Smith, Chris RSS Articles

Pregnancy Help News article on Smith-led amicus brief re: USCCB v. EEOC'Fifty federal lawmakers file brief against Biden admin EEOC abortion rule'

Fri, 29 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Lisa Bourne
Published May 29, 2026

Fifty Members of Congress submitted an amicus brief arguing that the Biden Administration illegally commandeered the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) to force all U.S. employers - even faith-based and religious organizations – to accommodate employee abortions.

Led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN), Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the lawmakers submitted the brief Tuesday to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of U.S. Bishops (USCCB) and other religious entities in United States Conference of Catholic Bishops v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Members of Congress explain in the brief that the bipartisan PWFA’s purpose was to allow for protections and accommodations for pregnant and postpartum women in the workplace. But despite the fact the law does not contain any reference to abortion, the Biden-era Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a Final Rule that extended the PWFA’s definition of “medical conditions” to include abortion and mandated that all employers nationwide accommodate employee abortions.

Harshit Jain/Unsplash

“Flouting the law Congress passed, the EEOC transformed the PWFA into a draconian national abortion-accommodations mandate that tramples the conscience rights of those who object to abortion, including some of the very faith-based organizations that supported the PWFA,” the lawmakers argue.

“Congress included a religious exemption in the PWFA, guaranteeing that no religious employer would have to violate its faith,” they said. “But by interpreting the religious exemption narrowly and medical justifications for abortion broadly, the Final Rule fundamentally repurposes the PWFA into an unprecedented instrument of radical abortion policy.”

The 37 Representatives and 13 Senators argue that the EEOC required, yet bypassed, congressional authorization to enforce its Final Rule, explaining how “the EEOC contorted the PWFA into a radical revision of national policy on one of the most contentious issues in America today.”

They say as well that Congress specifically chose “not to link the PWFA’s definition of ‘medical condition’ to the definition in other statutes” that could possibly create loopholes for abortion.

“The intent and text of the PWFA are clear,” they said, “to ensure healthy pregnancies by supporting women with pregnancy-related medical conditions both during and after their pregnancy. The EEOC ignored the statute and substituted its views on abortion for those of Congress, injecting abortion politics into a law designed to help mothers healthily carry their child to term.”

The full list of Members of Congress who cosigned the friend-of-the-court brief is below.

House Cosigners (37): Reps. Smith (R-NJ), Houchin (R-IN), Aderholt (R-AL), Alford (R-MO), Babin (R-TX), Bice (R-OK), Biggs (R-AZ), Biggs (R-SC), Bilirakis (R-FL), Cammack (R-FL), Cline (R-VA), Cloud (R-TX), Clyde (R-GA), Davidson (R-OH), Downing (R-MT), Estes (R-KS), Fedorchak (R-ND), Fleischmann (R-TN), Franklin (R-FL), Fulcher (R-ID), Griffith (R-VA), Hageman (R-WY), Harris (R-MD), McGuire (R-VA), Miller (R-IL), Moore (R-UT), Moore (R-WV), Moran (R-TX), Ogles (R-TN), Onder (R-MO), Rose (R-TN), Schmidt (R-KS), Stutzman (R-IN), Tenney (R-NY), Weber (R-TX), Webster (R-FL), Yakym (R-IN)

Senate Cosigners (13): Sens. Cassidy (LA), Lankford (OK), Barrasso (WY), Banks (IN), Budd (NC), Cramer (ND), Graham (SC), Hyde-Smith (MS), Marshall (KS), Paul (KY), Ricketts (NE), Tim Scott (SC), Sheehy (MT)

This article was published on May 29, 2026 and can be found online at: https://pregnancyhelpnews.com/fifty-federal-lawmakers-file-brief-against-biden-admin-eeoc-abortion-rule

Praises Sec. Kennedy’s commitment to making Lyme a national priorityRep. Smith applauds bold, new HHS initiatives to combat and treat Lyme disease

Fri, 29 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Caucus, praised U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his leadership and new, groundbreaking investments in Lyme disease research, prevention, and treatment.

