Conflict Abroad and at Home: Dealing with Iran, Iraq, the Situation in Syria, and Reforming Political Disclosures

     It has been a busy week for Senator Menendez, who has taken on Iran, Syria, and politically active corporations. In light of recent breakthroughs with Iran one might have expected that the United States would hold off on moving new sanctions on Iran. But this week the Senate is set to take up a new round of sanctions on Iranian oil production. These new rounds of sanctions would further restrict Iranian oil exports to less than 500,000 barrels a day (Gardener). Menendez has stated that Iran must halt and dismantle its nuclear program before U.S sanctions would be lifted, and that, even in light of Iranian efforts to improve relations with the U.S, "This is not the time to loosen sanctions" (Gardener). During a hearing earlier in the week the Senate Foreign Relations committee held a hearing on the situation in Syria. After the hearing Menendez stated that while the news that the international watchdog group charged with the securing and destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal has rendered most of the facilities capable of producing chemical weapons inoperable is a sign of progress but was troubled over the lack of a coherent strategy for resolving the situation in Syria, which has continued to degenerate and threatens the security of U.S interests and allies (Tapper). This week the Iraqi Prime Minister asked America to increase its counter-terrorism aid to help combat terror groups who have increased their activities in Iraq. Senator Menendez was one of a bipartisan group of senators who sent a letter to the President urging him to "step up counter-terrorism support for Iraq" as it "is in our national interest to increase the effectiveness of Iraqi security forces" (Tapper).
    On the domestic front Senator Menendez has taken on two key issues this week. First Senator Menendez has joined with 7 other senators to delay flood insurance hikes, working to develop the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (Y'all Politics). Second Senator Menendez has partnered with Senator Elizabeth Warren to call for the Securities and Exchange Commission to "adopt a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to disclose their political spending to their shareholders" (Blumenthal).
Sources:
Gardner, Timothy. Senators Seek To Cut Iran's Oil Sales In Half, Again. Huffingtonpost.com. Posted 10/29/13. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/senate-iran-oil-sales_n_4175806.html
Tapper, Jake. Pham, Sherisse. Sen. Menendez: Obama administration has no Syria strategy. thelead.blogs.cnn.com. Posted October 31st. http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/31/senator-bob-menendez-syria-no-strategy-chemical-weapons/
US Senator Thad Cochran plays key role in bill to delay flood insurance hikes. yallpolitics.com. Posted November 2, 2013. http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/36245/
Blumenthal, Paul. Elizabeth Warren: 'No Excuse' For Corporations To Keep Their Political Spending Secret. Posted 10/ 30/ 2013. http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/36245/