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Meet the man who wrote the law used to prosecute Diddy and Epstein

December 13, 2024
If Sean “Diddy” Combs is convicted of sex trafficking by force, he will go to prison for a minimum of 15 years and he could receive a life sentence. The criminal code regarding trafficking in the United States is comprehensive and carries significant punishments thanks to an almost entire rewrite of the statutes that became law in 2000.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., authored the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and said it’s the most comprehensive he’s ever written.

“The criminal code was almost nonexistent,” Smith told Straight Arrow News. “There were almost no prosecutions. The fines or jail time were not commensurate with the heinous act of human trafficking, sex or labor trafficking.”

Smith said when he started looking into trafficking law, multiple U.S. Attorneys told him they had no cases because there was nothing compelling within the current statutes they could use to target someone.

“There has to be a penalty phase, but not for the women. We hold them harmless,” Smith said. “And that was one of the sea changes that we put into the law, that no woman could be prosecuted as a victim.”

Smith said he wrote in multiple provisions that were key to protecting victims. As an example, if the victim is younger than 18, then it only takes one single commercial sex act to qualify as a human trafficking case.

“The false assumption that many of us had was that it was more of an overseas thing,” Smith said. “With the break with the Soviet Union, the KGB went into selling women, drugs and women, as well as weapons. So there was this sense that trafficking was over there. It didn’t take long for all of us to realize…that it’s right here in our backyard.”

In addition to penalties for perpetrators, Smith’s bill created training programs for flight attendants, hotel employees and other travel industry workers who are in positions to identify trafficking victims and notify authorities.

Smith also wrote the law used to charge financier Jeffrey Epstein before his death. He has dedicated much of his career to human rights.

“What we saw with the breakup of the Soviet Union and East Bloc countries, that there was a huge increase in human trafficking,” Smith said. “The Internet enabled a lot of it too as that broke onto the scene. So this idea of buying and selling women coercively or minors, it was like nobody’s addressing this.”

Smith was first elected in 1980 and is serving his 22nd two-year term. He’s currently tied as the longest-serving active representative.
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Mystery drone sightings: New Jersey requests assistance from Pentagon

December 11, 2024
New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, R, requested U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin provide a state military base with the tools it needs to take down mystery drones spotted across the Garden State. Authorities spotted unmanned aerial systems by the dozen over sensitive security locations and critical infrastructure.

“This is a national security issue of the highest order and people need to have their concerns, which are very well founded, and I have them too, allayed,” Smith told Straight Arrow News.

Between 12 and 30 drones followed a 47-foot Coast Guard ship while running near Barnegat inlet, Smith said.

“Don’t tell me that’s not some kind of intimidation,” he added.

Smith asks Pentagon for help

Smith wrote a letter to Austin, requesting his assistance.

“I urgently request all capabilities possessed by the Department of Defense, especially those in use by Joint Base McQuire-Dix-Lakehurst to be immediately deployed to identify and address the potential threats posed by UAS over the state of New Jersey.”
New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith in a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst can identify and take down unauthorized drones, but the base commander told Smith he doesn’t have the authority to do so.

Federal government remains silent

Smith expressed disappointment toward the federal government for the lack of response. He said the U.S. Coast Guard told him they do not have any rules of engagement for the encounters.

The Department of Homeland Security is failing to do its job, Smith said.

The New Jersey lawmaker spoke with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but the organization was unable to explain.

National security a top concern

Lawmakers at the state and federal level are concerned the drones could be a threat to national security.

There are multiple sensitive locations in New Jersey, including Joint Base McQuire-Dix and Naval Weapons Stations Earle. The naval station provides guns, artillery and explosives for the Atlantic fleet carrier and expeditionary strike groups.

Smith said the federal government shouldn’t ignore these mystery drone sightings, especially amid ongoing threats from China, Russia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

“Drones are the method of modern warfare,” Smith said. “It’s the game changer.”

