Chairman's Press
Menendez Secures Major Foreign Policy Priorities in Congressional Deal to Keep Government Open
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement applauding Senate and House appropriators after they announced a bipartisan deal on federal government spending. Comprised of 12 separate appropriations bills, the legislation includes key priorities championed by Menendez: legislation to reshape U.S. strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean; the largest assistance package to date in response to the Venezuelan crisis;… Continue Reading
December 16, 2019
Senators Menendez, Young, Van Hollen Request Intelligence Review on Not Extending Nuclear Arms Treaty with Russia
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined by Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in requesting Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire formally conduct a National Intelligence Estimate on how Russia and China will react if the United States allows the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) to expire in February 2021. Since it entered into force in 2011, New START has significant… Continue Reading
December 13, 2019
Menendez to Block Trump Admin from Exporting U.S. Firearms with less Oversight and Accountability
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today announced he will again block the Trump Administration from drastically weakening firearms export regulations, stopping an imminent change to strip oversight authority of U.S. firearm sales abroad from the State Department's Munitions List (USML). This is the second time Senator Menendez will prevent the transfer to the Commerce Department's less-strict export system over concerns th… Continue Reading
December 13, 2019
U.S. Senators Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Calling for the Immediate Release of Leading Cuban Democracy Activist José Daniel Ferrer
WASHINGTON - Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, were joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in introducing a bipartisan Senate resolution calling for the immediate release of Cuban democracy and human rights activist José Daniel Ferrer and oth… Continue Reading
December 12, 2019
SFRC Democrats Introduce Legislation Honoring U.S. Diplomats and Development Professionals
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today led his Democratic colleagues on the Committee in introducing legislation to honor the career employees of the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Senators' resolution expresses the nation's gratitude for the service of American diplomats and development professionals, several of whom have recently put their careers on the line to testify before Cong… Continue Reading
December 12, 2019
Senate Passes Menendez Resolution Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
WASHINGTON - Today the Senate passed legislation by Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide on behalf of the U.S. government. After three previous attempts in recent weeks, Menendez obtained the Unanimous Consent of his Senate colleagues to pass his Senate Resolution affirming the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, and honoring the memories of its 1,500,000 v… Continue Reading
December 11, 2019
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves Comprehensive Syria-Turkey Legislation
WASHINGTON - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted to approve the Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act (S.2641). The comprehensive legislation, authored by Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho), is a direct congressional response to Turkey's military incursion into northeast Syria and attack on the Kurds, as well as their purchase of the Russian S-400 defense system. "We find ourselves at an inflection point… Continue Reading
December 11, 2019
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves Resolution Supporting the Republic of Korea
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved his bipartisan resolution expressing the importance of the United States alliance with the Republic of Korea and the contributions of Korean Americans in the United States. "This Resolution sends an important message about the centrality of our alliance with the Republic of Korea at a critical time … Continue Reading
December 10, 2019
Menendez, Risch, Gardner, Coons Mark Anniversary of the Chinese Government's Unlawful Detention of Canadian Citizens, Call for Their Immediate Release
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, and Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today recognized the anniversary of the Chinese government's detention of Canadian citizens Michal Kovrig and Michael Spavor in retaliation for Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd. Chief Fina… Continue Reading
December 09, 2019
Following Reports of Pompeo Courting GOP Donors, Menendez Reiterates Need for Hatch Act Review
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) renewing his request for a formal probe into whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has violated the Hatch Act, a federal law prohibiting federal officials from engaging in partisan political activity. The Senator's request follows new reports about Secretary Pompeo's private meetings with Republican donors during an official State Depart… Continue Reading
December 07, 2019
Menendez Statement on Iran’s Release of Princeton Student Xiyue Wang
NEWARK - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after Princeton University graduate student Xiyue Wang was released from Iran. A doctoral student at Princeton University in New Jersey, Wang was convicted of bogus espionage charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. "I sincerely welcome the news of Princeton University student Xiyue Wang's release from Iran and wish him and his family a heartfelt reunion th… Continue Reading
December 06, 2019
***VIDEO RELEASE*** Menendez, Sowore Family Call for Immediate Release of NJ Journalist being Detained in Nigeria
NEWARK, N.J. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today stood with the family of Omoyele Sowore, a prominent Nigerian-American journalist and activist and a New Jersey resident who was arbitrarily re-arrested yesterday by Nigerian authorities hours after the Senator helped secure his release. "We are here to call upon the government of Nigeria to immediately release Mr. Sowore. New Jersey is watching. The United States is watching. The… Continue Reading
December 06, 2019
Menendez Condemns Harassment and Re-arrest of NJ Journalist in Nigeria
NEWARK - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after Omoyele Sowore, a prominent Nigerian-American journalist and activist, was arbitrarily re-arrested yesterday by Nigerian authorities. Sowore, a New Jersey resident, was first arrested in August and despite two court orders for his release, Nigerian security services refused to release him until yesterday. Hours later he was re-arrested. Senator Menendez has been… Continue Reading
December 05, 2019
Senators Menendez and Rubio Introduce Reauthorization of the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, last night introduced the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Extension Act of 2019. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes 2014 law that imposed mandatory targeted sanctions on Maduro regime officials involved in serious human rights violations and t… Continue Reading
December 04, 2019
Senate Republican Again Blocks Menendez Legislation Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made a Unanimous Consent request today for the Senate to pass his legislation formally recognizing the Armenian genocide on behalf of the U.S. government. For the third time in less than a month, a Republican senator objected to the request, blocking the Senate from passing the Resolution recognizing the Ottoman Empire's killing of 1,500,000 Armenians as a genocide, and memorializing its victims… Continue Reading
December 04, 2019
Menendez Opening Statement at Hearing on the Millennium Challenge Corporation
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following opening remarks at a hearing titled: "Oversight Of The Millennium Challenge Corporation." Testifying before the committee was Sean Cairncross, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. CLICK TO WATCH Senator Menendez's full remarks as delivered can be found below: "Thank you for holding today's Millennium Challenge Corporation oversight hea… Continue Reading
December 04, 2019
Menendez, Rubio Applaud House Passage of Senate Uyghur Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statements after the House of Representatives last night approved an amended version of their bipartisan Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (S.178). The bill is an important step in countering the totalitarian Chinese government's widespread and horrific human rights abuses in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including the mass internment of more t… Continue Reading
December 03, 2019
Menendez Confronts Senior State Dept. Officials: Did Ukraine or Russia Intervene in the 2016 U.S. Elections?
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned a senior Trump Administration official about interference in the 2016 presidential election. In response to Menendez, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale confirmed that it was Russia that interfered in the election-not Ukraine, as President Trump has frequently, and falsely, claimed. Quoting Fiona Hill's testimony during the House Intelligence Committee's impeach… Continue Reading
December 03, 2019
Menendez Opening Statement on the Future of U.S. Policy Towards Russia
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following opening remarks at a full committee hearing titled: "The Future of U.S. Policy Towards Russia." Testifying before the committee were David Hale, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and Christopher A. Ford, Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation. "I am under no illusion that President Trump shares my views on these five ele… Continue Reading
November 27, 2019
Menendez, Rubio, Cardin, Risch Applaud Signing of Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into Law
NEWARK - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statements after President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (S.1838) into law. The Senate unanimously passed the bill on Nov. 19, with the House following on Nov. 20 by a vote of 417 to 1, sending the bill directly to the president… Continue Reading
