By Hannah Hiester Published February 11, 2026 Several members of Congress from foreign affairs committees introduced legislation in the House of Representatives Feb. 10 to institute strategies holding Nigeria accountable for the ongoing persecution of Christians in the country. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who co-introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 with its author, Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., stated in a press release that the legislation would require the U.S. se... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, and Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV), along with the backing of an impressive team of leading foreign affairs lawmakers, today introduced new legislation that would require the U.S. Secretary of State to compile and submit to Congress a comprehensive report on U.S. efforts to address the ongoing religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria. Garnering the early support of House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman B... Read more

By Derek VanBuskirk Published February 10, 2026 at 10:20 AM ET House Republicans have introduced a bill Tuesday to prompt U.S. action to document “religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria,” the Daily Caller first learned. The Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 calls on the Secretary of State to give the foreign affairs committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate an annual report on U.S. efforts to address Christian persecution. It also calls on the... Read more

The following are excerpts of Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee’s February 10th hearing—his fifteenth hearing chaired exclusively on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda—entitled “Advancing Peace in DRC and Rwanda through President Trump’s Washington Accords – Part II”: My engagement in supporting peace between Rwanda and the DRC—like my good friend and former colleague, Ambassador Tony Hall, who will testify today—... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, issued the following statement in wake of a Hong Kong court’s horrific 20-year sentencing of the 78-year-old Jimmy Lai—functionally, a life sentence: Jimmy Lai is a man of faith and conscientious conviction, and he should be released immediately. Despite—or perhaps, in spite of—his life’s work as a legendary entrepreneur and a lion of free speech, Jimmy has been unjustly prosecuted and persecuted by functionar... Read more

By Tessa Gervasini Published February 9, 2026 at 4:45 PM ET “The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Feb. 9 statement. Jimmy Lai, Catholic entrepreneur and media tycoon, was sentenced on Feb. 9 to 20 years in prison over what Chinese officials claim were national security violations. The sentencing comes after Lai’s December 2025 conviction, which ended several years of w... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, joined NTD’s Capitol Report with Steve Lance to discuss Hong Kong’s sentencing of British-Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison, in what is being called the harshest sentence to be handed down under the new National Security Law. Smith also discussed the implications for Hong Kong and how the United States should respond. The full interview can be viewed by clicking here. ### Read more

On Monday, February 9th, Rep. Chris Smith joined The Mark Levin Show to discuss the Hong Kong court’s horrific 20-year sentencing of the 78-year-old Jimmy Lai, Communist China’s egregious human rights violations, U.S. foreign policy with Iran, and his upcoming congressional hearing on the DRC-Rwanda conflict and President Trump’s “Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity.” The full interview can be listened to by clicking here. ### Read more

On Tuesday, February 10th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee, will chair his fifteenth congressional hearing focused exclusively on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, including the geopolitical conflict and human rights violations occurring in the region. In wake of President Trump’s historic peace deal between Rwanda and the DRC on December 4th, 2025, this hearing will examine the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)... Read more

By Madalaine Elhabbal Published February 5, 2026 at 12:16 PM ET Representatives from the U.S. and African bishops’ conferences convened in Washington, D.C., during a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill this week in a display of solidarity as religious freedom in Nigeria continues to come into sharper focus. Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of the Yola Diocese in northeast Nigeria concelebrated a Mass on Feb. 4 for solidarity between the bishops and faithful of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and Afri... Read more