Mr. Chairman, over the past three decades, we have seen a steady increase in the quality, candor, and scope of the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. In fighting the plague of human rights abuse, sunlight is often the best disinfectant. On the whole, the Country Reports shine brightly into some very dark corners. We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women of the Department of State who work so hard to compile them. Read more

Legislation authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) that authorizes $98 million for specialized treatment for torture survivors in the United States and abroad was overwhelmingly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee this morning. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) was honored with the prestigious Commodore John Barry Award for his work on behalf of America’s veterans and for his efforts to promote peace and human rights in Northern Ireland by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the Jersey Shore at their annual gala in Spring Lake this evening. Read more

As Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem arrived in Washington, DC, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) held a press conference on Capitol Hill to demand that the Government of Vietnam immediately end their ongoing, unbridled human rights abuses and free all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today departed on a trip to Nigeria where he will press for an end to human trafficking and monitor U.S. assistance to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in a country with the world’s third highest-rate of HIV/AIDS-afflicted persons. Read more

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi boldly proclaimed this month that this would be a Congress that remembers the children, I couldn’t help but think that this smart, savvy grandmother of 6, who now wields the most powerful gavel in the world, was forgetting someone. Read more

The day after the release of a devastating report detailing collusion between a Protestant paramilitary organization and police in Northern Ireland, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee today approved a resolution introduced by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) calling on the government of the of the United Kingdom to begin a full “independent public judicial” investigation of the murder of Northern Ireland defense attorney Pat Finucane. Read more

The following are excerpts from the speech delivered by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today at the March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.: Read more

A bill authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) promoting democracy and human rights in Belarus was signed into law over the weekend by President George W. Bush. Read more

In a letter released this week, U.S. Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) urged Turkmenistan’s Acting President to carry-out his promises of educational and information reforms and called for a free and fair election in the former Soviet-Bloc nation Read more