A New Jersey state senator called for a limited state of emergency that would ban all drones until the public receives an explanation.
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China protests after US House passes bill targeting Hong Kong’s trade offices

September 11, 2024
The U.S. House passed a bill that could lead to the closure of Hong Kong’s representative offices in America, igniting a diplomatic dispute between China and the United States. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a vote of 413-3. The bill targets Hong Kong’s trade missions in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, framed the act as a crucial step in showing solidarity with Hong Kong citizens facing persecution.

This House bill is in response to a Chinese 2020 security law, which Beijing implemented after large-scale anti-government protests in 2019. The security law led to the arrests of high-profile, pro-democracy activists.

The bill follows recent controversies surrounding Hong Kong’s representative offices in America, including allegations of surveillance and foreign interference by staff linked to the London office.

Hong Kong’s Chinese-run government condemned the bill as a “politically driven” attack that violates international law and interferes with the city’s internal affairs.

A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the act as an “egregious” politicization of normal trade cooperation, warning of potential harm to China-U.S. relations.

Hong Kong serves as the second-largest source of trade surplus for the United States, with approximately 1,200 American companies operating there.

Hong Kong officials warn that the proposed legislation could backfire, potentially harming American interests and undermining the mutually beneficial relationship between the two economies.

The bill still needs to clear the Senate and be signed by the U.S. president before becoming law.
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Congress may bar EV batteries made with forced-labor cobalt from entering US

April 22, 2024
China is dominating the electric vehicle market, including battery manufacturing. According to Mint, more than half the world’s EV batteries are made in China.

To make those batteries, Chinese-owned companies have to mine a large amount of cobalt. Congressional investigations have found Chinese-owned companies rely on forced labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to mine the cobalt.

“It’s exploitation on steroids,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., told Straight Arrow News.

Rep. Smith introduced a bill that, if passed, would ensure cobalt mined with forced labor does not enter the United States.

More than 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the DRC, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

“The estimates are 25 to 40,000 kids and 200,000 adults who are being horribly abused, beaten, they get sick,” Smith said in an interview.

Smith’s investigations found that Chinese companies either wholly or partially own 15 of the DRC’s 19 cobalt mines.

The child- and forced-labor problem could get worse. The International Energy Agency predicted demand for cobalt will increase 600% by 2040.

The metal is not just used in EV batteries. Manufacturers also use cobalt to make lithium ion batteries that power smart phones and laptops.

“China is running all the mines,” Smith said. “They’re just absolutely cruelly mistreating the workers.”

It is already illegal to import goods that were made with forced labor. This bill would require the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to conduct an investigation into forced labor in cobalt mines. The task force would also present a strategy to Congress on how to prevent those products from entering the United States.

“These are horrible places,” Smith said. “It all goes to China and it all comes back to here and to Europe and elsewhere, Canada, in electric vehicles.”

Smith’s bill was approved by the Ways and Means Committee. It still needs to be passed by the full House and the Senate before it can be signed into law.
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General doesn’t know how many Americans were left in Afghanistan

March 19, 2024

The top generals who oversaw America’s evacuation from Afghanistan testified Tuesday, March 19, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the widely criticized military operation. Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the former commander of U.S. Central Command, have both since retired but appeared to publicly explain what happened during an evacuation that resulted in the death of more than a dozen U.S. service members.

“So having a plan is one thing, preparing the plan, vetting the plan, coordinating the plan with the people that are going to actually carry you out, the Department of Defense, that’s another set of tasks completely,” McKenzie said.

“And that was too little, too late,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said.

“It was my judgment that it was far too little, far too late,” McKenzie said.

The generals described disorganization between the Defense and State departments, evacuation orders that came too late and the Abbey Gate terrorist attack, when a suicide bomber killed 13 military service members and injured dozens more.

“If there’s fault, it lies in a policy decision that placed the joint force in this situation and exposed the force over time to the possibility of these kinds of attacks,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie also said he alone bears military responsibility for what happened at Abbey Gate.

The testimony made clear that there are still questions as to what happened during the evacuation.

“How many Americans were left behind, how many of our allies and what has happened to them,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., asked.

“I’ll be candid, I don’t know the exact number of Americans that were left behind because the starting number was never clear,” Milley answered.

Republicans blamed President Joe Biden and his administration for the failures that took place.

