
Congressman Chris Smith
Rep. Chris Smith, author of the laws to establish the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and to elevate the position to Ambassador, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1980 and is currently serving his 21st term representing the Fourth Congressional District of New Jersey.
A longtime leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, Rep. Smith co-chairs the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism and is a founding member of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition to Fight Anti-Semitism, where he continues to serve on the Steering Committee, as well as the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Anti-Semitism.
Rep. Smith chaired the first hearings on anti-Semitism in Congress and successfully launched the first bilateral effort to combat anti-Semitism through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which led to 57 states accepting binding commitments to document and fight instances of anti-Semitism across the globe. In 1982, Smith’s first official trip abroad was a human rights mission to Russia on behalf of Jewish refuseniks persecuted by the Soviet Union.
In 2021 Smith’s legislation to elevate the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to the high-level position of Ambassador and expand the authority of the State Department Office was signed into law. First created in 2004 by an amendment authored by Smith, the Office of the Special Envoy has proven effective in identifying and combatting anti-Semitism throughout the world.
Smith has also been an avid supporter of Israel and a fierce advocate for aid to the U.S. ally, including legislation he strongly supported to replenish the Iron Dome. He has introduced legislation and led congressional action in support of Israel, emphasizing the human rights aspect of Israeli security and seeking to expose the anti-Semitism behind much contemporary hostility to the State of Israel.
A prolific lawmaker, Rep. Smith ranks first among all 435 Members of Congress in authoring bills that have been enacted into law. In like manner, he has authored scores of successful amendments and chaired hundreds of congressional hearings.
Smith is renowned for his legislative efforts in combatting human trafficking. He is the author of our nation’s landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000—the comprehensive, historic law designed to prevent modern-day slavery, protect victims, and enhance civil and criminal penalties against traffickers both within the United States and around the world. He has authored four additional anti-trafficking laws, including International Megan’s Law, which establishes a system of notification to protect children from convicted pedophiles who may seek to travel to abuse children. The law has resulted in over 6,100 denials of international travel by known pedophiles to date. Recently, Smith introduced the Frederick Douglas Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act to bolster and enhance successful programs established by his previous laws.
Smith is also the author of the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act—a law to help bring home American children who have been kidnapped overseas.
The former chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Rep. Smith has authored more than a dozen laws improving educational, homeless, healthcare and other benefits and services for veterans and their surviving family members.
Smith is a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee and serves in leadership positions on congressional and international panels, including as: Co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission; Ranking Republican of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China; Ranking Republican of the Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights subcommittee; and “Special Representative” on Human Trafficking for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the U.S.-supported intergovernmental body based in Europe.
Rep. Smith earned a degree in Business Administration at the College of New Jersey and has been married to his wife Marie for 44 years.