Even as the people of Belarus continue their brave struggle against a brutal dictatorship, a bill authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee(HFAC), was passed Monday night by both houses of Congress to ramp up pressure on entrenched Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenko following his regime’s violent crackdown and political repression that came in the wake of his fraudulent August 9 re-election. As prime sponsor of the Belarus Democracy, Human R... Read more

The House and Senate voted Monday night on a COVID relief and omnibus legislative package that provides critical COVID relief for unemployed Americans, their families and small businesses struggling under the weight of the impact of COVID, while also funding the government through the end of the fiscal year in September 2021. The final COVID relief bill passed would provide approximately $900 billion in federal assistance to continue to respond to the COVID pandemic and its impact on the economy... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today announced the winners of this year’s New Jersey Fourth Congressional District Congressional App Challenge (CAC), part of a nationwide competition for middle and high school students to showcase their software app-developing skills and teamwork. The winning app, CollabraCart, was designed by Communications High School students Erin Hardiman of Spring Lake, Melody Lin of Freehold and Jacob Rosegarten of Morganville. “I am pleased to congratulate all the winning studen... Read more

The brutal atrocities and continuing threats to Nigerian peace and stability—especially to Christians under seemingly relentless attacks by radical Islamists in Nigeria—were at the core of testimony by U.S. State Department officials and human rights organizations at a hearing today, “Conflict and Killings in Nigeria’s Middle Belt,” held by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. “Our Middle Belt region has truly become a vale of tears, a region where mas... Read more

U.S. Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), announced bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate today called the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act (H.R. 8972, S.5016), intended to prevent the unethical and criminal harvesting organs from minority groups and other victims. “Organ harvesting is a barbaric, inhumane and egregious act of global significance as transnational human trafficking gangs, terrorist organizations, profiteers and eve... Read more

On Thursday, December 17 from 1–4 p.m., Congressman Chris Smith will co-chair a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the deteriorating human rights situation in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, including its religious dimensions, and proposed responses. The underlying causes of the conflict in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are complex and varied. They include competition for access to land and other resources between pastoralists and farmers exacerbated by drought, desertification, and climate ch... Read more

Responding to reports that South Korea’s parliament was on the verge of passing legislation that would criminalize the sending of leaflets, Bibles and money across the border to the Communist North, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, made the following statement. “I am troubled that legislators in an ostensibly vibrant democracy would contemplate criminalizing conduct aimed at promoting democracy and providing spiritual and humanitarian succor... Read more

The House passed and Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) voted for the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today, new legislation that will protect the airlift and air refueling missions at America’s only tri-service installation, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB-MDL), and brings $37 million in construction jobs that will support construction work for the local economy. “The bill requires the Secretary of the Air Force to maintain a minimum of 50 KC–10 Extender tankers—many of which a... Read more

Legislation authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to help veterans heal through outdoor recreational therapy has been signed into law by President Trump. Smith’s bipartisan Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act (H.R. 2435), which was endorsed by more than 120 veteran service organizations, outdoor recreation groups and conservation organizations, will provide increased access to federal lands for the purposes of veterans’ medical recovery therapy. Smith’s bill—cosponsored by 136 bipartisan ... Read more

U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Richard Neal (D-MA), who spearheaded a bipartisan congressional letter urging an independent UK inquiry into government collusion in the 1989 assassination of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane, today released the following statement in response to UK Secretary of State Brandon Lewis’ disappointing decision to block a public hearing into the murder: “The British Government’s announcement today, its most recent attempt to break its promise for a public inquiry ... Read more