***PHOTO RELEASE*** Incoming Chairman Menendez Meets with Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno
Unveils Bipartisan Resolution Bolstering U.S.-Ecuador Partnership
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today met with President Lenin Moreno in the U.S. Capitol.
“It was a pleasure to again welcome President Lenin Moreno to the U.S. Capitol today. As I told President Moreno, I am impressed and encouraged by the progress made over recent years to write a new chapter in the U.S.-Ecuador relationship. Gone are the days where our nations’ engagement was laden with tension and mistrust,” Senator Menendez said. “As Ecuadorians prepare to head to the polls in the coming weeks, we are introducing a resolution to recognize the restoration and advancement of the U.S.-Ecuador relationship and to recommit ourselves to fostering shared economic, security, and development opportunities in the future. I look forward to finding new opportunities to continue growing the U.S.-Ecuador partnership with the help of New Jersey’s vibrant Ecuadorian-American community.”
Following the meeting, Menendez was joined by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, as well as Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in introducing a Senate Resolution reaffirming the partnership between the United States and the Republic of Ecuador. The bipartisan resolution recognizes the restoration and advancement of economic relations, security, and development opportunities in both nations.
New Jersey is home to more than 130,000 Ecuadorians living across the state, many of whom reside in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties. Today’s visit was President Moreno’s second meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss his administration’s mending of bilateral relations, including economic and security cooperation, after decades of tensions.
Find a copy of the resolution HERE.
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