United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

"Committee on Foreign Relations" redirects here. Not to be confused with Council on Foreign Relations.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Standing committee
Active United States Senate 118th Congress
History
Formed	1816
Leadership
Chair	Ben Cardin (D) Since September 27, 2023
Ranking member	Jim Risch (R) Since February 3, 2021
Structure
Seats	21 members
Political parties	Majority (11)   Democratic (11) Minority (10)   Republican (10)
Jurisdiction
Policy areas	Foreign policy, aid, diplomacy
Oversight authority	Department of State Agency for International Development
House counterpart	House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Meeting place
423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.
Website
foreign.senate.gov
Rules
Rule XXV.1.(j), Standing Rules of the Senate Rules of the Committee on Foreign Relations

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 authorizing and overseeing foreign aid programs; arms sales and training for national allies; and holding confirmation hearings for high-level positions in the Department of State. ^[1] Its sister committee in the House of Representatives is the Committee on Foreign Affairs. ^{[note 1]}

Along with the Finance and Judiciary committees, the Foreign Relations Committee is among the oldest in the Senate, dating to the initial creation of committees in 1816. ^[2] It has played a leading role in several important treaties and foreign policy initiatives throughout U.S. history, including the Alaska purchase, the establishment of the United Nations, and the passage of the Marshall Plan. ^[2] The committee has also produced eight U.S. presidents—Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, Warren Harding, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden (Buchanan and Biden serving as chairman)—and 19 secretaries of state. Notable members have included Arthur Vandenberg, Henry Cabot Lodge, 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. ^[3]

From 2021 to 2023, the Foreign Relations Committee was chaired by Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, until he stepped down as chair after facing federal corruption charges. ^[4]

Role

In 1943, a confidential analysis of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by British scholar Isaiah Berlin for the Foreign Office stated: ^[5]

The Senate of the United States ... keeps a close watch on foreign policy, not merely in theory but in practice. The two-thirds majority of the Senate needed for the ratification of all foreign treaties is only the best known of its powers, but its general control over all legislation and its power of veto over the appointment of ambassadors, and other high public officials, and the influence of its views over public opinion, give it a unique position in the determination of United States foreign policy. The organ within the Senate which moulds this policy is the Foreign Relations Committee, which has in its power to alter, delay and, under certain political circumstances, to veto almost any piece of major policy in this field.

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. ^[6]

Refusing to give the lady [Peace Treaty of Versailles] a seat—by Senators Borah, Lodge and Johnson

During World War II, 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. ^[7] Republican senator Arthur Vandenberg played the central role. ^[8]

Committee chairman Senator J. William Fulbright (left) with Senator Wayne Morse during a hearing on the Vietnam War in 1966

In 1966, as tensions over the Vietnam War 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. ^[9] 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. ^[10]

In response to conservative criticism that the state department lacked hardliners, President Ronald Reagan 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. ^[11] Elliot Abrams filled the position.

Republican senator Jesse Helms, 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. ^[12]

Bertie Bowman served as a staffer on the FRC from 1966 to 1990 and as the hearing coordinator from 2000 to 2021. ^{[13] [14]}

Members, 118th Congress

Main article: 118th United States Congress

Majority [15]	Minority [16]
Ben Cardin, Maryland, Chair (from September 25, 2023) Bob Menendez, New Jersey, Chair (until September 22, 2023) Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Chris Coons, Delaware Chris Murphy, Connecticut Tim Kaine, Virginia Jeff Merkley, Oregon Cory Booker, New Jersey Brian Schatz, Hawaii Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Tammy Duckworth, Illinois	Jim Risch, Idaho, Ranking Member Marco Rubio, Florida Mitt Romney, Utah Pete Ricketts, Nebraska Rand Paul, Kentucky Todd Young, Indiana John Barrasso, Wyoming Ted Cruz, Texas Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Tim Scott, South Carolina

Subcommittees

Subcommittees	Chair	Ranking Member
Africa and Global Health Policy	Cory Booker (D-NJ)	Tim Scott (R-SC)
East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy	Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)	Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Europe and Regional Security Cooperation	Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)	Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy	Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)	John Barrasso (R-WY)
Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism	Chris Murphy (D-CT)	Todd Young (R-IN)
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development	Ben Cardin (D-MD)	Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues	Tim Kaine (D-VA)	Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Chairmen (1816–present)

1976 publication of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the occasion of its 160th anniversary

