Chris Smith Archives - The Virginia Star

Commentary: Congress Must Fight Modern Day Slavery

February 17, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

On February 13, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act with a vote of 414-11. The bipartisan legislation, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), will reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 – which expired in 2021 – and provide approximately $1 billion in funding over five years for programs that combat the scourge of human trafficking.

Among the measures included in the comprehensive legislation are educational grants to provide situational awareness training and prevention for elementary and secondary students; funding reauthorization for the International Megan’s Law and Angel Watch programs; and authorization for programs that support survivors’ employment, housing, and education.

‘All Unite for Pre-Born Rights!’: Thousands Gather to Attend March for Life amid Massive Snowstorm

January 19, 2024 Admin

Thousands of people attended the annual March for Life, joined by high-profile advocates and speakers, in Washington, D.C., on Friday to oppose abortion amid a massive snowstorm that blanketed the city.

Abortion Groups ‘Siphoned’ Billions from Taxpayers over Three Years, Report Shows

December 13, 2023December 12, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Abortion advocacy groups received close to $2 billion in federal taxpayer funding from 2019 to 2021, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released on Tuesday.

The GAO report was first requested in early 2022 by 142 congressional members led by Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, who underscored their concerns that taxpayer dollars are being used to fund abortion services. The report revealed that Planned Parenthood received approximately $1.78 billion in taxpayer funding from 2019 to 2021 and is receiving increased federal support under the current Biden administration.

‘Wake Up’: Congressman Warns of ‘Genocide,’ ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Against Christians in Armenia

September 10, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Republican New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith called on his colleagues Wednesday to recognize that 120,000 Armenian Christians living in Nagorno-Karabakh are facing extinction.

“Delay is denial,” Smith, who chaired the emergency congressional hearing on Nagorno-Karabakh as co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “The Biden Administration must say immediately that this is genocide—and stop it.”

Rep. Chris Smith to Introduce Federal Child Trafficking Legislation Drafted in Collaboration with ‘Sound of Freedom’ Producer

August 1, 2023August 1, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced Friday in advance of Sunday’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons that he is planning to introduce legislation that would require the federal government to provide reports on its work investigating potential child trafficking related to the unaccompanied minors released from federal custody and with whom contact has now been lost.

“In the near future, I will be introducing new legislation drafted in collaboration with Eduardo Verastegui—the producer of ‘Sound of Freedom’ and Roger Severino of The Heritage Foundation,” Smith said in a press statement sent to The Star News Network, further detailing that the legislation would “require the federal government to report on efforts to locate, establish contact with, conduct wellness checks on, and investigate any suspicion of human trafficking related to the approximately 85,000 unaccompanied minors who were released from federal government custody and with whom subsequent contact has been lost.”

Angel Studios’ ‘Sound of Freedom’ Child Trafficking Exposé Becomes America’s Top Movie on July 4 Opening Day

July 7, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Fans of Sound of Freedom, the true-life thriller that exposes the sinister world of child trafficking, have propelled the film to the top spot at the box office on its July 4 opening in America.

The film, distributed by Angel Studios (The Chosen), is based on the true story of former government agent Tim Ballard, played by The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel, who quit his job to rescue a little girl from sex traffickers in the jungles of Colombia, and ended up saving many more children and adults.

GOP Rep Introduces Bill to Counter Congolese Child Mines, Chinese Influence in Minerals

July 2, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey introduced legislation Friday which would ban imports containing key minerals extracted by child labor in Congolese mines and counter Chinese control of the global critical minerals supply.

The Countering China’s Exploitation of Strategic Metals and Minerals and Child and Forced Labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo Act would prohibit the importation of all products containing cobalt and lithium extracted by child miners and victims of labor trafficking in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to a press release from Smith’s office. The rare minerals are crucial ingredients for the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), a key pillar of President Joe Biden’s larger green energy agenda.

New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith Chairs Hearing on Biden’s Push to Cede U.S. Sovereignty to World Health Organization

May 23, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

New Jersey Representative Chris Smith (R) announced Monday he will chair a congressional hearing on the Biden administration’s push to enter into an international pandemic treaty that could cede U.S. sovereignty to the World Health Organization (WHO).

New Jersey U.S. Rep. Chris Smith Rips Biden Administration for Canceling Franciscans’ Longstanding Contract to Provide Military Hospital Pastoral Care

April 18, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A letter Friday from Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin condemned the Biden administration’s decision to end the contract for provision of pastoral care by a community of Franciscan clergy to service members and veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“I write today with grave concerns regarding the provision of Religious Services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, specifically Catholic pastoral care, and request you immediately provide access for Catholic priests who seek to offer pastoral care to service members and Veterans who are in the hospital,” Smith wrote, noting the cease-and-desist letter issued by the medical center to the Franciscans at Holy Name College.

Sens. Ron Johnson, Roger Wicker Introduce Senate ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’

January 27, 2023January 26, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker (R) led 45 of their Republican colleagues in introducing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, a measure that would permanently prohibit federal funding for abortion. Johnson and Wicker introduced the legislation Wednesday, a measure that would establish a “permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion, replacing the current restrictions with a single, government-wide standard,” said a press release from Johnson’s office.

New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith at March for Life: ‘Pro-Abortion Culture’ Is a ‘Modern-Day Flat Earth Society’

January 20, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

The co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus told thousands of advocates for life on the National Mall in Washington, DC, that the “pro-abortion culture of denial” is a “modern-day flat earth society” that “continues to deny, devalue, and disrespect unborn baby girls and boys and trivialize the harm suffered by women.” On Friday, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) spoke at the 50th annual March for Life – the first since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

House Democrats Oppose Resolution Condemning Violence Against Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

January 13, 2023January 12, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Nearly all House Democrats opposed a resolution Wednesday condemning the political violence against pro-life pregnancy centers and their supportive allies that occurred in the aftermath of the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The House voted, 222-209, to approve the resolution, introduced by Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) that states since the leak of the draft opinion, “individuals professing anti-life views have targeted, destroyed, or vandalized numerous pro-life facilities, groups, and even churches to further their radical cause.”

House Passes ‘Right to Contraception’ Bill Republicans Say Violates Religious Freedom

July 22, 2022July 21, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

The Democrat-led House passed a bill Thursday, with the support of eight Republicans, that would create a federal right to access contraception, a measure that most Republicans say violates religious freedom.

The legislation (HR 8373), dubbed the Right to Contraception Act and sponsored by Rep. Kathy Manning (D- NC), passed by a vote of 228-195. The measure would guarantee a right to all contraceptive drugs and devices, as well as sterilization procedures, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Trump: 13 GOP Incumbents Targeted for Party Challenge in 2022 Congressional Races

November 16, 2021November 15, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

There are thirteen House and Senate races targeted so far by former President Donald Trump’s revenge tour to unseat GOP incumbents who voted to impeach him in January or to support Biden administration policies.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) voted to impeach President Trump after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump was ultimately acquitted by the U.S. Senate.

COVID-19 Helps Drive Restaurant Alcohol Sales Down Close to 20 Percent

September 8, 2020September 7, 2020 Eric Burk

Alcohol sales at restaurants and similar business decreased 19 percent in the 2020 fiscal year, according to a press release from the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC). At the same time, total ABC revenue, including licensee sales, increased by $117 million, driven by an increase in retail sales.