Below is the op-ed written by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, on the crisis in Afghanistan: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/aug/20/create-humanitarian-corridors/. Read more

Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press staff Already thinking about a trip abroad next summer, when perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic will — dare it even be imagined — finally be over? Well, better get to work on renewing that expired or soon-to-be expired passport now. A nationwide backlog in passport applications has resulted from a shutdown of passport offices across the country during the public health crisis, said Ocean County Clerk Scott M. Colabella. The county clerk’s office administers the start of... Read more

In response to the backlog of passport applications – which exceeds 2 million nationally, including more than 400,000 that hadn’t even been opened yet as of the last update – a New Jersey congressman is asking that all current passports get extended. Rep. Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, said the last word from the State Department was that there were 1.75 million applications pending adjudication and 413,000 in lockboxes awaiting processing. In response, he has proposed legislation that would temporari... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) this week reintroduced Braeden’s Commission: Protect our Athletes from Exertional Heat Stroke (H.R. 4855)—bipartisan legislation named in honor of Braeden Bradforth, the college football player from Smith’s congressional district who died suddenly from exertional heat stroke following a team practice at a Kansas college on August 1, 2018. “Braeden had the highest hopes of advancing his football career and playing in the NFL one day, but exertional heat stroke ended that ... Read more

Marking this year’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA - P.L. 106-386), today called on the United States and nations around the world to bolster and expand their efforts to combat the worldwide scourge of human trafficking and protect those who are most vulnerable. “Today especially, we shine a light on these unspeakable crimes and the millions of victims who are still in urgent need of help... Read more

By Julie Asher | Catholic News Service and Staff Reports As he offered three amendments to the State Department appropriations bill before the House July 28, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., asked his House colleagues in remarks from the floor, "Where is the justice and empathy and compassion for unborn babies?" "Rather than funding the death of a baby, I believe we must increase access to maternal and prenatal care and ensure access to safe blood and better nutrition," said Smith, a Catholic, wh... Read more

Three bipartisan amendments offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to enhance federal support for autism research and Lyme disease programs passed the House of Representatives as part of an en bloc amendment this week during consideration of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 4502). The first of Smith’s amendments, cosponsored by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), would redirect $10 million from the HHS Office of the Secretar... Read more

REUTERS - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and relocate the event unless China ends what the United States deems an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jim McGovern were joined by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris Smith in a letter saying that no Olympics should be held in a country "whose ... Read more

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com As coronavirus-related travel restrictions subside, Americans wishing to travel overseas face a new hurdle: Their passports are expiring and a huge backlog of applications means it will take months to get new ones. The State Department’s website says to expect a wait of 18 weeks to renew a passport or get a new one, though some of that is due to mail delays. Even expedited service will take 12 weeks, the State Department said. The department s... Read more

By Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff Robert Trionfo and his wife Eileen had been planning the Cancun trip since early spring. After living through the past seventeen months, all this Millstone Twp. couple wanted to do was take the entire family — their three kids, six grandchildren and various spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. — to Mexico in July. This was a particularly special vacation for Trionfo's grandson, 24, who is battling leukemia. Except the family reunion — and up to $14,000 in deposits... Read more