By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times - Thursday, February 1, 2024 Rep. Chris Smith’s journey as a campaigner for human rights and religious liberty began decades ago in a small New Jersey eatery over a meal with a Holocaust survivor. Mr. Smith’s father ran a wholesale sporting goods business next to a Jewish delicatessen in the small town of Colonia, New Jersey. One day his father took him to lunch with a man who “used to come into a Jewish delicatessen near our store, and he was a Holocau... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the House Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee, co-chairs a hearing on Wednesday, January 31 highlighting the shocking abuses committed by UN peacekeepers stationed abroad. A congressional hearing co-chaired today by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the House Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee, highlighted shocking abuses committed by UN peacekeepers stationed abroad—especi... Read more

A congressional hearing today co-chaired by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Brian Mast (R-FL) further exposed the blatant antisemitism of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) just days after new evidence emerged last week that UNRWA employees were directly involved in the October 7 terror attacks. The hearing follows new legislation—the Stop Support for UNRWA Act of 2024—introduced by Smith and cosponsored by Mast and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) that would prohibit the US Government from ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee, today issued the following statement in response to the Biden Administration’s announcement that it has “temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA” while it reviews allegations that 12 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel: “The Administration’s decision is long overdue and still a feeble response to the massive and irrefutable evidence... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who earlier this week led a letter signed by 210 Members of Congress denouncing South Africa’s hostile genocide allegations against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), today issued the following statement on the ICJ ruling on South Africa’s case: “The ICJ’s ruling confirms what we knew all along—that South Africa’s grossly unfounded case against Israel is both false and dangerous. “Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas’ brutal invasion—which include... Read more

Ahead of next week’s International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee, has introduced bipartisan legislation (HR 7025) to reauthorize the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)—which is set to expire later this year—through September 2026. Smith’s bill is cosponsored by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX). “The US Commission on International Religious Freed... Read more

A new report issued by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) shows that proposed changes to the child tax credit in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (HR 7024) would boost support for large and growing American families by eliminating current provisions in the US tax code that penalize households with more than one child. The report, which comes in response to a congressional inquiry by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), confirms that the child tax credit proposals contained in the Com... Read more

In a letter today to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Kathy Manning (D-NC), Co-Chairs of the House Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, led 208 fellow Members of Congress in denouncing the hostile genocide allegations levied by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “South Africa has filed a grossly unfounded case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide and asking the court to order I... Read more

At a ceremony at Brookdale Community College today, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) joined Brookdale President Dr. David Stout, Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone, Cyber Center Director Professor Michael Qaissaunee and other local officials, faculty, and students to mark the ribbon cutting for the College’s Center for Excellence for Cybersecurity Education (CECE). The project—made possible in part by $439,456 in federal funds that Smith personally secured through a congressional e... Read more

The following are excerpts of remarks by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at today’s hearing on the harmful effects of offshore wind industrialization on our environment, marine life, and economy. The hearing, chaired by Rep. Andy Harris, MD (R-MD) and attended by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), was held in Ocean City, Maryland and adds to expert testimony provided at last year’s critical hearing in Wildwood, NJ. “In just the last two and a half months, three major industrial wind development companies pulle... Read more