Chairman's Press
Chairman Menendez Applauds Announcement of Intent to Nominate SFRC Staff Director Jessica Lewis to Serve as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
JERSEY CITY - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement following the announcement of President Biden's intent to nominate longtime Menendez staffer and current Senate Foreign Relations Committee Staff Director Jessica Lewis to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. "First as my foreign policy advisor in the House of Representatives and now as Staff Director of the Foreign… Continue Reading
April 22, 2021
Menendez, Risch Joint Statement Ahead of Elections in Albania
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho) issued the following joint statement in the lead-up to the elections in Albania scheduled for this weekend: "As Albania prepares for national elections on April 25, we encourage the Albanian people to vote. We urge authorities to ensure that voters are able to exercise this fundamental right free from intimidation and violence. We also expect all candidates to act in accord… Continue Reading
April 22, 2021
Chairman Menendez’s Statement on President Biden Convening the Leaders’ Summit on Climate on Earth Day 2021
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on President Joe Biden convening 40 world leaders for a Summit on Climate today on Earth Day 2021: "President Biden's hosting of this week's Leaders' Summit on Climate sends a strong signal to our partners that America is back to lead on the world stage and that climate action is a priority for the United States. I fully support the new U.S. commitment to drastical… Continue Reading
April 22, 2021
Statement from Chairman Menendez on Reports that President Biden Will Officially Recognize the Armenian Genocide
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) issued the following statement in reaction to reports that President Joe Biden will officially recognize the Ottoman Empire's genocide against the Armenian people. To date, no U.S. president has made it U.S. policy to affirm the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide, which lasted from 1915 to 1923 and resulted in the forced deportation of around 2 million Armenians, 1.5 million of whom were brutally killed. … Continue Reading
April 21, 2021
Menendez, Risch on Committee Passage of Ukraine Security Partnership Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today applauded Committee passage of their Ukraine Security Partnership Act. This legislation increases and improves U.S. military support to Ukraine, and sends a message that the United States will continue to support the people of Ukraine, their ability to defend themselves, and the country's democratic transition. "I am glad that the Committee overw… Continue Reading
April 21, 2021
Menendez, Risch Statement on Committee Passage of Comprehensive, Bipartisan China Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today applauded committee passage of their bipartisan, comprehensive China legislation. Entitled the Strategic Competition Act, the legislation is an unprecedented, bipartisan effort to mobilize all United States strategic, economic, and diplomatic tools for an Indo-Pacific strategy that enables the U.S. government to compete effectively with the People… Continue Reading
April 21, 2021
Chairman Menendez Opening Remarks ahead of SFRC Consideration of the Strategic Competition Act of 2021
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following opening remarks at this morning's business meeting to consider S. 1169, the Strategic Competition Act of 2021. The legislation represents the first major proposal to bring Democrats and Republicans together in laying out a strategic approach toward Beijing - and assuring that the United States is positioned to compete with China across all dimensions of national and intern… Continue Reading
April 20, 2021
Chairman Menendez on World Food Program Agreement to Begin Operating in Venezuela
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to the United Nations World Food Program's (WFP) announcement that it will begin operating in Venezuela with the priority of serving the most vulnerable children: "I join the international community in welcoming the World Food Program's agreement to start operations in Venezuela after years of unconscionable delays and obstruction by the Maduro regime. … Continue Reading
April 19, 2021
Statement from Chairman Menendez Following Classified Committee Briefing on Afghanistan
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the Committee received a classified briefing from the Biden administration on the negotiation process and security situation in Afghanistan: "I very much appreciated the Administration's willingness to provide our Committee with unvarnished facts about the future of U.S.-Afghan policy after a war that has gone on for a very long time and at great sacrifice by… Continue Reading
April 19, 2021
Top Democrats Urge President Biden to Rollback Trump’s Dangerous Deregulation of Semiautomatic and Sniper Rifle Exports
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today was joined by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), in calling on President Joe Biden to build on his Administration's recent actions to address the gun violence public health epidemic by immediately restoring Congressional oversight over the export of semiautomatic assault-style and sniper rifles. In a new lette… Continue Reading
April 16, 2021
