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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on reports that the State Department is declining to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress to fight ISIS and Russian propaganda: “I am dismayed by reports that the State Department may...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on the sanctions bill signed into law by President Trump. The bill, which passed the Senate twice 98-2, also had overwhelming support in the House of Representatives. “I am relieved that H.R....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Friday after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that fell into the Sea of Japan: “Today’s North Korea ICBM test is further evidence—if further evidence is...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Thursday after the Senate passed legislation from the House to sanction Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The bill was approved 98-2. The original bill was passed by the Senate in June, also by a 98-2 vote....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Monday after bombings in Kabul, Afghanistan and Lahore, Pakistan killed scores of civilians in both countries: “I condemn the horrendous bombings today in both Kabul and Lahore and I offer my...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Saturday after the House of Representatives posted its version of sanctions legislation related to Russia, Iran and North Korea: “My preference over the last month had been for the House to take up and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Thursday after the Treasury Department announced a $2 million penalty against ExxonMobil for violations of Ukraine-related sanctions due to its business pursuits with Russia: “In 2014, U.S. sanctions...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Wednesday after the Turkey Director of Amnesty International and other human rights activists were arrested in Turkey: “I am deeply alarmed by the detention of Amnesty International’s Turkey...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the following opening remarks Monday at a Committee hearing on State Department reauthorization legislation, and reorganization planning by the Trump Administration: “This is an extremely important hearing, the review of the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Thursday after the death of Liu Xiaobo, who was serving an 11-year sentence in Chinese prison after calling for peaceful political change in that country. International health experts and politicians,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) wrote to Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon Thursday ahead of his meetings with Russian officials next week, urging him not to return the Russian compounds in Maryland and New York that were seized...

WASHINGTON – The ten Senators who represented the United States at the 21st Conference of Parties in 2015, where the world agreed to the Paris Climate Agreement, have written to President Trump today during his trip to France, urging him to reconsider and reverse his decision to withdraw the United States from the historic accord. “As...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following remarks at a hearing Thursday on the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, and also took the opportunity to raise concerns and later question the witness, Deputy Secretary of State John...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), and senators have introduced legislation to prevent the creation of a cybersecurity unit with Russia. The legislation follows the suggestion from the President that the United States should partner with President Vladimir Putin of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released a letter they sent Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, expressing concern and seeking information about actions taken in 2012 by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), authors of the Sergei Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2012 and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2016 laws, released the following statement and background information Tuesday: “Recent news reports have shone a light on the Sergei...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a senior Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a Senate resolution Tuesday welcoming Prime Minister Youssef Chahed of Tunisia on his first official visit to the United States, congratulating...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the following remarks Tuesday after Donald Trump Jr. released an email confirming that Russian government operatives wanted to meet with him about campaign-related information. Senator Cardin also commented on the Russia sanctions bill...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Monday after Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist in Bahrain, was sentenced to two years in prison: “The sentencing of Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab to two years in prison is deeply...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Sunday in response to President Trump’s series of statements about Russia: “Russia did not just meddle in our election - it engaged in a sophisticated attack equivalent to a political Pearl...