RULES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
FOREIGN RELATIONS
110th Congress 1st Session
UNITED STATES SENATE
MARCH 2007
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., Delaware, Chairman
RULES OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
(Adopted March 6, 2007)
RULE 1—JURISDICTION
(a) Substantive.—In
accordance with Senate Rule XXV.1(j), the jurisdiction of the committee shall
extend to all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other
matters relating to the following subjects:
1.
Acquisition of land and buildings for embassies and legations in foreign
countries.
2.
Boundaries of the
3.
Diplomatic service.
4.
Foreign economic, military, technical, and humanitarian assistance.
5.
Foreign loans.
6.
International activities of the American National Red Cross and the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
7.
International aspects of nuclear energy, including nuclear transfer policy.
8.
International conferences and congresses.
9.
International law as it relates to foreign policy.
10.
International Monetary Fund and other international organizations established
primarily for international monetary purposes (except that, at the request of
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, any proposed legislation
relating to such subjects reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations shall
be referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs).
11.
Intervention abroad and declarations of war.
12.
Measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign nations and to safeguard
American business interests abroad.
13.
National security and international aspects of trusteeships of the
15.
Protection of
16.
Relations of the
17.
Treaties and executive agreements, except reciprocal trade agreements.
18.
United Nations and its affiliated organizations.
19.
World Bank group, the regional development banks, and other international
organizations established primarily for development assistance purposes.
The committee is also mandated by
Senate Rule XXV.1(j) to study and review, on a comprehensive basis, matters
relating to the national security policy, foreign policy, and international
economic policy as it relates to foreign policy of the United States, and
matters relating to food, hunger, and nutrition in foreign countries, and
report thereon from time to time.
(b)
Oversight.—The committee also has a responsibility under Senate Rule
XXVI.8, which provides that ``. . . . each standing committee . . . shall
review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, administration, and
execution of those laws or parts of laws, the subject matter of which is within
the jurisdiction of the committee.''
(c) ``Advice
and Consent'' Clauses.—The committee has a special responsibility to assist
the Senate in its constitutional function of providing ``advice and consent''
to all treaties entered into by the
RULE 2—SUBCOMMITTEES
(a) Creation.—Unless
otherwise authorized by law or Senate resolution, subcommittees shall be
created by majority vote of the committee and shall deal with such legislation
and oversight of programs and policies as the committee directs. Legislative
measures or other matters may be referred to a subcommittee for consideration
in the discretion of the chairman or by vote of a majority of the committee. If
the principal subject matter of a measure or matter to be referred falls within
the jurisdiction of more than one subcommittee, the chairman or the committee
may refer the matter to two or more subcommittees for joint consideration.
(b) Assignments.—Assignments
of members to subcommittees shall be made in an equitable fashion. No member of
the committee may receive assignment to a second subcommittee until, in order
of seniority, all members of the committee have chosen assignments to one
subcommittee, and no member shall receive assignments to a third subcommittee
until, in order of seniority, all members have chosen assignments to two
subcommittees.
No member of the committee may serve on
more than four subcommittees at any one time.
The chairman and ranking member of the
committee shall be ex officio members, without vote, of each subcommittee.
(c) Meetings.—Except
when funds have been specifically made available by the Senate for a
subcommittee purpose, no subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Relations
shall hold hearings involving expenses without prior approval of the chairman
of the full committee or by decision of the full committee. Meetings of
subcommittees shall be scheduled after consultation with the chairman of the
committee with a view toward avoiding conflicts with meetings of other
subcommittees insofar as possible. Meetings of subcommittees shall not be scheduled
to conflict with meetings of the full committee.
The proceedings of each subcommittee
shall be governed by the rules of the full committee, subject to such
authorizations or limitations as the committee may from time to time prescribe.
RULE 3—MEETINGS
(a) Regular
Meeting Day.—The regular meeting day of the Committee on Foreign Relations
for the transaction of committee business shall be on Tuesday of each week,
unless otherwise directed by the chairman.
