Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and four additional comprehensive laws to combat human trafficking, issued the below statement following the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (HR 4323): “HR 4323—legislation I have cosponsored—provides a critical pathway for vacating or expunging certain non-violent criminal convictions for offenses that trafficking victims—mostly women and children—wer... Read more

Press Release by the House Committee on Appropriations Published Tuesday, December 2, 2025 Washington, D.C. – House Appropriations Vice Chair and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL)—alongside Appropriators Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV)—led a joint briefing with the House Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss the escalating violence and targeted persecution of Christians in Nigeria with religious freedom and foreign relations experts. This rou... Read more

By Emmanuel Egobiambu Published December 2, 2025 US lawmakers have accused the Nigerian government of not doing enough to address the rising insecurity and killings in the country. The lawmakers spoke on Tuesday during the United States House Appropriations Committee joint congressional briefing on the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria. At the event, the lawmakers took turns to address the situation in the wake of President Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a country of particu... Read more

By Calvin Freiburger Published Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM EST WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — More than 170 congressional Republicans have signed a new letter calling on the Trump administration to immediately restore the requirement that abortion pills be dispensed in-person and pick up the pace of its promised review of the data on the drugs’ dangers. Under the Biden administration, health officials eliminated the requirement that abortion pills be dispensed in person, and the B... Read more

By Our Sunday Visitor Published November 26, 2025 Congressional Republicans are demanding a “robust” investigation of federal safety standards and health risks connected to mifepristone, a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion. The letter, dated Nov. 20 and co-signed by 175 Republican lawmakers, asks Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary to investigate the “deleterious and grossly underreport... Read more

By George Thomas Published November 25, 2025 The Trump Administration is promoting efforts to work with Nigeria's government to stop violence against Christians after the President had threatened to send in the U.S. military against Islamic militants. Right now, 253 children and 12 teachers are still being held after they were taken last week from a Catholic school in eastern Nigeria. A total of 303 students were initially abducted, but 50 managed to escape. Earlier in the week, another 25 child... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Diana Harshbarger, Pharm.D. (R-TN), and more than 170 Republican lawmakers, including the entirety of House GOP leadership, released a new letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Martin Makary, MD, urging a robust FDA investigation and review of the safety standards and health risks associated with the popular chemical abortion pill, mifepristone. The November 20th le... Read more

By Emily Hallas Published November 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM A fraction of over 300 students who were recently abducted from a Catholic school by Nigerian militants have escaped to freedom, the Catholic Church and Christian Association of Nigeria announced on Sunday. Gunmen kidnapped students and teachers from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger state, on Friday, marking the latest episode in a spate of attacks against Christians from radicalized Islamist terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Ful... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, sat down with host Laolu Akande on Channels Television’s “Inside Sources with Laolu Akande” to discuss the U.S. foreign policy implications of President Trump’s “Country of Particular Concern” redesignation of Nigeria. Smith also described the outcome of his meeting with a delegation of high-ranking Nigerian government officials, as well as the current state of religious persecution against Christians and modera... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, joined Fox News Channel’s “The Big Weekend Show” on Saturday, November 22 to discuss the worsening religious persecution and violence against Christians and moderate Muslims in Nigeria. Alongside hosts David Webb, Tomi Lahren, Jason Chaffetz, and Taylor Riggs, Rep. Smith also discussed the Russia-Ukraine war and prospects for peace, as well as congressional news of the day. Congressman Smith’s full interview can... Read more