Committee on Foreign Relations

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Key Offices

The Committee on Foreign Relations is led by the following people
Joe Biden - (D)
Chairman
Joe Biden is a 6th term senior Senator from Delaware who serves as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. He is currently campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.
Dick Lugar - (R)
Ranking Member
Prior to entering the Senate for Indiana in 1977, Lugar served as Mayor of Indianapolis (1968-75). He has been active in eliminating latent unconventional weapons in the former Soviet Union, a goal which has partnered him with '08 hopeful Barack Obama.

Members of Committee on Foreign Relations

Name Served Since
Barbara Boxer - (D)

The first female Jewish Senator, Boxer is considered a liberal who is vocal on issues such as the environment, abortion, gun control and medical research. Serving as California Junior Senator since 1992, she is now the Chief Deputy Whip in Majority.
Ben Cardin - (D)

In 1986 Cardin was elected to the House representing Maryland's 3rd District. Re-elected nine times to the House, he later won his Senate bid in 2006. He is pro-India and, unlike most Democrats, is against net neutrality.
Bob Casey Jr. - (D)

At the request of Senators Schumer and Reid, Casey ran, and won, the Senate seat for Pennsylvania in 2006. He is strictly pro-life yet falls in line with his party on issues such as the environment and immigration.
Norm Coleman - (R)

Prior to winning the Senate seat for Minnesota in 2002, Coleman served as Mayor of Saint Paul (1994-2002). He was a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Once a student activist in the early 70's, he's now firmly in line with Republican beliefs.
Bob Corker - (R)

Bob Corker is the junior United States Senator from Tennessee. He was formerly the mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee and a successful businessman. He is the only freshman Republican Senator in the 110th Congress. Tennessee holds the distinction of being the
Jim DeMint - (R)

Elected to the House for South Carolina's 4th (1999-2005), DeMint then ran successfully for the Senate in 2005. In 2007 he was ranked most conservative, insisting there are WMDs in Iraq, and that troop deaths are caused by Dems 'cut and run' talk.
Chris Dodd - (D)

Chris Dodd is currently a U.S. senior Senator from Connecticut where he has served since 1989 and is now the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Prior to the Senate, Dodd was a U.S. Representative from Connecticut's 2nd Congressional district.
Russ Feingold - (D)

Elected to the Senate in 1992 for Wisconsin, Feingold has been tied with Sen. Boxer for "most liberal" in the Senate, according to Americans for Democratic Action. He's a staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, outlined in the 2003 McCain-Feingold Act
Chuck Hagel - (R)

A millionaire after co-founding Vanguard Cellular, Hagel was elected to the Senate in 1996. A Republican, he's been vocal about his critique of the Bush Administration and the Iraq War. There's whispering of a Bloomberg/Hagel Independent '08 ticket.
Johnny Isakson - (R)

Prior to public office Isakson was president of Northside Realty (1979-2001), a time when it became the biggest independent real estate company in Georgia. Elected to the House for Georgia's 6th (1999-2005), he won a Senate bid in 2005.
John Kerry - (D)

John Forbes Kerry is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts, in his fourth term of office. Kerry was the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 election.
Bob Menendez - (D)

Appointed to the New Jersey Senate seat in 2006, the Cuban-American Menendez got his political start serving New Jersey's 13th District in the House (1993-2006). He has since been a vocal opponent to the selling of U.S. ports to foreign governments.
Lisa Murkowski - (R)

After serving in Alaska's House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002, Lisa was appointed by her Alaska Senator father to his unexpired seat which she renewed in 2004. With a pro-choice, pro-stem cell research beliefs, she's seen as a moderate in her party.
Bill Nelson - (D)

Once a fire marshal and a Florida State House Representative, Nelson later became a U.S. Representative (1979-91) before entering the Senate for Florida in 2001. He's the second sitting member of Congress to travel to space with NASA in 1986.
Barack Obama - (D)

Entering the U.S. Senate in 2005 for Illinois, Barack Obama is currently a front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.
John Sununu - (R)

Elected to the House in 1996 for New Hampshire's 1st, Sununu served there until 2003, when he moved to the Senate, where he currently sits. In 2007, he was the first Republican to call for the resignation of Attorney General Gonzales.
David Vitter - (R)

Representing Louisiana's 1st from 1999-2005, Vitter was elected as Junior Senator in 2005. In a 2001 Amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Vitter required all federally funded schools to allow US military recruiting on campus.
George Voinovich - (R)

A rich career in politics, Voinovich served as Mayor of Cleveland (1980-89) and Governor of Ohio (1991-98) before entering the Senate for Ohio in 1999. Known to be overcome with emotion during important speeches, he has been cricized as disloyal to the GOP
Jim Webb - (D)

An author and former Secretary of the Navy under Reagan, Webb was elected to the Senate in 2007 for Virginia. A Marine in Vietnam, Webb has a rough side, reportedly wanting to "slug" the President after he asked how Webb's son, a Marine in Iraq, was doing.