The United States today marks the 21st anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA)—the historic law to combat sex and labor trafficking authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a recognized international leader in the fight against modern-day slavery. Smith’s pivotal landmark legislation created a new well-funded, whole-of-government domestic and international strategy to protect victims, prosecute traffickers and, to the extent possible, prevent trafficking—which has becom...
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At a Capitol Hill hearing yesterday, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, denounced the deteriorating state of civil and political freedoms in Hong Kong. Joined by a panel of five distinguished witnesses, Smith demanded accountability for Hong Kong officials beholden to Communist China for their crackdown on civil liberties. Click here or on the below image to watch the hearing. The hearing was held on the eve of the second anniversary of the passage i...
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News 12 Staff - Jersey Shore towns still owing millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency loans following Superstorm Sandy will get a much-needed break - the loans were forgiven by the government. "Saving a million here, 2 million there and these municipalities is going to go a long way, and that's money that can be better spent on perhaps maybe mitigation efforts, resiliency, somewhere else in the community where we can get the best thing for our buck,” says Sandy survivor Joe ...
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The international child abduction ordeal of Tinton Falls' David and Sean Goldman sparked a law to help bring such kids home. It's not being enforced. By Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press Twelve years after she helped bring abducted Tinton Falls child Sean Goldman home to his father David — a much-publicized saga that involved five years of legal wrangling with Brazil — Red Bank attorney Patricia Apy is still asked about the case all the time. The Goldmans are doing well, but as she testifie...
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Asbury Park Press USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY - Nineteen Jersey Shore towns and school districts devastated by superstorm Sandy nearly nine years ago have received some welcome news: They no longer have to pay back $26 million in federal disaster loans. 'The forgiveness of Community Disaster Loans provides critical relief for our towns' -- US Rep. Chris Smith. U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. and Andy Kim, both D-N.J., touted the disaster loan forgiveness at a Tuesday news conference at Toms Rive...
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Legislation supported by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to forgive federal Community Disaster Loans (CDL) for New Jersey towns devastated by Superstorm Sandy—including an estimated $8 million in loans for municipalities in Smith’s district in Monmouth and Ocean counties—passed the House of Representatives and was signed into law late last week as part of a stopgap measure to avoid a government shutdown. “The historic devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy required us to do everything to rebuild, inclu...
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Remarks by Chris Smith Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s Bradley Beach, NJ—October 3, 2021 Special thanks to Christine Hopkins who has and continues to serve so effectively as the Alzheimer’s Association ambassador throughout the years and for her leadership in today’s 2021 Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Twenty-three years ago, I along with Congressman Ed Markey created the Congressional Alzheimer's Caucus. Today, our bipartisan Caucus is 150 members strong. Together we fight to enhance...
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By ARIEL TU Oct 1st, 2021, 3:08 pm The parents of a South Carolina college student who was murdered by a fake Uber driver have turned their grief into a campaign to make it safer for anyone who calls an Uber or Lyft ride to get home. But they’re finding it difficult to get past the politics of Washington. “He spent a lot of time in search of a victim and he found somebody that was vulnerable and obviously confused on what car was her Uber ride and took advantage of that,” William H. “Skip” Holb...
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By Dennis Sadowski, CNS staff writer Two members of Congress have introduced a bill to expand successful trafficking prevention efforts in schools and businesses. Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.) introduced the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection and Reauthorization Act of 2021 in the House of Representatives Sept. 3. "During COVID ... the exploitation of children has risen substantially, mostly online, and there is kind of like a pent-up demand t...
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A New Jersey congressman and other advocates urged the State Department to use the strongest enforcement tools passed by Congress in 2014 for bringing home American children abducted by one parent living overseas — particularly in Japan. “Child abduction is child abuse,” Republican Rep. Chris Smith said during a hearing Wednesday of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. “These young victims, like their left-behind parents, are U.S. citizens who need the help of their government when normal leg...
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