In response to the suicide bombings of Coptic Christian worshipers on Palm Sunday in Egypt, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Human Rights, released the following statement: In December, more than two dozen worshipers were killed during a Coptic liturgy in Cairo. Last month, scores of Christians fled a wave of terrorist shootings and arson attacks in their hometowns in the Sinai. I personally raised this crisis for Copts with President el-Sisi in W...
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Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, released the following statement on Syria: I commend President Trump for assertively acting against the Syrian regime for its barbaric chemical weapons attack on the men, women and children of Khan Sheikhoun. These operations against the air base will hopefully degrade the chemical weapons capabilities of the regime and deter it from repeating such attacks. ...
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Tonight, millions of Americans will kiss their child good night and fall asleep knowing that they will be able to do the same tomorrow. Unfortunately, for an alarming number of parents, this version of the American dream is impossible — for now — as their children are half way around the world, illegally abducted to a foreign land, leaving the American parent left behind and struggling to understand what can be done. Between 2008 and 2015, nearly 10,000 children were abducted overseas by a paren...
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Today, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) chaired a hearing entitled, “Enforcement is Not Optional: The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children,” to give a voice to families suffering from international parental child abduction—inviting the new Administration to make these cases a priority and use Smith’s law, the Goldman Act, to finally bring them home. “Congress unanimously adopted the Goldman Act in 2014 to ensure that any Administration takes effective action when a country refuses to return ...
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After recently chairing his ninth hearing on anti-Semitism, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today introduced the bipartisan “Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act” (H.R. 1911) to strengthen U.S. international leadership in the fight against threats to Jewish communities. Smith authored the provisions of law that created the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and the Special Envoy to lead it in 2004. “Jewish communities here and abroad continue to be targeted for...
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Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today applauded the State Department’s announcement that the United States will no longer fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) due to its support for coercive birth limitation policies and will instead redirect those funds to support other maternal health programs. Smith, a longtime advocate of defunding the organization, said the UNFPA “gave China’s brutally enforced population control policies the international stamp of approval.” “Since 1979—first through t...
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1 in 41 children in New Jersey, and 1 in 68 children nationally, are on the autism spectrum. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities are in almost every school and community, however a lack of understanding of autism can often lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation for individuals with ASD and their families, and all too often, intimidation and bullying. Knowing this, today the co-Chair of the bipartisan Coalition for Autism Research and Education,...
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AP, 1:25 EST March 31, 2017 - A bill to force the White House to tell Congress what it is doing to extradite fugitives who have fled the United States, including a member of a revolutionary group who killed a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, cleared its first hurdle Thursday with a 4-1 vote in a House subcommittee. Rep. Chris Smith said New Jersey critics of renewed diplomatic relations with Cuba have not been able to get President Obama’s administration to say what it is doing to secure the re...
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The Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act helped establish procedures for the prompt return of children to their left-behind parents. However, without proper enforcement, any law will not be able to reach its full potential. This hearing, announced by Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04) and entitled “Enforcement is Not Optional: The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children,” will evaluate the failures of the previous Administration and look into possibil...
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By Jonathan D. Salant of the Star Ledger - Reps. Chris Smith and Albio Sires began a new effort to push for the return of convicted cop-killer Joanne Chesimard to the U.S., re-introducing legislation to have the government push for the return of fugitives harbored abroad. The bill is named for two New Jersey residents, Walter Patterson and New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, both of whose killers were found and convicted but escaped and are living overseas. Both Smith and Sires (D-8th Dist...
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