United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing (but not administering) and funding foreign aid programs as well as funding, arms sales and training for national allies. The committee has considered, debated, and reported important treaties and legislation, ranging from the purchase of Alaska in 1867 to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. It also holds jurisdiction over all diplomatic nominations. (Committee on Foreign Relations 2003) Along with the Finance and Judiciary committees, the Foreign Relations Committee is one of the oldest in the Senate, going back to the initial creation of committees in 1816. Its "sister" committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is the Committee on International Relations.

Members, 109th Congress

The Committee is currently chaired by Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. The ranking Democrat is Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.

Republicans

	Name	State	Richard Lugar, Chairman	Indiana
Chuck Hagel	Nebraska
Lincoln Chafee	Rhode Island
George Allen	Virginia
Norm Coleman	Minnesota
George Voinovich	Ohio
Lamar Alexander	Tennessee
John E. Sununu	New Hampshire
Lisa Murkowski	Alaska
Mel Martinez	Florida

Democrats

	Name	State	Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Ranking Minority Member	Delaware
Paul Sarbanes	Maryland
Christopher Dodd	Connecticut
John Kerry	Massachusetts
Russ Feingold	Wisconsin
Barbara Boxer	California
Bill Nelson	Florida
Barack Obama	Illinois

Subcommittees

Chairmen of the Committee on Foreign Relations, 1816-present

James Barbour (R-Va.) 1816-1818
Nathaniel Macon (R-N.C.) 1818-1819
James Brown (R-La.) 1819-1820
James Barbour (R-Va.) 1820-1821
Rufus King (F-N.Y.) 1821-1822
James Barbour (R-Va.) 1822-1825
Nathaniel Macon (D-N.C.) 1825-1826
Nathan Sanford (NR-N.Y.) 1826-1827
Nathaniel Macon (D-N.C.) 1827-1828
Littleton W. Tazewell (D-Va.) 1828-1832
John Forsyth (D-Ga.) 1832-1833
William Wilkins (D-Pa.) 1833-1834
Henry Clay (W-Ky.) 1834-1836
James Buchanan (D-Pa.) 1836-1841
William C. Rives (W-Va.) 1841-1842
William S. Archer (W-Va.) 1842-1845
William Allen (D-Ohio) 1845-1846
Ambrose H. Sevier (D-Ark.) 1846-1848
Edward A. Hannegan (D-Ind.) 1848-1849
Thomas Hart Benton (D-Mo.) 1849
William R. King (D-Ala.) 1849-1850
Henry S. Foote (D-Miss.) 1850-1851
James M. Mason (D-Va.) 1851-1861
Charles Sumner (R-Mass.) 1861-1871
Simon Cameron (R-Pa.) 1871-1877
Hannibal Hamlin (R-Maine) 1877-1879
William W. Eaton (D-Conn.) 1879-1881
Ambrose E. Burnside (R-R.I.) 1881
George F. Edmunds (R-Vt.) 1881
William Windom (R-Minn.) 1881-1883
John F. Miller (R-Calif.) 1883-1886
John Sherman (R-Ohio) 1886-1893
John T. Morgan (D-Ala.) 1893-1895
John Sherman (R-Ohio) 1895-1897
William P. Frye (R-Maine) 1897
Cushman K. Davis (R-Minn.) 1897-1901
Shelby M. Cullom (R-Ill.) 1901-1911
Augustus O. Bacon (D-Ga.) 1913-1914
William J. Stone (D-Mo.) 1914-1918
Gilbert M. Hitchcock (D-Neb.) 1918-1919
Henry Cabot Lodge (R-Mass.) 1919-1924
William E. Borah (R-Idaho) 1924-1933
Key Pittman (D-Nev.) 1933-1940
Walter F. George (D-Ga.) 1940-1941
Tom Connally (D-Texas) 1941-1947
Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-Mich.) 1947-1949
Tom Connally (D-Texas) 1949-1953
Alexander Wiley (R-Wis.) 1953-1955
Walter F. George (D-Ga.) 1955-1957
Theodore F. Green (D-R.I.) 1957-1959
J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.) 1959-1975
John J. Sparkman (D-Ala.) 1975-1979
Frank F. Church (D-Idaho) 1979-1981
Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.) 1981-1985
Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) 1985-1987
Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) 1987-1995
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) 1995-2001
Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) 2001
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) 2001
Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) 2001-2003
Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) 2003-present

References

Committee on Foreign Relations (2003). The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Washington, D.C. Available at http://foreign.senate.gov/history.pdf

External links

Committees of the United States Congress