At a press conference in New Hampshire on Friday, Secretary Kennedy unveiled HHS’ plans to dramatically enhance the federal government’s focus and commitment to programs designed to combat Lyme disease.

Among other actions, Secretary Kennedy called on Congress to immediately reauthorize the Kay Hagan Tick Act, which provides critical funding for Lyme disease research at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Smith is the author of HR 4348, the bill to reauthorize the act and support research on tick-borne diseases at five federal Centers for Excellence, as well as authorize state public health agencies to work with the federal government to control outbreaks.

“I am very grateful to Secretary Kennedy for voicing his strong support for provisions of my bill to reauthorizes the Kay Hagan Tick Act and help improve the quality of life and long-term health outcomes for Lyme patients throughout the country,” said Smith, the author of numerous initiatives to enhance federal funding for Lyme disease research and bring relief and awareness to those who suffer with Lyme.

“As summer draws near and emergency room visits for tick bites reach historic levels, it is my hope that my colleagues move quickly to pass this critical legislation,” he said.

Smith’s HR 4348 was recently reported out of the Committee on Energy and Commerce by a unanimous vote of 48-0 and is now awaiting floor action. Kennedy’s supportive comments about provisions of the bill are expected to help expedite passage of the legislation by the full House of Representatives.

At his press conference, Secretary Kennedy also unveiled the expansion of the LymeX Innovation Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind public-private-partnership with the Stephen and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, which funds prize competitions to advance innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme.

Smith is the author of the LymeX Authorization Act (HR 7482), introduced in February, which will codify the program and allocate $5 million to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out prize competitions to incentivize Lyme disease research. Smith has also personally secured millions of dollars in federal funding for the continuation of the program in the past.

“The LymeX Innovation Accelerator has already generated two FDA-approved diagnostic tests for early and accurate detection of Lyme and has yielded important innovations in the realm of diagnostics,” said Smith. “I am greatly encouraged that Secretary Kennedy continues to recognize the value, promise and potential of this partnership.”

Sec. Kennedy also highlighted a new critical program with the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases to target tick populations and reduce their ability to infect wildlife, such as deer and mice, with the spirochete bacteria that causes Lyme.

“The New England Center of Excellence—which was created with funding allocated by the original Kay Hagan Tick Act—has already contributed to our understanding of how to control and prevent outbreaks of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases,” said Smith, who, since 1993, has authored comprehensive amendments and legislation to boost federal support and research for those suffering from Lyme disease.

“Identifying best practices to manage tick populations and minimize infection rates in wildlife can lead to prevention tools and more protection for citizens across the country,” Smith said. “Combined with early detection and meaningful treatments, new prevention strategies will be critical to our comprehensive approach to combat Lyme disease,” he said.

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50 members of Congress file amicus brief for USCCB v. EEOCSmith, Houchin, Cassidy, and Lankford urge removal of Biden-era abortion-accommodations mandate in the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Thu, 28 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN), Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), and 46 other members of Congress submitted an amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), arguing that the Biden Administration illegally hijacked the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) to force all employers nationwide—including faith-based or religious organizations—to accommodate employee abortions.

In the amicus brief, the 50 Republican lawmakers explain that the intent of the bipartisan PWFA was to provide robust protections and accommodations for women expecting a child and postpartum women in the workplace; however, despite the fact that the law does not include any references to abortion, the Biden-era EEOC issued a Final Rule that expanded the PWFA’s definition of “medical conditions” and mandated all employers throughout the United States to accommodate employee abortions.

The authors continue, “Congress included a religious exemption in the PWFA, guaranteeing that no religious employer would have to violate its faith. But by interpreting the religious exemption narrowly and medical justifications for abortion broadly, the Final Rule fundamentally repurposes the PWFA into an unprecedented instrument of radical abortion policy.”

Throughout the brief, the 37 Representatives and 13 Senators argue that the EEOC required, yet bypassed, congressional authorization to enforce its Final Rule, describing how “the EEOC contorted the PWFA into a radical revision of national policy on one of the most contentious issues in America today.” Moreover, they explain how Congress specifically chose “not to link the PWFA’s definition of ‘medical condition’ to the definition in other statutes” that could potentially create loopholes for abortion.

