Officials have reached a federal budget agreement, but Sen. Robert Menendez told NJTV News Managing Editor Mike Schneider that the job market is not offering enough jobs for the unemployed.
Menendez said when voting on the federal budget, the choice was between having a budget that keeps the government operating over the next two years without crisis or not having one. He said that he chose to keep the government operating and to relieve some of what would have been across-the-board cuts, which he did not vote for in the first place.
“I have said to the majority leader of the Senate that I want to visit in January, in an effort to make sure that we extend UI benefits because we still have too many people unemployed seeking work but yet not in a job market that is offering sufficient enough jobs for all of those unemployed to achieve it,” Menendez said.
Menendez said that he wants to see House members cast a vote one way or another.
As for what is going on in Iran, Menendez said that legislation with 13 Democrats and 13 Republicans has been introduced to give the president time and space to test the veracity of Iran’s intentions to stop its nuclear weapons program. He said that from his perspective, it is an insurance policy for the United States because if Iran does not follow through, it will show what happens if no agreement is in place.
“If we can’t strike an agreement with Iran in the next year, then I don’t know if we ever will,” Menendez said.