Chairman's Press
Ranking Member Menendez Demands Investigation into Trump Administration’s Hold on Foreign Aid to Ukraine and Efforts to Spur Investigation of Political Opponents
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this morning sent a series of letters demanding an urgent and full investigation into the Trump Administration's efforts to block nearly $400 million in security assistance to Ukraine and whether the Administration sought to extract commitments from the Ukrainian government to take action against President Trump's political opponents-a move that would bolster the President's 2020 election prospe… Continue Reading
September 23, 2019
Menendez Outlines Enhanced Congressional Oversight Following Trump’s Pressuring of Ukraine to Interfere in the 2020 Presidential Elections
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate Floor this afternoon in response to reports that President Trump and his Acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, withheld hundreds of millions in security assistance to Ukraine until they opened an investigation intended to bolster the President's 2020 election prospects. Menendez announced a series of Congressional actions to get to the truth behind the allegations of abu… Continue Reading
September 19, 2019
Foreign Relations Committee Delays Consideration of Darrell Issa after Menendez Raises Serious Outstanding Vetting Issues
WASHINGTON - The Senate Foreign Relations committee today postponed the consideration for the nomination of Darrell Issa to be Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency after Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) outlined a series of pending vetting issues for two of the nominees testifying before the committee this morning. Today's hearing was convened over the objection of Ranking Member Menendez and all other Democrats on the Committee, breaking decades of Committee biparti… Continue Reading
September 18, 2019
Menendez Statement at Senate Hearing on U.S.-Colombia Relations
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered remarks at a subcommittee hearing titled, "U.S.-Colombia Relations: New Opportunities to Reinforce and Strengthen Our Bilateral Relationship." On Sunday, September 22, 2019, Menendez will host Colombian President Iván Duque in New Jersey for a public community forum to discuss opportunities to advance the U.S.-Colombia partnership with New Jersey's vibrant Colombian-American co… Continue Reading
September 18, 2019
Menendez, Rubio, Gardner, Durbin, Coons, Introduce Bill to Reauthorize U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Act of 2019 (USCIRF). Among other things, the bill reauthorizes USCIRF for four years and increases authorized appropriations. "Religious freedom is a fundamental human right, which U. S. foreign policy champions. The U.S. … Continue Reading
September 18, 2019
Menendez Opening Statement at Senate Hearing on Hong Kong and Indo-Pacific Region
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the start of a hearing titled, "U.S. Policy in the Indo-Pacific Region: Hong Kong, Alliances and Partnerships, and Other Issues." "Thank you for joining us today Assistant Secretary Stilwell. Almost three years into the Trump Administration it is nice to have a confirmed Assistant Secretary finally in place. I think you'll find a great deal of agreement… Continue Reading
September 14, 2019
Menendez, Romney Joint Statement on Tunisia Elections
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Chairman of the Subcommittee On Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, And Counterterrorism, issued the following statement regarding Tunisia's upcoming elections: "On September 15, for the second time since the 2011 revolution, Tunisians will participate in free and fair presidential elections. This will be followed by the October 6 parliamentary elections. Whi… Continue Reading
September 13, 2019
Menendez, Senate Democrats Call on the Trump Administration to Help Combat Devastating Fires in Brazilian Amazon
WASHINGTON - As the Brazilian Amazon continues to be ravaged by tens of thousands of fires, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today led a group of his Senate Democratic colleagues in calling on the Trump Administration to intensify U.S. support and diplomatic engagement with Brazil to better address the environmental crisis. In two separate letters, Democratic Senators outlined the urgency for the United States to do more to help combat… Continue Reading
September 12, 2019
Menendez Leads Democratic Senators in Introducing Temporary Protected Status for The Bahamas
WASHINGTON - Following reports that the Trump Administration will refuse to grant temporary protections to Bahamians affected by Hurricane Dorian, Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today was joined by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harri… Continue Reading
September 12, 2019
Menendez, Rubio Applaud Senate Passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) issued the following statement after the Senate unanimously approved their bipartisan Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (S.178). The bill was introduced to counter the totalitarian Chinese government's widespread and horrific human rights abuses in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including the mass internment of over one million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim et… Continue Reading
September 10, 2019
