By Elise Winland Published December 9, 2025 Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., is spotlighting Sudan’s deepening civil war and the mounting atrocities against civilians ahead of a new congressional hearing on the conflict. Smith, a Catholic who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, will lead his 17th congressional hearing on Sudan Dec. 11. He said the scale of mass violence since the Sudanese Civil War began in 2023 demands urgent action from U.S. officials and the international commun...
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On Thursday, December 11th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, will chair his seventeenth congressional hearing on the civil conflicts in Sudan and the resulting human rights abuses against civilians in the country. “Since 2023, as many as 18,000 civilian deaths have been committed in Sudan—with estimates as high as 150,000—and more than 10 million people have been displaced as a direct result of the Sudanese Civil War,” said Smith. “The catastro...
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Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued the following statement, welcoming President Lai Ching-te’s announcement that Taiwan would be investing $40 billion to meet defense needs: “President Lai understands that cutting edge deterrence capabilities are needed to protect Taiwan—a democratic Chinese society free from tyranny, where the people are able to achieve both liberty and wealth. “Free and prosperous Taiwan presents a stark contras...
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By Elise Winland Published December 5, 2025 The House approved legislation Dec. 4 to bar federal funding from any K-12 school that receives money from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as lawmakers sharpen scrutiny of Beijing’s attempts to influence American education. The measure, the PROTECT Our Kids Act (HR 1069), passed by a vote of 247-164, with all 164 opposing votes coming from Democrats. Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, a Catholic, said the bill, which was introduced by Rep...
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By Katherine Hamilton Published December 5, 2025 Two dozen Republican lawmakers say members of Congress and their staff have access to taxpayer-funded healthcare plans that include coverage for elective abortions, in violation of federal law. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) led a bicameral letter on Friday to U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor demanding the agency stop “administering government contributio...
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By Nathan Strout Published December 5, 2025 The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved the Stop Illegal Fishing Act, legislation that authorizes U.S. President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on foreign individuals and vessels that engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) fishing. The authors of the bill say the measure is necessary to crack down on large foreign fishing fleets that have dodgy records on the environment and human rights – particularly China’s dist...
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With the strong support and vote of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), the U.S. House of Representatives passed the PROTECT Our Kids Act (HR 1069), legislation to “prohibit the availability of Federal education funds for elementary and secondary schools that receive direct or indirect support from the Government of the People’s Republic of China” (PRC). “The PRC’s goal in influencing American students is not an altruistic one; they are n...
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Today, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, joined President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other high-ranking U.S. officials and foreign leaders at the historic peace deal signing ceremony between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda President Paul Kagame at the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace. “Skillfully and brilliantly brokered by President Trump, this momentous peace deal—known as the ‘Washington Accord...
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Comprehensive legislation cosponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)—the bipartisan Stop Illegal Fishing Act (HR 6338)—was today approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee during their markup session and is now headed to the full House for its consideration. The bill, introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), would impose sanctions upon foreign vessels or individuals that engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). During the markup, Smith—who, in 2023, chaired a Congr...
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After the Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, issued the following statement on behalf of pro-life pregnancy centers that have been unjustly targeted by the state of New Jersey: Rep. Smith, Dean of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, said, “Pregnancy care centers are an oasis of love and support for mothers and their precious children—according to a recent report,...
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