(b) Additional
Meetings.—Additional meetings and hearings of the committee may be called
by the chairman as he may deem necessary. If at least three members of the
committee desire that a special meeting of the committee be called by the
chairman, those members may file in the offices of the committee their written
request to the chairman for that special meeting. Immediately upon filing of
the request, the chief clerk of the committee shall notify the chairman of the
filing of the request. If, within three calendar days after the filing of the
request, the chairman does not call the requested special meeting, to be held
within seven calendar days after the filing of the request, a majority of the
members of the committee may file in the offices of the committee their written
notice that a special meeting of the committee will be held, specifying the
date and hour of that special meeting. The committee shall meet on that date
and hour. Immediately upon the filing of
the notice, the clerk shall notify all members of the committee that such
special meeting will be held and inform them of its date and hour.
(c) Hearings,
Selection of Witnesses.—To ensure that the issue which is the subject of
the hearing is presented as fully and fairly as possible, whenever a hearing is
conducted by the committee or a subcommittee upon any measure or matter, the
ranking member of the committee or subcommittee may call an equal number of
non-governmental witnesses selected by the ranking member to testify at that
hearing.
(d) Public
Announcement.—The committee, or any subcommittee thereof, shall make public
announcement of the date, place, time, and subject matter of any meeting or
hearing to be conducted on any measure or matter at least one week in advance
of such meetings or hearings, unless the chairman of the committee, or
subcommittee, in consultation with the ranking member, determines that there is
good cause to begin such meeting or hearing at an earlier date.
(e)
Procedure.—Insofar as possible, proceedings of the committee will be
conducted without resort to the formalities of parliamentary procedure and with
due regard for the views of all members. Issues of procedure which may arise
from time to time shall be resolved by decision of the chairman, in
consultation with the ranking member. The chairman, in consultation with the
ranking member, may also propose special procedures to govern the consideration
of particular matters by the committee.
(f)
Closed Sessions.—Each meeting of the Committee on Foreign Relations, or any
subcommittee thereof, including meetings to conduct hearings, shall be open to
the public, except that a meeting or series of meetings by the committee or a
subcommittee on the same subject for a period of no more than fourteen calendar
days may be closed to the public on a motion made and seconded to go into
closed session to discuss only whether the matters enumerated in paragraphs (1)
through (6) would require the meeting to be closed followed immediately by a
record vote in open session by a majority of the members of the committee or
subcommittee when it is determined that the matters to be discussed or the
testimony to be taken at such meeting or meetings—
(1)
will disclose matters necessary to be kept secret in the interests of national
defense or the confidential conduct of the foreign relations of the
(2)
will relate solely to matters of committee staff personnel or internal staff
management or procedure;
(3)
will tend to charge an individual with crime or misconduct; to disgrace or
injure the professional standing of an individual, or otherwise to expose an
individual to public contempt or obloquy, or will represent a clearly
unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual;
(4)
will disclose the identity of any informer or law enforcement agent or will
disclose any information relating to the investigation or prosecution of a
criminal offense that is required to be kept secret in the interests of
effective law enforcement;
(5)
will disclose information relating to the trade secrets or financial or
commercial information pertaining specifically to a given person if—
(A)
an Act of Congress requires the information to be kept confidential by
government officers and employees; or
(B)
the information has been obtained by the government on a confidential basis,
other than through an application by such person for a specific government
financial or other benefit, and is required to be kept secret in order to
prevent undue injury to the competitive position of such person, or
(6)
may divulge matters required to be kept confidential under other provisions of
law or government regulations.
A closed meeting may be opened by a
majority vote of the committee.
(g)
Staff Attendance.—A member of the committee may have one member of his or
her personal staff, for whom that member assumes personal responsibility,
accompany and be seated nearby at committee meetings.
Each member of the committee may
designate members of his or her personal staff, who hold a top secret security
clearance, for the purpose of their eligibility to attend closed sessions of
the committee, subject to the same conditions set forth for committee staff
under Rules 12, 13, and 14.
In addition, the majority leader and
the minority leader of the Senate, if they are not otherwise members of the
committee, may designate one member of their staff with a top secret security
clearance to attend closed sessions of the committee, subject to the same
conditions set forth for committee staff under Rules 12, 13, and 14. Staff of
other Senators who are not members of the committee may not attend closed
sessions of the committee.
