Foreign Policy

Sens. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) have introduced legislation that calls on the federal government to offer money to foreign countries to help them improve prison conditions.

Their Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act, S. 657, is a reaction to their visits to prisons in Africa and Haiti. Inhofe found poor conditions in African prisons, including a high incidence of HIV/AIDS, and Leahy found overcrowding in Haiti.

A group of GOP senators wrote a resolution expressing their concerns that the United Nations's Arms Trade Treaty could endanger Second Amendment rights.

On Friday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) urged President Obama’s administration to vote against the treaty later this month.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “the world is failing” the Syrian people by not helping rebels topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

On the Senate floor Thursday, McCain marked the two-year anniversary of the start of the uprising in Syria. He pointed to reports that say more than 70,000 people have died and nearly 1 million refugees have fled the country because of the brutality of Assad over the last two years.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Thursday that the United States needed to strengthen trade relations with Africa.

“We have an opportunity to strengthen the economy,” Coons said on the floor Thursday. “But don’t fool yourself, today we are falling short. We are failing to grasp this opportunity.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution Thursday that says the United States should help Israel militarily and economically if it’s forced to act in self-defense.

“We have no better friends in that part of the world than Israel,” Graham said. “Last year President Obama told the people of Israel, ‘We have your back.’ Our resolution builds upon that statement and makes it clear that if Israel is one day forced to protect themselves we will stand with Israel.”

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said the United States should lead a coordinated effort to stop the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from killing his own people.

Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday after Cardin visited the region during last week’s recess, Cardin said leaders in Israel and Turkey expressed frustration “that there hasn’t been a more unified humanitarian response to what Assad has done to his own people.”

The Senate passed a bill Monday to prevent nuclear proliferation in North Korea.

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the North Korea Nonproliferation and Accountability Act, which passed by unanimous consent Monday evening before the Senate adjourned for the day.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Russia to allow American families who have already begun the process of adopting a Russian child to complete the adoption.

At the end of last year, Russia banned all U.S. adoptions of Russian children, but the law allows Russian officials and courts to allow pending adoption to be finalized. Schumer said Tuesday that until a long-term agreement is reached to lift the ban, that the Russian government should allow the few pending adoptions to go through.

A bipartisan delegation of House members called on the Obama administration Tuesday to ensure the safety of thousands of Iranian prisoners in Iraq, and to see them as an alternative to Iran's current political leaders.

The delegation, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), issued this call after meeting with Iranian dissidents in Paris over the weekend.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the sponsor of the bill, says the government must end its "no contact" policy with Iran.