U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-4th Dist.) returned this week from the Sudan and vowed to press the Bush administration to provide new aid for African Union peacekeepers in the embattled Darfur region. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who returned this week from a tour of Sudanese refugee camps, says the U.S. government has helped stabilize the health of civil war victims and now must help them rebuild their lives. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith has met with leaders in Sudan, pressing them to improve human rights and to resolve violent conflict in the African nation's Darfur region. Read more

Delays in investigating the killing of dozens of Ethiopians who were protesting against alleged electoral fraud may lead to loss of evidence and testimony from victims and witnesses, a congressman from New Jersey said Wednesday. Read more

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) – Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations – concluded the first leg of his three nation trip, departing Ethiopia en route to Sudan, where he will meet with government officials, SPLM leadership and visit refugee camps. During his trip to Ethiopia, Smith met with opposition party and government leaders, met with patients suffering from HIV-AIDS and visited a hospital treating women with fistula – a program Smith has championed in Congress. Read more

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) – Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations – will travel to Ethiopia and Sudan from August 14-20. Chairman Smith hopes to address critical issues threatening peace, human rights and development in the two East African nations, as well as engage the African Union in discussions of joint projects, such as the AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, urged supporters of the late Sudanese First Vice President John Garang to remain calm while the facts surrounding his death are being investigated. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Vice Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a leader in Congress promoting human rights, peace and justice in Northern Ireland issued the following statement today following the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA’s) declaration of an end to its campaign of violence: Read more

China – the world’s second largest consumer of oil products at 6.7 million barrels per day – is expected to double its daily consumption to 13.4 million barrels by 2025. China’s increased need for oil explains why the Beijing regime has targeted resource-rich African nations for energy-related development. Agreements on major business deals and costly projects have been an important tool in China’s efforts to strengthen ties with strategic African countries. China’s deepest and most controversial engagement in Africa is in Sudan, where the Chinese National Petroleum Company has developed an oil field in the southern part of the country. According to Human Rights Watch, China has supplied Sudan with ammunition, tanks, helicopters, fighter aircraft, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Analysts are concerned that China’s growing role in Africa will undercut efforts by the United States and other Western countries to promote transparency, improved governance, and democracy. Diplomatic and economic pressure to encourage reform, including sanctions, could have a reduced effect if regimes look to China as an alternative source of aid, trade, and investment. Read more

Ten people in New Jersey were indicted today with violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, authored into law by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). The law focused on the most severe forms of trafficking in human beings and provided law enforcement tools to eliminate slavery, and particularly sex slavery, by a comprehensive, balanced approach of prevention, prosecution and enforcement, and victim protection. Read more