U.S. Representative Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Relations today approved a resolution he introduced calling on Russia to fully protect the freedoms of all religious communities as is required under its constitution and international commitments. Read more

Once again we are gathered to praise the outstanding work that Michael Cromartie and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom are doing. They continue to perform exactly as the Congress intended when it passed the International Religious Freedom Act, which created the Commission. They have kept the eyes of the world, and of our own policy makers, on the central importance of religious freedom in our foreign policy. I am proud to have been an original co-sponsor. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) joined colleagues in the House of Representatives today to pass HR 2419 – the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2006. The final bill included funding directly requested by Smith for crucial projects along New Jersey’s coastline. Smith has worked with many local and state officials for several years to secure critical federal funding for southern Monmouth County shore towns in the Fourth Congressional District as well as the Ocean County shore towns within the Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet Shore Protection project. Read more

November 7, 2005 The Honorable C.W. Bill YoungChairmanHouse Appropriations CommitteeSubcommittee on DefenseH-149 U.S. CapitolWashington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman Young:On October 5th, 90 Members of the U.S. Senate voted to pass Senate Amendment 1977 to the Defense Appropriations bill, H.R. 2863. Introduced by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, that amendment: Mandates that the interrogation of detainees held by the Department of Defense or in a Department of Defense facility will be condu... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the Committee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations issued the following statement today upon the State Department’s Release of the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report: Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) stood up for individual private property rights by voting for the Private Property Rights Protection Act legislation narrowing Eminent Domain authority in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kelo v. City of New London. The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 376-38, would prohibit states and local communities that receive Federal economic development funds from using their eminent domain power to seize private property that is subsequently used for economic development purposes. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, today criticized the Ethiopian government’s violent response to protestors and condemned the continuing refusal of the Ethiopian government to allow peaceful protests. More than 30 persons have been killed in clashes this week in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa, touched off by violent police reaction to continuing electoral protests by opposition parties and their supporters. Smith has been monitoring the situation since chairing a Congressional hearing this past spring and visiting Ethiopia this summer. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) today announced that he has helped to secure a $32,047 Site Management Grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust for the preservation of the former Coast Guard Station in the Borough of Manasquan. At the request of Mayor Rich Dunne, in July Smith wrote a letter to the Historic Trust petitioning for the grant to be awarded to the Borough of Manasquan. Read more

U.S. Chris Smith (R-NJ) will join his colleagues to defend personal property rights in a press conference tomorrow on Capitol Hill. Later in the day, the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 4128 – the Private Property Rights Protection Act – legislation regarding Eminent Domain and private property in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kelo v. City of New London. Read more

While Sudanese First Vice-President Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit was meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and other Administration officials during his first visit to the United States (since assuming his current position), Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) used the opportunity to investigate troubles surrounding the East African Nation and seek avenues for the United States to effectively direct its efforts. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and I... Read more