“The intent and text of the PWFA are clear: to ensure healthy pregnancies by supporting women with pregnancy-related medical conditions both during and after their pregnancy. The EEOC ignored the statute and substituted its views on abortion for those of Congress, injecting abortion politics into a law designed to help mothers healthily carry their child to term,” the lawmakers conclude.

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OSV News article on Smith-led amicus brief re: USCCB v. EEOC'Lawmakers back US bishops' bid to block abortion from pregnant worker protection rules'

Thu, 28 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Kate Scanlon
Published May 28, 2026 at 4:38 PM

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Fifty members of Congress offered their support to a lawsuit by the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference and other Catholic organizations seeking to block a federal agency from enforcing an abortion provision within a set of federal regulations meant to add workplace protections for pregnant workers.

Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., Erin Houchin, R-Ind., and Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and James Lankford, R-Okla., and 46 other Republican members of Congress submitted an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit United States Conference of Catholic Bishops v. the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, arguing the regulation as published under the Biden administration contradicted the intent of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

A file photo shows a woman working while she was 8 months pregnant at a store in Jerome, Idaho. Fifty Republican members of Congress have filed an amicus brief in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supporting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in their lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over abortion-related regulations imposed on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. (OSV News photo/Shannon Stapleton, Reuters)

Controversial law

The regulations at the center of the lawsuit govern the implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in December 2022. The law, which went into effect in June 2023, prohibits employment practices that discriminate against making reasonable accommodations for qualified employees due to their pregnancy, childbirth or “related medical conditions.”

But final regulations to implement the law published in April 2024 included abortion as among those conditions.

The amicus brief came shortly after the Catholic groups on May 18 asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the regulation.

The EEOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OSV News.

Abortion funding

In 2024, the USCCB, alongside other Catholic groups, filed suit to challenge final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act over the inclusion of abortion, arguing that was not Congress’ intent in passing the law.

Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm, filed that lawsuit on behalf of the USCCB, as well as The Catholic University of America and the dioceses of Lake Charles and Lafayette in Louisiana.

Laura Wolk Slavis, counsel at Becket, said in a May 19 statement, “Bureaucrats tried to twist a bipartisan law protecting pregnant women and their unborn babies into a mandate that churches facilitate abortion within their own ministries.”

“If there’s one thing everyone should agree on about abortion, it’s that Uncle Sam can’t make Mother Teresa support it,” she said.

More broadly, three years after the law’s passage, its protections for pregnant workers are still unevenly met by some corporations, The New York Times recently reported.

This article was published on May 28, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.osvnews.com/lawmakers-back-us-bishops-bid-to-block-abortion-from-pregnant-worker-protection-rules/

Crux article on Smith's India op-ed'Rubio visits Missionaries of Charity on the first day of his visit to India'

Sat, 23 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Nirmala Carvalho
Published May 23, 2026

MUMBAI, India – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kolkata, India, early on Saturday, where he visited Mother House, the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by St. Mother Teresa.

Rubio spent an hour at the headquarters and then visited Nirmala Sishu Bhawan, an orphanage run by Missionaries of Charity.

“It was a joy to welcome him, he wanted Blessings from Mother’s Tomb, it was like a family get together,” said Sister Concettina.

“We were also really surprised to have him visit. We did not expect such a high-ranking dignitary to come here, but it was his wish to visit Mother’s tomb and pray. So we all joined together in prayer and thanked God for the gift of his life,” the religious sister said.

Hindus make up nearly 80 percent of the country, and Christians – the majority of them Catholics – only make up 2.3 percent of the nation.

Sisters of Nirmala Shishu Bhavan children’s home of the Missionaries of Charity wave at the cavalcade of Secretary of State Marco Rubio after his visit, in Kolkata, India, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool photo via AP.)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ruled the government since 2014. The party has strong links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militant Hindu nationalist organization. Religious minorities have complained of increased harassment since the party took power on a Hindu-first platform.

Incidents of harassment against Christians and other religious minorities have increased across India, with various Christians being detained or arrested for “attempted conversion,” and places of worship being vandalized.

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to raise concerns regarding the proposed changes to India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) reported The Hindustan Times.

