The New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Two River Theater Company in Red Bank have been selected for two separate federal grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in support of their arts programs, services, and activities, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced on Tuesday. “These two organizations are making significant contributions to our communities through promoting access to and participation in the arts and reaching out to young people,” Rep. Smith stated. “They are lea... Read more

In a letter led by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04)—joined by Senators Roger Wicker (MI), Mike Lee (UT), and Marco Rubio (FL)— a coalition of leading human rights lawmakers has requested that a hold be placed on U.S. funding of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), for its apparent complicity in the destruction of a Russian family that fled to Guatemala. The letter requested that the hold be placed pending congressional oversight and investigation of CICIG, amid serious an... Read more

“According to the International Labor Organization, human trafficking in the private economy generates $150 billion in illegal profits per year. Sixteen million people are exploited in labor trafficking, 4.8 million people are exploited in sex trafficking, and four million are exploited in state-imposed trafficking,” Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) stated at a briefing on human trafficking in travel and tourism on Monday, hosted by the Helsinki Commission and the Congressional Human Trafficking C... Read more

Two libraries in Congressman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) Fourth Congressional District were selected to participate in a national educational project “Revisiting the Founding Era,” funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). “I am pleased to announce that Monmouth County Library and Middletown Township Public Library will participate in this special project to look more closely at the founding of this country,” Rep. Smith stated. “They will be able to lead and focus their communities on ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and other co-chairs of the Congressional Victims of Communism Caucus wrote to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday, urging him not to appear or speak at the May 5th unveiling event of the statue of Karl Marx which the People’s Republic of China has gifted to the city of Trier, Germany. “We strongly urge you not to appear or speak at the planned May 5th unveiling of the Karl Marx statue that the People’s Republic of China—a country that continues Marx’s ... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) released the following statement after President Trump met with Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari at the White House on Monday: “I reiterate my strong concern over the religious and ethnic violence in Nigeria targeting Christians, perpetrated in large part by Fulani herdsmen. I am heartened to hear that President Buhari, in his meeting with President Trump, admitted the need for his Administration to ‘stabilize’ this situation, though I am concerned by his attemp... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House Subcommittee on Africa, released the following statement after dozens were reported killed in attacks on three communities in Nigeria's Benue State, following the deaths of 19 people in an April 24 attack on St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Benue State: “The continued killing of innocents based on religious and ethnic differences in Nigeria is alarming. President Buhari’s prompt statement in response is encouraging and gives hope that his ensuing... Read more

Congress should investigate and hold accountable the United Nations’ International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) for its role in the prosecution of a Russian family in Guatemala fleeing Putin’s Russia, said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the congressional Helsinki Commission, at a Friday hearing entitled “The Long Arm of Injustice.” The hearing examined CICIG’s role in the prosecution of the Bitkov family in Guatemala. “Congress has a special responsibility in th... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, introduced the Vietnam Human Rights Act (HR 5621) on Wednesday to hold Vietnamese officials accountable over their treatment of religious groups and ethnic minorities. “The communist government in Vietnam to often gets a free pass on human rights but it has one of the world’s worst records, violating the fundamental rights of its citizens including independent religious groups, ethnic minorities and individu... Read more

Washington D.C.— Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Peter Roskam (R-IL), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Kay Granger (R-TX), and Marc Veasey (D-TX), the co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism, issued the following joint statement on a recent report by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv indicating a sharp increase in anti-Semitism across Europe: “We are gravely concerned by ... Read more