Political Quotes

Chris Smith

The Public Record

Chris Smith is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New Jersey's 4th congressional district since 1981. Throughout his tenure, he has focused on a range of issues including human rights, foreign affairs, and health care. Smith has been involved in various legislative efforts aimed at improving health services and advocating for the rights of individuals both domestically and internationally. His long-standing service in Congress has made him a prominent figure in New Jersey politics.

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★ Featured Quote

August 9, 2026

It could jeopardize the whole future of high-energy physics.

Chris Smith

Most widely reported

by number of sources
  1. I rise in very strong support of the legislation. I will say at the outset, as the prime sponsor of the historic law to combat human trafficking known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and as a Member of Congress who has devoted more than 15 years seeking to prevent trafficking, protect victims from exploitation and abuse, and prosecute those who enslave with up to life imprisonment, I am happy to say that in many of our States, laws have been passed that closely mirror the TVPA so that they too now have powerful weapons and tools to use against those who would so cruelly mistreat others through trafficking. Just by way of definition, you are considered a trafficking victim if you have not yet attained the age of 18 and have been sold for commercial sexual exploitation or for labor trafficking, or if you are 18 or over and there is an element of force, fraud, or coercion. So I do rise in strong support of this bill which takes us even further, S. 2925. Madam Speaker, human trafficking, or modern day slavery, is the third most lucrative criminal activity in the world.12 sources2010govinfo.gov
  2. I thank my good friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 268, and deeply appreciate Majority Leader Cantor; Steny Hoyer; obviously the chairwoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; and Mr. Berman, the ranking member, for authoring this resolution reaffirming the U.S. commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. H. Res. 268 speaks in very clear, unambiguous language about what this means: It means settlement through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations rather than through a highly misguided, counterproductive, unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood, or by Palestinians seeking recognition from other states or through the United Nations, sadly, the latter, a haven of anti-Israel and even sometimes anti- Semitic activity. Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have been a keystone of U.S. and Israeli policy toward the region for decades, and even PLO Chair Yasser Arafat pledged to accept this way back in 1993. Unfortunately, Hamas in its 2011 unity agreement with Fatah did not accept this commitment, nor did it renounce violence. Madam Speaker, H. Res. 268 also outlines what a negotiated settlement should entail: negotiations in which each accepts the other's right to exist, and which are aimed at a two-state solution. Again, these have been key points of U.S. and Israeli policy, but Hamas, a State Department foreign terrorist organization, has rejected them.…9 sources2011govinfo.gov
  3. I do want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) for his very eloquent remarks and strong support for this resolution. I urge support and passage of this resolution. I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan of Tennessee). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 121, as amended. The question was taken. The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.3 sources2016govinfo.gov
  4. I do rise in strong support of H.R. 588--533, I should say.2 sources2023congress.gov
  5. I want to thank my very good friend from California for his graciousness in yielding me this time and for his wonderful work as a Member of Congress on human rights and pro-life issues. I thank him for that leadership. Mr. Speaker, tonight, I rise and note to my colleagues that the news of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo's diagnosis of terminal liver cancer was a jarring shock to everyone who admires this champion of freedom and democracy. Tonight, the House has under consideration an urgent resolution, a truly urgent resolution, H. Con. Res. 67, which I introduced, joined by Ms. Pelosi, and several of the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, she and I together, some bipartisanship in a place where we have had little of it lately. But here we are joined, and we are joined very strongly on behalf of Liu Xiaobo and his dire, dire situation, and that of his wife. The legislation urges the Government of the People's Republic of China to unconditionally release Liu Xiaobo, together with his wife, Liu Xia, to allow them to freely meet with friends, family, and counsel, and seek medical treatment wherever they desire. The operative language of the resolution makes it very clear that it recognizes Liu Xiaobo for his decades of peaceful struggle for basic human rights and democracy and, again, urges that he be able to seek medical care, including treatment in the United States or wherever else he would like to receive it.…2 sources2017govinfo.gov
  6. I thank the gentleman very much. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).2 sources2022govinfo.gov
Aug 7, 2026

If the U.S. also retreats due to limits on working with foreign scientists, it could jeopardize the whole future of high-energy physics.