Under the proposed changes, a “designated authority” could take over assets created out of foreign funds by an NGO or association with a “foreign” body.

Smith said that the alterations, if they go through, would allegedly disproportionately affect Christian charities and churches. In an op-ed written for the Washington Examiner, Smith argued that the passage of new restrictive amendments “could do lasting damage to the relations between our two countries.”

“If adopted, the bill would sharply expand the ability of the Indian state to seize the property and assets of groups that receive foreign funding — the vast majority of these being Christian churches and charities, such as hospitals and schools. In effect, the total property of entire churches and dioceses could soon be at risk of being taken over by the Indian state,” said the U.S. Congressman.

While acknowledging India’s democratic status and its right to see itself as a “Hindu cultural superpower,” Smith argued that “it is difficult to see how the relationship can develop if the government of India passes legislation designed to set up the expropriation of Indian Christians.”

Father Babu Joseph, the former spokesperson of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), said it was “quite probable” Rubio might “touch upon” human rights and religious freedom that are constituent elements of a functioning democracy like the U.S. and India.

“There are legitimate concerns regarding the proposed amendments in the FCRA bill that are unsettling for the non-governmental sector involved in social development in India,” he told Crux Now.

“In particular, the Church in India has been quite active in availing foreign funding to create education and health infrastructure across the country, benefiting all sections of society,” the priest said. “And if the highly indefensible provisions of the bill that purports to take over property on the grounds of non-renewal or lapse of the FCRA license are passed, it will have far-reaching consequences on the church’s s educational and health ecosystem.”

“It’s only reasonable to assume that the donor countries will also have their concern because they provided funds for specific purposes and not for a government to acquire them with no justifiable reasons,” Joseph told Crux Now.

Rubio’s first official trip to India is also meant to stabilize relations with the country after ties were hurt over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which raised duties on several Indian exports.

“There’s a lot to work on with India, they’re a great ally and partner. We do a lot of good work with them so this is an important trip,” Rubio said ahead of his visit.

This article was published on May 23, 2026 and can be found online at: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2026/05/rubio-visits-missionaries-of-charity-on-the-first-day-of-his-visit-to-india

The Hindustan Times article on Smith's India op-ed'Ahead of Rubio's India trip, US lawmaker urges Secretary of State to flag concerns over proposed FCRA changes'

Sat, 23 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Shashank Mattoo
Published May 23, 2026 at 12:49 AM IST

Ahead of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to India, an American lawmaker urged him to raise concerns regarding the proposed changes to India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Rubio is set to hold extensive discussions with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday, and will attend the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday next week.

US Congressman Chris Smith said that the alterations if they go through would allegedly disproportionately affect Christian charities and churches. In an oped written for the Washington Examiner, Smith argued that the passage of new restrictive amendments “could do lasting damage to the relations between our two countries.”

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha in March 2026, and seeks to amend the existing 2010 law. It lays out provisions for how Indian individuals, companies and associations may receive and utilise foreign contribution.

Rubio is set to hold extensive discussions with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday. (AP)

In his argument, Smith has in particular expressed concern about provisions which allow the Indian government to seize foreign contributions and assets created from them, and vest them with a designated authority in case the registration of the receiving person or entity lapses.

While acknowledging India’s democratic status and its right to see itself as a “Hindu cultural superpower”, Smith argued that “it is difficult to see how the relationship can develop if the government of India passes legislation designed to set up the expropriation of Indian Christians.”

India denies visas to USCIRF

India and the United States have long disagreed on issues related to religious freedom. India has denied visas to delegations from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and has repudiated the agency’s reports on religious freedom in India.

“For several years now, USCIRF has persisted in presenting a distorted and selective picture of India, relying on questionable sources and ideological narratives rather than objective facts. Such repeated misrepresentations only undermine the credibility of the Commission itself,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in March this year after the release of the USCIRF’s 2025 report.

US politicians and government agencies have persisted in raising issues related to religious freedom in India. Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US in 2023, Representative Ilhan Omar introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning “human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities.”

