minority
Press

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on reports that the Biden Administration has decided to maintain long-standing U.S. nuclear declaratory policy:“Our allies made clear to me that they strongly preferred not making any changes to U.S. policy...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on President Biden’s FY2023 international affairs budget request:“I’ve consistently argued that the greatest threat to U.S. national security is our spiraling debt. Perhaps an even greater threat is an...

BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine. To watch the full interview on YouTube, click here. To download the full interview on Google Drive, click here.  On President...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this week joined Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and 38 members of Congress in sending a bicameral letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken advocating that the State Department assist Ukrainian refugees and aid American families who have already...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement outlining steps Congress and the Biden Administration should take to deter increasing Chinese military aggression towards Taiwan:“Congress – working across the aisle and with the administration – has the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on concrete steps NATO should take to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked war:“As we enter the second month of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, it’s time NATO employs one of its...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the East Asia Subcommittee, Mitt Romney (R-Utah), ranking member of the East Asia Subcommittee, and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today welcomed action...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, today applauded the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), chair of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, today applauded committee passage of a resolution commending the government of Lithuania for increasing ties with Taiwan and...

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 here. Download Senator...

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...