Chairman's Press
Menendez Statement on Iran Tensions
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following remarks addressing the Trump Administration's latest actions on Iraq and Iran during his opening statement at a committee hearing exploring the future of arms control: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I turn to the topic of the hearing, I must address the Trump Administration's latest actions on Iraq and Iran. This morning, I woke up to the news that the Administration … Continue Reading
May 13, 2019
Menendez Cautions Pompeo: Putin Meeting Cannot Mean ‘Business as Usual’ with Russia after Mueller Report
WASHINGTON - With U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Russian Federation tomorrow, Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter urging the Secretary to increase pressure on Moscow for its continued brazen aggression against the United States and other democracies around the world. "For the sake of our national security, I implore the adminis… Continue Reading
May 13, 2019
Menendez, Warner Urge Trump Admin Not to Cede Leadership in Developing Global Rules for Artificial Intelligence
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling attention to China's efforts to be the leading country driving the development of standards and norms related to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Senators urged the Secretary to strengthen the Trump Administration's diplomatic efforts around e… Continue Reading
May 10, 2019
Menendez, Risch, Rubio, Shaheen, Express Concern for Democratic Erosion in Hungary, Ask Trump to Raise Issues with Orban
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 Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), senior members of the committee, today sent a letter to President Trump to express their concern over Hungary's downward democratic trajectory and the implications for U.S. interests in Central Europe. President Trump is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungar… Continue Reading
May 08, 2019
Menendez Opening Remarks at Hearing on USAID Budget Request
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following remarks at a hearing examining the Trump Administration's proposed FY 2020 budget for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which featured testimony from USAID Administrator Mark Green: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Administrator Green, for your service and for appearing before the Committee this morning. Immense chal… Continue Reading
May 07, 2019
Menendez: The Case isn’t ‘Closed’ on Russian Meddling, Need for Legislative Action is Now
WASHINGTON - Following Senate Majority Leader McConnell's declaration this morning of "case closed" and that it's time to "move on" from the Russia probe, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate Floor refuting Sen. McConnell, detailing the case against Putin, and outlining immediate actions the Senate must take to increase economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Russia for its election interference and malign activ… Continue Reading
May 07, 2019
Menendez Introduces Legislation Boosting U.S. Efforts to Combat Ebola Outbreak in the DRC
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today introduced new legislation to boost U.S. efforts to combat the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has now claimed more than 1000 lives. The Ebola Eradication Act of 2019 specifically authorizes USAID to provide assistance aimed at improving access to communities affected by Ebola notwithstanding any other provision of law. The latest Ebola outbreak has ra… Continue Reading
May 07, 2019
Ahead of G7 Tech Meeting, Menendez, Schumer, Brown, Warner, Wyden Call on Sec. Pompeo to Promote U.S. Leadership in 5G Development
WASHINGTON - A group of leading national security senators today sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to use an upcoming meeting of the G7 to forge a partnership of like-minded allies to compete with China in the development of fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology. Signed by Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Co… Continue Reading
May 03, 2019
Menendez & Engel Call for Answers on Payment to North Korea for Otto Warmbier Release
WASHINGTON- Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs today called for answers from the Trump Administration regarding reports that the U.S. government committed to paying $2 million to North Korea to secure the release of Otto Warmbier. In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, they wrote, "While we of course share a belief that every effort should be made to secure … Continue Reading
May 02, 2019
Senators Menendez, Risch, Markey, and Gardner Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Calling for a Stronger U.S.-Japan Alliance
WASHINGTON - Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were joined today by Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) in introducing a Senate resolution reaffirming the importance of a close partnership between the United States and Japan. In recognition of the coronation of the new Emperor and the beginning of a new era in Japan, the resolution marks seventy years of the U.S.-Japanese alliance, an… Continue Reading
May 01, 2019
Menendez Commemorates World Press Freedom Day with Statement for Senate Record and Bipartisan Resolution