Attendance of committee staff at
meetings shall be limited to those designated by the staff director or the
minority staff director.
The committee, by majority vote, or the
chairman, with the concurrence of the ranking member, may limit staff
attendance at specified meetings.
RULE 4—QUORUMS
(a) Testimony.—For
the purpose of taking sworn or unsworn testimony at any duly scheduled meeting
a quorum of the committee and each subcommittee thereof shall consist of one
member.
(b) Business.—A
quorum for the transaction of committee or subcommittee business, other than
for reporting a measure or recommendation to the Senate or the taking of
testimony, shall consist of one-third of the members of the committee or
subcommittee, including at least one member from each party.
(c) Reporting.—A
majority of the membership of the committee, including at least one member from
each party, shall constitute a quorum for reporting any measure or
recommendation to the Senate. No measure
or recommendation shall be ordered reported from the committee unless a
majority of the committee members is physically present, and a majority of
those present concurs.
RULE 5—PROXIES
Proxies must be in writing with the
signature of the absent member. Subject to the requirements of Rule 4 for the
physical presence of a quorum to report a matter, proxy voting shall be allowed
on all measures and matters before the committee. However, proxies shall not be
voted on a measure or matter except when the absent member has been informed of
the matter on which he is being recorded and has affirmatively requested that
he or she be so recorded.
RULE 6—WITNESSES
(a)
General.—The Committee on Foreign Relations will consider requests to
testify on any matter or measure pending before the committee.
(b)
Presentation.—If the chairman so determines, the oral presentation of
witnesses shall be limited to 10 minutes. However, written statements of
reasonable length may be submitted by witnesses and other interested persons
who are unable to testify in person.
(c) Filing
of Statements.—A witness appearing before the committee, or any
subcommittee thereof, shall file a written statement of his proposed testimony
at least 48 hours prior to his appearance, unless this requirement is waived by
the chairman and the ranking member following their determination that there is
good cause for failure to file such a statement. Witnesses appearing on behalf of the
executive branch shall provide an additional 100 copies of their statement to
the committee.
(d) Expenses.—Only
the chairman may authorize expenditures of funds for the expenses of witnesses
appearing before the committee or its subcommittees.
(e)
Requests.—Any witness called for a hearing may submit a written request to
the chairman no later than 24 hours in advance for his testimony to be in
closed or open session, or for any other unusual procedure. The chairman shall
determine whether to grant any such request and shall notify the committee
members of the request and of his decision.
RULE 7—SUBPOENAS
(a) Authorization.—The
chairman or any other member of the committee, when authorized by a majority
vote of the committee at a meeting or by proxies, shall have authority to
subpoena the attendance of witnesses or the production of memoranda, documents,
records, or any other materials. At the request of any member of the committee,
the committee shall authorize the issuance of a subpoena only at a meeting of
the committee. When the committee authorizes a subpoena, it may be issued upon
the signature of the chairman or any other member designated by the committee.
(b)
Return.—A subpoena, or a request to an agency, for documents may be issued
whose return shall occur at a time and place other than that of a scheduled
committee meeting. A return on such a subpoena or request which is incomplete
or accompanied by an objection constitutes good cause for a hearing on
shortened notice. Upon such a return, the chairman or any other member
designated by him may convene a hearing by giving 2 hours notice by telephone
to all other members. One member shall constitute a quorum for such a hearing.
The sole purpose of such a hearing shall be to elucidate further information
about the return and to rule on the objection.
(c) Depositions.—At
the direction of the committee, staff is authorized to take depositions from
witnesses.
RULE 8—REPORTS
(a) Filing.—When
the committee has ordered a measure or recommendation reported, the report
thereon shall be filed in the Senate at the earliest practicable time.
(b)
Supplemental, Minority and Additional Views.—A member of the committee who
gives notice of his intentions to file supplemental, minority, or additional
views at the time of final committee approval of a measure or matter, shall be
entitled to not less than 3 calendar days in which to file such views, in
writing, with the chief clerk of the committee, with the 3 days to begin at
11:00 p.m. on the same day that the committee has ordered a measure or matter
reported. Such views shall then be included in the committee report and printed
in the same volume, as a part thereof, and their inclusion shall be noted on
the cover of the report. In the absence of timely notice, the committee report
may be filed and printed immediately without such views.
