CHERRY HILL -- Mike Murphy, Chairman of the Rob Andrews for U.S. Senate campaign today issued the following statement:

“It’s Day 20 and counting and yet Senator Lautenberg and his handlers still haven’t agreed to even one debate with Congressman Rob Andrews. Twenty days ago, Rob Andrews issued his challenge to debate the incumbent Senator, while calling on seven news organizations to sponsor such events. Senator Lautenberg’s response has been all over the map.

• "Sure we'll debate at some point" (perhaps after primary day)
• "We need to agree on the ground rules first." (Andrews says fine, whatever, name the time and place)
• "Maybe if the public is lucky they'll be able to see a debate on TV at some point."

To date, Congressman Andrews has accepted ten debates from the following organizations:

Forum: Associated Press
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: The Bergen Record
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: NJ 101.5 FM
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: NJN News
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: Philadelphia Inquirer/NBC 10
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: Press of Atlantic City
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: Telemundo
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: WWOR-TV
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: 1210 AM
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Forum: Fairleigh Dickinson University
Frank Lautenberg: ?
Rob Andrews: Accepted

Senator Lautenberg and his handlers are ducking, bobbing and weaving… doing everything they can to avoid a face-to-face discussion of the issues that matter most to New Jersey’s families… But why? Senator Lautenberg says he’s up to the job for another six year term but for whatever reason he avoids any joint public appearances with Congressman Andrews and has been in hiding, safely inside the Beltway. This is simply unacceptable.

Sen. Lautenberg couldn't be any more invisible if he were in the Witness Protection Program.

Effective today we are encouraging all New Jersey Democrats to call and email us if they find Senator Lautenberg and tell us what his latest excuse is on why he won’t debate Congressman Andrews. They can call our hotline at (856) 858-9810 or email us at FindFrank@RobAndrewsforChange.com.

While the Republican Senate contenders have been publicly debating it’s disconcerting that New Jersey’s Democratic primary voters are not being afforded the same opportunity to hear directly from Democratic candidates, together, on the same stage.

This is hardly the only inconsistency with Senator Lautenberg… he won’t reveal his complete federal and state income tax returns for the past 8 years. Congressman Andrews has. He’s completely flip-flopped on the Iraq War issue – one minute saying proudly on the Fox News Channel how he’s on the Bush War Train (“I’m on the President’s train on this one,” he said) and the next shamelessly disavowing the many Democrats who also supported the war resolution.

And if Sen. Lautenberg has a plan to withdraw our troops, he's been keeping it to himself. Perhaps it's akin to Richard Nixon's "Secret Plan" to end the Vietnam War. That war did end - five years and tens of thousands of additional American deaths later.

It's time for Senator Lautenberg to come out of hiding and face the music. He owes as much to Democratic primary voters in New Jersey. We're still counting."