The resolution did not make it to a vote in front of the House. US officials serving at the time in then-President Biden’s administration also stated that they would raise religious freedom issues with India during PM Modi’s visit.

This article was published on May 23, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ahead-of-rubios-india-visit-us-lawmaker-urges-secretary-of-state-to-flag-concerns-over-proposed-fcra-changes-101779476207480.html#google_vignette

Washington Examiner Op-Ed by Rep. Smith'Rubio's tall task in New Delhi visit: Protect religious freedom or risk lasting damage'

Thu, 21 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Rep. Chris Smith
Published May 21, 2026 at 6:00 AM ET

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepares to travel to New Delhi to meet Indian leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is poised to pass a law that could do lasting damage to the relations between our two countries. But if Indian leaders set the bill aside, it would be a win-win for both countries.

During its “Monsoon Session” from July 21 to August 12, the Indian Parliament is set to consider a bill amending India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. If adopted, the bill would sharply expand the ability of the Indian state to seize the property and assets of groups that receive foreign funding — the vast majority of these being Christian churches and charities, such as hospitals and schools. In effect, the total property of entire churches and dioceses could soon be at risk of being taken over by the Indian state.

The FCRA bill would permit state takeover of assets of foreign-funded groups, such as churches, whose licenses to receive foreign funds lapse, are denied, or are not renewed. In the Indian system, this happens often and for many reasons — usually for minor, technical, or accounting errors. The effect is that, for an error in a single transaction, the entire property of a church, including equipment, land, schools, hospitals, and bank funds, could vest immediately in a government-designated authority, which could then manage, sell, or otherwise dispose of them at will.

Worse, the bill’s “vesting” provisions apply if even a small portion of an asset was financed with foreign contributions — meaning, for example, that the entire assets of a diocese, owning perhaps hundreds of churches, could be seized for an error in processing a single small foreign donation.

Worse yet, the authority to seize assets would apply retroactively, so organizations that have had their FCRA licenses revoked or not renewed years ago could still have their assets seized today.

The temporary 2022 suspension of the FCRA license of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity illustrates the risk — under these amendments, all of the order’s assets could have been seized outright and permanently lost, even though the license was eventually restored.

It’s important to state that concerns about the Indian government’s respect for religious freedom long predate the government of Modi and the BJP. Previous Indian governments, led by the Congress Party, also failed to respect religious freedom. The “anticonversion” laws predate the rise of the BJP, the party Modi leads. Yet Modi has been the prime minister of India since 2014 — he and the BJP must take full responsibility for the FCRA law they are proposing.

Fortunately, the bigger picture for U.S.-India relations is much brighter. India is right to see itself as a civilizational state, a Hindu cultural superpower. It is also a vibrant democracy — both free and stable, and by many measures, one of the most successful countries in the world. The United States and India need to form a true partnership. As the Chinese government subjects its people to utterly dystopian surveillance and social controls, and Europe tragically declines, there is no other partnership between countries that could benefit humanity more than one between the U.S. and India.

Creating this partnership will be a delicate task — we must have true respect for each other’s cultures and be genuinely willing to learn from each other. Yet, it is difficult to see how that relationship can develop if the government of India passes legislation designed to set up the expropriation of Indian Christians.

This was, after all, precisely the path taken by Russian, Chinese, and other communist governments — and it did as much as anything to drive a permanent wedge between them and the U.S.

I urge Rubio to work with his Indian counterparts toward the withdrawal of the FCRA amendments. Improving U.S.-Indian relations must include the freedom for faith-based organizations to operate in India without having their assets nationalized.

Chris Smith is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District.

This article was published online on May 21, 2026 and can be found at https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4576620/marco-rubio-new-delhi-india-visit-foreign-contribution-regulation-act-fcra/

Bills head to House floor with overwhelming bipartisan supportHouse Committee unanimously passes two Smith bills on lifesaving umbilical cord blood/stem cell research, Lyme disease

Thu, 21 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

During their full committee markup today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously approved two critical public health reauthorization bills authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)—HR 4348, the Kay Hagan Tick Act, and HR 5160, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025—which will now head to the House floor for a vote.

