The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s March 5th hearing, entitled “U.S. Presidency of the G20–An Opportunity to Champion Human Rights”: Good afternoon and welcome to everyone joining us today for this important hearing on the U.S. Presidency of the G20. I’d particularly like to recognize and welcome several Romanian parliamentary deputies who are here with us today. As the United States assumes the 2026 Presi... Read more

By News Ghana Published March 5, 2026 A bipartisan congressional commission held a hearing in Washington on Thursday calling on the Trump administration to use its 2026 Group of Twenty (G20) presidency to champion religious freedom and free speech, with particular focus on the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria and the growing threat of state-sponsored censorship globally. The hearing, convened by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, explored how the Trump administration can elevate human ... Read more

By Kate Scanlon Published March 5, 2026 at 7:54 PM WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The U.S. presidency of the Group of 20, a forum for cooperation among the world’s largest economies, is an opportunity to advance human rights, advocates said at a congressional hearing March 5. The U.S. assumed the rotating presidency of the forum, sometimes called the G20, in December. The 2026 summit is scheduled to be held in Miami in December. Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J. and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., both Catholics and co... Read more

The following are excerpts of remarks delivered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 and four additional anti-human trafficking laws, for the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking's 2026 Law Enforcement Conference in Eatontown, NJ: Special thanks to every survivor-leader, law enforcement officer, prosecutor, service provider, and expert for your commitment to ending the scourge of human trafficking. I especially want to recognize ... Read more

On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered the following remarks on the House floor on Iran: Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, for far too long, Iran has held the world hostage with its nuclear threats, unbridled violence and hate, pervasive use of torture and rape, and Nazi-like anti-Semitism. Iran is the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism. All diplomatic initiatives to se... Read more

By Reps. Chris Smith and Dale Strong - Wednesday, March 4, 2026 Christians in China illustration by Linas Garsys / The Washington Times OPINION: In December, hundreds of armed police swept through a village near Wenzhou, China, a city known as the “Jerusalem of China” because of its concentration of Christian believers, and reportedly tore down crosses and arrested more than 100 members of unregistered Protestant “house churches.” The intent of this operation was clear: Meet outside the state’s ... Read more

On Thursday, March 5th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), will chair a congressional hearing on the United States’ 2026 Presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20)—the leading forum for international economic cooperation among the world’s largest economies—and how the Trump administration can elevate human rights issues in connection with the G20 presidency. WHAT: Congressional hearing on the United States’ G20 presidency and how the forum can be u... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the below statement following the U.S. military and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s joint strikes on Iran, known as “Operation Epic Fury”: “For far too long, Iran has held the world hostage with its nuclear threats and state-sponsored terrorism. As today’s strikes have exemplified, all diplomatic endeavors to secure peace with the Iranian dictatorship have been exhausted. “President Trump is a man of his wor... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), and Claire Lai, daughter of Jimmy Lai, sat down with host Raymond Arroyo on EWTN's The World Over with Raymond Arroyo to discuss the latest on Jimmy Lai's incarceration in Hong Kong, and the hope that diplomatic pressure will continue to be applied by the US and UK governments to eventually secure Jimmy's release from prison in Hong Kong. The full interview can be viewed by clicking here. ### Read more

By Ezinwanne Onwuka Published February 26, 2026 The bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is urging Congress to ban the world’s religion bullies from hiring lobbyists to spin their false narratives. Case in point is Nigeria’s $9 million lobbying contract in Washington intended to downplay its Christian-persecution problem. Nigeria’s CPC Status and Lobbying Contract Nigeria signed a six-month, $9 million contract with Washington lobbying firm DCI Group amid height... Read more