Chairman's Press
Menendez Blasts Appointment of Marshall Billingslea as Special Envoy for Arms Control
NEWARK - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senator Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after President Trump announced he will name Marshall Billingslea as a Special Envoy for Arms Control, a new position to lead arms control negotiations with the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. The Senate-confirmed positions that would normally lead arms control negotiations, the Under-Secretary for Arms Control and International Security (T… Continue Reading
April 08, 2020
Menendez, Engel, Reed, Smith Statement on Open Skies Treaty
WASHINGTON- Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-NJ), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI), and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) today issued the following joint statement in response to reports that the Trump Administration intends to withdraw the United States from the Open Skies Treaty. "We are deeply troubled by the Trump Administration's sustai… Continue Reading
April 06, 2020
Menendez calls for U.S. Leadership at United Nations to Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to UN Ambassador Kelly Craft, urging her to take a leadership role at the UN Security Council to pass a resolution on the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Nations' Security Council has not yet held any meetings about the crisis, contrasting its current inaction with its robust response during the 2014 Ebola crisis. "Historically, American leadership has helped the global communit… Continue Reading
April 03, 2020
Menendez Helps Secure Evacuation of American Citizens Locked in Peruvian Hostel
NEWARK - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued a statement regarding a group of American citizens that were able to safely return to the United States after being trapped in a mandatory coronavirus quarantine at a hotel in Cusco, Peru. Last week, Peruvian authorities imposed a quarantine on the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco, after two guests tested positive for COVID-19. Rather than remove the COVID positive guests, local authorities… Continue Reading
April 03, 2020
Menendez & Engel Propose Policies for Addressing COVID-19 in Iran
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today proposed a series of policies addressing one key part of the global COVID-19 outbreak. The lawmakers' proposals would help ensure humanitarian assistance will be able to flow to Iranian citizens who need it most, while seeking to avoid enriching and empowering the dangerous regime. "The Ira… Continue Reading
April 01, 2020
Menendez, Gardner Urge Administration to Reinvigorate North Korea Sanctions Policy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Cory Gardner (R-CO), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, are requesting that the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of the Treasury step up enforcement of U.S. sanctions on North Korea, consistent with the bipartisan North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (NKSPEA) and the Asia… Continue Reading
March 27, 2020
Menendez Calls on State Department to Increase Support Regional and Multilateral Health Organizations amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging expanded support from the Trump Administration for regional and multilateral health organizations as the world unites to confront the COVID-19 pandemic. "At a time of great uncertainty for our nation and the world, it is therefore essential that the U.S. Government marshal an international response to more effectively combat… Continue Reading
March 26, 2020
Menendez Statement on Drug Trafficking Charges against Nicolás Maduro
NEWARK - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement regarding an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice to file narco-terrorism charges against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his top officials: "Nicolás Maduro has made no secret of his regime's brazen criminality and unchecked violence in order to maintain its white knuckle grip on Venezuela. Today's announcement by the Department … Continue Reading
March 25, 2020
Menendez Statement on Retired FBI Agent Bob Levinson
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in reaction to the news that retired FBI agent Bob Levinson is believed to have died in Iranian custody: "My heart goes out to the Levinson family tonight, who are mourning the loss of a beloved husband and father, especially his son, who works in my DC office and his daughters who are New Jersey constituents. For far too long, they fought tirelessly and v… Continue Reading
March 25, 2020
Menendez, Leahy Urge President to Use Upcoming G20 Meeting to Coordinate International Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs sent a letter to President Donald Trump today, urging him to work with world leaders at this week's emergency G20 meeting to implement a powerful international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senators asked Trump to ensure that the United States and… Continue Reading
March 22, 2020
With Tens of Thousands of Americans Still Stranded Abroad by COVID-19, Menendez Calls on Trump to Invoke Extraordinary Measures to Bring them Home
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to President Trump urging him to take all necessary steps to provide assistance to the tens of thousands of Americans stranded abroad seeking help to return home during the COVID-19 pandemic. "No American should ever have to worry that they might be abandoned abroad by our government. As we work together to confront this unprecedented pandemic, we must provide Americans over… Continue Reading
March 19, 2020
Menendez Calls on Trump Administration to Activate Program Allowing State Department to Charter Commercial Aircraft to Evacuate Stranded U.S. Citizens
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement officially calling on President Trump to immediately invoke the Civil Reserve Airfleet (CRAF) readiness program and all of the authorities contained within in order to immediately begin chartering commercial flights to evacuate stranded American citizens unable to return to the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: "As commercial airlines come … Continue Reading
March 18, 2020
SFRC Dems Raise Alarm in New Letter to Sec. Pompeo amid Surge in Reports of Americans Stranded Abroad by Coronavirus
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today led a group of nine Democratic Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in sending a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raising serious concerns about Americans struggling to return home after being stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Requesting the Secretary immediately update Congress and step up efforts to assist Americans stuck in pandemic-affected countries, t… Continue Reading
March 18, 2020
Menendez Statement on the Sixth Anniversary of Russia's Illegal Annexation of Crimea
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement on the sixth anniversary of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea: "As we mark the sixth anniversary of Russia's illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea, we are unwavering in our condemnation and outright rejection of Russia's ongoing violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. Today, as it was six years ago, Crimea remains Ukrainian territory. Period. On this… Continue Reading
March 17, 2020
Statement from Ranking Member Menendez on St. Patrick’s Day
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement marking Saint Patrick's Day: "I extend my warmest wishes to the members of the Irish American community in New Jersey and around the world and join them in celebrating St. Patrick's Day, an important opportunity every year to honor Ireland's rich cultural heritage. It also provides an opportunity to renew our attention and focus on the Good Friday Agreement (… Continue Reading
March 16, 2020
Menendez Calls on Pompeo to Answer for State Department’s Shortcomings in Response to Spread of Novel Coronavirus
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today called upon Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to immediately rectify the State Department's slow and deficient response to the coronavirus pandemic. Citing specific examples of leadership mismanagement and shortcomings around the Department's response to the outbreak, Menendez called on Secretary Pompeo to increase transparency about the impact coronavirus is having on the Department to … Continue Reading
March 16, 2020
Menendez Statement on the Departure of USAID Administrator Mark Green
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement that United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green will step down from his post next month: "Administrator Green has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people to promote thoughtful, sensible, and comprehensive policies to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives. Faced by an Administ… Continue Reading
March 12, 2020
Senate Democrats Call on EU to Sanction “Putin’s Chef” citing Concerns about Russian Meddling in 2020 Election
WASHINGTON - Leading national security senators today called for an immediate increase in joint U.S.-E.U. diplomatic and economic isolation efforts of Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and longtime Putin crony widely known as a driving force behind the Kremlin's malign influence abroad. In a letter to Ambassador of the European Union to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis, a group of five leading senators requested the European Union substantially increase pressure to deter Prigozhin ah… Continue Reading
March 11, 2020
Menendez Opening Statement at Committee Hearing on Assad's Campaign against the Syrian People
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this morning delivered opening remarks at a full committee hearing titled "Nine Years of Brutality: Assad's Campaign Against the Syrian People." Testifying at today's hearing where Syrian Military Defector known by his codename "Caesar", Omar Alshogre, Director of detainee issues for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, and Raed Al Saleh, Head of the Syria Civil Defense (White Helmets). CLIC… Continue Reading
March 10, 2020
***PHOTO RELEASE*** Leading Democrats Meet with OAS Secretary General Almagro
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Donna Shalala (Fla.-27) issued the following statement after meeting with Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro: "It was a pleasure to again welcome Secretary Almagro to the U.S. Capitol to discuss the most critical iss… Continue Reading