“Now that these critical, life-enhancing bills have passed out of the Energy & Commerce Committee, we are one step closer to getting them across the finish line and onto President Trump’s desk for his signature,” said Smith. “These two bills will tremendously improve the quality of life of the millions of Americans suffering from serious, chronic, and life-threatening health conditions.”

HR 4348, the Kay Hagan Tick Act reauthorization

Smith’s first reauthorization bill that advanced out of the Energy & Commerce Committee, the Kay Hagan Tick Act (HR 4348), will provide $27 million in continued funding for Lyme disease research at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Specifically, the bill—which unanimously passed out of the Committee by a margin of 48-0—will allocate funding for the CDC’s regional Centers of Excellence, which conduct comprehensive research on vector-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease, and train public health entomologists on how to prevent, identify, treat, and track tick bites.

HR 4348 will also provide funding for states in regions that have an elevated risk of Lyme or other tick-borne disease outbreaks, which will enable them to work in tandem with the federal government to quickly identify and address such outbreaks.

“Lyme and other tick-borne disease infections are exploding in the United States – in 2025 alone, my home state of New Jersey recorded 6,098 cases of vector-borne illnesses, with 5,211 of those solely attributed to Lyme,” stated Smith, who, since 1993, has authored comprehensive amendments and legislation to improve research, federal collaboration, and the lives of those suffering from Lyme disease.

“Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses pose critical threats to our Nation’s health and well-being, and we must do more to help the hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from these debilitating conditions. I urge House leadership to bring this legislation to the floor imminently—Lyme patients cannot wait any longer.”

HR 5160, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025

Smith’s second reauthorization bill, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2025 (HR 5160), passed the Committee by a margin of 46-0 and will authorize more than $280 million over five years for the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and the National Cord Blood Inventory, ensuring that two collaborative programs can continue providing treatments and therapies derived from ethically-sourced stem cell lines.

Smith is the author of the original law (the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 – PL 109-129) that created those programs and connected patients with genetically-matched, ethically-gleaned stem cells.

“Stem cell treatments have been used to treat, and even cure, more than 75 diseases, ranging from leukemia to sickle cell anemia—uninterrupted funding and support for these programs will improve and save thousands of more lives,” said Smith. “I am grateful to the Energy & Commerce Committee, especially and including Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), for recognizing the importance of this time-sensitive and much-needed reauthorization.”

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The Daily Signal article on Smith's CECC hearing on forced organ harvesting'Rep. Chris Smith Shines Spotlight on Communist China's Live Organ Harvesting'

Wed, 20 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

By Robert Moffit and John Paul Libanati
Published May 20, 2026

Communist China is producing a real horror show.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., recently convened a special session of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China and solicited stunning testimony from experts and eyewitnesses on the horrific practice of live organ harvesting—hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys, corneas—in Communist China. The unlucky cohort of living “donors”—men and women murdered for their body parts—is comprised of various dissidents as well as politically persecuted ethnic and religious minorities.

This latest congressional inquiry follows in the wake of The Heritage Foundation’s public conference on the topic, which featured Jan Jekielek, author of the New York Times bestseller “Killed to Order: China’s Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America’s Biggest Adversary.” Jekielek also appeared as a witness before the commission’s panel.

In his opening remarks, Smith noted a hot mic exchange between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where the two autocrats were casually discussing the potential of organ donation contributing to greater longevity, with Xi speculating that humans this century could possibly live as long as 150 years.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., on June 25, 2014, in the District of Columbia. (Larry French/Getty Images)

Ethical organ transplantation, Smith emphasized, is “noble and lifesaving … But forced organ harvesting is not healing. It is murder masquerading as medicine.”

This horrific practice, notes Smith, is a logical consequence of the Orwellian assumptions underlying communism: “a system where human beings are reduced to commodities, and the state controls the body as well as the mind.”

Ethan Gutmann, a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and author of the recently-published book, “The Xinjiang Procedure,” told the commission that, as early as 2013, government agents started to come into people’s homes and draw blood from those deemed to be at odds with China’s Communist regime. Those found guilty of practicing an “unsanctioned faith” were arrested, imprisoned, often tortured, kept in harsh conditions in cells and internment camps.