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today submitted the below statement for the Senate record in observance of World Press Freedom Day. Menendez was also joined by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in leading a group of their Senate colleagues to introduce a bipartisan Resolution recognizing the sacrifices that journalists around the world have borne in pursuit of truth and accountability. A copy of Senator Menendez's statement can be… Continue Reading
May 01, 2019
Menendez Introduces Bill to Address Past and Future Discrimination against LGBTI Diplomats
WASHINGTON - Forty-six years after President Eisenhower signed an executive order that set the Lavender Scare in motion in April 1953, Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, last night introduced the Lavender Offense Victim Exoneration Act, or LOVE Act, to recognize the shameful purge of at least 1,000 LGBTI people from the State Department during the 1950s and 1960s; and to protect today's State Department employees from discrimination on the ba… Continue Reading
May 01, 2019
Menendez Opening Statement at Hearing on the Humanitarian Impact of the War in Syria
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following remarks at a hearing entitled, "the Humanitarian Impact of Eight Years of War in Syria," with testimony by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller and International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me first join you in honoring the memory of the late Senator Dick Lugar. I was privileged to join the committee while he was chai… Continue Reading
April 26, 2019
Menendez on Pres. Trump Telling NRA he is Cancelling U.S. Participation in Global Arms Treaty
NEWARK - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after President Trump announced at the National Rifle Association convention he will cancel the United States' status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), a 2014 multilateral arms treaty to regulate international trade of conventional arms. "This is yet another myopic decision that jeopardizes U.S. security based on false premises and fearmongering. Th… Continue Reading
April 26, 2019
Menendez Questions Sec. Pompeo about State Department’s Apparent Decision to Cut Contact with UN Human Rights Experts
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanding answers to allegations that the United States has ceased cooperation with the United Nation's top human rights experts, known as Special Rapporteurs. According to publically available data, the Trump Administration has not responded to any requests for UN Special Rapporteurs to make official visits to the United States in the last t… Continue Reading
April 24, 2019
Menendez on 104th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
NEWARK - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement in observance of the 104th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. "Every April, we come together in solidarity with the Armenian people to remember the 1.5 million victims that perished in the Armenian genocide. This year marks the 104th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire's systematic campaign to exterminate the Armenian population through killings, starvati… Continue Reading
April 22, 2019
In Athens, Senator Menendez Lays out Strategy for Security and Energy Partnership in the Eastern Mediterranean
ATHENS, GREECE - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the 15th Manuel Chrysoloras keynote speech on security cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean. At a speech hosted by the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), Menendez spoke about the geostrategic opportunities for the region and laid out a strategy to promote peace and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Menendez is currently traveling through the region prom… Continue Reading
April 17, 2019
Menendez Statement on Announcement to Let Cuban Americans File Suit over Property Confiscated by Cuban Regime
NICOSIA, CYPRUS - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-.N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in reaction to an announcement by the Trump Administration that the United States will implement Title III of the LIBERTAD Act. In Section 302 of the law, Congress provided U.S. citizens with verified claims for confiscated properties by the Cuban regime with the ability to pursue litigation in U.S. courts against companies that are conducting business i… Continue Reading
April 12, 2019
Senado Aprueba Resolución Bipartidista Liderada por Menéndez, Durbin y Cruz Apoyando Principios Democráticos en Bolivia
WASHINGTON - El senador Bob Menéndez (D-N.J.), miembro de más alto rango del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado, junto con los senadores Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) y Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) anunciaron que el Senado de los Estados Unidos aprobó por unanimidad su resolución bipartidista en apoyo a los principios y estándares democráticos en Bolivia y en toda América Latina. La resolución reconoce las importantes transiciones a la democraci… Continue Reading
April 12, 2019
Senate Passes Menendez, Cruz, Durbin Resolution Supporting Democratic Principles in Bolivia
WASHINGTON - Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) applauded the Senate for unanimously approving their bipartisan resolution supporting democratic principles and standards in Bolivia and throughout Latin America. The resolution recognizes the importance of peaceful, democratic transfers of power through elections that have taken place in the majority of Latin American countries, and calls on Lati… Continue Reading
