Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the immediate past chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, issued the following statement on the announced election result in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: “A surprise victor has been declared winner of the recent presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi. Independent election observers question whether this reflects the actual results as independent tabulations appear to have favored another opposition candidate, Marti... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the immediate past chairman of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, issued the following statement on the new arbitrary charges brought against Mehman Huseynov by the government of Azerbaijan: “I urgently call on President Aliyev to immediately and unconditionally release Mehman Huseynov. Mehman has spent two years in jail for his work exposing the corruption of the Aliyev regime. The government compounded this injustice two weeks ago by imposing new arbitrary ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith is currently serving his thirty-ninth year as a Member of Congress from New Jersey, and was the immediate past chairman of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights. He issued the following statement on the decision by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to expel the United Nations anti-corruption entity, CICIG, from Guatemala: “I understand and support the decision of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to terminate the mandate of CICIG. Under Commissioner Ivan Velazquez, CIC... Read more

On Tuesday, President Trump signed into law Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) bill authorizing $430 million over four years for a comprehensive whole-of-government effort to fight sex and labor trafficking at home and abroad. “My Frederick Douglass law authorizes over $430 million over 4 years to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and beef up prosecution of those involved in this nefarious trade both at home and abroad,” Smith said. His Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Prot... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Thursday, at the beginning of the 116th Congress, reintroduced legislation to create a new national strategy on Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases and to strengthen efforts across the federal government to fight, treat and prevent tick-borne disease. “The 2018 report of the HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group made it clear—tick-borne diseases are spreading rapidly and are far outpacing our current national response to this problem,” Rep. Smith said. “My bipart... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Thursday reintroduced critical bipartisan legislation to provide the U.S. State Department with more diplomatic tools and support to combat the global rise in anti-Semitism. “We are seeing a precipitous rise in anti-Semitism around the world, manifested through acts of violence against Jews and synagogues, insults, slurs, threats, and criticism of Israel that meets the criteria of what Soviet refusenik and religious prisoner Natan Sharansky called the ‘three Ds’: demon... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, issued the following statement on the court order for the release of Igor Bitkov: "I welcome the news that a court in Guatemala on Friday ordered Igor Bitkov released, sentencing him to time served. I fully expect that the release of his wife and daughter, Irina and Anastasia, will likewise be forthcoming. "That said, the original prosecution and jailing of the Bitkovs — orchestrated by the Russian government in col... Read more

Amid fresh reports that charitable giving could drop precipitously for 2018 because of the changes to the tax law, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is calling attention to a bipartisan remedy he proposed this year and will reintroduce at the beginning of the 116th Congress. Smith’s Charitable Giving Tax Deduction Act would allow taxpayers to write off charitable donations to organizations that volunteer and assist those in need, whether or not they choose to itemize on their taxes. “Charitable organizati... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) bill authorizing $430 million over four years for a comprehensive whole-of-government effort to fight sex and labor trafficking at home and abroad cleared Congress today, marking his fifth comprehensive anti-human trafficking bill to become law. Smith is the author of America’s first human trafficking bill, the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which he has reauthorized and/or enhanced through his subsequent legislation. The original TVPA, enacted in 2... Read more

Rep. Christopher Smith, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, issued the following statement with regard to presidential and national assembly elections to be held in Nigeria on February 16, 2019, and ongoing violence largely attributable to Fulani extremists: “I am very concerned by the current trajectory in Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy and economy, and President Muhamadu Buhari’s apparent crackdown on non-violent protests and harassment of opposition leaders, suc... Read more