Based on camp medical files in 2017, Gutmann said, a red check mark next to a blood sample meant that the person had been “pre-selected” for harvesting. Gutmann says that when youths ripen to an average age of 28, prison guards drag them—whether kicking and screaming or resigned and hopeless—to a transplant hospital where, under anesthesia, organ removal occurs. They start removing different organs, one after another, until they excise the heart.

Religious Persecution

The target populations for this practice have been expanding.

Originally, the victims were death row prisoners. Today, the enlarged “donor” class includes the practitioners of Falun Gong—mostly virtuous contemplatives—but also Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Christians.

Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., observed that the “targeting of Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghurs reflects … a broader campaign of religious persecution that includes Christians in China, ethnic repression, and dehumanization carried out by the PRC (People’s Republic of China).”

Jekielek told the commission that the communist regime has launched an aggressive propaganda campaign against certain minorities, painting them as “black classes.” Jekielek said that this enables the regime to designate them as subhuman so that the Chinese people, assuming they become aware of it, are “psychologically prepared for the atrocities against the target group.”

Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback reminded the commission that China’s totalitarian regime, regardless of any of its protestations to the contrary, cannot and will not tolerate genuine religious liberty. For the communist regime, religious liberty is the equivalent of “kryptonite,” and they fear such liberty more than they fear our aircraft carriers or nuclear weapons.”

A Global Problem

There is a growing global demand for organs, especially among wealthy Middle Eastern patients. China’s communist regime can profit from such a lucrative international market.

The policy question for the U.S. and its allies is how to ensure that medical researchers, practitioners, and medical institutions in the West are not complicit in this unethical practice. During his testimony before the commission, Gutmann specifically called for an investigation of Thermo Fisher Scientific, a company that supplied DNA testing used on millions of Uyghurs and Kazakhs. Likewise, Jekielek called for oversight over American institutions training practitioners as transplant surgeons who return to Communist China.

There is bipartisan interest in tackling the problem. Rep. Smith’s bill, the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 (HR 1503), would criminalize trafficking in forcibly donated organs and impose penalties of up to 20 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines for knowing complicity with this unethical practice.

“Tyrants will continue to seek immortality,” said Smith, “but not with our expertise or money. Not with a dollar of American complicity.”

The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 406 to 1. The Senate has yet to act.

Curiously, the Chinese Communist Party’s organ harvesting program is another case of life imitating art. In 1978, Michael Crichton directed “Coma,” a high-class horror film starring a young Michael Douglas and the beautiful Geneviève Bujold. Bujold’s character, a young surgeon, discovers that hospital patients are being induced into a coma and their bodies are being transported to a remote location for live organ harvesting. Initially, her colleagues are skeptical.

In the movie, the culprit is a sophisticated transnational criminal organization. In real life, it still is.

This article was published on May 20, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/05/20/china-organ-harvesting/

Calls on Senate to take up his Stop Forced Organ Harvesting ActSmith chairs hearing on gruesome, systemic practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking in China

Fri, 15 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), heard chilling testimony from expert witnesses about the barbaric, systemic, and lucrative practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and beyond.

“Today, this Commission examines one of the most barbaric human rights atrocities of our time: the forced harvesting of organs from prisoners of conscience, death row inmates, and other vulnerable people—especially in Communist China,” said Smith during his opening remarks.

Smith explained how Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Christians, death row inmates, and other religious and ethnic minorities in China are targeted and tortured for their organs, which are then implanted into Chinese Communist Party elites or sold to the highest bidder.

“What we are examining today is the conversion of the imprisoned and persecuted into inventory. Hearts. Livers. Kidneys. Lungs. Corneas. Taken from the living. Sold to the desperate. Hidden behind hospital walls. Protected by secrecy, corruption, fear, and state power,” the China policy expert and human rights lawmaker continued.

Smith, who chaired his first congressional hearing on forced organ harvesting thirty years ago, underscored the importance of his Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 (HR 1503), which passed the House with broad bipartisan support and by a margin of 406 to 1, and urged the Senate to immediately take up his legislation for a vote.