Sen. Menendez and Rep. Smith Formally Request CBO Analyze the Costs of Trump Admin Allowing U.S.-Russia Nuclear Treaty to Expire
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Chairman of House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), requesting that the agency analyze the consequences of President Trump allowing the 2011 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) to expire in 2021. New START is a treaty between the United States and Russia that sets limits on the size of each count… Continue Reading
September 09, 2019
**VIDEO RELEASE** Menendez on Trump’s Failed Taliban Talks: “Art of Peace & Security is Far More Difficult than Art of the Deal”
NEWARK, N.J. - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today spoke at length after President Trump called off a summit at Camp David that he had secretly scheduled to include representatives of the Taliban. In response to a reporter's question during an unrelated press conference in Newark, Menendez outlined the U.S. national security impacts of the President's high-wire approach to diplomacy and his administration's failed foreign policy agenda. … Continue Reading
August 30, 2019
Menendez Reaffirms Support for Hong-Kong’s Pro-Democracy Movement; Calls on Trump to Follow Suit
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke today with MSNBC's Hallie Jackson regarding the Chinese government's increased crackdown on Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, including the overnight arrests of multiple leaders organizing another round of rallies that had been planned for Saturday. "The President once again has not stood up for democracy and human rights," said Menendez. "That [effort] has become almost eliminat… Continue Reading
August 29, 2019
Menendez Demands that the Trump Administration Release Security Assistance Funding for Ukraine
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to reports that the Trump Administration is willfully delaying the disbursal of $250 million in military assistance to Ukraine. "For the past several years, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have come together in sending a clear and unambiguous message to the world of our rock solid support for the people of Ukraine. Through the Congressional power… Continue Reading
August 28, 2019
Menendez, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration End Remain in Mexico Policy
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led a group of 23 of his Democratic Senate colleagues in calling on the Trump administration to stop restricting access to the U.S. asylum system by ending its Remain in Mexico policy. The deceptively named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy blocks legal asylum seekers from being in the U.S. while they await court hearings in their cases, forcing them to wait in dangerous cities in Mexico… Continue Reading
August 27, 2019
Menendez, Schumer, Reed, and Warner to President Trump: President Vladimir Putin and Russian Federation Must Not Be Readmitted to G7
WASHINGTON - Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Committee on Armed Services Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), today sent a letter to President Donald Trump expressing strong opposition to the readmission of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation to the Group of 7 (G7), after President Trump indicated that he ma… Continue Reading
August 15, 2019
Menendez Statement on OIG Report into Political Retaliation at State Department
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement today on the newly released report by the State Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) into politically-motivated retaliation against career Department employees within the Bureau of International Organization Affairs: "Today, the OIG substantiated many of the concerns State Department employees have raised with the Committee since day one of the Trump pr… Continue Reading
August 07, 2019
Menendez, Engel Statement on Status of Jammu and Kashmir
WASHINGTON-In response to the steps India has taken to revise the status of Jammu and Kashmir, Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today issued the following statement: "As the world's largest democracy, India has an opportunity to demonstrate for all its citizens the importance of protecting and promoting equal rights, including freedom of assembly, access to informa… Continue Reading
August 01, 2019
Menendez Raises Alarm over Trump Admin’s Failure to Adequately Respond to Ebola Outbreak Crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today marked the one year anniversary of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by calling on the Senate to immediately take up and pass his bipartisan Ebola Eradication Act of 2019. Overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in June, the proposal would direct the Trump Administration to drop its delay, and use all available tools and resourc… Continue Reading
August 01, 2019
Menendez, Rubio, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Commending the Inter-American Foundation on its 50th Anniversary
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 Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in introducing a bipartisan Senate resolution commending the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) on its 50th anniversary. The resolution applauds the IAF for its significant accomplishments and contributions … Continue Reading
