Malinowski named to Foreign Affairs Committee

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Rocky Hill), a former assistant U.S. Secretary of State in the Obama administration, has been named to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

This is the second committee assignment for the freshman congressman from New Jersey’s 7th district.  He has also won a seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“I hope to bring unique experience and knowledge to the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Malinowski said.  “My priorities include: ensuring that the United States stands by our allies and alliances around the world, recalibrating our relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, examining the administration’s North Korea policy,ensuring effective implementation of Russia sanctions, using the Global Magnitsky Act and other tools to hold human rights violators accountable and to fight corruption, and using the voice of the Committee and the House more frequently to communicate to the world the values that the administration is abdicating.”

Malinowski served as a senior director of the National Security Council and Washington Director for Human Rights Watch before his election to Congress.

“The House Foreign Affairs Committee can and should become the principal institution in Washington exercising foreign policy oversight and serving as an alternative voice for America to the world,” Malinowski said.  “I hope to make a significant contribution in that effort. ”

Malinowski joins two other New Jersey congressmen on the committee: Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton) and Albio Sires (D-West New York).

U.S> Senator Bob Menendez is the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.