Alarming accounts of growing repression at the hands of the government of Pakistan, targeting political opposition figures, independent journalists, and the blocking of free and fair elections in Pakistan were the focuses of a bipartisan congressional hearing chaired Tuesday by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. “Life in Pakistan today is marked by rampant government violations of basic freedoms, particularly freedom of speech and media freedom... Read more

New legislation to reauthorize the nation’s federal efforts to fight Lyme disease was announced yesterday on Capitol Hill. Known as the TICK Act, the bill authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) with lead sponsors Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-NJ) and Paul Tonko (D-NY), will provide continued funding for Lyme disease research at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Senator Susan Collins is the author of this legislation in the US Senate. “Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are e... Read more

Excerpts of remarks by Rep. Chris Smith, Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, at the commission's July 15, 2025 hearing in Washington, DC: Today’s hearing of the Lantos Commission focusing on Pakistan’s Ongoing Political Repression, will come to order. Welcome—and special thanks—to our very distinguished panel of experts. We look forward to your testimony and recommendations to mitigate and help end pervasive human rights abuse in Pakistan. Today we will hear about the governme... Read more

Jacob Adams During his first term, President Donald Trump hosted then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval Office on July 22, 2019. Khan is now a political prisoner in Pakistan. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission heard testimony Tuesday condemning the government of Pakistan over its treatment of Christians and other religious minorities. In his opening remarks, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a co-chairman of the bipartisan commission, noted what the U.... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, will chair a hearing on the ongoing repression of political opposition by the government of Pakistan. Accounts and evidence will be heard about the government persecuting political figures of the opposition and journalists, and controlling media communications and preventing free and fair elections in Pakistan. In its Freedom in the World 2024 report, the human rights watchdog group Freedom House noted that in... Read more

By Dan Radel - Asbury Park Press staff The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will install new fencing around the entire perimeter of the Point Pleasant Canal at a cost of $3 million, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith announced. The fencing there now is inadequate and falling into disrepair, Smith, R-N.J., said. “I alerted the Army Corps to the deteriorating conditions of the fence after hearing from residents and elected officials in Point Pleasant,” Smith said. “Safety is everyone’s number one concern, so I rea... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) announced today that after a series of meetings and discussions with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leadership that spanned more than two years, the Philadelphia District of the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be repairing or replacing old, inadequate safety fencing along the entire perimeter of the Point Pleasant Canal in Point Pleasant Borough. “I alerted the Army Corps to the deteriorating conditions of the fence after hearing from residents and elected offi... Read more

By Ross O'Keefe Hours after Republican lawmakers sent a letter to National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya asking him to end dog and cat testing, two top officials at the agency said they are “phasing out” testing on the animals. Bhattacharya and NIH Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer spoke with each other on an NIH video, in which the former asked the latter what they should do about dog and cat testing. “I don’t think we should do research on dogs or cats,” she said. “Absolutel... Read more

This week on Capitol Hill, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, gave the keynote address at the “Ten Years After the 709 Crackdown” symposium, marking the CCP’s brutal campaign targeting human rights defenders and lawyers and calling for justice for Gao Zhisheng and all other persecuted defenders. Click here for Smith’s full remarks. The event, sponsored by ChinaAid and IPK Media, bro... Read more

By Vernonica Fleisher Patch Staff A recent Lacey Township High School graduate got to be celebrated by Rep. Chris Smith before she heads off to become a future U.S. military leader. Katrina Conti, who will be attending the United States Air Force Academy, was one of eight teens in the Fourth Congressional District who were nominated by Smith and selected to attend one of the nation's prestigious military academies. Conti and the other students will join the ranks of the Class of 2029 to eventua... Read more