(c) Rollcall
Votes.—The results of all rollcall votes taken in any meeting of the
committee on any measure, or amendment thereto, shall be announced in the
committee report. The announcement shall include a tabulation of the votes cast
in favor and votes cast in opposition to each such measure and amendment by
each member of the committee.
RULE 9—TREATIES
(a) The committee is the only committee
of the Senate with jurisdiction to review and report to the Senate on treaties
submitted by the President for Senate advice and consent to ratification. Because the House of Representatives has no
role in the approval of treaties, the committee is therefore the only
congressional committee with responsibility for treaties.
(b) Once submitted by the President for
advice and consent, each treaty is referred to the committee and remains on its
calendar from Congress to Congress until the committee takes action to report
it to the Senate or recommend its return to the President, or until the
committee is discharged of the treaty by the Senate.
(c) In accordance with Senate Rule
XXX.2, treaties which have been reported to the Senate but not acted on before
the end of a Congress ``shall be resumed at the commencement of the next
Congress as if no proceedings had previously been had thereon.''
(d) Insofar as possible, the committee
should conduct a public hearing on each treaty as soon as possible after its
submission by the President. Except in extraordinary circumstances, treaties
reported to the Senate shall be accompanied by a written report.
RULE 10—NOMINATIONS
(a) Waiting
Requirement.—Unless otherwise directed by the chairman and the ranking
member, the Committee on Foreign Relations shall not consider any nomination
until 6 calendar days after it has been formally submitted to the Senate.
(b)
Public Consideration.—Nominees for any post who are invited to appear
before the committee shall be heard in public session, unless a majority of the
committee decrees otherwise, consistent with Rule 3(f).
(c) Required
Data.—No nomination shall be reported to the Senate unless (1) the nominee
has been accorded a security clearance on the basis of a thorough investigation
by executive branch agencies; (2) the nominee has filed a financial disclosure
report and a related ethics undertaking with the committee; (3) the committee
has been assured that the nominee does not have any interests which could
conflict with the interests of the government in the exercise of the nominee's
proposed responsibilities; (4) for persons nominated to be chief of mission,
ambassador-at-large, or minister, the committee has received a complete list of
any contributions made by the nominee or members of his immediate family to any
Federal election campaign during the year of his or her nomination and for the
4 preceding years; and (5) for persons nominated to be chiefs of mission, the
report required by Section 304(a)(4) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 on the
demonstrated competence of that nominee to perform the duties of the position to
which he or she has been nominated.
RULE 11—TRAVEL
(a)
Foreign Travel.—No member of the Committee on Foreign Relations or its
staff shall travel abroad on committee business unless specifically authorized
by the chairman, who is required by law to approve vouchers and report
expenditures of foreign currencies, and the ranking member. Requests for authorization of such travel
shall state the purpose and, when completed, a full substantive and financial
report shall be filed with the committee within 30 days. This report shall be furnished to all members
of the committee and shall not be otherwise disseminated without authorization
of the chairman or the ranking member.
Except in extraordinary circumstances, staff travel shall not be
approved unless the reporting requirements have been fulfilled for all prior
trips. Except for travel that is
strictly personal, travel funded by non-U.S. Government sources is subject to
the same approval and substantive reporting requirements as U.S.
Government-funded travel. In addition,
members and staff are reminded to consult the Senate Code of Conduct, and, as
appropriate, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, in the case of travel
sponsored by non-U.S. Government sources.
Any proposed travel by committee staff
for a subcommittee purpose must be approved by the subcommittee chairman and
ranking member prior to submission of the request to the chairman and ranking
member of the full committee.
(b) Domestic
Travel.—All official travel in the
(c) Personal
Staff.—As a general rule, no more than one member of the personal staff of
a member of the committee may travel with that member with the approval of the
chairman and the ranking member of the committee. During such travel, the
personal staff member shall be considered to be an employee of the committee.
