Widespread human rights abuses at the hands of the Government of Vietnam were recounted by victims and human rights advocates fighting for basic freedoms including labor, press, religion and political rights, at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill chaired Wednesday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04). Smith said that against the backdrop of high profile economic issues like Trade Promotion Authority and Trans-Pacific Partnership and other matters, human rights victims in Vietnam are looking t... Read more

By David Levinsky BCT Staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 3:15 pm U.S. Rep. Chris Smith is taking another crack at correcting a lingering pay disparity issue for some civilian workers on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The veteran lawmaker introduced the Joint Base Pay Parity Act last week to try to correct the disparity caused when the joint base was formed in 2009 from the formerly separate installations of Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base and Lakehurst Naval Engineering station.... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) joined Autism Speaks this week for its annual Leadership Summit, acknowledging outstanding accomplishments made by the autism community in raising awareness, helping shape federal legislation and assisting individuals with disabilities and their families. “We need people working together across the board, enlightened and motivated. And nobody does that better than Autism Speaks,” Smith told the autism advocates assembled at the Congressional Autism Champions recepti... Read more

Victims and human rights advocates fighting for basic freedoms including labor, press and political rights from the Vietnamese Government will come to testify at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill planned for Wednesday. Who: Chairman Chris Smith, (NJ-04) Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of its Subcommittee on Global Human Rights; other members of the committee, and human rights leaders: Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay), writer from the Free Journalists Club of Vietna... Read more

Mary Troyan, USA TODAY -- A new law meant to pressure countries to return children abducted from the U.S. by a parent isn't being implemented properly, according to a Tennessee man whose ex-wife took the couple's children to Japan six years ago. Christopher Savoie, who lived in Franklin when his children were taken in 2009, told a House subcommittee on Thursday that State Department officials don't advocate aggressively enough for parents victimized in such scenarios. "Their primary mandate, as ... Read more

Even though the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children documents more than 50 cases of American children abducted to Japan—36 of which have been dragging on for more than five years—a new Obama administration report erroneously shows there are zero unresolved abduction cases. “The Obama report is inaccurate, a whitewash and a disgrace,” says Rep. Chris Smith, the author of the new parental child abduction law, the “Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act.” Sm... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), an early and vocal supporter of the original James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (now PL 111-347), announced today that the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing tomorrow on reauthorizing this important program. Smith is a co-sponsor of the bipartisan James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act (HR 1786) to permanently extend health coverage for those first responders in New Jersey and around the country ... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today introduced legislation to establish pay parity among all federal employees working on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL). “The Joint Base’s missions are vital to our national security and could not be carried out effectively without the skills of the men and women stationed there, and those working in civilian support roles,” said Smith. “JB MDL is one installation and the men and women who work there are part of one workforce. It is time to fix the ou... Read more

Radicals recruited to be terrorists in foreign lands were the topic of a hearing planned by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. “The UN Security Council recently estimated that there are now over 25,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 100 countries who have travelled internationally, mainly to Syria and Iraq, to join or fight for terrorist entities associated with the Islamic State of Iraq a... Read more

Radicals recruited to be terrorists in foreign lands will be the topic of a hearing planned by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. A hearing entitled “Wanted: Foreign Fighters – The Escalating Threat of ISIL in Central Asia,” is set for today, Wednesday June 10. Over the past several years, Central Asia has become an increasing source of foreign fighters for radical militant groups operating in th... Read more