“Labor Trafficking in Troubled Economic Times: Protecting American Jobs and Migrant Human Rights” was the title of a hearing held today by Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04) that focused on illegal and unethical business practices that may favor migrant labor over domestic labor and contribute to human trafficking and forced labor. British actress Julia Ormond, a longtime advocate against trafficking, lent her voice to the cause, joining officials from the U.S. State Department and... Read more

The Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011, a bill to support people struggling for basic rights against Aleksandr Lukashenka—the man often called Europe’s last dictator—was approved today by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The bill supports targeted sanctions,” said Smith, a senior member of the Committee and the Chairman of the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also called the Helsinki Commission. “It expresses the sense of the Congress to deny the privilege of v... Read more

The continued search for justice in Northern Ireland was the topic of a hearing chaired today by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4th), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also called the Helsinki Commission. Entitled "Northern Ireland: Why Justice in Individual Cases Matters," the hearing featured victims of past violence who have called for justice and resolution. “Today family members of people killed in Northern Ireland will tell us about their efforts to learn the t... Read more

The tragedy and hopes for peace in the Congo was the focus of a hearing held today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee. The U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and human rights groups, including actor-writer-director, Ben Affleck, founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) were witnesses at the the hearing, entitled “The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Securing Peace in the Midst of ... Read more

A leading human rights lawmaker today said that left behind parents whose American children have been taken and retained in Japan “are at risk of being left behind again” if the Obama Administration does not dramatically change its strategy and directly work toward an agreement with Japan to resolve current cases of international abduction. At a Capitol Hill hearing, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee with immediate jurisdiction on global human right... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith questioned U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a congressional hearing this week of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about human rights in China, specifically about its brutal one-child per couple policy. At the hearing Tuesday, Smith (NJ-04), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee with immediate jurisdiction on global human rights, questioned Secretary Clinton on the Obama Administration’s position on forced sterilizations and forced abortions in C... Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives today voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution authored by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) congratulating Tiananmen Square survivor Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese political prisoner who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10 in Oslo, Norway. Last February, Smith led a bi-partisan group of lawmakers in nominating Liu for the prize—as well as two other persecuted human rights advocates, Chen Guangcheng and Gao Zhisheng, to be joint recipients—as part of an interna... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith, Ranking Member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, offered testimony at a commission hearing today that focused on Chinese products that infringe on U.S. intellectual property. "Mr. Chairman, the Global Intellectual Property Center estimates annual U.S. losses caused by intellectual property infringement of almost $125 billion in the automotive, recording, pharmaceutical, and software industry industries alone, and we know that the Chinese government is the caus... Read more

The fight to keep American minors out of the hands of sex traffickers was the topic of a hearing today at which Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. “Tragically, homegrown demand, enabled by the misuse of the internet drives much of the domestic minor sex trafficking in the U.S.,” said Smith, a senior member of the House International Relations Committee and au... Read more

A modern Community-Based Outpatient Clinic to serve the health care needs of area veterans was officially opened this week highlighted at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by veteran leaders and officials from the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs. Read more