(d)
Personal Representatives of the Member (PRM).—For the purposes of this
rule regarding staff foreign travel, the
officially-designated personal representative of the member (PRM) shall be
deemed to have the same rights, duties, and responsibilities as members of the
staff of the committee on Foreign Relations. Furthermore, for the purposes of
this section, each member of the committee may designate one personal staff
member as the ``Personal Representative of the Member.''
RULE 12—TRANSCRIPTS
(a)
General.—The Committee on Foreign Relations shall keep verbatim transcripts
of all committee and subcommittee meetings and such transcripts shall remain in
the custody of the committee, unless a majority of the committee decides
otherwise. Transcripts of public hearings by the committee shall be published
unless the chairman, with the concurrence of the ranking member, determines
otherwise.
(b)
Classified or Restricted Transcripts.—
(1)
The chief clerk of the committee shall have responsibility for the maintenance
and security of classified or restricted transcripts, and shall ensure that
such transcripts are handled in a manner consistent with the requirements of
the United States Senate Security Manual.
(2)
A record shall be maintained of each use of classified or restricted
transcripts as required by the Senate Security Manual.
(3)
Classified transcripts may not leave the committee offices, or S09407 of the
Capitol, except for the purpose of declassification.
(4)
Extreme care shall be exercised to avoid taking notes or quotes from classified
transcripts. Their contents may not be divulged to any unauthorized person.
(5)
Subject to any additional restrictions imposed by the chairman with the
concurrence of the ranking member, only the following persons are authorized to
have access to classified or restricted transcripts.
(A)
Members and staff of the committee in the committee offices or in S09407 of the
Capitol;
(B)
Designated personal representatives of members of the committee, and of the
majority and minority leaders, with appropriate security clearances, in the committee
offices or in S09407 of the Capitol;
(C)
Senators not members of the committee, by permission of the chairman, in the
committee offices or in S09407 of the Capitol; and
(D)
Officials of the executive departments involved in the meeting, in the committee
offices or S09407 of the Capitol.
(6)
Any restrictions imposed upon access to a meeting of the committee shall also
apply to the transcript of such meeting, except by special permission of the
chairman and ranking member.
(7)
In addition to restrictions resulting from the inclusion of any classified
information in the transcript of a committee meeting, members and staff shall
not discuss with anyone the proceedings of the committee in closed session or
reveal information conveyed or discussed in such a session unless that person
would have been permitted to attend the session itself, or unless such
communication is specifically authorized by the chairman, the ranking member,
or in the case of staff, by the staff director or minority staff director. A record shall be kept of all such
authorizations.
(c) Declassification.—
(1)
All noncurrent records of the committee are governed Rule XI of the Standing
Rules of the Senate and by S. Res. 474 (96th Congress). Any classified transcripts transferred to the
National Archives and Records Administration under Rule XI may not be made
available for public use unless they have been subject to declassification
review in accordance with applicable laws or Executive orders.
(2)
Any transcript or classified committee report, or any portion thereof, may be
declassified, in accordance with applicable laws or Executive orders, sooner than the time period provided for
under S. Res. 474 if:
(A)
the chairman originates such action, with the concurrence of the ranking member;
(B)
the other current members of the committee who participated in the meeting who
participated in such meeting or report have been notified of the proposed
declassification, and have not objected thereto, except that the committee by
majority vote may overrule any objections thereby raised to early
declassification; and
(C)
the executive departments that participated in the meeting or originated the
classified information have been consulted and consented to the
declassification.
RULE 13—CLASSIFIED
INFORMATION
(a) The handling of classified
information in the Senate is governed by S. Res. 243 (100th Congress), which
established the Office of Senate Security.
All handling of classified information by the committee shall be
consistent with the procedures set forth in the United States Senate Security
Manual issued by the Office of Senate Security.
(b) The chief clerk is the security
manager for the committee. The chief
clerk shall be responsible for implementing the provisions of the Senate
Security Manual and for serving as the committee liaison to the Office of
Senate Security. The staff director, in
consultation with the minority staff director, may appoint an alternate
security manager as circumstances warrant.
