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Press

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Wednesday after the deadly attack on an International Committee of the Red Cross convoy in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan, by suspected ISIL fighters:  “I am deeply concerned about the attack and...

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of Senators today introduced legislation, The Russia Sanctions Review Act of 2017, which provides for congressional oversight of any decision to provide sanctions relief to the Government of the Russian Federation.  “Russia has done nothing to be rewarded with sanctions relief,” said Senator...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced a bipartisan resolution reaffirming the Senate’s commitment to the enduring American-Australian alliance. The resolution reaffirms the strong alliance relationship between Australia and the United...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Sunday after Fox News aired an interview between President Trump and host Bill O’Reilly:  “Tonight, President Trump made clear he does not believe in America's exceptionalism when he equated...

WASHINGTON — The Ranking Members of the Senate Intelligence, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Judiciary and Appropriations Committees have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo expressing alarm at reports that Administration is reportedly considering an Executive Order that would revoke the bans on...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Friday after the Trump Administration announced it was enforcing existing sanctions against Iran following its ballistic missile test: “Yesterday I sent a bipartisan letter with 21 other Senators to...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Friday after the Senate voted to repeal the Securities and Exchange Commission rule implementing Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The House repealed the rule...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Thursday after Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was hospitalized in a possible poisoning attack: “I was alarmed to see reports that Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led 20 of their bipartisan colleagues today in a letter to President Trump after reports that Iran conducted a ballistic missile test late last week. Joining Senators Cardin and Corker on the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), U.S. Representative Chris Stewart (R-UT), and U.S. Representative Grace Meng (D-NY), announced today that they would be introducing a bi-partisan and bi-cameral bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by U.S. Congress, to the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the following opening remarks at Tuesday’s hearing, “Confronting the North Korea Threat: Reassessing Policy Options”: “It is clear that North Korea, according to the Statement of their leader, is in the...

WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved subcommittee membership, jurisdiction, rules and the budget for the committee in the 115th Congress. The subcommittee assignments are listed below and available online here. The committee’s jurisdiction and rules are available here. Subcommittee on Near East, South...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Monday after U Ko Ni was assassinated in Myanmar: “I would like to express my deep condolences to the people of Myanmar over the assassination of U Ko Ni, a prominent lawyer and leader of...

WASHINGTON – Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Monday in response to the mass shooting at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada. “In the aftermath of this horrific attack, I send my deepest condolences to the victims and their...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Saturday after two Iraqis with valid visas were denied entry into the United States yesterday after having served our military in Iraq. As of this release, at least one of the detainees had been released on...

WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, released the following statement observing International Holocaust Remembrance...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Friday after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States: “President Trump’s cruel executive order on refugees undermines our core...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Thursday after Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled his trip to the United States amid President Trump’s provocations regarding border security: “Less than one week after taking...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Tuesday: “At the confirmation hearings of Rex Tillerson and Nikki Haley, it caught my attention when neither of them would say the phrase ‘LGBT’. I’ve now heard from constituents and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement Tuesday regarding his vote on the nomination of Gov. Nikki Haley to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: “What Governor Haley lacks in foreign policy and international affairs experience,...