By Katherine Hamilton Published November 21, 2025 U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) led 175 House Republicans in a letter demanding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) undo the Biden administration’s “mail-order abortion scheme” and investigate the potential safety risks of abortion pills. In 2021 under former President Joe Biden, the FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement for abortion pills and allowed them ... Read more

By Efrat Lachter Published November 20, 2025 at 7:09 PM EST The U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa held a hearing Thursday on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria in what subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith, R-N.J., described as the "systematic and accelerating violence against predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria." Members from both parties questioned administration officials and outside experts as witness after witness described the collapse of security, mass killings, kidnappings a... Read more

By Jeff Mordock and Mike Glenn Published Thursday, November 20, 2025 China’s crackdown on religious freedom, including recent arrests of Christian church members, represents a national security threat to the U.S. and must be met with a powerful response, a coalition of experts told lawmakers Thursday on Capitol Hill. Former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who served as ambassador-at-large for religious freedom in the first Trump administration, urged lawmakers to shift from viewing Beijing’s religiou... Read more

By Mike Glenn Published Thursday, November 20, 2025 Nigeria remains the deadliest place on earth to be a practising Christian. More believers are killed there every year than in the rest of the world combined, a Catholic prelate from Nigeria told lawmakers in Congress on Thursday. Bishop Wilfred C. Anagbe said violence against Christians in the West African country is rampant, particularly from Islamist groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province. A recent report from the N... Read more

By Elise Winland Published November 18, 2025 Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, a Catholic, will co-chair a Nov. 20 congressional hearing examining what lawmakers call the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) escalating “war” on religious believers. In a press release, Smith’s office said the CCP has “intensified its drive for absolute control over religion, insisting that believers subordinate conscience and conviction to the Party and to General Secretary Xi Jinping.” The statement describe... Read more

On Sunday, November 16th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee and renowned religious freedom advocate, joined Mark Levin on FOX’s “Life, Liberty and Levin” to discuss the ongoing religious persecution of Christians throughout the globe, especially in Nigeria. The internationally recognized human rights lawmaker detailed the worsening religious persecution crisis in Nigeria, including his upcoming hearing on the matter; President Trump’s timely and ... Read more

By Nick Mordowanec Published November 7, 2025 at 4:53 PM ET A Washington lawmaker has sponsored legislation calling on the U.S. State Department to advance religious freedom and protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria, telling Military.com that the situation has “gotten significantly worse within the past year.” President Donald Trump threatened this week to "do things to Nigeria that Nigeria is not going to be happy about" and "go into that now-disgraced country guns-a-blazing” to counter what... Read more

By Elise Winland Published November 7, 2025 Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., introduced new legislation detailing how the U.S. should respond to the ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria, following President Donald Trump’s decision to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In a Nov. 5 press release, Smith, a Catholic, said that Christians in Nigeria live “under the constant threat of murder, kidnapping, rape, and torture by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terro... Read more

By News Desk Published November 7, 2025 A Washington lawmaker is pushing for new legislation that urges the U.S. State Department to take stronger actions to promote religious freedom and protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria. This comes amid growing concerns about escalating violence against Christians in the country, which the lawmaker describes as having “gotten significantly worse within the past year.” President Donald Trump recently made headlines with remarks stating that the U.S. migh... Read more

By Elise Winland Published November 5, 2025 Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., recently recalled what sparked his lifelong mission to defend religious freedom: reading “Tortured for Christ,” Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand’s account of underground Christians tortured under dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. “I was moved to tears. And challenged to act,” he said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) Christian Persecution Summit Oct. 30. A Catholic and longtime human rights adv... Read more