(c) Classified material may only be
transported between Senate offices by appropriately cleared staff members who
have been specifically authorized to do so by the security manager.
(d) In general, Senators and staff
undertake to confine their access to classified information on the basis of a
``need to know'' such information related to their committee responsibilities.
(e) The staff director is authorized to
make such administrative regulations as may be necessary to carry out the
provisions of this rule.
RULE 14—STAFF
(a) Responsibilities.—
(1)
The staff works for the committee as a whole, under the general supervision of
the chairman of the committee, and the immediate direction of the staff
director, except that such part of the staff as is designated minority staff,
shall be under the general supervision of the ranking member and under the
immediate direction of the minority staff director.
(2)
Any member of the committee should feel free to call upon the staff at any time
for assistance in connection with committee business. Members of the Senate not
members of the committee who call upon the staff for assistance from time to
time should be given assistance subject to the overriding responsibility of the
staff to the committee.
(3)
The staff's primary responsibility is with respect to bills, resolutions,
treaties, and nominations.
In
addition to carrying out assignments from the committee and its individual
members, the staff has a responsibility to originate suggestions for committee
or subcommittee consideration. The staff also has a responsibility to make
suggestions to individual members regarding matters of special interest to such
members.
(4)
It is part of the staff's duty to keep itself as well informed as possible in
regard to developments affecting foreign relations and in regard to the
administration of foreign programs of the
(5)
The staff shall pay due regard to the constitutional separation of powers
between the Senate and the executive branch. It therefore has a responsibility
to help the committee bring to bear an independent, objective judgment of
proposals by the executive branch and when appropriate to originate sound
proposals of its own. At the same time, the staff shall avoid impinging upon
the day-to-day conduct of foreign affairs.
(6)
In those instances when committee action requires the expression of minority
views, the staff shall assist the minority as fully as the majority to the end
that all points of view may be fully considered by members of the committee and
of the Senate. The staff shall bear in mind that under our constitutional
system it is the responsibility of the elected members of the Senate to
determine legislative issues in the light of as full and fair a presentation of
the facts as the staff may be able to obtain.
(b)
Restrictions.—
(1)
The staff shall regard its relationship to the committee as a privileged one,
in the nature of the relationship of a lawyer to a client. In order to protect
this relationship and the mutual confidence which must prevail if the
committee-staff relationship is to be a satisfactory and fruitful one, the
following criteria shall apply:
(A)
members of the staff shall not be identified with any special interest group in
the field of foreign relations or allow their names to be used by any such
group;
(B)
members of the staff shall not accept public speaking engagements or write for
publication in the field of foreign relations without specific advance
permission from the staff director, or, in the case of minority staff, from the
minority staff director. In the case of the staff director and the minority
staff director, such advance permission shall be obtained from the chairman or
the ranking member, as appropriate. In any event, such public statements should
avoid the expression of personal views and should not contain predictions of
future, or interpretations of past, committee action; and
(C)
staff shall not discuss their private conversations with members of the
committee without specific advance permission from the Senator or Senators
concerned.
(2)
The staff shall not discuss with anyone the proceedings of the committee in
closed session or reveal information conveyed or discussed in such a session
unless that person would have been permitted to attend the session itself, or
unless such communication is specifically authorized by the staff director or
minority staff director. Unauthorized disclosure of information from a closed
session or of classified information shall be cause for immediate dismissal and
may, in the case of some kinds of information, be grounds for criminal
prosecution.
RULE 15—STATUS AND
AMENDMENT OF RULES
(a) Status.—In
addition to the foregoing, the Committee on Foreign Relations is governed by
the Standing Rules of the Senate, which shall take precedence in the event of a
clear inconsistency. In addition, the
jurisdiction and responsibilities of the committee with respect to certain
matters, as well as the timing and procedure for their consideration in
committee, may be governed by statute.
(b)
Amendment.—These rules may be modified, amended, or repealed by a majority
of the committee, provided that a notice in writing of the proposed change has
been given to each member at least 48 hours prior to the meeting at which
action thereon is to be taken. However,
rules of the committee which are based upon Senate rules may not be superseded
by committee vote alone.