Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Chairman of the House panel on Africa and global health, today held a hearing to assess the benefits of the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), which was signed into law in July of last year. The objective of the GFSA is to enhance U.S. national security interests by enhancing food security around the world, helping countries achieve food self-sufficiency so as to reduce their dependency on U.S. foreign aid. At the hearing, Smith also announced that he was working on reau... Read more

The reauthorization of the Global Food Security Act (P.L. 114-195), a critical law that defines the United States’ global food strategy, will be the topic of a hearing held by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House panel on global health. The hearing will feature expert testimony from several government officials representing the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. African Development Foundation. “As Congress looks to reauthorize the Global Food Se... Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey... Mr. Speaker, Liu Xiaobo’s premature death was a jarring shock to everyone who admired this champion of freedom and democracy. We mourn his loss because it is a tragic loss for his wife, family and friends and a catastrophic loss for China and the entire world. We owe Liu Xiaobo a debt of gratitude because he demonstrated that the noble ideas of democracy and due process, liberty and the rule of law are not foreign ideas in China. These are universal principles that bea... Read more

By Dan Radel, APP Staff Writer - There will be no moratorium on New Jersey fluke's season after U.S. commerce secretary sided with the state on its fluke regulation battle with a regional fishery commission. As the news made the rounds on the docks and VHF radios there was a sigh of relief from boat captains. "There was a concern, yeah, that it might be shut down. I hoped not," said Captain Bob Bogan, of the Gambler party boat in Point Pleasant Beach. The Gambler fishes daily for fluke, also kno... Read more

At a hearing held today by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Chairman of the House panel on global human rights, the life and works of the great Chinese human rights activist and Nobel Laureate, Liu Xiaobo, were examined and the plight of his wife, who is still trapped in China, was emphasized. “Liu Xiaobo’s premature death was a jarring shock to everyone who admired this champion of freedom and democracy,” said Smith, who is also co-Chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC). “We ... Read more

By Associated Press - July 14 at 11:29 AM BEIJING — The Latest on the death of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo (all times local): 10:30 p.m. Members of the U.S. Congress have held a hearing on the life of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo following his death in Chinese custody. Rep. Christopher Smith, chairman of the House panel on global human rights, said Liu’s death Thursday from liver cancer was a catastrophic loss for China and the entire world, and that his contri... Read more

By Times of Trenton Editorial Board - In 2004, acknowledging an alarming increase in activities targeting Jews worldwide, the U.S. Congress passed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) co-wrote the bill. In addition to reviewing acts of anti-Semitism, and the response by governments, the measure also established a State Department office to monitor and combat these acts, to be headed by a special envoy. Since the administration of President George W. Bush, the... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-Chairman of the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC), released the following statement on the passing of Liu Xiaobo. “It is an unspeakable tragedy that Liu Xiaobo’s unjust imprisonment in 2009 became a death sentence. The blame should lay squarely on the Chinese government, his death is truly an unwashable stain, the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in state custody since Carl Von Ossietzky died after being detained in a Nazi concentration camp. B... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House panel on Africa, called the decision by the Trump Administration to delay any easing of sanctions against Sudan well-justified and prudent—an important step towards helping the Sudanese people. The announcement, a delay of three months, is a response to the eleventh-hour Obama administration Executive Order 13761, delivered just days before he left office. The order would have gone into effect this week had the current administration not postponed t... Read more

(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP) By Emma Kinery , USA Today The House on Wednesday approved a sweeping reauthorization of the nation's most comprehensive law to combat human trafficking, in a rare bipartisan vote. The bill allocates $520 million over four years toward programs that aim to identify and aid victims of trafficking and prevent it from occurring. The bill — called the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act — was introduced by Rep. Chris ... Read more