Chairman	Party	State	Years
James Barbour	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	1816–1818
Nathaniel Macon	Democratic-Republican	North Carolina	1818–1819
James Brown	Democratic-Republican	Louisiana	1819–1820
James Barbour	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	1820–1821
Rufus King	Federalist	New York	1821–1822
James Barbour	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	1822–1825
Nathaniel Macon	Democratic-Republican	North Carolina	1825–1826
Nathan Sanford	Democratic-Republican	New York	1826–1827
Nathaniel Macon	Democratic-Republican	North Carolina	1827–1828
Littleton Tazewell	Democratic	Virginia	1828–1832
John Forsyth	Democratic	Georgia	1832–1833
William Wilkins	Democratic	Pennsylvania	1833–1834
Henry Clay	Whig	Kentucky	1834–1836
James Buchanan	Democratic	Pennsylvania	1836–1841
William C. Rives	Whig	Virginia	1841–1842
William S. Archer	Whig	Virginia	1842–1845
William Allen	Democratic	Ohio	1845–1846
Ambrose H. Sevier	Democratic	Arkansas	1846–1848
Edward A. Hannegan	Democratic	Indiana	1848–1849
Thomas Hart Benton	Democratic	Missouri	1849
William R. King	Democratic	Alabama	1849–1850
Henry S. Foote	Democratic	Mississippi	1850–1851
James M. Mason	Democratic	Virginia	1851–1861
Charles Sumner	Republican	Massachusetts	1861–1871
Simon Cameron	Republican	Pennsylvania	1871–1877
Hannibal Hamlin	Republican	Maine	1877–1879
William W. Eaton	Democratic	Connecticut	1879–1881
Ambrose Burnside	Republican	Rhode Island	1881
George F. Edmunds	Republican	Vermont	1881
William Windom	Republican	Minnesota	1881–1883
John F. Miller	Republican	California	1883–1886
John Sherman	Republican	Ohio	1886–1893
John T. Morgan	Democratic	Alabama	1893–1895
John Sherman	Republican	Ohio	1895–1897
William P. Frye	Republican	Maine	1897
Cushman Davis	Republican	Minnesota	1897–1900
Shelby M. Cullom	Republican	Illinois	1901–1911
Augustus O. Bacon	Democratic	Georgia	1913–1914
William J. Stone	Democratic	Missouri	1914–1918
Gilbert M. Hitchcock	Democratic	Nebraska	1918–1919
Henry Cabot Lodge	Republican	Massachusetts	1919–1924
William E. Borah	Republican	Idaho	1924–1933
Key Pittman	Democratic	Nevada	1933–1940
Walter F. George	Democratic	Georgia	1940–1941
Tom Connally	Democratic	Texas	1941–1947
Arthur H. Vandenberg	Republican	Michigan	1947–1949
Tom Connally	Democratic	Texas	1949–1953
Alexander Wiley	Republican	Wisconsin	1953–1955
Walter F. George	Democratic	Georgia	1955–1957
Theodore F. Green	Democratic	Rhode Island	1957–1959
J. William Fulbright	Democratic	Arkansas	1959–1975
John J. Sparkman	Democratic	Alabama	1975–1979
Frank Church	Democratic	Idaho	1979–1981
Charles H. Percy	Republican	Illinois	1981–1985
Richard Lugar	Republican	Indiana	1985–1987
Claiborne Pell	Democratic	Rhode Island	1987–1995
Jesse Helms	Republican	North Carolina	1995–2001
Joe Biden	Democratic	Delaware	2001
Jesse Helms	Republican	North Carolina	2001
Joe Biden	Democratic	Delaware	2001–2003
Richard Lugar	Republican	Indiana	2003–2007
Joe Biden	Democratic	Delaware	2007–2009
John Kerry	Democratic	Massachusetts	2009–2013
Bob Menendez	Democratic	New Jersey	2013–2015
Bob Corker	Republican	Tennessee	2015–2019
Jim Risch	Republican	Idaho	2019–2021
Bob Menendez	Democratic	New Jersey	2021–2023
Ben Cardin	Democratic	Maryland	2023–present

