U.S. Rep. Chris Smith—Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Global Human Rights Subcommittee and Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission—today called on the government of Azerbaijan to provide Dr. Gubad Ibadoglu, an economist who has been unjustly imprisoned, with immediate access to medical care following his recent transfer from prison to house arrest: “This heroic political prisoner suffers from a number of medical conditions, which have been greatly aggravated by the lack of a... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today took to the House Floor during debate and urged his colleagues to pass legislation (HR 8034) that would provide more than $26 billion in critical military assistance to Israel while prohibiting any US funds from flowing to the failed and pervasively antisemitic United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza. The bill was passed by the House in a vote of 366-58. “The United States must make absolutely clear in both word and deed, not just today, but every da... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) today voted in favor of comprehensive legislation (HR 3602) to secure the US southern border as President Biden refuses to resolve the ongoing crisis with existing executive authorities available to him. “The chaos at our southern border constitutes a grave national security and humanitarian crisis that continues to put the lives of so many at risk,” said Rep. Smith. “President Biden’s open border policies—and his outright refusal to implement existing executive ... Read more

As concerns continue to mount over Verizon’s plans to install twenty 30-foot towers along the boardwalk in Belmar, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) today introduced legislation (HR 8082) that would empower local residents impacted by proposed 5G projects and would rein in the power of telecommunication giants to fast track their rollout of 5G wireless, steamrolling community opposition in the process. Specifically, Smith’s bill would nullify two administrative regulations issued by the Federal C... Read more

In a hand delivered-letter to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio following his address to the US Congress late last week, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) made a direct appeal to the Japanese leader to personally intervene and help return over 500 American children who have been abducted to Japan to their left-behind parents in the United States. “As our two countries continue to take steps to strengthen our democratic, economic and security ties, I would like to draw your attention to an open wound ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee, introduced legislation (HR 7891) this week aimed at ensuring that cobalt—a key natural resource used to power electric vehicles, solar panels and other “green” products—that is extracted or processed with the use of child or forced labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) does not enter the United States market. China processes 90 percent of the world’s cobalt, most of which comes from China-owned mines in the ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, today chaired a congressional hearing exposing the shocking human rights abuses and aggressive transnational repression of the Government of Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Since 2016, the government of Turkey has, according to the US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, ‘arrested or imprisoned more than 95,000 citizens, and closed more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations…primarily for alleged ... Read more

Rep. Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Co-Chair of the Israel Allies Caucus, issued the following statement in response to Iran's drone missile attack on Israel. "Iran has launched an unprovoked, massive terror attack on our great friend and ally Israel and the United States must make absolutely clear in both word and deed not just today but every day going forward—no more equivocation—that we unequivocally stand with the Jewish state. “Both defensive weapons... Read more

At a Capitol Hill hearing chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today, a panel of global experts sounded the alarm on the often overlooked yet growing malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the United Nations (UN). “The Chinese Communist Party is an unelected, highly deceptive, and unimaginably cruel political entity—a dictatorship—that rules by force, torture and coercion and stands credibly accused of genocide and a plethora of human rights abuses,” said Smith, the Chairman of ... Read more

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, today issued the following statement regarding the need to establish a War Crimes & Economic Crimes Court in Liberia to help redress the wounds of the country’s civil wars: “In recent decades, Liberia’s people have suffered untold human rights violations and economic crimes while perpetrators acted with near-complete impunity during the country’s multiple civil w... Read more