Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), a senior member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the panel that oversees global human rights, today released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech in which he called for Israel to revert to its 1967 borders. “President Obama’s insistence that Israel revert to its 1967 borders is bad policy born of moral confusion. Pushing Israel back to borders that existed prior to the Six Day War would seriously jeopardize its sec... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) will chair a congressional hearing of the U.S. Helsinki Commission in Washington on Monday, May 23, to examine labor trafficking during troubled economic times. The hearing follows an international conference on May 18 focused on human trafficking with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Luis C. deBaca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and other officials. The ambassador will also testify at Smith's hearing Monday. British actress Julia Ormond will j... Read more

A hearing to give a voice to the desperate ‘left behind parents’ who seek to be reunited with their children will be held Tuesday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4th), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights. There are more than 2,400 American children held wrongfully overseas. David Goldman, a father whose abducted American boy was held in Brazil for nearly five years, will testify. Only after intense pressure by Congress, the US State Department and i... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also called the Helsinki Commission, addressed a human trafficking conference sponsored by the U.S. State Department entitled "Building Bridges to Freedom." Other speakers included Martin Fowke, U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, and Eleanor Gaetan, of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. To read Congressman Smith's remarks, click here. Smith is author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Prote... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith of Robbinsville, NJ visited a Mercerville, NJ elementary school this week to speak about his experiences in public office and events in Washington, DC. He was invited by student Brian Marion, an eighth-grader at Our Lady of Sorrows School on the East State Street Extension, to address about 100 middle school-age students. Smith discussed numerous issues, including his faith, recent cases of international child abduction, Lyme disease, healthcare, the federal law-making pr... Read more

Representatives Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), House co-Chairmen of the Bipartisan, Bicameral Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, today announced the introduction of H.R 1897, the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act of 2011. Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) and Todd Platts (R-Pa.) are co-sponsors of the bill. The bill would increase the federal government’s commitment to Alzheimer’s research by requiring the National Institutes of Health to create a strategic plan to expedite therap... Read more

The Chinese government’s renewed crackdown on its own people, including extremely harsh treatment of human rights leaders—many of whom are missing—was detailed at a Capitol Hill hearing today held by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), the chairman of the congressional panel that oversees international human rights. “The human rights situation in China has gone from abysmally bad to worse,” Smith said. “In fact, we’ve not seen this level of blatant violations of human rights since the crackdown on Tiananm... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4), Chairman of the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) today reiterated the urgent call for the British government to launch a full, independent, and public judicial inquiry into the 1989 murder of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane without further delay. Smith, a leading American human rights lawmaker, chaired a Helsinki Commission hearing, “Northern Ireland: Why Justice in Individual Cases Matters,” in mid-March and met with Owen Pa... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) met with a group of constituents from Freehold, NJ who traveled to Washington May 5. The visitors included Deputy Mayor of Freehold Eugene Golub and his wife Arlene, who led the group. Also present was former Monmouth County Freehold Director Barbara McMorrow, who currently serves as an elected Freehold Township Committeewoman. Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed landmark legislation by Congressman Chris Smith, HR 3, "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” to permanently prohibit taxpayer funding for abortion across all federal programs. The bill passed by a vote of 251-175. Congressman Smith (NJ-04), co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, vigorously delivered several speeches in support of the bill during debate on the House floor. Smith's remarks on HR 3 can be read by clicking on: A... Read more