“The damage to our reputation in our credibility, the United States credibility around the world, that damage will last for generations,” McCaul said.

Democrats, meanwhile, said a truly thorough investigation would look not just at the evacuation, but at the entire Afghan war which spanned four presidential administrations.

“If we really want to figure out what went wrong, what we need to fix, we need to look at the entire 20 years of being in Afghanistan, not just the last few months,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said.

Both generals said they appeared before the committee voluntarily and would have come with or without a subpoena.
House votes to reauthorize bill making it easier to go after human traffickers

February 20, 2024
The House of Representatives passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in a landslide 414-11 vote. The bill was first signed into law in 2000, and with this reauthorization, the programs and funding associated with it will last until 2028.

“This bill saves lives and it is a bipartisan cause,” Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., said. “It is not about politics. This is about doing the right thing, it is about our common humanity.”

The Frederick Douglass Act, this year’s reauthorization, is named after the renowned abolitionist and endorsed by his great-great grandson.

The bill:
- Seeks to promote situational awareness training for elementary and secondary school students through grants.
- Requires the Secretary of State to provide information to Congress about countries that don’t comply with the law’s anti-human trafficking standards.
- Authorizes survivors’ employment, housing and education programs.
- Authorizes $175 million over five years for DOJ Housing Assistance Grants for victims of human trafficking; in addition to other measures.
“One of the things we find is that [when] a woman — or a man but most are women — are liberated, where do they go?” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said. “They need help. And we do have programs in existence. This will help redirect some of those funds to help them get a house, a home, so that they are less likely and less vulnerable to being re-trafficked.”

Smith has held multiple hearings on human trafficking. During those hearings, victims share stories of being raped, beaten and having necessities like food either given or withheld as reward or punishment. The nature of that captivity can ultimately lead to psychological damage and the belief that what happened to the victim is their fault, which is why trafficking is described as modern-day slavery.

“Does this sound like anything that a young person dreams of for their future?” Smith said. “Being stripped and robbed of your peace of mind and of your body, your humanity, your dignity, and your respect?”

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act has made it far easier for prosecutors to successfully bring charges against perpetrators by creating new statutes and clarifying definitions of certain crimes.

A study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics on Human Trafficking found that from 2011 to 2019, there was a 79% increase in defendants charged with human trafficking in U.S. District Courts, an 80% increase in convictions, and an 82% increase in perpetrators who were sentenced.

The most publicized case of all was Jeffrey Epstein’s, who faced charges under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

According to NPR, when Epstein’s victims entered into a $290 million settlement with JPMorgan Chase, they successfully argued that the bank was negligent when handling his finances and “knowingly benefited from participating in a sex-trafficking venture … [and] obstructed enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.”

One of the few who voted against the bill was Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. Roy said human trafficking is an abomination and must be rooted out. He also explained why he voted against the bill.

“I cannot support a measure that irresponsibly reauthorizes these programs without actually paying for them,” Roy said. “Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill could cost over $1.1 billion over the next decade. I am committed to the fight to end human trafficking and will continue to support responsible solutions to do so.”

The bill must still pass the Senate and receive the President’s signature to become official.
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Will Biden enter pandemic treaty requiring 20% of supplies go to WHO?

February 7, 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) is creating a treaty to prepare for the next pandemic which would be legally binding for all countries that agree to it. The treaty has been through many drafts, but a final version could be released just ahead of the World Health Assembly on May 27 when members hope to have a final vote.

However, two Republican congressmen contend the treaty requires the U.S. to provide too many resources and puts extreme requirements on the U.S. health care system.

“The United States should be setting the gold standard for approval,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, said. “Incentivizing best practices and doing everything we can to ensure that an organization like the WHO listens to American interests as well.”

“Binding international covenants, treaties or agreements and the legal obligations imposed on nations require serious and comprehensive analysis.,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said.

According to a draft of the treaty, it would require countries to provide a minimum of 20% of their production of safe, efficacious and effective pandemic-related products, including diagnostics, vaccines, personal protective equipment and therapeutics. The requirement aims to ensure equitable distribution of resources.

