Mr. Speaker, yesterday I held a hearing to assess the impact of the Global Food Security Act and judge how it is being implemented. We examined it with an eye toward reauthorization later this Congress. By way of background, as many of you know, the Global Food Security Act was a standout piece of bipartisan legislation that was passed in the last Congress. I was the author of the House version of the bill, which had the support of Ms. BASS and Mr. MEADOWS from our subcommittee. While GFSA was o... Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey... Mr. Speaker, Liu Xiaobo’s premature death was a jarring shock to everyone who admired this champion of freedom and democracy. We mourn his loss because it is a tragic loss for his wife, family and friends and a catastrophic loss for China and the entire world. We owe Liu Xiaobo a debt of gratitude because he demonstrated that the noble ideas of democracy and due process, liberty and the rule of law are not foreign ideas in China. These are universal principles that bea... Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey… Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman ED ROYCE for yielding. I thank him for his leadership on trafficking, for this bill in particular, for the markup, and for all of the assistance he provided. I also thank ELIOT ENGEL, our ranking member. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I want to thank KAREN BASS, the lead Democrat on the bill, for her exceptional leadership and her collaboration on this legislation. I want to thank Speaker RYAN and Majority Leade... Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey... Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my very good friend from California for his graciousness in yielding me this time and for his wonderful work as a Member of Congress on human rights and pro-life issues. I thank him for that leadership. Mr. Speaker, tonight, I rise and note to my colleagues that the news of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo’s diagnosis of terminal liver cancer was a jarring shock to everyone who admires this champion of freedom and democracy. Tonight, the... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) delivered the following remarks in support of H.R. 2484: Mr. SMITH of New Jersey… Mr. Speaker, I would like to say a few words in support of Representative KRISTI NOEM’s Women, Peace and Security Act (H.R. 2484). Among other things, it highlights the role women must play in peacemaking. In the limited time we have, I would just like to highlight the role of one woman who served as a peacemaker, whom I have had the opportunity to get to know—Nuala O’Loan, who served as th... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) delivered the following statement on the attacks outside the Turkish embassy: Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Res. 354, condemning the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Ambassdor’s residence during Turkish President Erdogan’s visit last month. This timely and critically important measure was introduced by my good friend, and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, ED ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, as representatives of... Read more

Rep.Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Panel on Global Human Rights, delivered the following remarks in support of his legislation, H.R. 390: Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership on this bill. I want to thank Ranking Member ENGEL for his support and also Majority Leader MCCARTHY for making sure this bill came to the floor. Without that, we wouldn’t be here, so I want to thank him especially for his suppo... Read more

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey: Mr. Speaker, over the past forty-two years, much has changed in Vietnam. The Vietnamese people are a little richer, but still have few rights. The Vietnamese Communist Party has opened up a bit to the outside world, but remains closed to democratic reforms and the rule of law. U.S.-Vietnamese relations have warmed because Vietnam fears China’s increasing economic power and its incursions in the South China Sea, but we see few human rights improvements emerge from better ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), former Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, delivered the following statement on the House floor: Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to express my strong support for the significant package of the veteran’s bills that we considered in the House both yesterday and today. As the former Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee (2001 through 2005), I am acutely aware of the challenges our veterans face, especially as they transition f... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel on human rights, delivered the following address on the House Floor: Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, lawyer Xie Yang was tortured for the better part of two years because he dared to represent China’s poor and persecuted. The account of his detention is both harrowing and horrible. Xie Yang was sleep deprived and kept in isolation. Squads of police punched and kicked him for hours at a time. He was forced to sit still for hours on a pre... Read more