Ranking Member's Press
Menendez, Risch Statement on Turkey’s Hagia Sophia
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in reaction to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's effort to convert the Hagia Museum of Istanbul from a world-famous cultural site into a mosque: "Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey is a place of deep spiritual significance for people of diverse backgrounds from around the world. For more than three quarters of a ce… Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
Menendez Sends Letter to President Trump Ahead of His Meeting with Mexican President López Obrador
NEWARK - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today sent a letter to President Trump encouraging him to avoid grandstanding photo-ops during the upcoming White House visit of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and instead engage in a serious effort to enhance bilateral economic and security cooperation and address the shared challenges that confront the two nations. "From addressing the mishandled federal responses … Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
Menendez, Klobuchar, Wyden, and Colleagues Urge State Department to Ensure Americans Overseas Can Vote During Pandemic
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with jurisdiction over federal elections, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and colleagues urged the State Department to take action to ensure that Americans overseas can vote during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senators point out that travel and mail operations remain disrupted… Continue Reading
July 02, 2020
Menendez, Rubio, Mcgovern, Smith Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter on Chinese Government Attrocities in Xinjiang
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representatives James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Christopher Smith (R-NJ) were joined by 74 members of the Senate and the House in sending a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin regarding the ongoing atrocities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. The letter urges the administration to issue a formal determination of … Continue Reading
July 01, 2020
Menendez Unveils NDAA Amendment in Response to Kremlin Targeting of U.S. Troops
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is today introducing a new measure to impose costs on Russia for reportedly offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops and allied forces in Afghanistan. The Senator's effort would require the Trump Administration to impose asset freeze sanctions on President Vladimir Putin, his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and other senior government officials found to be involved in the bounty program… Continue Reading
July 01, 2020
Menendez, Rubio, Young, Cardin, Merkley Introduce the Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), were joined by Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in introducing the Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act. This bipartisan legislation would provide those Hong Kongers who peacefully protested Beijing's corrupt justice system, and have a well-founded fear of persecution, to be eligible for Priority 2 Refugee status. The bill is also… Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Bipartisan Group of Senators Call on Central Asian Leaders to Release Unjustly Detained Prisoners at High Risk of COVID-19
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined today by 11 of his Senate colleagues in calling on four Central Asian Presidents to release detainees imprisoned for peaceful activism who are also at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Citing high-profile cases of detained students, activists, and human rights defenders, the bipartisan letters were sent to the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Tajikistan Em… Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Menendez Opening Remarks at Committee Hearing on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, And Response
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered opening remarks at today's full committee hearing titled "COVID-19 and International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response: Additional Perspectives." "This pandemic presents one of the most complex and novel threats the United States - indeed the world - has faced in a generation," Menendez said. "And it's clear that even if we stop the spread of the disease here - which … Continue Reading
June 30, 2020
Leading Senators Seek Details on Pompeo, Esper’s Awareness of Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are calling on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to detail their knowledge of and actions resulting from the U.S. intelligence community's discovery that a Russian intelligence unit offered to pay militants in Afghanistan to target U.… Continue Reading
June 26, 2020
20 Senators Press Pompeo to Extend Emergency Refugee Protections for Afghan Sikh, Hindu Communities Facing Persecution
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined by 19 of his Senate colleagues in urging the Trump Administration to grant emergency refugee protections to Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan facing persecution as religious minorities. In a bipartisan letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the senators called on the State Department to prioritize resettlement opportunities under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Progra… Continue Reading
June 25, 2020
Sen. Menendez & Reps. Deutch, Rose Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Counter Global White Supremacist Terrorism
WASHINGTON - Today, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Representatives Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Max Rose (NY-11) introduced the Countering Global White Supremacist Terrorism Act, bicameral legislation to strengthen the U.S. government's counter-terrorism efforts against transnational white supremacy and identity groups. As white identity and other far-right violent groups continue growing around the world, this new bicameral legislation… Continue Reading
June 24, 2020
Menendez Demands Answers on Trump’s Alleged “Go Ahead” for Xinjiang Concentration Camps
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is calling for the Trump Administration to immediately confirm or clarify former National Security Advisor John Bolton's claims that President Trump explicitly endorsed the Chinese governments' repressive system of surveillance and mass internment against millions of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups. The fact that the former National Security Adviso… Continue Reading
June 23, 2020
Menendez Requests Inspector General Probe into Michael Pack’s “Wednesday Night Massacre”
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today requested the State Department's Acting Inspector General Stephen Akard open a review to determine whether Michael Pack, the newly-installed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), violated a federal regulation when he fired the heads of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and dissolved the b… Continue Reading
June 23, 2020
Menendez: Bolton Book Raises New Questions about Pompeo’s Role in President’s Subversion of U.S. Foreign Policy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today is calling for a full accounting of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's role in President Trump's repeated efforts to manipulate our nation's foreign policy to further his own interests above that of our national security. The Senator's letter follows former national security adviser John Bolton's explosive claims accusing Trump of multiple "Ukraine-like transgressions" across his entire… Continue Reading
June 23, 2020
Menendez Statement on U.S.-Poland Relationship
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the U.S.-Poland relationship ahead of President Andrzej Duda's visit to the White House this week: "While I am a strong supporter of the U.S.-Poland relationship, President Andrzej Duda's visit to the White House days before Poland's presidential election is inappropriate. The U.S.-Poland relationship rests on shared values, mutual membership in democrat… Continue Reading
June 22, 2020
Leading Senate Democrats Question Legality of Trump Administration’s Withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty
WASHINGTON - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was joined by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark Warner (D-Va.) in sending a strong rebuke to the Trump Administration for the President's decision to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the Open Skies Treaty. The Senators questioned the legitim… Continue Reading
June 19, 2020
Menendez, Risch, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Reaffirming U.S.-Ecuador Partnership
WASHINGTON - Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Ted Cruz (R-Tx), in introducing a Senate Resolution reaffirming the partnership between the United States and the Republic of Ecuador. The bipartisan resolution recognizes the restoration and advancement of economic relations, security, and development opportunities in b… Continue Reading
June 19, 2020
Senators Menendez, Schumer, Cardin Issue Statement to Express Opposition to the Proposed Unilateral Annexation of Territory in the West Bank
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) today issued the following statement to express opposition to the proposed unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank: "As strong and dedicated supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship, we are compelled to express opposition to the proposed … Continue Reading
June 18, 2020
Menendez Opening Remarks at Committee Hearing on COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the opening remarks at today's committee hearing on COVID-19 and International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response. "The American people deserve to hear from members of the President's hand-picked team to understand what it is doing to address the worst pandemic the world has faced in 100 years - more than 8 million cases worldwide, and more than 115,000 Ameri… Continue Reading
June 18, 2020
Menendez Publishes SFRC Democratic Staff Report on Current Global Forced Migration Crisis
WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today unveiled a new report by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic staff on the global forced migration crisis. Published in advance of World Refugee Day on June 20, the report represents the culmination of an exhaustive SFRC investigation commissioned by Ranking Member Menendez into the latest challenges global forced migration presents to local communities, national governments, … Continue Reading
