Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martínez, is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as United States Senator from Florida and served as chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party. Previously, Martínez served as the 12th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush. Martínez is a Cuban-American and Roman Catholic. He announced he was resigning as...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth23 October 1946
CountryUnited States of America
There will have to be some hard decisions made about what programs can be cut or scaled back and how we keep a leash on other government spending while we deal with this recovery,
I look forward to your tenure as chairman, ... When you are confirmed, as I'm sure you will be, it's critically important that you be independent. I think you realize that.
Senator Martinez is not driven by polls; he is driven by the needs of the state of Florida and its 17 million constituents.
We heard clearly from the head of the American Petroleum Institute that expanding drilling in the Gulf will have no impact on the current price crisis,
Reopening Cecil Field will provide tremendous economic benefit to the community and state. More importantly, it will provide significant improvement in training for our naval aviators.
We need a new Latin American policy that is bold - different. We need to focus on building civil society, focus on the lack of infrastructure. We need look at ways to foster economic opportunity. There needs to be a more comprehensive economic vision in the region.
I will always vote on the side of freedom and our right to keep and bear arms.
Our focus needs to be on freeing dissidents and continuing to support the opposition movement within Cuba - not rewarding Castro and subsidizing and strengthening his totalitarian regime.
I have lived the American dream, and I am determined to ensure the possibility of that dream for others, ... I am here to ask you to re-elect President George W. Bush ... I believe in George Bush's idea of 'compassionate conservatism.' From the time I first heard him talk about it, I said, 'compassionate conservatism is the story of my life.'
I felt like the Lone Ranger, ... I was getting beat up pretty badly.
Getting WRDA to the Senate floor for a vote is a high priority, ... This bill is bipartisan, it's widely supported and it's an urgent need that we have to satisfy.
From time to time, the irresponsible acts of the Cuban government remind us that this is far more than about the freedom of one country, but it really is about the stability and security of the region and the national security interests of the United States.
Forty-two years ago, I came to America from communist Cuba so I might have a better way of life, a freer way of life - a more democratic way of life. I wanted to live the American Dream where if you worked hard and put your mind to the task, anything was possible.
Unless we make sure that everyone is participating in this great economic expansion and until we ensure that barriers to home ownership are torn down for everyone, until then, our job is not done.