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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today applauded committee passage of S. 3666, legislation to mitigate risks related to El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, and S. 816, legislation to recalibrate the State Department’s risk tolerance abroad.  On the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) in introducing legislation to reauthorize the independent, bipartisan United States Commission on...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement ahead of President Biden’s trip to Brussels for a NATO summit:“President Biden should not arrive at Brussels empty-handed. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a defining moment for NATO, underscoring the precise...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement regarding the administration’s efforts to rejoin JCPOA:“The Biden Administration has continued its pursuit of a deal with Iran despite objections from our Middle East partners and legitimate oversight...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement after the Biden Administration formally declared the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya Muslim population:“Today,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, today introduced the Somaliland Partnership Act to require the Department of State to report to Congress on...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) today in calling on President Biden to ban Russian companies from the United States financial system to...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined his Republican colleagues in a press conference to discuss Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine and President Zelenskyy’s address to Congress. Watch Senator Risch’s full opening remarks on YouTube...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress in a joint session this morning:“President Zelenskyy is a courageous leader, who is truly grateful for what the United States has...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on the elimination of press freedom in Russia following Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.“Freedom of the press is a foundational pillar of democracy, and as...

WASHINGTON – Top Senate and House Republicans today urged Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make quick and decisive use of emergency funds provided by Congress to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the unwarranted and unprovoked Russian invasion. Last week, Congress passed H.R. 2471, which...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement in recognition of the eleventh anniversary of the Syrian uprising:“Eleven years ago, protesters across Syria took to the streets in a courageous call for democratic...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee hearing entitled, Combatting Authoritarianism: U.S. Tools and Responses . The witnesses for panel one included: The Honorable Uzra Zeya, under secretary for civilian security,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement ahead of tomorrow’s 11th anniversary of the Syrian conflict:“Today marks 11 years since the start of the conflict in Syria. Since 2011, dictator Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, has overseen a...

WASHINGTON – Forty-nine Republican Senators today told the Biden Administration they will not support the revived Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, which, according to public reports, will weaken sanctions and lessen restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.“According to press reports, the Biden Administration may soon conclude an...

BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined Bret Baier on Fox News Sunday to discuss the administration’s efforts to rejoin JCPOA and U.S. efforts to support the Ukrainian people in defending themselves against Russia. To watch the full interview on YouTube, click here...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.) announced their Israel Relations Normalization Act was included in the FY2022 bipartisan funding agreement, which passed the Senate by a vote of...

BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today published an op-ed in The Hill reflecting on the second anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic and advocating for his International Pandemic Preparedness and COVID-19 Response Act,...

In a letter to President Biden, 42 Republican senators write, “…we strongly disagree with the Defense Department's decision to delay and deny Poland the option to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine.”  WASHINGTON – Following the Defense Department’s decision to reject Poland’s plans to provide MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, U.S. Senator Jim...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee hearing entitled: Examining U.S. Security Cooperation and Assistance . The committee heard witness testimony from, The Honorable Jessica Lewis, assistant secretary of State for...