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105th Congress Document
2d Session No. 105-28
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE
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MILLENNIUM
EDITION
1816-2000
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Ordered to be printed with illustrations
October 2000
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 51-737
WASHINGTON : 2000
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
JESSE HELMS, North Carolina, Chairman
RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware
CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland
GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut
ROD GRAMS, Minnesota JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts
SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin
CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota
JOHN ASHCROFT, Missouri BARBARA BOXER, California
BILL FRIST, Tennessee ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey
LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island
Stephen E. Biegun, Staff Director
Edwin K. Hall, Minority Staff Director
Background Information
on the
Committee on Foreign Relations
of the
United States Senate
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Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Chairman
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Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., of Delaware,
Ranking Minority Member
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United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, First Session,
106th Congress
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Dedicated to the memory of
Admiral James W. ``Bud'' Nance
(1921-1999)
Staff Director
(1995-1999)
Minority Staff Director
(1991-1995)
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For titles do not reflect honor on men,
but rather men on their titles.
?
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Preface.......................................................... 1
The Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate... 3
Origins of the Committee..................................... 4
Historical Overview.......................................... 5
Membership................................................... 10
Size................................................... 10
Election............................................... 11
Chairman............................................... 12
Jurisdiction................................................. 13
Sequential Referrals................................... 15
Joint Referrals........................................ 15
Simultaneous Referrals................................. 17
Informal Methods....................................... 18
Intelligence Activities................................ 18
Transfers of Jurisdiction.............................. 19
Committee Powers and Responsibilities........................ 19
War Powers............................................. 20
Treaties and Other International Agreements............ 20
(1) Treaties....................................... 20
Conditions and Stipulations.................... 21
Procedure...................................... 23
(2) Other International Agreements................. 25
Nominations............................................ 26
Bills and Resolutions.................................. 30
Legislative Oversight Activities....................... 33
Interparliamentary Activities.......................... 37
Committee Procedure.......................................... 39
Rules of the Committee on Foreign Relations............ 39
Meetings and Hearings.................................. 53
Subcommittees................................................ 55
Standing Subcommittees................................. 55
Study or Oversight Subcommittees....................... 59
Ad Hoc Subcommittees................................... 60
Staff........................................................ 61
Finances..................................................... 65
Appendices
I. Alphabetical list of members of the Committee on Foreign Relatio71
II. Composition of the Committee on Foreign Relations by Congresses.78
III. Chairmen of the Committee on Foreign Relations.................105
IV. Staff Directors of the Committee on Foreign Relations..........109
V. Excerpts from the Standing Rules of the Senate (Committee
Procedure).....................................................110
VI. Selected Bibliography prepared by Congressional Research Service,
Library of Congress............................................119
VII. Authorizing Resolution, S. Res. 310............................129
PREFACE
By Senator Jesse Helms, Chairman
and
Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Foreign Relations
From the beginning of the Republic, the process of foreign
policy formulation in the United States has been unique. For
most nations, the role of the legislative branch in foreign
policy is limited to providing a rubber-stamp on the policies
of the executive. The United States is different. The United
States Constitution requires the President to seek the Senate's
``advice and consent'' in the ratification of treaties and the
approval of ambassadorial nominees. It is an arrangement that
gives the Senate, and the Committee on Foreign Relations in
particular, an essential role in the formulation of foreign
policy.
Since its founding on December 10, 1816, the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations has been at the center of
foreign policy in America. Six Presidents of the United States
have served on the Committee: Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan,
Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, Warren Harding and John F.
Kennedy. The Committee has also produced 19 Secretaries of
State and the names of many of its Chairmen--Arthur Vandenberg,
Henry Cabot Lodge, William Fulbright--are embossed in the great
foreign policy debates of this Nation.
While nearly 200 years have passed since its founding, many
of the debates within the Committee on Foreign Relations,
surprisingly, remain the same. In responding to international
opportunities and challenges, the Committee must deliberate
between conflict or diplomacy, engagement or isolationism,
assistance or sanctions, and weigh every option in between. The
Committee also considers treaties, the authorization of
appropriations for international affairs, and nominations.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, new issues vie
for the Committee's attention. The proliferation of deadly
weapons and technology, peacekeeping in regional and ethnic
conflicts, the appropriate role of multilateral institutions,
international terrorism, trafficking of illegal drugs, and the
balance between international trade and U.S. moral and national
security interests are critical issues in today's world. In an
effort to make available to the public this discussion of
foreign affairs by Members of the Senate, the Committee
continues to publish transcripts of hearings held on these and
other topics, and has produced a historical series based on
heretofore classified sessions since 1947. These documents
highlight the contribution of Congress to American foreign
policy.
A background document on the Committee was first published
in 1966 in conjunction with the Committee's 150th anniversary.
This document, now in its seventh edition, serves as a source
of information on the Committee's procedures, membership,
jurisdiction and other matters. It is our hope that this
revised edition will serve as a useful introduction to the work
of the Committee.
The Committee on Foreign Relations
of the United States Senate
The Constitution of the United States divides
responsibility for the conduct of American foreign policy
between the President and Congress, and assigns to the Senate
specific approval over treaties and nominations. The powers of
Congress concerning foreign relations are derived from the
following articles:
The Constitution of the United States of America (Excerpts)
Article I
Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted
shall be vested in a Congress of the United States
which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives. * * *
Section 8. The Congress shall have Power * * * To
regulate Commerce with foreign Nations * * * To define
and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high
Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations; To
declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and
make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water. * * *
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and
all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States, or in any Department
or Officer thereof. * * *
Section 9. * * * No Money shall be drawn from the
Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by
Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the
Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be
published from time to time. No Title of Nobility shall
be granted by the United States: And no Person holding
any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall,
without the Consent of Congress, accept any present,
Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from
any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty,
Alliance, or Confederation; * * *
Article II
Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a
President of the United States of America. * * *
Section 2. * * * He shall have Power, by and with the
Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties,
provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and
he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and Consuls, * * *.
Origins of the Committee
During its early years the Senate was a small body that met
often as a committee of the whole. It lacked standing
committees, except for three which handled routine housekeeping
duties. When specific issues arose, the Senate appointed ad hoc
committees to examine them. One source estimates that there
were ``over 200 separate committees dealing with foreign
affairs between 1789 and 1816.'' \1\ The titles of these ad hoc
committees varied, and not until 1812 did the term ``foreign
relations'' appear in the legislative journals.
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\1\ James W. Gould, ``The Origins of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee,'' Western Political Quarterly, XII (September, 1959).
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In the first session of the First Congress, President
George Washington appeared in person before the Senate to seek
its advice and consent on the terms of a treaty being
negotiated with the Southern Indians. Unwilling to debate the
issue or cast a vote in the presence of the President, Senator
Robert Morris of Pennsylvania moved that the question be
referred to an ad hoc committee. According to Senator William
Maclay, after he had seconded the motion, ``the President of
the United States started up with a violent fret. `This defeats
every purpose of my coming here' were the first words that he
said.'' Consideration was postponed for two days when the
Senate resumed discussion and voted on the questions at hand,
again with Washington present. This was the President's last
attempt to participate in Senate deliberations, and thereafter
presidential communications were generally delivered by written
message.
Although the Senate continued to name numerous committees
each session, certain Senators gained reputations in particular
fields and were repeatedly named to committees dealing with
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