RoseAnne Salanitri (Committee to
Recall Robert Menendez from the
Office of US Senator; used by
permission)

No State has yet recalled a United States Senator mid-term. But a committee of concerned Sussex County citizens thinks that Robert Menendez (D-NJ) should be first, because, they say, he has violated his oath to support and defend the Constitution.

RoseAnne Salanitri, chairwoman of the Committee to Recall Robert Menendez from the Office of United States Senator, describes herself (literally on her blog profile) as an "average citizen." When she agreed to talk to this Examiner by telephone this afternoon, she did not pretend to be anything else--an average citizen defending the Constitution.

Robert Menendez (official photo)

Senator Menendez, she says, has repeatedly voted for legislation, especially the healthcare-reform measure that passed the Senate and the House in different forms, that is deleterious to the country and to the essential liberties of "average citizens" like herself. And, which is more important, it is unconstitutional--and by voting for legislation that he knows, or ought to know, is unconstitutional, he has broken his oath of office. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) has, she admits, done the same--but Lautenberg is older, and "will probably not be serving for much longer anyway." (Menendez occupies Lautenberg's former seat. Lautenberg retired in 2000, only to seek election in 2002 after Robert G. Torricelli had to bow out of the election in disgrace.)

Salanitri refers all legal questions to the recall committee's attorneys, Daniel Silberstein and Richard T. Luzzi. She is fully aware that her campaign faces a number of obstacles, but is determined to press ahead. "If I did not feel that we could gather the signatures we need in plenty of time, I would not be continuing this effort," she said. Citing the "incredible motivation" of other "average citizens" like herself who have asked how they may assist, she is confident that she can easily have the required signatures even by summer's end, if she can start in late February or early March. (The appeals judge might "start the calendar" on the date of his order, in which case the 320-day limit would run well past this November and a special election might then be a reasonable thing to ask for. She has not asked for such a special election yet.)

Richard T. Luzzi (Independence Caucus)

Asked why she did not simply start gathering petition signatures anyway, as Ruben Leblanc did in his effort to recall Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Salanitri said that she would not want to gather signatures, only to have to re-gather them because the form and content of the petition was incorrect. Salanitri and Leblanc have been in contact with one another, and today Salanitri spoke of a national coalition aimed at recalling other Senators who have similarly violated their oaths--though Salanitri declined to name any other Senators who might now face recall.

This article is part of the Robert Menendez series.

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