U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Africa, Global Health and International Operations Subcommittee, today delivered the following remarks at a "Newsmakers" event at that National Press Club: Human rights in Ethiopia is not a burning question in Washington today. It ought to be. We don’t read, or hear, or talk much about it. That has to change, and I believe most of us here today know that. That’s why we’re here. I got involved in Ethiopian human rights iss... Read more

The investigative arm of Congress, the General Accountability Office (GAO), today released a report admonishing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their failures to use health-based standards to test sites that had previously been a processing or receiving facility for contaminated vermiculite ore and to adequately notify the public of the health risks from this particularly hazardous form of naturally occurring asbestos. Read more

In September 2000, I had the privilege to chair a hearing on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. It was a four-hour hearing, the first hearing this House ever held on the Armenian Genocide. The testimony I heard that day, and accounts of the atrocities I have read in the articles and books over the years, shocked me deeply. The existence of a campaign of genocide denial also shocked me deeply. Read more

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s (BRAC) decision to close Fort Monmouth will be front and center at an upcoming Congressional hearing next month, U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Jim Saxton (NJ-03) announced today after receiving a commitment from a powerful House committee chairman that their request for a hearing will be honored. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today helped launch a new Congressional working group which aims to help Congress get an early jump on understanding the long-term health needs of children by advocating for and promoting the landmark National Children’s Study (NCS) on Capitol Hill. Read more

In a strongly worded letter to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and over twenty colleagues called on the agency to adopt its own expert panel’s strongest recommended limits on smog pollution. Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. First of all, let me thank Congressman King for offering this very important resolution, and my good friend and colleague, Chairman Lantos, for bringing this to the floor, as well as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who serves very admirably as the ranking member. This is a very important and very timely resolution. Chairman Lantos has been speaking out on behalf of Burma and human rights in Burma for years, and this today is another expression of our collective bipartisan support f... Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very, very strong support of the Ethiopian Democracy and Accountability Act. I am very happy that it has finally been brought to the floor. It is legislation that will limit and condition U.S. Government assistance on the Ethiopian Government provided that the government meets a very modest list of human rights benchmarks and provides financial support to human rights promoters in Ethiopia. Mr. Speaker, the Ethiopian Democracy and Accountability A... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today said that a new round of federal grants to cord blood banks will “expand the nation’s network of life-saving, ethical stem cells to reach more people in need of therapies for the more than 70 conditions and diseases cord blood stem cells can treat.” Read more

Congressional Coalition for Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.) co-chairs U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) today announced that an accord was signed with the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Autism Caucus to partner in promoting autism awareness, research and legislative ideas. Read more