A key committee in the House of Representatives today approved H.R. 2059, which would prohibit U.S. taxpayer dollars funding the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which supports China's controversial one child policy. “I strongly support H.R. 2059 sponsored by Renee Ellmers and thank her for standing up for the women and children in China,” said Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), a cosponsor of the bill and co-chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. “China’s one child policy is s... Read more

U.S. policy dealing with the violence, new humanitarian crises and ongoing slavery in Sudan were the focus of a congressional hearing Tuesday held by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights and African issues. Smith’s Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights heard testimony from the top official on U.S. government Sudan policy, Sudan experts and an emancipated slave. The hearing, entitled “A Comprehensive Assessm... Read more

A little more than 14 years ago (on September 13, 1997), Bobbie and Billy Gallagher, of Brick, N.J., residents with two small children with autism, walked into their Congressman’s office looking for help. That is when the sustained federal effort to combat autism commenced. “Today when people are losing faith with government, just fed up with bureaucracy – this is a success story,” Billy Gallagher said Thursday, September 29, 2011, as he stood with his Congressman, Chris Smith, at Smith’s Ocean ... Read more

Comprehensive legislation authored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) reauthorizing federal autism research programs for the next three years was approved by the Senate late last night. The bill— H.R. 2005, “The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act”—authorizes $693 million through 2014 to fund research into causes and treatment of autism and other developmental disabilities. According to Smith, the legislation will authorize for each fiscal year: $22 million for the Developmental Disabilities Su... Read more

China’s brutal “One Child Policy” and its gross violations of human rights, particularly those of women, was the focus of human rights activists testifying before the House on Thursday. Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees human rights and chairman of the Congressional-Executive China Commission, held a hearing entitled “China's One-Child Policy: The Government's Massive Crime Against Women and Unborn Babies.” “Women bare the major brunt of the one child poli... Read more

In the wake of a key House vote last night, the nation’s fight against the epidemic of autism is front and center as H.R. 2005, “The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act,” a bipartisan bill authored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) with Rep. Mike Doyle (PA-14) as the prime cosponsor, passed the House and moves to the Senate. The measure will renew the nation’s programs for autism early detection, surveillance, research, education, awareness and treatment. “One percent of all our children have ... Read more

Former North Korean political prisoners recalled the suffering they endured in labor camps in testimony before a congressional panel on Tuesday, and called on U.S. lawmakers to help end human rights abuses in the country. Meanwhile, a North Korea expert testified to what he called “intensified political repression” in the isolated Stalinist state. Kim Hye Sook, who escaped from North Korea in 2009 and now lives in South Korea, said she was “dragged” to political prison camp no. 18 of the Bukchan... Read more

The House of Representatives today debated and passed H.R. 2005, “The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act,” a bipartisan bill authored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) that will renew the nation’s programs for autism early detection, surveillance, research, education, awareness and treatment. “This legislation is critically important to continue without interruption the progress we have made in understanding autism and in developing interventions that will have the greatest impact in helping ... Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The atrocious human rights record of the North Korean dictatorship—among the very worst in the world— was described in grisly detail by prison survivors and human rights workers who detailed inhumane gulag-style prison camps, human trafficking, torture, political repression and religious persecution at a congressional hearing Tuesday held by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel that oversees human rights. North Korea’s dictatorship, now headed by Kim J... Read more

The House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on H.R. 2005, “The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act,” a bill authored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) that will renew the nation’s programs for autism early detection, surveillance, research, education, awareness and treatment. “This is a great victory for the individuals and families who suffer from the autism epidemic,” said Smith, whose own state of New Jersey is believed to have the highest rate of autism in the country. “I thank the lead... Read more