On Wednesday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the conflict in Syria and how the U.S. should or should not respond. Witnesses included the Honorable Martin Indyk, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy for the Brookings Institution; the Honorable James Dobbins, Director of International Security and Defense Policy Center for the Rand Corporation; and Andrew Tabler, Senior Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at the ...

On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to discuss U.S. policy options for Syria amid the recent developments of the deployment of U.N. monitors, a fragile ceasefire, and a continued humanitarian crisis. Presenting testimony was Professor of Middle East Studies at the NESA Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University Murhaf Jouejati, Director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic ...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on U.S. foreign policy options pertaining to Iran. The speakers were the Honorable Thomas R. Pickering, former under Secretary of State for political affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, General James E. Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mr. Karim Sadjadpour, senior associate at the Middle East Program Carnegie Endowment for International ...

On Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing to discuss the Syrian crisis. The Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) gave opening statements. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey were the witnesses. For the full text of the hearing notes, continue reading below, or click here for the PDF Carl Levin, who described Bashar Al Assad’s ...

On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. The hearing addressed the growing concerns over developing events in Syria. Senator John Kerry (D – MA) presided over the committee, co-chaired by ranking member Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). To read the full text of the hearing continue reading below, or click here for ...

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing to present Ambassador-designate to the Kingdom of Bahrain The Honorable Thomas C. Krajeski, Ambassador-designate to Luxembourg Robert A. Mandell, Ambassador-designate to the People's Republic of Bangladesh The Honorable Dan W. Mozena, and the nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Michael A. Hammer. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) presided over the hearing, and John Barrasso (R-WY) and James ...

On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Wendy R. Sherman for the position of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) chaired the hearing, which gave committee members the opportunity to question the Ambassador on a wide range of issues including her thoughts on potential budget cuts and its impact on the State Department's mission, the upcoming UN vote ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a nomination hearing for five ambassadors to the Middle East and Central Asia. The first of the hearing’s two panels featured the Honorable Anne W. Patterson, to be Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt. The second panel featured Michael H. Corbin, to be Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Matthew H. Tueller, to be Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a nomination hearing for William J. Burns to become Deputy Secretary of State. The hearing was presided over by Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry (D-MA) with Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jib Webb (D-VA), Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) in attendance. William J. Burns is a career foreign service officer and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and ...

On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs held a hearing entitled “Human Rights and Democratic Reform in Iran.”  Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA) chaired the committee hearing, Senators James Risch (R-ID), Tom Udal (D-NM) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) were also present. Assistant Secretary of State Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael H. Posner; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs held an open hearing to discussFY2012 budget appropriations to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  The Committee —Chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and with Senators Ronald Johnson (R-WI), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in attendance – requested the testimony of Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator. For full notes, continue below.  For pdf version, ...

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held an open nomination hearing to confirm the appointments of Mara E. Rudman, to be Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development for the Middle East, and Robert Patterson, to be Ambassador to Turkmenistan. Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA) presided over the nomination hearing. For full notes, continue below or click here. Senator Casey began the hearing by highlighting the fact that ...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Thursday afternoon entitled, "Assessing the Situation in Libya."  Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg testified before the committee.  Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry (D-MA) moderated the hearing.  Ranking Member, Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) was also in attendance.  Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Bob Corker (R-TN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), James Risch (R-ID), Tom Udall (D-NM), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), ...

On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on the implications of uprisings in the Middle East has on U.S. policy. The Committee—chaired by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) – with ranking member Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) in attendance –requested the testimony of William J. Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs. To read full notes, continue below or click here for pdf. Senator John Kerry opened by stating that the ...

On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations hosted a hearing on the State Department’s Fiscal Year 2012 budget.  The Committee—chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) with ranking member Senator Lindsey Graham in attendance—requested the testimony of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.To see full notes, continue below or click here for pdf. To see webcast, click here.   Senator Patrick Leahy made opening remarks welcoming the secretary ...

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing yesterday to consider nominees for ambassadorial positions in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Turkey. Many of the questions posed by the Committee focused on democratization, human rights, governance, and institution building. The Committee—headed by Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and ranking Committee member Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) —requested the testimony of four nominees. The first panel consisted of James ...

(POMED’s full notes continue below, or read the rest of the entry as a pdf document.) Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) opened the conversation with an aside on the war in Afghanistan, in light of the recent blow-up between the White House and General Stanley McChrystal. Kerry stated that America’s “top priority” is the success of its mission in Afghanistan and implored the concerned parties to remain focused on U.S. ...

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing to explore the history, efficacy, and enforcement of sanctions that target companies who do business with both the United States and Iran. The committee invited three individuals to provide testimony: Danielle Pletka, Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; Joseph Christoff, Director of International Affairs and Trade at the Government Accountability Office; and ...