propublica.org
May 12, 2026

I, like many in the House and the Senate, want to thank President Trump for requesting on numerous occasions that Xi Jinping release Jimmy Lai and other women and men who are gravely sick and unjustly incarcerated. It is not largely known…

govinfo.gov
May 12, 2026

There is a great deal of support for Jimmy Lai. As we all know, he is 78. He got a 20-year prison sentence on top of the 5 he has already served. It is a death sentence. He is not well. He has a number of maladies that are affecting his…

govinfo.gov
Mar 4, 2026

Mr. Speaker, for far too long, Iran has held the world hostage with its nuclear threats, unbridled violence and hate, pervasive use of torture and rape, and Nazi-like anti-Semitism. Iran is the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism. All…

govinfo.gov
Jan 22, 2026

I would add that the gentlewoman's husband, Scott, is a tremendous leader and head of National Right to Life.

govinfo.gov
Jan 22, 2026

Roe v. Wade was overturned by the decision in Dobbs. It was January 22, 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court infamously said that the unborn child has no worth, no standing in law whatsoever, and legalized abortion right until the moment of…

govinfo.gov
Jan 21, 2026

I especially want to thank Michelle Fischbach for her leadership and compassion by offering and authoring this legislation to protect pregnancy care centers from discrimination and to ensure that they can continue their important work of…

govinfo.gov
Jan 8, 2026

Mr. Speaker, Hyde amendment protections need to be added to this bill. Taxpayer funds should not be forced to subsidize the killing of an unborn child by dismemberment or by baby poison pills. The Hyde amendment was not--I will say it…

govinfo.gov
Jan 8, 2026

abortion is not healthcare unless one construes the life of an unborn child to be analogous to a tumor to be excised or a disease to be vanquished. I appeal to my colleagues: Don't ignore or trivialize the battered victim in the womb…

govinfo.gov
Sep 9, 2025

my amendment, similar to a previous amendment that I offered to the FAA reauthorization which passed the House in July 2023, requires the Secretary of Defense or his designee to certify that offshore wind turbine projects in the North…

govinfo.gov
Sep 9, 2025

let me just point out to my colleagues that the GAO looked at this at our request and found, again, that wind turbines reduced the performance of radar systems used for defense and maritime navigation and safety in several ways, and then…

govinfo.gov
Jun 24, 2025

3 years ago today, the infamous holding of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were reversed by the Dobbs decision, brilliantly written by Justice Samuel Alito, who hails from my State and from my home county, joined by the…

govinfo.gov
Jun 24, 2025

I will say, as we are awaiting his arrival, life is the first human right. If we don't have that, every other right--religion, speech, every assembly--falls. Republicans are trying to on our side and we need friends on the Democrat side to…

govinfo.gov
May 5, 2025

We must act now, and we must act decisively. The lives of so many lie in the balance.

govinfo.gov
May 5, 2025

I thank the chairman for his support and for yielding this time. Mr. Speaker, every year under Xi Jinping and his Chinese Communist Party, tens of thousands of young women and men, average age 28, are murdered in cold blood to steal their…

govinfo.gov
Mar 25, 2025

This bill is going to lead to exploitation of minors, exploitation of children.

truthout.org
Feb 12, 2025

They will drop out. You have priced them out of higher education.

nbcnews.com
Jan 23, 2025

This year's March for Life is an engraved invitation to each and every one of us to seriously recommit and rededicate ourselves to the defense of the weakest and most vulnerable. To recommit with love and compassion to tangibly assist…

govinfo.gov
Jan 23, 2025

I thank my friend for yielding, and I thank Ann Wagner for her tremendous leadership and courage in authoring this important bill. Madam Speaker, in a Florida abortion clinic, Sycloria Williams delivered a perfectly healthy, live baby girl…

govinfo.gov
Jan 9, 2025

I wish to underscore my strong support of H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, and highlight the immediate need to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its dangerous abuse of power and for the United States to…

govinfo.gov
Dec 16, 2024

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief and close and put the rest of it in the Record. Autism Speaks says that the Autism CARES Act is the single most important driver of autism research, training, and data…

govinfo.gov
Dec 16, 2024

I thank my good friend for yielding and for his leadership and that of my colleague on the other side of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, it all started in September 1997, 27 years ago, with Brick Township, New Jersey, parents Bobbie and Billy…

govinfo.gov
Nov 20, 2024

When Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Matt and Deidre Gordon of New Jersey were in the final stage of adopting Bogdan and Galena, an orphaned brother and sister from Ukraine. The Gordons had been vetted…

govinfo.gov
Nov 20, 2024

I thank Michael McCaul, our chairman, for very quickly bringing this important resolution to the floor along with the great support of Gregory Meeks, the ranking member. I especially thank Kathy Manning for authoring this extraordinarily…

govinfo.gov

Politicians like Chris Smith