December 18, 2005Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yieldingme the time. Mr. Speaker, it occurred to me on the way to work this afternoon thatit is especially fitting that during this season of holiness and faith and surpassing religious significance that Congress send to the President a bill designed to effectuate cures of some of the most devastating diseases and cancers on earth. Not only has God in His wisdom and goodness created a placenta and umbilical cord to nurt...
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The House of Representatives today voted to pass HR 2520 – the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act – written by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). The non-controversial legislation had earlier passed the House of Representatives in May by a vote of 431-1 and was slightly altered before passage by the Senate late night. The bill will now be signed into law by President Bush. Umbilical cords are a rich, non-controversial source of stem cells. Currently hospitals throw millions of them away each year beca...
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A bill authored Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) that provides authorities for the Department of State was passed last night by the Senate and will be sent to President Bush to be signed into law. The bill, HR 4436, was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday night after Smith led floor debate on the legislation.
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U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) issued the following joint-statement after the Senate voted to pass HR 2520 – the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act: (The non-controversial bill, written by Smith and co-sponsored by Davis passed the House of Representatives in May by a vote of 431-1. The bill has been ready, since that time, for Senate passage).
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Tonight, The House of Representatives passed Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005 (HR 972), legislation that strengthens the nation’s current trafficking law (also authored by Smith) and authorizes new funds for investigation and prosecution of domestic trafficking within the United States.
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As Congress worked to wrap up its business before the upcoming Christmas holiday, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) led a busy night of debate on the floor of the House of Representatives. Smith, who was charged with controlling the floor debate on seven international relations bills, has announced that he would be seeking the chairmanship of the International Relations Committee upon the retirement of sitting Chairman, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL).
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The House Committee on the Judiciary – the fourth and final committee of jurisdiction – today passed Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (HR 972), legislation that strengthens the nation’s current trafficking law (also authored by Smith) and authorizes new funds for investigation and prosecution of domestic trafficking within the United States.
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The House of Representatives today passed to legislation authored by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) – Chairman of the committee that oversees human rights – that provides $90 million in assistance to torture victims around the world over the next two years, including 400,000 survivors in the United States. HR 2017, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2005 provides $75 million in grants for rehabilitation services to assist victims of torture in foreign and domestic treatment centers and other torture relief assistance.
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U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) – Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, Africa and International Operations – stressed that Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) must be linked with an improvement in its sub par human rights record. Smith returned from Vietnam this morning after leading a human rights mission during which he met with government officials, religious leaders and the relatives of political prisoners to discuss religious freedom, human rights and trafficking. Smith also met with Vietnamese and US military officials from the Joint Personnel Accounting Command (JPAC) to discuss ongoing problems in the unresolved MIA cases from the Vietnam War.
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