Historical committee rosters

117th Congress

Main article: 117th United States Congress

Majority	Minority
Bob Menendez, New Jersey, Chairman Ben Cardin, Maryland Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Chris Coons, Delaware Chris Murphy, Connecticut Tim Kaine, Virginia Ed Markey, Massachusetts Jeff Merkley, Oregon Cory Booker, New Jersey Brian Schatz, Hawaii Chris Van Hollen, Maryland	Jim Risch, Idaho, Ranking Member Marco Rubio, Florida Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Mitt Romney, Utah Rob Portman, Ohio Rand Paul, Kentucky Todd Young, Indiana Ted Cruz, Texas John Barrasso, Wyoming Mike Rounds, South Dakota Bill Hagerty, Tennessee

Subcommittees

Subcommittees	Chair	Ranking Member
Africa and Global Health Policy	Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)	Mike Rounds (R-SD)
East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy	Ed Markey (D-MA)	Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Europe and Regional Security Cooperation	Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)	Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy	Chris Coons (D-DE)	Rob Portman (R-OH)
Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism	Chris Murphy (D-CT)	Todd Young (R-IN)
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development	Ben Cardin (D-MD)	Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues	Tim Kaine (D-VA)	Marco Rubio (R-FL)

116th Congress

Main article: 116th United States Congress

Majority	Minority
Jim Risch, Idaho, Chairman Marco Rubio, Florida Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Cory Gardner, Colorado Todd Young, Indiana John Barrasso, Wyoming Rob Portman, Ohio Rand Paul, Kentucky Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Mitt Romney, Utah Ted Cruz, Texas David Perdue, Georgia	Bob Menendez, New Jersey, Ranking Member Ben Cardin, Maryland Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Chris Coons, Delaware Tom Udall, New Mexico Chris Murphy, Connecticut Tim Kaine, Virginia Ed Markey, Massachusetts Jeff Merkley, Oregon Cory Booker, New Jersey

Subcommittees	Chair	Ranking Member
Africa and Global Health Policy	Lindsey Graham (R-SC)	Tim Kaine (D-VA)
East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy	Cory Gardner (R-CO)	Ed Markey (D-MA)
Europe and Regional Security Cooperation	Ron Johnson (R-WI)	Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism	Mitt Romney (R-UT)	Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy	Todd Young (R-IN)	Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development	John Barrasso (R-WY)	Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues	Marco Rubio (R-FL)	Ben Cardin (D-MD)

115th Congress

Majority	Minority
Bob Corker, Tennessee, Chairman Jim Risch, Idaho Marco Rubio, Florida Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Jeff Flake, Arizona Cory Gardner, Colorado Todd Young, Indiana John Barrasso, Wyoming Johnny Isakson, Georgia Rob Portman, Ohio Rand Paul, Kentucky	Bob Menendez, New Jersey, Ranking Member Ben Cardin, Maryland Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Chris Coons, Delaware Tom Udall, New Mexico Chris Murphy, Connecticut Tim Kaine, Virginia Ed Markey, Massachusetts Jeff Merkley, Oregon Cory Booker, New Jersey

Subcommittees	Chair	Ranking Member
Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism	Jim Risch (R-ID)	Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues	Marco Rubio (R-FL)	Ben Cardin (D-MD) since February 6, 2018 Bob Menendez (D-NJ) until February 6, 2018
Europe and Regional Security Cooperation	Ron Johnson (R-WI)	Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Africa and Global Health Policy	Jeff Flake (R-AZ)	Cory Booker (D-NJ)
East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy	Cory Gardner (R-CO)	Ed Markey (D-MA)
Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy	Todd Young (R-IN)	Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development	Johnny Isakson (R-GA)	Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

114th Congress

Majority	Minority
Bob Corker, Tennessee Chairman Jim Risch, Idaho Marco Rubio, Florida Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Jeff Flake, Arizona Cory Gardner, Colorado David Perdue, Georgia Johnny Isakson, Georgia Rand Paul, Kentucky Rob Portman, Ohio John Barrasso, Wyoming	Ben Cardin, Maryland, Ranking Member [17] Barbara Boxer, California Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Chris Coons, Delaware Tom Udall, New Mexico Bob Menendez, New Jersey Chris Murphy, Connecticut Tim Kaine, Virginia Ed Markey, Massachusetts Jeff Merkley, Oregon

Sources: 2015  Congressional Record, Vol. 161, Page  S297 –297, 661–662

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism	Jim Risch (R-Idaho)	Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues	Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)	Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
Europe and Regional Security Cooperation	Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.)	Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Africa and Global Health Policy	Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)	Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations and Bilateral International Development	Rand Paul (R-Ky.)	Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
East Asia, The Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy	Cory Gardner (R-Colo.)	Ben Cardin (D-Md.)
International Development, Multilateral Institutions and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy	John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)	Tom Udall (D-N.M.)

