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The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding
foreign aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
programs; funding arms sales and training for national allies; and holding confirmation hearings for high-level positions in the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
. Its sister committee in the House of Representatives is the Committee on Foreign Affairs.Renamed from Committee on International Relations by the 110th Congress in January 2007. Along with the
Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...
and
Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
committees, the Foreign Relations Committee is among the oldest in the Senate, dating to the initial creation of committees in 1816. It has played a leading role in several important
treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
and foreign policy initiatives throughout U.S. history, including the Alaska purchase, the establishment of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
, and the passage of the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
. The committee has also produced eight
U.S. presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and ...
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
,
James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
,
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
,
Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
, Warren Harding, John F. Kennedy,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, and Joe Biden—and 19 secretaries of state. Notable members have included Arthur Vandenberg,
Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign polic ...
, and William Fulbright. The Foreign Relations Committee is considered one of the most powerful and prestigious in the Senate, due to its long history, broad influence on U.S. foreign policy, jurisdiction over all diplomatic nominations, and its being the only Senate committee to deliberate and report treaties. Since 2021, the Foreign Relations Committee has been chaired by Democratic Senator
Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale (publisher), Gale Biography I ...
of
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
.


Role

In 1943, a confidential analysis of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by British scholar
Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...
for the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...
stated:


History

Between 1887 and 1907, Alabama Democrat John Tyler Morgan played a leading role on the committee. Morgan called for a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Nicaragua, enlarging the merchant marine and the Navy, and acquiring Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Cuba. He expected Latin American and Asian markets would become a new export market for Alabama's cotton, coal, iron, and timber. The canal would make trade with the Pacific much more feasible, and an enlarged military would protect that new trade. By 1905, most of his dreams had become reality, with the canal passing through Panama instead of Nicaragua. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the committee took the lead in rejecting traditional isolationism and designing a new internationalist foreign policy based on the assumption that the United Nations would be a much more effective force than the old discredited League of Nations. Of special concern was the insistence that Congress play a central role in postwar foreign policy, as opposed to its ignorance of the main decisions made during the war. Republican senator Arthur Vandenberg played the central role. In 1966, as tensions over the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
escalated, the committee set up hearings on possible relations with Communist China. Witnesses, especially academic specialists on East Asia, suggested to the American public that it was time to adopt a new policy of containment without isolation. The hearings Indicated that American public opinion toward China had moved away from hostility and toward cooperation. The hearings had a long-term impact when Richard Nixon became president, discarded containment, and began a policy of détente with China. The problem remained of how to deal simultaneously with the Chinese government on Taiwan after formal recognition was accorded to the Beijing government. The committee drafted the Taiwan Relations Act (US, 1979) which enabled the United States both to maintain friendly relations with Taiwan and to develop fresh relations with China. In response to conservative criticism that the state department lacked hardliners,
President Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
in 1981 nominated Ernest W. Lefever as Assistant Secretary of State. Lefever performed poorly at his confirmation hearings and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations rejected his nomination by vote of 4–13, prompting Lefever to withdraw his name. Elliot Abrams filled the position. Republican senator
Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe ...
, a staunch conservative, was committee chairman in the late 1990s. He pushed for reform of the UN by blocking payment of U.S. membership dues.William A. Link, ''Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism'' (2008)


Members, 117th Congress


Subcommittees


Chairmen (1816–present)


Historical committee rosters


Members, 116th Congress


Members, 115th Congress


Members, 114th Congress

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Members, 113th Congress

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See also

*
List of current United States Senate committees This is a complete list of U.S. congressional committees (standing committees and select or special committees) that are operating in the United States Senate. Senators can be a member of more than one committee. Standing committees , there are ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* Carter, Ralph G. and James Scott, eds. ''Choosing to Lead : Understanding Congressional Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs'' (Duke University Press, 2009) * Crabb, Cecil Van Meter, and Pat M. Holt. ''Invitation to struggle: Congress, the president, and foreign policy'' (CQ Press, 1992) * Dahl, Robert A. ''Congress and Foreign Policy'' (1950) * Farnsworth, David Nelson. ''The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations'' (University of Illinois Press, 1961), a topical survey of the committee's activity from 1947 to 1956. * Frye, Alton. "'Gobble'uns' and foreign policy: a review," ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'' (1964) 8#3 pp: 314–321. Historiographical review of major books * Gagnon, Frédérick. "Dynamic Men: Vandenberg, Fulbright, Helms and the Activity of the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Since 1945.
online (2013)
* Gazell, James A. "Arthur H. Vandenberg, Internationalism, and the United Nations." ''Political Science Quarterly'' (1973): 375–394
in JSTOR
* Gould, Lewis. ''The Most Exclusive Club : A History of the Modern United States Senate'' (2006) * Hewes, James E. Jr. "Henry Cabot Lodge and the League of Nations". ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' (1970) 114#4 pp: 245–255. *Hitchens, Harold L., "Influences of the Congressional Decision to Pass the Marshall Plan" ''Western Political Science Quarterly'' (1968) 21#1 pp: 51–68
in JSTOR
* Jewell, Malcolm E. ''Senatorial Politics and Foreign Policy'' (U. of Kentucky Press, 1962) * Kaplan, Lawrence S. ''The Conversion of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg: From Isolation to International Engagement'' (University Press of Kentucky, 2015) * Link, William A. ''Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism'' (2008) * McCormick, James M. "Decision making in the foreign affairs and foreign relations committees." in Randall B. Ripley and James M. Lindsay, eds.. ''Congress resurgent: foreign and defense policy on Capitol Hill'' (University of Michigan press, 1993) pp: 115-153 * Maguire, Lori. "The US Congress and the politics of Afghanistan: an analysis of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees during George W Bush's second term." ''Cambridge Review of International Affairs'' (2013) 26#2 pp: 430–452. * * Robinson, James A. ''Congress and Foreign Policy-Making'' (1962), statistical study of roll calls emphasizing the importance of the committee * Spanier, John, and Joseph Nogee, eds. ''Congress, the Presidency and American Foreign Policy'' (Elsevier, 2013) * Warburg, Gerald Felix. ''Conflict and consensus: The struggle between Congress and the president over foreign policymaking'' (HarperCollins Publishers, 1989) * Woods, Randall Bennett. ''Fulbright : A Biography'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995) * Young, Roland. ''Congressional Politics in the Second World War'' (1958), pp 168–96


Primary sources

* Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick, and Joe Alex Morris, eds. ''The private papers of Senator Vandenberg.'' (1952)


External links


U.S. Senate Committee of Foreign Relations Official WebsiteArchive

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Legislation activity and reports,
Congress.gov Congress.gov is the online database of United States Congress legislative information. Congress.gov is a joint project of the Library of Congress, the House, the Senate and the Government Publishing Office. Congress.gov was in beta in 2012, a ...
.
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Page for the Committee of Foreign Relations
{{Authority control Foreign Relations Foreign relations of the United States 1816 establishments in Washington, D.C. United States diplomacy Parliamentary committees on Foreign Affairs