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About the Committee
Committee History
The Origins of the Committee
The House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs (known as the Committee on International Relations from 1995 until 2007) traces its origins to November 29, 1775, when the Continental Congress created a committee, by resolution "for the sole purposes of corresponding with our friends of Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of the world." Chosen for this Committee were Benjamin Franklin—who served as chairman and guiding spirit—Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Johnson, Jr., John Dickinson, and John Jay.Read more about the committee's history »
Chairs of the Committee
| Chairman | Congress | Served | Party | District |
| Ileana Ros-Lehtinen | 112 | 2011- | Republican | Florida |
| Howard Berman | 111 | 2008-2011 | Democrat | California |
|
Tom Lantos
(died in office 2/11/08) |
111-110 | 2007-2008 | Democrat | California |
| Henry John Hyde | 107-109 | 2001-2006 | Republican | Illinois |
| Benjamin Arthur Gilman | 104-106 | 1995-2001 | Republican | New York |
| Lee Herbert Hamilton | 103 | 1993-1995 | Democrat | Indiana |
| Dante Bruno Fascell | 99-102 | 1985-1993 | Democrat | Florida |
| Clement John Zablocki (1st) | 98 | 1983-1985 | Democrat | Wisconsin |
| Dante Bruno Fascell (2nd) | 98 | 1983-1985 | Democrat | Florida |
| Clement John Zablocki | 95-97 | 1977-1983 | Democrat | Wisconsin |
| Thomas Ellsworth Morgan | 86-94 | 1959-1977 | Democrat | Pennsylvania |
| Thomas Sylvy Gordon | 85 | 1957-1959 | Democrat | Illinois |
| James Prioleau Richards | 84 | 1955-1957 | Democrat | South Carolina |
| Robert Bruce Chiperfield | 83 | 1953-1955 | Republican | Illinois |
|
John Kee (1st)
(died in office 5/8/51) |
82 | 1951 | Democrat | West Virginia |
| James Prioleau Richards (2nd) | 82 | 1951-1953 | Democrat | South Carolina |
| Sol Bloom (1st) | 81 | Democrat | New York | |
| John Kee (2nd) | 81 | Democrat | West Virginia | |
| Charles Aubrey Eaton | 80 | 1947-1949 | Republican | New Jersey |
| Sol Bloom | 77-79 | 1941-1947 | Democrat | New York |
| Sam Davis McReynolds (1st) | 76 | Democrat | Tennessee | |
| Sam Davis McReynolds (2nd) | 76 | Democrat | Tennessee | |
| Sol Bloom (3rd) | 76 | Democrat | New York | |
| Sam Davis McReynolds | 73-75 | 1933-1939 | Democrat | Tennessee |
| John Charles Linthicum (1st) | 72 | 1931-1932 | Democrat | Maryland |
| Sam Davis McReynolds (2nd) | 72 | 1932-1933 | Democrat | Tennessee |
| Stephen Geyer Porter (1st & 2nd) | 71 | Republican | Pennsylvania | |
| Henry Wilson Temple (3rd) | 71 | Republican | Pennsylvania | |
| Stephen Geyer Porter | 66-70 | 1919-1929 | Republican | Pennsylvania |
| Henry De La Warr Flood | 63-65 | 1913-1919 | Democrat | Virginia |
| William Sulzer | 62 | 1911-1913 | Democrat | New York |
| James Breck Perkins (1st & 2nd) | 61 | Republican | New York | |
| David Johnson Foster (3rd) | 61 | Republican | Vermont | |
| Robert Gordon Cousins | 60 | 1907-1909 | Republican | Iowa |
| Robert Roberts Hitt | 54-59 | 1895-1907 | Republican | Illinois |
| James Bennett McCreary | 53 | 1893-1895 | Democrat | Kentucky |
| James Henderson Blount | 52 | 1891-1893 | Democrat | Georgia |
| Robert Roberts Hitt | 51 | 1889-1891 | Republican | Illinois |
| Perry Belmont (1st) | 50 | Democrat | New York | |
| James Bennett McCreary (2nd) | 50 | Democrat | Kentucky | |
| Perry Belmont | 49 | 1885-1887 | Democrat | New York |
| Andrew Gregg Curtin | 48 | 1883-1885 | Democrat | Pennsylvania |
| Charles Grandison Williams | 47 | 1881-1883 | Republican | Wisconsin |
| Samuel Sullivan Cox | 46 | 1879-1881 | Democrats & Liberal Republicans | New York |
| Thomas Swann | 44-45 | 1875-1879 | Democrat | Maryland |
| Godlove Stein Orth | 43 | 1873-1875 | Republican | Indiana |
| Nathaniel Prentice Banks | 39-42 | 1865-1873 | Republican | Massachusetts |
| Henry Winter Davis | 38 | 1863-1865 | Unconditional Unionist | Maryland |
| John Jordan Crittenden | 37 | 1861-1863 | ||
| Thomas Corwin | 36 | 1859-1861 | Republican | Ohio |
| Thomas Lanier Clingman (1st) | 35 | 1857 | Whig | North Carolina |
| George Washington Hopkins (2nd) | 35 | 1858-1859 | Democrat | Virginia |
| Alexander C.M. Pennington | 34 | 1855-1857 | Opposition | New Jersey |
| Thomas Henry Bayly | 32-33 | 1851-1855 | Democrat | Virginia |
| John Alexander McClernand | 31 | 1849-1851 | Democrat | Illinois |
| Truman Smith | 30 | 1847-1849 | Connecticut | Whig |
| Charles Jared Ingersoll | 28-29 | 1843-1847 | Pennsylvania | Democrat |
| Caleb Cushing (1st)
|
27 | 1841-1842 | Massachusetts | Democrat |
| John Quincy Adams (2nd) | 27 | 1842-1843 | Massachusetts | Republican |
| Francis Wilkinson Pickens | 26 | 1839-1841 | Democrat | South Carolina |
| Benjamin Chew Howard | 25 | 1837-1839 | Jacksonian | Maryland |
| John Young Mason (1st) | 24 | 1835 | Jacksonian | Virginia |
| Benjamin Chew Howard (2nd) | 24 | 1834-1835 | Jacksonian | Maryland |
| William Segar Archer (1st) | 23 | 1833 | Whig | Virginia |
| James Moore Wayne (2nd) | 23 | 1834-1835 | Jacksonian | Georgia |
| William Segar Archer | 22 | 1831-1833 | Whig | Virginia |
| Edward Everett | 20-21 | 1827-1831 | Whig | Massachusetts |
| John Forsyth | 18-19 | 1823-1827 | Democratic Republican | Georgia |
| Jonathan Russell | 17 | 1821-1823 | Republican | Massachusetts |
