Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) five-year, $30 billion extension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was signed into law by President Donald Trump today at the White House, continuing a successful program that has saved tens of millions of lives. “Each year we are closer and closer to achieving an AIDS-free world, and an AIDS-free generation, and my law will bring us one giant step closer to achieving this goal,” Smith stated. “So much has been accomplished since the beginning o... Read more

President Donald Trump signed two bills authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) into law on Tuesday: a five-year, $30 billion extension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act, legislation to ensure ISIS genocide victims in Iraq and Syria receive humanitarian relief and hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes. Smith’s Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act was introduced in the House over two ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House global human rights subcommittee, on Tuesday welcomed the State Department’s inclusion of Russia on its religious freedom “Special Watch List” for governments that engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom. “The violations of religious freedom in Russia are real, thoroughly documented, and at times brutal,” Smith stated at a hearing he chaired of the Helsinki Commission on “Religious Freedom in Eurasia” Tuesday. “The Russian gover... Read more

I want to thank all of you for joining us this afternoon to discuss the continuing crisis of international parental child abduction and how the Trump Administration can and must use current law more aggressively to bring American children home to their families. I especially want to thank the brave left-behind parents in this room and hundreds of others who are here in spirit for tenaciously struggling to recover their child or children from an abduction. The deleterious physical and psychologic... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced the winner of the New Jersey Fourth Congressional District’s 2018 Congressional App Challenge on Tuesday, a nationwide competition for high school students to showcase their software app skills and teamwork. “Congratulations to the winning students from Communications High School for their exceptional app ‘BrainHack,’” Rep. Smith stated, announcing the winner of the NJ-04 2018 Congressional App Challenge during Computer Science Education Week, the week of... Read more

“I am unalterably opposed to oil and gas drilling and exploration off New Jersey’s coastline, the first step of which is seismic airgun blasting,” Rep. Smith said today in response to the Administration’s announcement that it would approve requests for seismic airgun blasting off the Atlantic Coast. “Not here, not now, not ever,” said Smith who is working with a multi-state bipartisan group of Members to halt oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic Coast. Smith has signed on to a letter—with 93... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee, will hold a hearing on reviewing international child abduction on Monday, December 10. Parents of internationally abducted children will testify, as well as the executive director of a non-profit dedicated to returning children wrongfully abducted by a parent to Japan. “Left-behind parents, whose children have been abducted to a foreign country by an estranged spouse, were heartened when the Sean and David Goldman A... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who has fought long and hard to protect and expand critical missions at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, appeared with military leaders, federal, state, and local officials, and others on Monday at the groundbreaking of a major construction project that will begin a significant new chapter in the history of the Joint Base. “Today we celebrate and break ground on the first construction project for the newest mission at the Joint Base that is critical to our national secu... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) issued the following statement on the passing of President George H.W. Bush: “President Bush was not only a hero of World War II—brave, tenacious, fearless and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism under fire—but he was also an extraordinary family man who deeply loved his wife Barbara and family, and spent his entire public life pursuing peace and an end to the Cold War. He inspired selfless public service—a thousand points of light—and generosity and compas... Read more

At the White House World AIDS Day event on Thursday, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) praised the life-saving success of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) after his five-year, $30 billion extension of PEPFAR passed the Senate on Wednesday. “The Trump Administration’s 2018 PEPFAR Report to Congress highlights the urgency of the HIV/AIDS crisis and affirms that we must continue to be proactive in addressing this epidemic,” Smith said. “I am happy to be able to say that Congress is act... Read more