The national epidemic and possible world disability pandemic of autism was the topic of a congressional hearing today before the House panel that oversees global health issues. Congressman Chris Smith, co-chair of the bipartisan House Coalition on Autism Research and Education (CARE) and chairman of the global health subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs Committee, held a hearing entitled “Global Perspectives on Autism - A Growing Public Health Crisis” featuring expert witnesses on autism and aut... Read more

From the May 27 edition of the Hill newspaper: It was fall 2008, and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) rushed from the week’s last votes to the airport. But unlike his colleagues, who were heading to their districts, Smith boarded a plane to Brazil to help David Goldman with what sounds like a simple task: to see his son Sean.... To read the entire article in The Hill newspaper, click here. To ensure compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction by count... Read more

Congressmen Chris Smith and Mike Doyle, the co-chairmen of the congressional caucus aimed at helping autistic individuals, today introduced a package of bills designed to reauthorize the nation’s landmark program for autism surveillance, research, education, awareness and intervention; to authorize new service programs; and to establish a national autism initiative. “These bills offer a comprehensive approach to tackling this epidemic,” said Smith, whose own state of New Jersey is believed to h... Read more

The Helsinki Commission leadership today welcomed the capture and arrest by Serbian authorities of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military leader charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with genocide and other war crimes associated with the 1992-95 conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mladic has been at large since 1995. “Having been to Srebrenica and met the mothers of many of those killed in that genocide, I can only think of them today and hope that they find closu... Read more

Students from Hightstown High School in Mercer County, N.J. visited Washington, D.C. and met with their Member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) on May 25. The students, members of Hightstown teacher Stuart Wexler's AP government class, joined with Rep. Smith in a discussion of various federal issues before Congress and the federal government. Read more

The voices of heartbroken but hopeful ‘left behind parents’ longing to be reunited with their abducted children echoed in a congressional hearing today chaired by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights. There are more than 2,400 American children held wrongfully overseas. “International child abduction rips children from their homes and lives, taking them to a foreign land and alienating them from a left behind parent w... Read more

“Labor Trafficking in Troubled Economic Times: Protecting American Jobs and Migrant Human Rights” was the title of a hearing held today by Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04) that focused on illegal and unethical business practices that may favor migrant labor over domestic labor and contribute to human trafficking and forced labor. British actress Julia Ormond, a longtime advocate against trafficking, lent her voice to the cause, joining officials from the U.S. State Department and... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), a senior member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the panel that oversees global human rights, today released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech in which he called for Israel to revert to its 1967 borders. “President Obama’s insistence that Israel revert to its 1967 borders is bad policy born of moral confusion. Pushing Israel back to borders that existed prior to the Six Day War would seriously jeopardize its sec... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) will chair a congressional hearing of the U.S. Helsinki Commission in Washington on Monday, May 23, to examine labor trafficking during troubled economic times. The hearing follows an international conference on May 18 focused on human trafficking with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Luis C. deBaca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and other officials. The ambassador will also testify at Smith's hearing Monday. British actress Julia Ormond will j... Read more

A hearing to give a voice to the desperate ‘left behind parents’ who seek to be reunited with their children will be held Tuesday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4th), chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international human rights. There are more than 2,400 American children held wrongfully overseas. David Goldman, a father whose abducted American boy was held in Brazil for nearly five years, will testify. Only after intense pressure by Congress, the US State Department and i... Read more