U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and a bipartisan group of a dozen lawmakers today introduced legislation calling on the government of the United Kingdom to begin a full “independent public judicial” investigation of the murder of Northern Ireland defense attorney Pat Finucane. Read more

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the Congressional committee that oversees human rights, today reiterated his "deep disappointment" over the UN General Assembly’s creation of a "weak and deeply flawed" Human Rights panel and praised US Ambassador John Bolton for standing on principle to defend the victims of human rights abuses around the world. Read more

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the powerful Congressional human rights committee, expressed “deep disappointment and dismay” that the United Nations General Assembly today adopted a “weak and deeply flawed replacement” for the discredited Human Rights Commission. “To call what the UN did today ‘reform’ is Orwellian,” Smith said. “The victims of human rights abuse around the world deserve better than this new, egregiously flawed council. The hypocrisy and gross ineffectivenes... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R- NJ), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, issued the following statement today upon the State Department’s release of the 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices:"I welcome the release of the 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and commend the State Department for once again making this important annual contribution to the promotion of human rights around the world. These reports serve as a constant ... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) spoke in strong support of HR 4472 - the Children’s Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005 – which the House passed today. Smith, who co-sponsored of the bill, said that the bill enhances child protection from sex offenders by improving notification programs and strengthening criminal penalties. Read more

In response to a failed effort by the US Department of State to encourage the government of Sudan to effectively address human trafficking, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) urged the Administration to correct its policy. Last fall, a four month experiment began designed to improve Sudan’s ranking on the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) ratings from Tier 3 (the worst traffickers) to Tier 2. Read more

The Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2006 (HR 3189), a bill authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), moved one step closer to passage after being overwhelmingly approved by his Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations. Read more

American people are deeply troubled to see U.S. technology and know-how used by repressive regimes in China and elsewhere in the world to cruelly exploit and abuse the citizens of those countries. While the Internet has opened up commercial opportunities and provided people all over the world with access to vast amounts of information, in China it has also become a malicious tool -- a cyber-sledgehammer of repression in the hands of the government. Read more

Not a moment too soon, Congress is turning up the heat on the cozy relationship that Internet giants Google, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems conduct with China's cyber-police. Read more

Good morning and welcome to this hearing on the Internet in China. We are here to examine a problem that is deeply troubling to me, and I believe, to the American people: that American technology and know-how is substantially enabling repressive regimes in China and elsewhere in the world to cruelly exploit and abuse their own citizens. Read more