113th Congress

Majority	Minority
John Kerry, Massachusetts, Chairman, until February 1, 2013 Bob Menendez, New Jersey Chairman, from February 1, 2013 Barbara Boxer, California Ben Cardin, Maryland Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Chris Coons, Delaware Bob Casey, Pennsylvania, until 2013 Dick Durbin, Illinois Tom Udall, New Mexico Chris Murphy, Connecticut Tim Kaine, Virginia Ed Markey, Massachusetts, from 2013	Bob Corker, Tennessee Ranking Member Jim Risch, Idaho Marco Rubio, Florida Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Jeff Flake, Arizona John McCain, Arizona John Barrasso, Wyoming Rand Paul, Kentucky

Sources: 2013  Congressional Record, Vol. 159, Page  S297 –297, 661–662

Officials from the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee inspecting burnt down printing press of Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna on December 7, 2013, while E. Saravanapavan, the managing director of the newspaper explaining something to him

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women's Issues	Barbara Boxer (D-CA)	Rand Paul (R-KY)
East Asian and Pacific Affairs	Ben Cardin (D-MD)	Marco Rubio (R-FL)
African Affairs	Chris Coons (D-DE)	Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Western Hemisphere and Global Narcotics Affairs	Tom Udall (D-NM)	John McCain (R-AZ)
European Affairs	Chris Murphy (D-CT)	Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs	Tim Kaine (D-VA)	Jim Risch (R-ID)
International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and International Environmental Protection, and Peace Corps	Tim Kaine (D-VA), until 2013 Ed Markey (D-MA), from 2013	John Barrasso (R-WY)

See also

• List of current United States Senate committees

Notes

1. Renamed from Committee on International Relations by the 110th Congress in January 2007.

References

1. "Committee History & Rules | United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations". www.foreign.senate.gov. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
2. "Committee History & Rules | United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations". www.foreign.senate.gov. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
3. "12.6 Committees", American Government and Politics in the Information Age, University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing edition, 2016. This edition adapted from a work originally produced in 2011 by a publisher who has requested that it not receive attribution., November 16, 2016, archived from the original on October 1, 2023, retrieved January 22, 2021
4. Bob Menendez steps down as US Senate foreign relations chairman after indictment, September 22, 2023, archived from the original on September 25, 2023, retrieved September 22, 2023
5. Hachey, Thomas E. (Winter 1973–1974). "American Profiles on Capitol Hill: A Confidential Study for the British Foreign Office in 1943" (PDF). Wisconsin Magazine of History. 57 (2): 141–153. JSTOR   4634869. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2013.
6. Joseph A. Fry, "John Tyler Morgan's Southern Expansionism," Diplomatic History (1985) 9#4 pp: 329-346.
7. Roland Young, Congressional Politics in the Second World War (1958), pp 168–96
8. James A. Gazell, "Arthur H. Vandenberg, Internationalism, and the United Nations." Political Science Quarterly (1973) pp: 375-394. in JSTOR Archived December 4, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
9. Katherine Klinefelter, "The China Hearings: America's Shifting Paradigm on China," Congress & the Presidency (2011) 38#1 pp: 60-76.
10. Jacob K. Javits, "Congress And Foreign Relations: The Taiwan Relations Act," Foreign Affairs (1981) 60#1 pp 54-62
11. Robert David Johnson (2005). Congress and the Cold War. Cambridge UO. pp. 253–54. ISBN   9781139447447.
12. William A. Link, Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism (2008)
13. Rosenwald, Michael S. (October 25, 2023). "Bertie Bowman, revered aide who got start sweeping Capitol steps, dies at 92". Washington Post. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
14. "Bowman, Bertie". Encyclopedia.com . Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
15. S.Res. 30 (118th Congress)
16. S.Res. 31 (118th Congress)
17. Sen. Menendez voluntarily stepped down as Ranking Member on 1 April 2015 after being indicted by the Justice Department. Menendez Gives Up Foreign Relations Post Archived October 1, 2023, at the Wayback Machine

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.
• Shaw, John T. (2012). Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate: Crafting Foreign Policy from Capitol Hill. Indiana UP. p. 73. ISBN   978-0253007117.
• 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 Website (Archive)
• Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.
• U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Page for the Committee of Foreign Relations