By Jim Lonergan Published November 3, 2025 at 11:10 AM FREEHOLD, N.J. — As the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) — landmark federal legislation authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) — Monmouth County officials are joining the fight locally by backing a New Jersey bill that would require rideshare drivers to complete anti-human trafficking training. “Since becoming New Jersey’s statewide provider for human trafficking victim services in ... Read more

By Eva Fu Published November 1, 2025 at 1:52:25 PM EDT WASHINGTON—Two prominent Republican lawmakers are calling on the Trump administration to side with a lawsuit accusing Cisco of aiding a brutal persecution in China. In a letter dated Oct. 29, Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), who respectively lead the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the House Select Committee on Chinese Communist Party, urged the administration to press the Supreme Court so the case cou... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sat down with Tony Perkins on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to discuss President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s atrocious human rights and religious freedom record. He also responded to new polling showing strong support for restoring previous FDA-safeguards on the a... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the author of legislation (H.Res.220) calling upon the President to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” applauded President Trump for taking such action today and admonishing the Nigerian government’s inability to address and combat widespread religious persecution of Christians in the region. “President Trump’s decisive action is a powerful step forward in holding the Nigerian government accountable for its complicity in the unchecked murder, rape, and... Read more

By Jeanne Wall Published October 30, 2025 at 1:53 AM WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) marked the 25th anniversary of his Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), landmark legislation that established the foundation of the United States’ modern fight against human trafficking. Right now as you are reading this, people are being tortured in unimaginable ways, many of them children. An estimated over 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide, 35% are childre... Read more

At CPAC’s Christian Persecution Summit today, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a renowned human rights lawmaker and religious freedom advocate, delivered the following keynote remarks: Special thanks to Matt and Mercy Schlapp for their leadership and today’s call to action in defense of persecuted Christians everywhere. Thank you for organizing CPAC’s Christian Persecution Summit and helping to mobilize a serious defense of those who follow Jesus Christ—at home and abroad—who are harassed, marginalized... Read more

By Dake Kang and Byron Tau Published October 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM ET WASHINGTON (AP) — Two prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill want the Supreme Court to allow a lawsuit to proceed against tech giant Cisco over allegations that the company’s technology was used to persecute members of the Falun Gong religious sect in China. In a Wednesday letter to the Trump administration’s top Supreme Court litigator, D. John Sauer, Reps. Chris Smith of New Jersey and John Moolenaar of Michigan urged the admi... Read more

In an October 29th letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, two U.S. lawmakers known for combating human rights abuses in China urged U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer to allow the case against Cisco Systems, Inc. to proceed and determine whether the giant U.S. tech firm custom-designed a tool to aid the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a systematic persecution of Falun Gong religious believers. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (... Read more

By Elise Winland Published October 30, 2025 Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., marked the 25th anniversary of his landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) this week by urging Congress to pass new legislation reauthorizing and expanding key federal anti-human trafficking programs. In an Oct. 28 press release, Smith, a Catholic and longtime human rights advocate, called on lawmakers to pass his recently authored Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act ... Read more

By Chris Smith Published October 30, 2025 Religious persecution is festering and exploding around the world. What has been unconscionable for decades, centuries, has gotten worse. According to Open Doors 2025 World Watch List: “More than 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.” Forty-five years ago, during my first term in Congress, I read Tortured for Christ by Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand. As so many of you know, it is the true story of... Read more