraq and changing our nation’s priorities to meet our nation’s needs.
15

Q Do you support requiring electronic voting machines to produce voter-verified paper records and election officials to use these records to conduct mandatory audits of election results?

A Yes

Comment: As a Member of the House, I cosponsored H.R. 550, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, which would require a voter-verified permanent paper record or hard copy.
16

QDo you support eliminating the distorting effect of special interest money on our elections and politicians by requiring full public funding for all federal, state, and local elections?

A Yes

Comment:
17

QDo you support legislation to prevent internet companies from rigging the system to serve only the highest-paying users and discriminate against users they don’t like?

A Yes

Comment:

 

Return to Top of Page