Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) took to the floor of the House today to honor Bishop John Smith who for years presided over the Diocese of Trenton, which is made up of Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean counties in New Jersey. "Mr. Speaker: Words are inadequate to convey my profound respect, admiration and gratitude for Trenton Diocese Bishop Emeritus John Mortimer Smith, who celebrated his golden jubilee—an amazing 50 years as a Catholic priest—on May 22nd at a Mass attended by over 800 people... Read more

The newly created nation of the Republic of South Sudan will be the focus of a hearing Thursday held by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees Africa and international human rights. The U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, USAID and other experts will testify. The hearing, entitled “Africa's Newest Nation: The Republic of South Sudan,” will be before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. Testimony will address recent developments in... Read more

"During the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York last September, I had the privilege of participating in an extraordinary Roundtable meeting of African First Ladies that concluded with the signing of a declaration to end maternal and child malnutrition with particular emphasis on the 'first 1000 days in the life of a child from the moment of conception,'" said Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the House Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee, Click here to read Con... Read more

Gearing up for the needed reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights, held a comprehensive hearing to review the law and identify what is working and what needs to be improved. “No country and few industries are untouched by this pervasive human rights abuse,” said Smith, author of the TVPA of 2000, co-chairman of the Congressional Human Trafficking Cauc... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith met with members of the U.S. Coast Guard at the Manasquan Station on June 7. He discussed the station's mission, recent rescues and other USCG issues. He spoke with the commanding officer, his staff and enlisted USCG members at the station, which is located in Manasqaun Inlet. Smith helped secure the replacement of a motor life boat in 2000, when the USCG decided to remove one of the two larger boats and not replace it. Rep. Smith successfully pressed the Coast Guard to s... Read more

The following article on Congressman Chris Smith's (NJ-04) hearing on the ‘‘International Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 2011" was published by the Washington Post June 3, 2011. Smith is an original co-sponsor of the measure, and held hearings in the 1990s when its predecessor, the ‘‘International Religious Freedom Act of 1998" was first proposed: By Michelle Boorstein Might the United States be reconsidering its hands-off approach to religion in foreign policy? That’s the hope of many reli... Read more

The oppression of religion around the world and U.S. policy to address challenges to this basic human right was the focus of a hearing held today by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights. “Prioritizing International Religious Freedom in U.S. Foreign Policy,” is the title of the hearing, which featured expert testimony on the global challenges to freedom of religion before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and ... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights, and former left behind dad David Goldman, of Tinton Falls, N.J., who battled for five years to bring his son home from Brazil, took to the set of Fox News Channel to remind the country that there are more than 2,400 American children wrongfully held overseas. “International child abduction rips children from their homes and lives, taking them to a foreign land and alienating them ... Read more

On the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, and amid the current Chinese government crackdown on its own people, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), the chairman of the congressional panel that oversees international human rights, introduced legislation to deny the entry into the United States of certain members of the senior leadership of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and individuals who have committed human rights abuses in China. “The human rights situatio... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the House panel that oversees global human rights, held a bipartisan press conference today, June 1—officially Children’s Day in China—on the gender imbalance in China brought about by the government's brutally enforced one-child policy and its impact on trade and national security. Amnesty International, All Girls Allowed, and demographers from the American Enterprize Institute and Texas A&M University spoke of the alarming lack of girls in the young generat... Read more