Foreign Affairs

Intelligence

In 2025, Congressman Steve Cohen was honored to be appointed by Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), which oversees the United States Intelligence Community, including 18 agencies and departments responsible for safeguarding our nation’s security. For more information on his work on the Committee, please click here.

U.S. Helsinki Commission and Political Prisoners

Congressman Cohen is the House Ranking Member of the Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which seeks to improve security by promoting human rights, democracy and cooperation on economic, environmental and military issues in 57 countries. As a Commissioner, he has attended numerous hearings, briefings and meetings on these issues in Washington, DC, participated in the yearly Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and has traveled to Helsinki member states on official travel to meet with foreign elected officials.

In the OSCE PA, he is the Special Representative on Political Prisoners. In this role, he reports on political imprisonment in the OSCE region, develops policy recommendations aimed at enhancing effective political freedom, and works closely with former political prisoners, the families of current political prisoners, and organizations to help facilitate releases.  

Supporting Ukraine and Countering Russian Aggression

Congressman Cohen believes Ukraine is on the frontline of democracy and fighting on behalf of the free world right now. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he’s worked to support Ukraine in any way he can and bolster support to other European countries to counter Russian aggression. He has loudly called for support, voted to send Ukraine the support it needs and will continue to support Ukraine until Putin’s war is over. Congressman Cohen has also introduced a resolution to recognize Russian actions in Ukraine as a genocide. His resolution cites Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and aims to hold Russia accountable.

He supports several bills to support other European countries against aggression, including:

• the MEGOBARI Act to support democracy in Georgia and help counter malign influence. This bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.  
• the Sanctioning Russia Act which would impose sanctions on Russia if they refuse to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine, violate any such agreement, or initiate another military invasion of Ukraine.
• the Combating Global Corruption Act which would identify and combat corruption in countries by establishing a tiered list of countries with respect to levels of corruption by their governments and their efforts to combat such corruption and evaluate whether foreign persons engaged in significant corruption should be specially designated nationals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.  

Congressman Cohen is actively working to make these important bills law.  

Cuban Relations

Congressman Cohen has long supported normalizing U.S. relations with Cuba. He supported President Obama's steps to normalize relations with Cuba and had the opportunity to travel there in 2014. He is a sponsor of the Baseball Diplomacy Act which would eliminate barriers to Cuban athletes entering the U.S. on non-immigrant visas during the baseball season and then returning home when the season ends. The measure would allow players to retain their Cuban citizenship and return to Cuba with their earnings, rather than having to renounce their citizenship and abandon their families to play baseball in the United States. This bill would be good for players, fans, and for U.S.-Cuban relations. He has also written numerous letters encouraging U.S. Presidents lift oppressive sanctions in order to help the Cuban people. 

Israel

Israel has been our closest friend and ally in the Middle East since 1948 when the U.S. became the first country to recognize the establishment of the Jewish state. After the horrific October 7th terrorist attack committed by Hamas that killed over 1,200 civilians, Congressman Cohen voted to make sure Israel had what it needed to defend itself. At the same time, he is very concerned about the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians. The loss of life and destruction in Gaza these past few years is heartbreaking. He is working to ensure Palestinians have adequate humanitarian aid and has consistently called for them to receive more help. All civilians, regardless of nationality, should be able to live in safety and security. This is why supporting policies that work towards a Two-State Solution has been the Congressman’s focus when considering any legislation or actions pertaining to the region.  

Supporting a Democratic Iran

Congressman Cohen is a longtime supporter for a free, non-nuclear, democratic Iran. He is a co-chair of the Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus where he has the opportunity to participate in briefings and meetings regarding how best to support democracy movements in Iran. He is an original cosponsor of a resolution expressing support for the Iranian people's desires for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran, and condemning the Iranian regime's terrorism, regional proxy war, internal suppression. Congressman Cohen also loudly supported nationwide protests in Iran after the wrongful death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s Morality Police. He continues to condemn the Iranian regime’s persecution of dissenting political voices.