SFRC Chairman Menendez calls on Biden Administration to Follow Through on Promise to Resettle More Refugees
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, earlier today wrote to urge President Joe Biden to follow through on his commitment to raise the FY21 refugee ceiling from the Trump administration's 15,000 maximum - the lowest cap on refugee admissions since the refugee resettlement program's inception 40 years ago. Chairman Menendez detailed the great need for a revised Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021 giv… Continue Reading
April 16, 2021
Senators Menendez, Feinstein Introduce Secure F-35 Exports Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today introduced the Secure F-35 Exports Act of 2021, legislation to reassert Congressional oversight over the sale of sophisticated and mission-critical American military systems. The legislation comes on the heels of the Biden administration's reported decision to proceed with the sale of $23 billion in weapon sales including the F-35 aircraft to the Unit… Continue Reading
April 15, 2021
Chairman Menendez Opening Remarks at Committee Hearing on Nominations for Senior State Department Posts
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this morning's full Committee hearing on the nominations of Victoria Nuland to be Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Uzra Zeya to be Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. "At this pivotal moment for our foreign policy, for democracy, and for the State Department, I am heartened that President… Continue Reading
April 15, 2021
Menendez Remarks Ahead of SFRC Approval of Samantha Power to Serve as USAID Administrator
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this morning's Committee business meeting calling for the confirmation of the Honorable Samantha Power to serve as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Ambassador Power's nomination was approved by voice vote and now moves to the Floor for confirmation by the full Senate. "As I stated at her hearing, I … Continue Reading
April 15, 2021
Chairman Menendez Statement on Biden Administration's Sanctions Package on Russia
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the Biden administration announced it would take a series of measures to hold Russia accountable for the SolarWinds cyberattack, payment of bounties to militants for killing U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, and the 2020 election interference: "The Biden administration's tough approach towards the Kremlin is a welcome departure from four years of Donald … Continue Reading
April 15, 2021
Chairman Menendez, Colleagues Introduce Comprehensive International Climate Change Legislation
WASHINGTON - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was joined by nine of his Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing new international climate change legislation in support of President Biden's ambitious climate action agenda. Entitled the United States Climate Leadership in International Mitigation, Adaptation, and Technology Enhancement Act of 2021 (U.S. CLIMATE Act), the legislation represents the most comprehensive foreign policy focused climate change bill in… Continue Reading
April 09, 2021
Chairman Menendez Statement on Russia’s Troop Movement Towards Ukraine Border
JERSEY CITY - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement regarding Russia's massive buildup of military troops near the border with Ukraine: "I am deeply concerned by the Russian Federation's continued movement of troops to the Ukrainian border as well as its troop movements in the occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea. This aggression has coincided with a sharp increase in Ukrainian casualties along the line of contac… Continue Reading
April 08, 2021
Chairman Menendez Announces Bipartisan Comprehensive China Legislation
Jersey City, N.J. - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today announced a bipartisan agreement on a new comprehensive China legislation for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to take up in the coming days. Entitled the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, the new legislation was negotiated with Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and represents the first major proposal to bring Democrats and Republicans together in laying out a strategic approach towards … Continue Reading
April 07, 2021
Declaraciones del Senador Menéndez Sobre el Nombramiento de la Nueva Directora de la Oficina de Transmisiones a Cuba
JERSEY CITY - El Senador Bob Menéndez (DN.J.), presidente del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado, emitió el siguiente comunicado sobre el nombramiento de Sylvia Rosabal como nueva directora de la Oficina de Transmisiones a Cuba (OCB, por sus siglas en ingles), la cual supervisa a Radio y Televisión Martí: "Como miembro de la red de la Agencia de Medios Globales de los Estados Unidos (USAGM), la misión de la OCB es muy clara: Brindar al pueblo de… Continue Reading
April 07, 2021
Chairman Menendez Statement on Appointment of New Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting
JERSEY CITY - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the appointment of Sylvia Rosabal to serve as Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), overseeing Radio and Television Martí: "As a network of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), OCB's mission is crystal clear: Provide the people of Cuba with 'objective news and information programming.' I have also been clear with the Administra… Continue Reading
