The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)’s June 4th hearing, entitled “The PRC’s Threats to Americans: Transnational Repression & State-Level Responses”: Before we begin, I want to mark a solemn anniversary. Today marks the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Thirty-seven years ago, millions of Chinese citizens peacefully asked for political reform, democratic openness, and basic hum... Read more

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s June 3rd hearing, entitled “Can Turkey Find Its Way Back to Freedom? Authoritarian Consolidation versus the Defense of Turkish Democracy”: Welcome to our witnesses, and to everyone joining us this morning. It’s good to see many Turkish Americans in the room. Thank you for your concern about the future of Turkey, and also for your contributions to the United States. The ti... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), delivers his opening statement as his May 14th hearing, "A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond." The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)’s May 14th hearing, entitled “A Market Built on Victims: Stopping Illegal Organ Trafficking in China and Beyond”: Last Septemb... Read more

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s April 28th hearing, entitled “North Korean Human Rights Movement: Current Prospects and Obstacles”: Good afternoon and thank you to everyone joining us today – above all, our witnesses, Tara O and Suzanne Scholte, for their dedicated service to the people of North Korea, and for their unique knowledge of the North Korean human rights movement, which we will benefit from t... Read more

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ)’s opening statement at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)’s April 16th hearing, entitled “Dark Nets, Illicit Labor—Confronting China’s IUU Fishing and Seafood Supply Chain”: I want to recognize and thank Co-Chair Sullivan for his leadership on this issue and his long record of fighting to protect the American seafood industry and American fishermen. In fact, on March 24, 2026, the Senate unanimously passed Co-Chair... Read more

The following are excerpts of Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee’s February 10th hearing—his fifteenth hearing chaired exclusively on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda—entitled “Advancing Peace in DRC and Rwanda through President Trump’s Washington Accords – Part II”: My engagement in supporting peace between Rwanda and the DRC—like my good friend and former colleague, Ambassador Tony Hall, who will testify today—... Read more

The following are excerpts of Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the House Foreign Affairs Africa and Western Hemisphere Subcommittees’ February 4th joint hearing, entitled “Defending Religious Freedom Around the World”: Congratulations and special thanks to Ambassador Sam Brownback and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, co-chairs of the International Religious Freedom Summit just concluded here in Washington, for an extraordinarily powerful, comprehensive call to action for global relig... Read more

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Committee’s February 3rd hearing—his eighth hearing chaired exclusively on Belarus—entitled “Human Rights in Belarus Today: Political Prisoners and the Ongoing Crackdown”: Today, we will examine the ongoing, brutal crackdown on democratic opposition—and indeed, on anyone suspected of sympathy for it, or for the freedom and independence of Belarus. We will also talk about political pri... Read more

The following are excerpts of Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee’s January 22nd hearing—his fourteenth hearing chaired exclusively on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda—entitled “Advancing Peace in DRC and Rwanda through President Trump’s Washington Accords”: My engagement in supporting peace between Rwanda and DRC spans more than three decades, from a focus on the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide t... Read more

The following are excerpts of Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee’s December 11th hearing—his seventeenth hearing chaired exclusively on Sudan—entitled “Stopping the Bloodshed: U.S. Response to Crimes Against Humanity in Sudan”: Last week, I had the honor of attending President Trump’s convening of two African leaders to bring an end to decades of bloodshed and war in eastern Congo. It is through the President’s leadership, and the ti... Read more