Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, issued the following statement on Thursday: “It is the long-term geostrategic goal of China to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and its latest gambit occurred when central bankers and officials from 14 African nations discussed the viability of using China’s yuan as a reserve currency for the region. “For the sake of global human rights and anti-corruption efforts, it is critically important th... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) was a guest on New Jersey 101.5 FM on Tuesday morning to talk with host Bill Spadea about an explosion in reported cases of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne diseases in New Jersey and other states. Smith recently authored and introduced HR 5900, the National Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Control and Accountability Act, which would establish the Office of Oversight and Coordination to create and implement a new national strategy on tick-borne disease, expand and enhance res... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights and a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Tuesday welcomed the release of the State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report and applauded Secretary Pompeo’s announcement of a Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom scheduled for July 25-26, 2018. “Getting the facts right on the global state of religious freedom is essential for the shaping of U.S. policy and priorities, and th... Read more

Lyme Disease and other tick-borne threats are exploding. And people in New Jersey—especially Monmouth and Ocean Counties—are among the hardest hit, causing disability and severe neurological consequences for thousands, many of whom don’t even know they have the disease or have been misdiagnosed. According to the Centers for Disease Control, which believes that Lyme disease is undercounted by approximately a factor of 10, 36,429 cases of Lyme were reported nationwide in 2016, the last year for w... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Friday issued the following statement on the jury’s verdict in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which found Carlos and Jemima Guimarães guilty of one count of international parental kidnapping: “The verdict in this case underscores the extremely serious nature of international parental child abduction. I hope that the grandparents will now work to bring about the reunification of Dr. Brann with his son Nico, rather than continue to destroy th... Read more

In an exchange at a Wednesday hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), a senior member on the Committee, that he would work for the appointment of a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Rep. Smith had asked the Secretary to act on the appointment of the vacant Special Envoy position. “And in 2004, I authored the Anti-Semitism Special Envoy. That, too, has not been filled,” Smith said to Pompeo of the vac... Read more

The defense funding authorization bill for the 2019 Fiscal Year (FY) that has Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) support includes $10.2 million for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, authorizes the largest pay raise for military personnel in nine years, and leaves out the federal process to realign and/or close military bases. “I am committed to ensuring that the men and women who serve our country in the armed forces have as much support as possible,” Rep. Smith stated. “For too long they have been in di... Read more

Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), the co-chairs of the Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus, are pushing bipartisan legislation to create a new national strategy for Lyme disease and strengthen treatment and prevention of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases during May, Lyme Disease Awareness Month. “So many patients suffer from the debilitating effects of this disease that persist for years, especially if not detected early, while being told that their illness does not exist,” Rep... Read more

A bill authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to elevate and enhance the Special Envoy position at the State Department charged with monitoring and combating anti-Semitism passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday. Smith authored the original provisions of the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 that created the position and office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the State Department. “Jewish communities here and abroad continue to be targeted for... Read more

Under the largest-ever contract awarded by USAID, in 2015 under the Obama Administration, Chemonics International failed to consistently deliver life-saving drugs and medical supplies “on time and in full,” in U.S. global health programs in 2016 and 2017. This failure was the focus of a House global health subcommittee hearing chaired by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Thursday. “By holding today’s hearing, this subcommittee is fulfilling its obligation to the American taxpayers to conduct vi... Read more