Article 10 states all countries have the “sovereign right to determine and manage their approach to public health.” But the article later adds, “provided that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to their peoples and other countries.”

The WHO said the treaty has four main goals:
- Build resilience to pandemics.
- Support prevention, detection, and responses to outbreaks with pandemic potential.
- Ensure equitable access to pandemic countermeasures.
- Support global coordination through a stronger and more accountable WHO.
“The COVID-19 pandemic showed the world that the World Health Organization is not the preeminent global health institution that perhaps it once was,” Wenstrup said. “To me, the WHO should be there to benefit all of humankind and should not be influenced outside it should be agnostic of all politics.”

President Biden could present it to the Senate for advice and consent, which would require a two-thirds vote. Or, he could enter an “executive agreement,” which does not require congressional approval. Either way, it would be considered legally binding. It’s unclear if Biden plans to join the agreement.

Straight Arrow News asked the White House for comment but has not heard back as of Feb. 7.

“Bypassing Senate ratification would be an egregious mistake,” Smith said.

Bypassing Congress isn’t new. President Obama bypassed Congress to enter the Paris Climate Accord. Perhaps the most famous executive agreement came in July 1940 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Britain 50 Navy destroyers in exchange for 99-year leases on British naval bases. In January 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act.
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House lawmakers want to give Israel additional $2B for Iron Dome

October 11, 2023
There’s a bipartisan proposal in the House of Representatives, co-sponsored by more than 15 lawmakers, to give Israel an extra $2 billion for its Iron Dome defense system. The co-sponsors include Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who also wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to use all available resources to evacuate Americans from Israel.

Straight Arrow News’ Political Correspondent Ray Bogan spoke with Smith about both topics. Smith began by strongly criticizing the Biden administration’s policy regarding Iran, which he called the “grand puppeteer” of the Hamas attacks.

This transcript has been slightly edited for clarity.

Smith: Our commander in chief has been, I think, terrible in his vision. He’s embraced Iran as if somehow you can work with them. They put on their missiles when they’re testing their ballistic missiles, “Death to Israel,” “Death to America,” why don’t we believe it and don’t enable it? They need regime change. And many times when there’s been attempts to do it locally, we weren’t supporting those brave Iranians who are trying to get a more democratic and open society there.

Bogan: You’re calling on President Biden to use any means necessary to get Americans out of Israel. What are the resources that should be used for that? Should there be evacuation flights?

Smith: There should be evacuation flights. I think there needs to be a very aggressive accounting of where the Americans are, who wants to leave. More people needed to be deployed. There is a hotline number, it’s based here in the United States, but it is a hotline number. They have to make sure that’s adequately staffed so that you can work these individuals so that they can get on a flight.

And I didn’t hear anything from the president about an evacuation plan, which I think there needs to be. We’ve had about 200 calls to my office, 200, and it’s going up by the minute of people who have loved ones there, have kids who are there, young adults who are there, who want to get out. Now, some want to stay. I ran into a number of Israeli non-Israelis, Americans who are Jewish, who want to go there and fight. They’re very brave and very courageous. They want to go defend Israel from this horrible attack by Hamas.

Bogan: You’re co-sponsoring the bipartisan bill to give Israel an extra $2 billion for its Iron Dome system. Can that be passed without a speaker? Should it be priority number one once a speaker is elected?

Smith: There’s a sufficient drawdown authority right now that the Pentagon has to get all of the Iron Dome weaponry there to protect against these incoming missiles. But we need to make this sustainable, we need to significantly increase the $3.3 billion that we give, plus more money for Iron Dome, to Israel.

So if $2 billion is the right amount, we think it might be, we just need to do it immediately and make sure it’s deployed ASAP. Because if anything, Hamas is testing to see how many weapons or missiles can penetrate the Golden Dome. You can only stop so many. And if Hezbollah with its 150,000 missiles all given to them by Iran, again, the grand puppeteer of this terrible, terrible carnage, that’s a lot of missiles to intercept in flight. Israel absolutely needs this right now so they can act knowing that it’s coming. We don’t want to find out that all of a sudden that they’re short. So, I do think we will be responsive.

