Foreign Leaders Addressing Congress

Foreign leaders are periodically invited to address Congress. The first address by a foreign dignitary occurred on December 10, 1824, when Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette addressed the House. The most recent address took place on April 28, 2026, when His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland addressed a joint meeting of Congress. Invitation Process When a foreign leader formally visits the United States, he or she is sometimes invited to address Congress. The decision to invite a foreign leader to address Congress has historically been made by the congressional leadership, often in consultation and conjunction with the executive branch. No formal procedure on when or how to issue invitations is codified in law or in House or Senate rules. Not all foreign leaders who visit the United States are invited to address Congress. When a foreign leader is invited to address Congress, the invitation is formally extended by the Speaker of the House on behalf of the House and Senate leadership. “It is my honor as Speaker, and on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, to extend to you as head of state of the Holy See an open invitation to appear before and address a Joint Meeting of the two houses of Congress assembled in the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives.” - Invitation to His Holiness Pope Francis from Speaker of the House John Boehner, 114th Congress Types of Meetings A foreign leader (or other non-Member of Congress) has historically addressed either the House, the Senate (a House or Senate reception), or a joint meeting, where the House and Senate are both present. House and Senate Receptions On several occasions, a foreign leader has been invited to address the House or Senate individually. These meetings are formally called House or Senate receptions. The first House reception was held on December 10, 1824, when the Marquis de Lafayette addressed the chamber. The most recent House reception for a foreign leader was held on February 17, 1977, for the President of Mexico, José López Portillo. The first Senate reception was held on January 5, 1852, when Louis Kossuth, the exiled Governor of Hungary, addressed the Senate. The most recent Senate reception for a foreign leader was held on August 16, 1967, with Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Chancellor of West Germany. Joint Meeting of Congress A joint meeting of Congress is generally held when a prominent individual, often a foreign leader, is invited to address the House and Senate simultaneously. Because addressing a joint meeting of Congress is available by invitation only, agreement on whom to invite, and when they will speak, is generally reached between the House and the Senate. Table 1 lists the number of foreign leaders who have addressed a joint meeting of Congress since the 94th Congress (1975-1976). Table 1. Number of Foreign Leaders Addressing a Joint Meeting of Congress, 1975-2026 to Date Congress Number Congress Number 94 7 107 2 95 1 108 4 96 0 109 7 97 1 110 3 98 4 111 3 99 7 112 3 100 3 113 2 101 7 114 5 102 5 115 1 103 3 116 1 104 5 117 2 105 3 118 5 106 1 119 to date 1 Total 86 Source: Historian of the House of Representatives, “Joint Meeting & Joint Session Addresses Before Congress by Foreign Leaders & Dignitaries,” http://history.house.gov/Institution/Foreign-Leaders/Joint-Sessions/. The first time a foreign leader addressed a joint meeting of Congress occurred in 1874, when King Kalakaua of Hawaii (then a kingdom) visited Washington, DC. Since then, there have been more than 125 instances where foreign leaders have addressed Congress. Some foreign leaders have addressed Congress more than once. Each speech is counted separately. Table 2 lists the foreign leaders to address a joint meeting of Congress during the 10 most recent Congresses (110th Congress [2007-2008] to the 119th Congress [2025-2026 to date]). Table 2. Addresses by Foreign Leaders to a Joint Meeting of Congress 110th to 119th Congresses to date Date Foreign Leader 3/7/2007 King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 11/7/2007 President Nicolas Sarkozy France 4/30/2008 Prime Minister Bertie Ahern Republic of Ireland 3/4/2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 11/3/2009 Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel Federal Republic of Germany 5/20/2010 President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa Mexico 3/9/2011 Prime Minister Julia Gillard Australia 3/24/2011 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Israel 10/13/2011 President Lee Myung-bak Republic of Korea 5/8/2013 President Park Geun Hye Republic of Korea 9/18/2014 President Petro Poroshenko Ukraine 3/3/2015 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Israel 3/25/2015 President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 4/29/2015 Prime Minister Abe Shinz Japan 9/24/2015 His Holiness Pope Francis Holy See of Rome 6/8/2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi India 4/25/2018 President Emmanuel Macron France 4/3/2019 Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 5/17/2022 Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis Hellenic Republic 12/21/2022 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukraine 4/27/2023 President Yoon Suk Yeol Republic of Korea 6/22/2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi India 7/19/2023 President Isaac Herzog Israel 4/11/2024 Prime Minister Kishida Fumio Japan 7/24/2024 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Israel 4/28/2026 King Charles III United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Source: Historian of the House of Representatives, “Joint Meeting & Joint Session Addresses Before Congress by Foreign Leaders & Dignitaries,” http://history.house.gov/Institution/Foreign-Leaders/Joint-Sessions/. Since 1809, most joint meetings of Congress to hear addresses by foreign leaders have been held in the Hall of the House. For example, Figure 1 shows Islamic Republic of Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani addressing a joint meeting of Congress on March 25, 2015. Figure 1. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Addressing a Joint Meeting of Congress March 25, 2015 / Source: C-SPAN, “Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Address to Joint Meeting of Congress,” March 25, 2015, at http://www.c-span.org/video/?324977-2/afghan-president-ashraf-ghani-address-joint-meeting-congress. Video Address to an Informal Meeting of Congress On at least one occasion, a foreign leader has addressed an informal meeting of Members of the House and Senate by video, without a formal joint meeting of Congress. On March 16, 2022, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Members of the House and Senate by a video broadcast to the Congressional Auditorium in the Capitol Visitor Center.