Remembering the thousands murdered, tortured, harassed and wrongfully imprisoned in China, the House of Representatives today passed three separate resolutions to honor the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, to condemn escalating levels of religious persecution in China, and to reject the state-sponsored, bogus ordination of “Catholic” leaders. Read more

On the opening day of the World Cup in Germany, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees global human rights, introduced legislation calling on the Government of Germany to take immediate action to combat sexual trafficking in connection with the world class soccer championship. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Vice-Chairman of the House International Relations Committee spoke today on the House floor defending the $10.8 million earmark for the U.S. contribution to the International Fund for Ireland (IFI). An amendment to eliminate the IFI earmark was offered by Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), but then withdrawn during the debate. The $10.8 million earmark is now part of the Foreign Ops bill (Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act, HR 5522) which passed the House and is now pending in the Senate. Below are excerpts of Rep. Smith’s remarks: Read more

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations – was one of only two members of Congress to join the AFL-CIO in its filing of a Section 301 petition with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) supporting worker’s rights in China. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the author of the historic Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and two subsequent anti-trafficking expansion laws (2003, 2005), released the following statement regarding the State Department’s 2006 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The annual TIP report, a comprehensive assessment of global status of anti-trafficking measures, was mandated by Smith’s first trafficking bill, signed in October 2000 (Public Law 106-386): Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans Affairs, today announced he has cosponsored legislation, the Veterans Identity Protection Act (HR 5464) to help assist 26.5 million Veterans who have been put at risk by the identity theft that recently occurred at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Read more

By a huge, bipartisan margin of 390-5, The House of Representatives today passed legislation introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) calling on the government of the United Kingdom to begin a full “independent public judicial” investigation into the murder of Northern Ireland defense attorney Pat Finucane. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House committee that oversees global human rights, today issued the following statement after Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the retirement of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick as Archbishop of the Washington Archdiocese: Read more

On the one-year anniversary of Ethiopia’s general elections, Rep. Chris Smith – Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations – said it is imperative that the Government of Ethiopia release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Smith also noted the importance negotiating with the two main political party coalitions to end the stalemate on the limited rights of opposition members of Parliament and investigating killings of protestors by government forces. Read more

U.S. Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) – Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe – has introduced the Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Promotion Act (HR 5382), legislation aimed at advancing human rights and fundamental freedoms in the region. Roughly 15 years after independence, the five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) continue to struggle through the transition from Soviet authoritarian rule to democratic societies that fully respect human rights. Read more