“The Senate has not acted on the bill, but they must. Delay is denial. Every day without consequences is another day perpetrators operate in the shadows, witnesses are intimidated, evidence disappears, and families never learn what happened to their loved ones,” stated Smith.

“No dictator, no party boss, no wealthy patient, and no broker should be able to purchase longevity with the organs of the poor and persecuted. That is all the more reason to pass the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act and make unmistakably clear that the United States will not stand by in the face of such cruelty.”

Policy experts, investigative journalists present evidence

Ethan Gutmann, a Senior Research Fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the author of The Xinjiang Procedure (2026) and The Slaughter (2014), testified about the nature of China’s forced organ harvesting “market,” drawing from the first-hand accounts of medical and direct witnesses and his extensive research on the gruesome practice.

“If we use one million detainees as the baseline population across camps, prisons, forced-labor facilities, and other carceral environments, that means 25,000 to 50,000 Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic detainees harvested per year. If two to three organs are taken from each victim, that is enough to support a transplant volume of at least 60,000 successful transplants annually,” he told lawmakers.

“On that basis, my minimum estimate for the cumulative death toll from forced organ harvesting in Xinjiang is over 200,000,” Gutmann continued.

The Hon. Sam Brownback, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, explained how the practice of forced organ harvesting is a byproduct of the CCP’s broader war on religion and human dignity: “Disfavored religious communities are particularly targeted by the perpetrators of the forced organ harvesting scheme, with Falun Gong practitioners systematically catalogued based on biometric markers and then murdered for their organs.

“The organs of Uyghur Muslims are marketed to wealthy Middle Easterners as ‘halal,’ in an unimaginably cynical perversion of their Muslim faith,” Amb. Brownback continued.

Jan Jekielek, the Senior Editor of The Epoch Times and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Killed to Order, described how Chinese prisoners of conscience are dehumanized and commercialized, tissue-typed and made available for rapid transplant matching.

“This is why I titled my book Killed to Order,” explained Jekielek. “Because that is exactly what it is: organs delivered on a schedule, matched in advance, extracted from living human beings who are then discarded.

“It is industrialized forced organ harvesting made possible by the CCP’s unique combination of totalitarian control, mass dehumanization, and the willingness to turn human beings into spare parts for profit, power and elite longevity,” he argued.

Detention camp survivors provide eyewitness accounts

The hearing, entitled “A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond,” also featured the eyewitness accounts of two Chinese detention camp survivors, Kalbinur Sidik and Seyed Alireza “Ali” Motevalian.

Sidik, who was forced to work as a Chinese-language instructor at a detention camp in Sangfanggou Village No. 5, Ürümchi City, said: “Every Monday, no classes were held for the detainees. Instead, blood was drawn from them. They were given unidentified injections. Afterwards, they were given small white pills.

“Every day in the classroom, detainees were constantly replaced,” she continued. “Older and stronger prisoners were taken away, while new ones arrived. Familiar faces disappeared, and we were expected to accept whatever explanation the guards gave us.”

Motevalian, who was wrongfully imprisoned in the PRC and spent extended periods of time inside the Shanghai Prisons General Hospital, described an institutional pattern of prisoners being restrained or sedated, forced to provide thumbprints on consent forms, and taken to surgery, never to return. He also detailed the presence of mobile freezer carts, which were moved quickly by guards to waiting vans; the separate handling of bodies or coffins towards an incineration area; and the occurrence of “sleepers,” or unconscious or deeply sedated prisoners, being brought into the surgery area by armed People’s Armed Police personnel.

“Prisoners were restrained or incapacitated, thumb-printed, taken to surgery, and did not return. A freezer cart then moved quickly from the surgery area to a waiting van, while the body or coffin was handled separately toward the rear incineration area. Unconscious restrained prisoners were also brought from outside under armed PAP escort and taken directly toward surgery,” said Motevalian, whose submitted testimony was read at the hearing.

“Based on the repetition, the layout, the behavior of guards and Laodong workers, the separate handling of the freezer cart and body, the lack of ordinary specialist medical care, and the large, controlled surgery area, I understood this as non-consensual organ procurement inside the prison hospital,” he concluded.

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