Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism, delivered excerpts of the following remarks on the House Floor on Thursday on his legislation, HR 221, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 221, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act. In 2004, I authored the provisions of law that created and required this position and office it leads a... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith is currently serving his thirty-ninth year as a Member of Congress from New Jersey, and was the immediate past chairman of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights. He issued the following statement on the decision by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to expel the United Nations anti-corruption entity, CICIG, from Guatemala: “I understand and support the decision of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to terminate the mandate of CICIG. Under Commissioner Ivan Velazquez, CIC... Read more

On Tuesday, President Trump signed into law Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) bill authorizing $430 million over four years for a comprehensive whole-of-government effort to fight sex and labor trafficking at home and abroad. “My Frederick Douglass law authorizes over $430 million over 4 years to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and beef up prosecution of those involved in this nefarious trade both at home and abroad,” Smith said. His Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Prot... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Thursday, at the beginning of the 116th Congress, reintroduced legislation to create a new national strategy on Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases and to strengthen efforts across the federal government to fight, treat and prevent tick-borne disease. “The 2018 report of the HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group made it clear—tick-borne diseases are spreading rapidly and are far outpacing our current national response to this problem,” Rep. Smith said. “My bipart... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Thursday reintroduced critical bipartisan legislation to provide the U.S. State Department with more diplomatic tools and support to combat the global rise in anti-Semitism. “We are seeing a precipitous rise in anti-Semitism around the world, manifested through acts of violence against Jews and synagogues, insults, slurs, threats, and criticism of Israel that meets the criteria of what Soviet refusenik and religious prisoner Natan Sharansky called the ‘three Ds’: demon... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, issued the following statement on the court order for the release of Igor Bitkov: "I welcome the news that a court in Guatemala on Friday ordered Igor Bitkov released, sentencing him to time served. I fully expect that the release of his wife and daughter, Irina and Anastasia, will likewise be forthcoming. "That said, the original prosecution and jailing of the Bitkovs — orchestrated by the Russian government in col... Read more

Chris Smith, a Republican, represents New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mihrigul Tursun said she pleaded with God to end her life as her Chinese jailers increased the electrical currents coursing through her body. Tursun, a Muslim Uighur whose escape led her to the United States in September, broke down weeping at a Nov. 28 congressional hearing as she recounted her experience in one of China’s infamous political “ re-education centers. ” It is an appalling story but one that is ... Read more

Amid fresh reports that charitable giving could drop precipitously for 2018 because of the changes to the tax law, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is calling attention to a bipartisan remedy he proposed this year and will reintroduce at the beginning of the 116th Congress. Smith’s Charitable Giving Tax Deduction Act would allow taxpayers to write off charitable donations to organizations that volunteer and assist those in need, whether or not they choose to itemize on their taxes. “Charitable organizati... Read more

By Johathan Salant of the Star Ledger/NJ.com In the closing days of the 115th Congress, as lawmakers prepared to go home for Christmas, they passed dozens of bills as final deals were cut and language was tweaked to ensure passage. Even as he negotiated with congressional leaders over legislation to keep parts of the federal government open past Friday, President Donald Trump affixed pen to paper and signed several measures into law. While talks broke down and the parts of the government closed ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) bill authorizing $430 million over four years for a comprehensive whole-of-government effort to fight sex and labor trafficking at home and abroad cleared Congress today, marking his fifth comprehensive anti-human trafficking bill to become law. Smith is the author of America’s first human trafficking bill, the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which he has reauthorized and/or enhanced through his subsequent legislation. The original TVPA, enacted in 2... Read more