Rep. Chris Smith called on his colleagues to pass "Sami's Law," a bill he named after Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville, NJ, during floor debate July 30. Sami was killed by a man posing as her Uber ride in 2019. Smith worked with Sami's parents, Seymour and Marci Josephson, to craft a bipartisan bill to improve ride-hail, sometime called ride-share, safety. The measure passed in a voice vote, and is pending in the Senate.
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Rep. Chris Smith chaired a hearing in July to focus attention on the case of missing Bishop James Su Zhimin, who has endured approximately 40 years in prison in China for exercising his universally-recognized human right of religious freedom. Said Smith, "Today, I again join many, including the Bishop’s relatives, and ask President Xi Jinping: where is Bishop Su? And why does a powerful dictatorship fear peaceful men and women of faith and virtue? "
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Rep. Chris Smith addressed Voices Against Trafficking's recent 2020 webinar, stating, "Human trafficking is a barbaric human rights abuse that thrives on greed, secrecy, a perverted sense of entitlement to exploit the vulnerable and an unimaginable disregard for the victims. Twenty years ago, the U.S. Congress approved and the President signed first-ever historic legislation that I authored—the Trafficking Victims Protections Protection Act... ."
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Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) was a guest on Fox and Friends First with anchor Rob Schmidt in July on the topic of China making good on a threat to sanction him for his human rights work regarding Muslim Uyghurs now being persecuted in labor camps with coerced sterilizations and other abuses. Smith has also spoken up for Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and Chinese human rights advocates whom the Chinese government targets.
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Congressman Chris Smith was a guest on a June episode of "Jersey Matters" with New Jersey News Network's Larry Mendte. They discussed COVID-19 nursing home deaths in NJ, policing reform, the hard-hit Jersey Shore fishing industry and more.
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The State of New Jersey has announced a plan to ease the coronavirus restrictions the Murphy Administration placed on New Jersey residents and businesses.
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Just in time for the summer season, Gov. Murphy lifted his COVID-19 restrictions on the number of anglers permitted on charter and head boats, as long as all anglers adhere to 6’ social distancing. Smith, the Recreational Fishing Alliance and the United Boatmen of NJ pressed the State to ease restrictions on this vital part of the Shore economy.
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Bipartisan legislation to extend and enhance the Paycheck Protection Program, which is helping sustain businesses and pay workers during the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19, passed the House May 28. Rep. Chris Smith, who supported the creation of the PPP and recent legislation nearly doubling its funding, said the new Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act is needed to make the program more accessible to struggling small businesses.
Learn MoreBy U.S. Rep. Chris Smith - Dec. 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), rightfully heralded as a human rights landmark. To understand how the UDHR came about and what made it necessary, however, we need to first recall what preceded it. The UDHR was born of the horrors of the... READ MORE
By Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff Dec 9, 2020 2:36 pm ET Legislation authored by this area's Congressman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), to help veterans heal through outdoor recreational therapy, has now been signed into law by President Trump. Smith's bipartisan Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act, which was endorsed by more than 120 vet... READ MORE
The House passed and Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) voted for the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today, new legislation that will protect the airlift and air refueling missions at America’s only tri-service installation, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB-MDL), and brings $37 million in construction jobs that will suppo... READ MORE
Legislation authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to help veterans heal through outdoor recreational therapy has been signed into law by President Trump. Smith’s bipartisan Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act (H.R. 2435), which was endorsed by more than 120 veteran service organizations, outdoor recreation groups and conservation o... READ MORE
Excerpts of remarks by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) at a hearing of the House Africa Subcommittee on the crisis in Ethiopia held on December 3, 2020: I’d like to thank Chairwoman Bass for once again convening a hearing on an extremely important topic–the unfolding conflict in Ethiopia, centered around the Tigray region, but one which... READ MORE
U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Richard Neal (D-MA), who spearheaded a bipartisan congressional letter urging an independent UK inquiry into government collusion in the 1989 assassination of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane, today released the following statement in response to UK Secretary of State Brandon Lewis’ disappointing deci... READ MORE