“This is who UNRWA is,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in response to confirmed reports that Hamas’ top leader in Lebanon, Fateh al-Sharif—who was killed in an airstrike on Monday—was also employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). “If you were surprised that Hamas’s top leader in Lebanon was also employed by UNRWA, stop kidding yourself,” said Smith, the Chair of the congressional global human rights and international or... Read more

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operated by the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office was awarded $1,241,250 in federal funding for major technology and communications equipment upgrades, announced Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), who personally secured the funds through a congressional earmark. “Monmouth County—under the great leadership of Sheriff Shaun Golden—has provided top-notch and cost-effective emergency services for local residents through this critical law enforcement and first resp... Read more

In the recent high-profile indictment and arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs, federal prosecutors used a landmark law authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) to bring sex trafficking and forced labor charges against the rapper and music mogul. Among other crimes, Combs is accused of leading a criminal enterprise to facilitate his abuse and exploitation of women, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct for over a decade. Pursuant to Smith’s Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Publi... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), today chaired a congressional hearing highlighting the continued plight of ethnic Armenians on the first anniversary of the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. “Azerbaijan’s genocidal blockade and ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh last year was a monstrous injustice,” said Smith, who noted that despite its egregious human rights violations, Azerbaijan is slated to host the United Nations international cl... Read more

Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) today introduced the HOTEL Act of 2024 (HR 9681)—bipartisan legislation aimed at bolstering federal efforts to combat human trafficking in hotels. “Hotels are hotspots for identifying and responding to sex and labor trafficking,” said Congressman Smith, the author of five major laws to combat human trafficking. “This critical legislation will help empower hotels to train their staff using free online trainings and resources, adopt procedur... Read more

The House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed (402-13) new comprehensive legislation (HR 7213) authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to provide more than $1.95 billion to reauthorize and strengthen the United States’ whole-of-government autism spectrum disorder (ASD) initiative through 2029. Smith’s bill—with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) as the Democrat lead and 61 other bipartisan cosponsors—now heads to the Senate. Smith, who has authored four major autism laws to date, said his new leg... Read more

Juan Carlos Castillo Asbury Park Press USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY New Jersey’s Sandy Hook Bay witnessed the commissioning of the most complex warfare machine ever built in the country — the USS New Jersey, now dubbed as the fastest submarine in the U.S. fleet and the first to be designed with gender inclusion in mind. The commissioning ceremony took place Saturday at the Naval Weapon Station Earle in Middletown, where close to 4,000 attendees including veterans, sailor’s family members, and ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) joined high-ranking Navy officers and sailors today at U.S. Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown to commission the USS New Jersey—the branch’s newest submarine and the third naval vessel named after the state of New Jersey. “Today is a special day for the United States Navy and our country,” said Smith, who has represented three Navy installations during his tenure in Congress—including Naval Weapons Station Earle, Naval Air Warfare Center Trenton and Naval ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today called on Brazil’s government to reverse its recent decision to block access to X (formerly known as Twitter) and ban its citizens from accessing the popular social media platform. “The government of Brazil has both raised the stakes and hit a new low—it has expanded from persecuting political opposition by removing them from social media to banning one of the biggest social news networks in the world and makin... Read more

With the strong support and vote of Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), the House today passed (219-199) legislation that would prevent the Biden-Harris Administration from signing the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty without prior Senate ratification. “The World Health Organization’s pandemic treaty—which has been drafted through backroom negotiations with no transparency—is an absolute power grab by a troubled U.N. agency that is in the pocket of China’s Communist dictator Xi Jinp... Read more