Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) is under fire for her attendance at hearings held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with the Boston Herald pointing out that she has missed nearly half of the hearings, including one where intelligence officials warned of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
Shaheen missed an April 11, 2013, hearing on U.S. policy toward Syria in which a top U.S. Treasury official in charge of terrorist financing told Senate committee members that a new terrorist group, ISIS, had sprung up, "underscoring the danger this group poses for Syria and the world."
Shaheen was not listed as being present at the hearing in a Foreign Relations Committee report.
Records also show Shaheen didn’t show up for full committee hearings on counterterrorism policies, U.S. policy toward Iran and a host of others involving security and foreign policy. [...]
The panel has held 30 full committee hearings in this congressional session, according to committee records, and Shaheen was not listed as being there at 11 hearings in which a report was issued. In three other hearings in which reports weren’t released, Shaheen did not appear to show up either, according to committee video and transcripts.
A spokesman for Shaheen assured the Herald that "Shaheen is one of the most active and engaged members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," and that even when she is not able to attend hearings, she "maintains constant communications" with national security officials.