Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - 1/9/2025… The House Foreign Affairs Committee has announced the selection of Congressman Mike Lawler as Chairman of the highly influential Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Middle East and North Africa regions and will also have oversight responsibilities over State Department activities.

“It is a great honor to receive the gavel of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa,” Congressman Lawler said. “Over my first term, I worked to strengthen the United States’ relationship with Israel, our closest ally, stand up to Iranian aggression and proxies in the Middle East, and reduce Chinese influence in the Middle East and North Africa. I look forward to continuing that important work as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.”

“I’m encouraged by the trust placed in me by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, and I am excited to work with him on the critical issues that lie before us in the 119th Congress,” concluded Congressman Lawler. “I am confident that under Chairman Mast’s leadership, the Foreign Affairs Committee will chart a course towards continued American leadership around the globe.”

“Mike Lawler understands with tremendous clarity the challenges and opportunities facing America, and our greatest ally Israel in the Middle East,” said House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast. “He’s going to be a great subcommittee chairman.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has jurisdiction over many critical diplomatic and national security issues, including foreign assistance, national security developments, strategic planning and agreements, war powers, treaties, executive agreements, and the deployment and use of United States Armed Forces, peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and enforcement of United Nations or other international sanctions, arms control and disarmament issues, the United States Agency for International Development, international law enforcement issues, including narcotics control programs and activities, public diplomacy, including international communication, information policy, international education, and cultural programs, and more.

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties. The 17th District is also home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the country.