By Reps. Chris Smith and Dale Strong - Wednesday, March 4, 2026 Christians in China illustration by Linas Garsys / The Washington Times OPINION: In December, hundreds of armed police swept through a village near Wenzhou, China, a city known as the “Jerusalem of China” because of its concentration of Christian believers, and reportedly tore down crosses and arrested more than 100 members of unregistered Protestant “house churches.” The intent of this operation was clear: Meet outside the state’s ... Read more

On Thursday, March 5th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), will chair a congressional hearing on the United States’ 2026 Presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20)—the leading forum for international economic cooperation among the world’s largest economies—and how the Trump administration can elevate human rights issues in connection with the G20 presidency. WHAT: Congressional hearing on the United States’ G20 presidency and how the forum can be u... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the below statement following the U.S. military and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s joint strikes on Iran, known as “Operation Epic Fury”: “For far too long, Iran has held the world hostage with its nuclear threats and state-sponsored terrorism. As today’s strikes have exemplified, all diplomatic endeavors to secure peace with the Iranian dictatorship have been exhausted. “President Trump is a man of his wor... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), and Claire Lai, daughter of Jimmy Lai, sat down with host Raymond Arroyo on EWTN's The World Over with Raymond Arroyo to discuss the latest on Jimmy Lai's incarceration in Hong Kong, and the hope that diplomatic pressure will continue to be applied by the US and UK governments to eventually secure Jimmy's release from prison in Hong Kong. The full interview can be viewed by clicking here. ### Read more

By Ezinwanne Onwuka Published February 26, 2026 The bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is urging Congress to ban the world’s religion bullies from hiring lobbyists to spin their false narratives. Case in point is Nigeria’s $9 million lobbying contract in Washington intended to downplay its Christian-persecution problem. Nigeria’s CPC Status and Lobbying Contract Nigeria signed a six-month, $9 million contract with Washington lobbying firm DCI Group amid height... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), will host Claire Lai—the daughter of democracy and free speech champion, Jimmy Lai—at President Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address. “My wife, Marie, gave Claire her ticket to the State of the Union, because we are so deeply inspired by her courageous and tenacious campaign to obtain the release of her father—the Hong Kong free speech and religious liberty hero—Jimmy Lai,” said Rep. Chris Smith, the... Read more

Press Release by the House Committee on Appropriations Published Monday, February 23, 2026 Following President Trump’s call-to-action and redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), the House Appropriations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee delivered a joint report on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria to the White House. The findings follow a comprehensive investigation that included interviews with expert witnesses, a hearing and roundtable, two on-the-... Read more

By Hannah Hiester Published February 19, 2026 Sixty members of Congress filed an amicus brief with a Louisiana district court Feb. 13 supporting a lawsuit that challenges the Biden-era Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2023 decision to drop in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion pill mifepristone. Those supporting Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s case against the FDA include Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is a physician and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, a... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and 58 other members of the House and Senate joined together to file an amicus brief in support of Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s lawsuit seeking to restore the in-person dispensing requirement—negligently reversed by the Biden-era Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—for the chemical abortion drug, mifepristone. “Mifepristone is baby poison that starves the innocent unborn child to... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, sat down with journalist Hariana Verás Victória to discuss the findings of his latest congressional hearing on the DRC-Rwanda conflict and the implementation of President Trump’s “Washington Accords.” Rep. Smith also detailed his decades-long work as a lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Africa Subcommittee to advocate for an end to the violence and fighting in the region. The full interview ... Read more