Chairman's Press
Menendez Opening Remarks at Nominations Committee Hearing
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following opening statement at this morning's hearing on the nominations of Marshall Billingslea to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, C.J. Mahoney to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State, and Carlos Trujillo to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. " I am a huge believer - spent my whole life - … Continue Reading
July 17, 2020
***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Menendez to Publish SFRC Minority Report on China and Digital Authoritarianism
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is convening a Congressional briefing on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 2:30 PM EDT to unveil a new report being published by the SFRC Democratic Staff. The report, entitled "The New Big Brother: China and Digital Authoritarianism," is the culmination of a year-long SFRC investigation commissioned by Ranking Member Menendez into China's efforts to develop, export, and institutionalize a new, authorit… Continue Reading
July 17, 2020
Menendez, Booker Statement on Escalating Violence along Armenia-Azerbaijan Border
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) issued the following statement on the recent escalation in violence along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border: "We are deeply concerned about the reports of violence along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Azerbaijan, with Turkey's support, has chosen a path of violence instead of the peaceful, negotiated process spearheaded by the OSCE Minsk Group. We urge a stop to th… Continue Reading
July 16, 2020
Menendez on Trump Administration’s Launch of Controversial Commission on Unalienable Rights’ Report
NEWARK - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, today issued the following statement following Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's launch of the Commission on Unalienable Rights' report: "Secretary Pompeo's launch of the Commission on Unalienable Rights' report represents another effort by the Trump Administration to undermine internationally-recognized human rights, further damaging the United States' reputation as a global human rights lea… Continue Reading
July 10, 2020
Menendez, Risch Statement on Turkey’s Hagia Sophia
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in reaction to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's effort to convert the Hagia Museum of Istanbul from a world-famous cultural site into a mosque: "Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey is a place of deep spiritual significance for people of diverse backgrounds from around the world. For more than three quarters of a ce… Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
Menendez Sends Letter to President Trump Ahead of His Meeting with Mexican President López Obrador
NEWARK - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today sent a letter to President Trump encouraging him to avoid grandstanding photo-ops during the upcoming White House visit of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and instead engage in a serious effort to enhance bilateral economic and security cooperation and address the shared challenges that confront the two nations. "From addressing the mishandled federal responses … Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
Menendez, Klobuchar, Wyden, and Colleagues Urge State Department to Ensure Americans Overseas Can Vote During Pandemic
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with jurisdiction over federal elections, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and colleagues urged the State Department to take action to ensure that Americans overseas can vote during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senators point out that travel and mail operations remain disrupted… Continue Reading
July 02, 2020
Menendez, Rubio, Mcgovern, Smith Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter on Chinese Government Attrocities in Xinjiang
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representatives James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Christopher Smith (R-NJ) were joined by 74 members of the Senate and the House in sending a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin regarding the ongoing atrocities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. The letter urges the administration to issue a formal determination of … Continue Reading
July 01, 2020
Menendez Unveils NDAA Amendment in Response to Kremlin Targeting of U.S. Troops
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is today introducing a new measure to impose costs on Russia for reportedly offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops and allied forces in Afghanistan. The Senator's effort would require the Trump Administration to impose asset freeze sanctions on President Vladimir Putin, his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and other senior government officials found to be involved in the bounty program… Continue Reading
July 01, 2020
Menendez, Rubio, Young, Cardin, Merkley Introduce the Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), were joined by Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in introducing the Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act. This bipartisan legislation would provide those Hong Kongers who peacefully protested Beijing's corrupt justice system, and have a well-founded fear of persecution, to be eligible for Priority 2 Refugee status. The bill is also… Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Bipartisan Group of Senators Call on Central Asian Leaders to Release Unjustly Detained Prisoners at High Risk of COVID-19
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined today by 11 of his Senate colleagues in calling on four Central Asian Presidents to release detainees imprisoned for peaceful activism who are also at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Citing high-profile cases of detained students, activists, and human rights defenders, the bipartisan letters were sent to the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Tajikistan Em… Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Menendez Opening Remarks at Committee Hearing on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, And Response
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered opening remarks at today's full committee hearing titled "COVID-19 and International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response: Additional Perspectives." "This pandemic presents one of the most complex and novel threats the United States - indeed the world - has faced in a generation," Menendez said. "And it's clear that even if we stop the spread of the disease here - which … Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Leading Senators Seek Details on Pompeo, Esper’s Awareness of Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are calling on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to detail their knowledge of and actions resulting from the U.S. intelligence community's discovery that a Russian intelligence unit offered to pay militants in Afghanistan to target U.… Continue Reading
June 26, 2020
20 Senators Press Pompeo to Extend Emergency Refugee Protections for Afghan Sikh, Hindu Communities Facing Persecution
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined by 19 of his Senate colleagues in urging the Trump Administration to grant emergency refugee protections to Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan facing persecution as religious minorities. In a bipartisan letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the senators called on the State Department to prioritize resettlement opportunities under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Progra… Continue Reading
June 25, 2020
Sen. Menendez & Reps. Deutch, Rose Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Counter Global White Supremacist Terrorism
WASHINGTON - Today, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Representatives Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Max Rose (NY-11) introduced the Countering Global White Supremacist Terrorism Act, bicameral legislation to strengthen the U.S. government's counter-terrorism efforts against transnational white supremacy and identity groups. As white identity and other far-right violent groups continue growing around the world, this new bicameral legislation… Continue Reading
June 24, 2020
Menendez Demands Answers on Trump’s Alleged “Go Ahead” for Xinjiang Concentration Camps
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is calling for the Trump Administration to immediately confirm or clarify former National Security Advisor John Bolton's claims that President Trump explicitly endorsed the Chinese governments' repressive system of surveillance and mass internment against millions of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups. The fact that the former National Security Adviso… Continue Reading
June 23, 2020
Menendez Requests Inspector General Probe into Michael Pack’s “Wednesday Night Massacre”
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today requested the State Department's Acting Inspector General Stephen Akard open a review to determine whether Michael Pack, the newly-installed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), violated a federal regulation when he fired the heads of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and dissolved the b… Continue Reading
June 23, 2020
Menendez: Bolton Book Raises New Questions about Pompeo’s Role in President’s Subversion of U.S. Foreign Policy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today is calling for a full accounting of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's role in President Trump's repeated efforts to manipulate our nation's foreign policy to further his own interests above that of our national security. The Senator's letter follows former national security adviser John Bolton's explosive claims accusing Trump of multiple "Ukraine-like transgressions" across his entire… Continue Reading
June 23, 2020
Menendez Statement on U.S.-Poland Relationship
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the U.S.-Poland relationship ahead of President Andrzej Duda's visit to the White House this week: "While I am a strong supporter of the U.S.-Poland relationship, President Andrzej Duda's visit to the White House days before Poland's presidential election is inappropriate. The U.S.-Poland relationship rests on shared values, mutual membership in democrat… Continue Reading
June 22, 2020
Leading Senate Democrats Question Legality of Trump Administration’s Withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty
WASHINGTON - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was joined by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark Warner (D-Va.) in sending a strong rebuke to the Trump Administration for the President's decision to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the Open Skies Treaty. The Senators questioned the legitim… Continue Reading
