Timeline regarding Bitkovs legal case in Guatemala A Russian woman who fled Vladimir Putin with her family and who was unjustly jailed in Guatemala along with her husband and daughter, testified June 9th at a U.S. congressional human rights commission hearing and said that she and her family suffered “unthinkable abuses committed openly by the Guatemalan Judicial System.” Testifying virtually while still under house arrest in Guatemala City, Irina Bitkova appealed to the U.S. government to work ... Read more

The winners of the 2021 Congressional Art Competition were announced today by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), who sponsors the annual competition and art show for high school students in the Fourth Congressional District as part of the nationwide competition organized by the Congressional Institute to help recognize and foster artistic talent in each congressional district. “We had one of the highest number of entries ever in our second virtual art competition of high school artists in the Four... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) hosted a meeting this week with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Brigadier General Thomas Tickner, commander of the North Atlantic Region, along with State Department of Environmental Protection and local officials to discuss short-term, mid-term and long-term fixes to the severe beach erosion in Bay Head Borough most recently caused by Winter Storm Orlena in February. The meeting follows a meeting Smith hosted in February, in Bay Head with federal, state and loc... Read more

United States Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), prime author of the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020—as well as the Belarus Democracy Acts of 2004, 2006 and 2011—today demanded the immediate release of journalist and pro-democracy leader Raman Pratasevich who was arrested by Belarusian President Lukashenka after forcing the commercial airliner he was aboard to land in Minsk. “Aboard a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania, Mr. Pratasevich’s flight was intercepted by ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), two founding co-chairs of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combatting Antisemitism, and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combatting Antisemitism, issued the following statement condemning recent antisemitic incidents across the globe: “As co-chairs of the bipartisan congressional task forces for combating antisemitism, we are alarmed and deeply concerned... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) have teamed up again and reintroduced their bipartisan legislation—the Get the Lead Out Act (HR 3300)—to combat the life-threatening risk of lead in drinking water systems in their districts and across the country. First introduced in 2020, the legislation would provide $66.2 billion over ten years and direct every utility in America to develop a plan to identify and remove lead pipes that threaten the health of residents—especially children.... Read more

At a bipartisan, bicameral human rights hearing on Capitol Hill this week, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) condemned the egregious and ongoing genocide and other atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), calling upon the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to find a new host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics or face a boycott of the Beijing Games. “In granting Beijing host status for the Olympic Games, we are crowning a barbarous regime with laurels while we should be condemning th... Read more

Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), in conjunction with the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, will hold a joint hearing on Tuesday, May 18 to examine the implications of holding the XXIV Winter Olympiad in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in light of the country’s egregious human rights record. In February 2022, the People’s Republic of China is scheduled to host the XXIV Winter Olympiad. But the PRC’s highly repressive human r... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) issued the following statement on the ongoing rocket attacks against Israel: “I categorically denounce the rocket attacks against innocent Israeli civilians – including Jewish and Arab civilians – which have been launched from Gaza. I further condemn the urban street violence targeting Jews in cities such as Lod, including attacks on synagogues, motorists and people in their homes. Israel has every right to defend its citizens, and its response has been proportionate and ... Read more

In a letter to Brigadier General Tickner, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) requested a follow-up meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revisit and reassess the severe beach erosion in Bay Head and other Jersey Shore towns caused by February’s Winter Storm Orlena. Smith’s request follows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declaration of Orlena as a ‘major disaster’ and provision of emergency federal funding to repair certain damages inflicted by the intense coastal storm. “FEMA’s a... Read more