Paula Stern (1973-1974, 1976-1977) was a legislative assistant and dealt with matters regarding foreign policy legislation and international trade issues. Stern was on staff until 1976, but left to attend the Brookings Institute for a year in 1975. By 1976, Stern had been nominated for a position on the International Trade Commission; thereafter she remained a consultant to the staff. Jim Latting worked on the staff from circa 1972 to 1976, but is not identified as a member of Nelson's staff in the Congressional Staff Directory. However, some of the files were created by Jim Latting and Stern's files may have been passed on to Latting when she left in 1975. There is strong evidence that they worked on many of the same issues simultaneously and probably in conjunction.

The files are arranged based on the chronology of Stern and Latting's employment. The first set of files belonged to Stern, the second set of files belonged to both Stern and Latting, and the last set of files likely belonged to Latting. Latting's files were left with Stern's because there was not a clear distinction between their responsibilities. When Stern left the office in 1976, Larry Groner took over foreign affairs issues and as a result some of Latting's files can be found interfiled with Groner's.

The majority of the materials pertain to the Vietnam War including Nelson's position on the war and bringing about its end; foreign military sales; chemical and biological warfare including the effects of Agent Orange; and trade reform. The remaining files deal with issues regarding military budgets, the Carter-Mondale transition, and the world food shortage. Intermingled in the files are project and correspondence files. Related material can be found under Gar Alperovitz, Ezra Siff, and Larry Groner.