The accuracy and political pressures contained in the State Department’s newly released Trafficking in Persons report will be the topic of a House hearing Tuesday entitled “Accountability Over Politics: Scrutinizing the Trafficking in Persons Report.” The Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons will testify at the hearing, which will be held by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House global human rights subcommittee. “The State Department’s annual Traffickin... Read more

By the TIMES OF TRENTON EDITORIAL BOARD - The state's lawmakers say they are committed to push the Air Force to select the New Jersey base to house the new wide-body aircraft that will replace the aging fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, which have been the Air Force's refueling workhorse for more than 50 years. The Air Force is expected to make a final decision before the end of the year. As U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) pointed out, the base is "strongly positioned from a geographic and strat... Read more

With the release of the 2016 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report today President Obama and the U.S. State Department have once again placed politics over victims when it comes to human trafficking in several key countries. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of a House panel on human rights and author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which among other provisions mandates the annual world-wide trafficking assessment and ranking report, noted the experts in the Offic... Read more

By MATT PENNINGTON, ASSOCIATED PRESS — The United States removed Thailand from its human trafficking blacklist on Thursday, though forced labor remains widespread in the nation's lucrative seafood industry. The State Department made the assessment in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which examines 188 governments' efforts in combating modern-day slavery. Key U.S. trading partner Malaysia was taken off the blacklist controversially in 2015, soon after the discovery of mass graves of susp... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith announced today that Rutgers University’s Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities (The Boggs Center) will receive a federal designation and funding to boost its system of care for children with disabilities and their families. Last year, Smith secured a provision in the Fiscal Year 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act (PL 114-113) boosting resources for LEND programs and directing HRSA to designate new programs in states, like New Jersey, that do not have one, yet have h... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith, chairman of a house panel on global human rights, released the following statement on the possibility of a downgrade of Burma’s Trafficking Status: “Burma's downgrade, if true, is justified and long overdue—the government was warned for the past four years that such an action was possible. Something must be done when government officials and military leaders are complicit in forced labor, recruiting child soldiers, and pushing the Rohingya into the hands of the traffickers. If ... Read more

BY CRISTINA ROJAS, TRENTON TIMES STAFF WRITER - One of Hamilton's nine fire districts has been awarded a $140,908 federal grant that will allow it invest in new respirators and other gear. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) made the announcement Thursday. Fire District 4 will use the money to buy 22 self-contained breathing apparatus and a thermal imaging camera that can be used to help find downed firefighters and bring them to safety. "This grant will help protect those who are willing to put... Read more

Today the Supreme Court ruled against the state of Texas in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a case challenging a 2013 Texas law that required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic, and requiring abortion clinics to meet the minimum standards for ambulatory surgical centers. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Co-Chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, made the following statement: “The Supreme Court’s tragic decisio... Read more

After four years of congressional hearings focusing on the potential for disaster in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the U.S. Department of the Treasury finally added Celestin Kanyama, a Congolese government official, to the Specially Designated Nationals list for his role in using violence to prevent preparation for election. “The Department of Treasury’s decision to sanction this first government official is a welcome first step, however more must be done while there is still time ... Read more

BY JIM WALSH, STAFF WRITER Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is a finalist in the competition to host the next generation of Air Force air-refueling tankers, federal legislators said Thursday. The military base is one of five sites being considered to host the KC-46 aircraft, which are expected to arrive by 2020. The planes, now in testing, eventually would replace the military’s current fleet of KC-10s. The other finalists are Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Fairchild in Washington; Grand Fork... Read more