REUTERS - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and relocate the event unless China ends what the United States deems an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jim McGovern were joined by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris Smith in a letter saying that no Olympics should be held in a country "whose ... Read more

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com As coronavirus-related travel restrictions subside, Americans wishing to travel overseas face a new hurdle: Their passports are expiring and a huge backlog of applications means it will take months to get new ones. The State Department’s website says to expect a wait of 18 weeks to renew a passport or get a new one, though some of that is due to mail delays. Even expedited service will take 12 weeks, the State Department said. The department s... Read more

By Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff Robert Trionfo and his wife Eileen had been planning the Cancun trip since early spring. After living through the past seventeen months, all this Millstone Twp. couple wanted to do was take the entire family — their three kids, six grandchildren and various spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. — to Mexico in July. This was a particularly special vacation for Trionfo's grandson, 24, who is battling leukemia. Except the family reunion — and up to $14,000 in deposits... Read more

By Kaity Assaf for Asbury Park Press, Burlington County Times The U.S. House on Thursday passed the INVEST in America Act, which would provide critical funding for projects in Burlington and Ocean counties and help create good paying jobs. More:Lawmakers try new path for federal funding of Joint Base overpass Written into the bill are several priorities championed by U.S. Reps. Andy Kim (D-03) and Chris Smith (R-04). Among them is the Route 539 overpass project aimed at allowing military convoys... Read more

Below are excerpts of opening remarks by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, at the bicameral, bipartisan congressional hearing held on Tuesday, July 27th on "Corporate Sponsorship of the 2022 Beijing Olympics." In 2018, Smith had written a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Bach, asking the IOC to reassign the location of the 2022 Games given the Chinese government's egregious and ongoing human rights violations. Tod... Read more

When pressed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at a bicameral, bipartisan congressional hearing today, representatives from corporate sponsors of the 2022 Winter Olympics refused to say that the Beijing Games—dubbed the “Genocide Olympics”—should be moved to a venue in another country due to the ongoing genocide and other egregious human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “Knowing what we know now about the Beijing ‘Genocide Olympics,’ should the Games be moved to another ... Read more

Amid the growing human rights crisis in Nicaragua, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today chaired a bipartisan congressional hearing calling attention to the extreme political repression and incarceration of political opponents by President Daniel Ortega. Headlined by Bianca Jagger and the wives of two jailed presidential candidates, Smith’s hearing follows the imprisonment of at least 27 political opponents—including 6 presidential candidates—by Ortega since last month in the run-up to a November presi... Read more

Amid the enormous and growing backlog for renewed passports faced by Americans eager to travel, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today introduced the Passport Emergency Extension Act of 2021 (H.R. 4615) with lead cosponsor Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) to ensure American citizens are able to travel while the State Department addresses serious delays in processing passport applications. Smith’s bipartisan legislation would require the U.S. Secretary of State to establish an expedited procedure to renew or exte... Read more

The following are excerpts of remarks by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, at the congressional hearing he chaired on Wednesday, July 21st entitled "The Ortega Government and the Human Cost of Repression in Nicaragua: Political Prisoners": This hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission—The Ortega Government and the Human Cost of Repression in Nicaragua: Political Prisoners—will come to order. Good afternoon. We are gathered here today to examine... Read more

Critical transportation projects for Mercer County could see significant improvements through federal funding secured by Representative Chris Smith (NJ-4). Federal dollars will be dedicated for the Mercer County TRADE bus service as well as roadway safety improvements. Under the Mercer County bus purchase initiative, new buses and equipment will be purchased for transportation service programs in Mercer County in Fiscal Year 2022. The $915,000 appropriation also will cover the cost of replacing... Read more