Bogan: You’ve criticized the administration. Their official stance right now is that Iran has been complicit with this attack, but they have not seen evidence that they knew about it or helped plan it. So then, at a minimum, what should the punishment be for the complicity?

Smith: It’s more than complicity. And again, none of this happens without Iran. The missiles all come from there, the wherewithal, the capability to wage terrorism comes from Iran. So you don’t think they’re going to be up to their gills involved with the planning of this very sophisticated blitzkrieg attack on the innocent people of Israel?
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Israel-Hamas war: Some lawmakers blame Iran, others point at Israel

October 9, 2023
More than 1,300 people and counting have been killed and thousands more wounded after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel by land, sea and air over the weekend of Oct. 7. The casualties are from both Israel and Gaza.

Members of Congress are condemning the attacks, but there are key differences between statements from Democrats and Republicans.

What Democrats are saying:

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., was in Tel Aviv with his wife and three children when the attack began and got out safely.

“At a minimum, Congress must replenish — and expand — the Iron Dome as soon as possible. I hope Republicans can get their House in order so we can pass emergency legislation to assist Israel in defending herself,” Goldman posted on X.

https://twitter.com/RepDanGoldman/status/1710942396060467288

There is strong bipartisan support in Congress for Israel’s security and defense, however, the House can’t do anything until it elects a speaker. Based on its current schedule, that will take at least a week to do.

Other Democratic lawmakers put out statements that were, in part, critical of Israel.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., condemned Hamas’ attack and added, “this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said she supports a path to peace.

“The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance,” Tlaib said.

What Republicans are saying:

Republicans are specifically placing blame on Iran, which supports Hamas with weapons, training and funding. Hamas has been on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations since October 1997.

“I am convinced that this unprecedented and brutal attack by Hamas is not only supported by Iran, it was designed to stop peace efforts between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.

Graham is referring to efforts to normalize relations between the Arab and Jewish nations. Saudi Arabia had said on Friday, Oct. 6, it was willing to increase its oil production to help secure a deal in which it would recognize Israel in exchange for a U.S. defense agreement.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., called on the Biden administration to take action against Iran.

“This means the president needs to make major changes in personnel and policy. Just last month the administration unfroze $6 billion in Iranian funds, and just last week we learned that the administration is staffed by agents of an Iranian spy ring.”

The Biden administration waived sanctions to unfreeze $6 billion dollars of Iranian money in a deal to free five American prisoners. Smith was also referring to reporting in Iran International that revealed three staff members for the Biden administration’s envoy on Iran were part of an influence network led by the country’s Foreign Ministry.

The Biden administration said it has not seen direct involvement from Iran in these attacks but did state the nation is complicit. The national security team said it will continue to watch the situation closely.

“What I can say without a doubt is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks. Iran has been Hamas’ primary backer for decades,” U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said on CBS mornings.

The president said his administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering. The Pentagon sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to assist Israel if necessary.
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Nicaragua’s Catholic president is persecuting members of his own religion

September 25, 2023

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega is persecuting members of his own religion. Ortega is Catholic, however it is the official position of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that Nicaragua’s government “has taken harsher measures against Catholic-affiliated organizations such as shutting down charities and expelling their workers, stripping universities of funding and legal status, shutting down news media, and eliminating non-governmental organizations.”

Ortega’s actions are being monitored by many groups, including the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Congress, co-chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

“He has so far departed from basic decency,” Smith said in an interview with Straight Arrow News.

Smith compared Ortega to Chinese President Xi Jingping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

“There’s just a malevolence there, a hatred of people,” Smith said.

Ortega’s regime has shut down at least 26 private universities and 54 news outlets.

In August, a Nicaraguan court ordered Ortega’s government to take control of the Jesuit-run Central American University (CAU). The judges ruled that the school was a center for terrorism.

Ortega briefly attended CAU before joining the junta. His children also attended the university.

“Everything is imposed. It’s a perfect dictatorship. It’s a perfect tyranny,” Ortega said of the church in a televised speech. “If they are going to be democratic, let them start with Catholics voting for the pope, for cardinals, for bishops.”

Ortega also said he doesn’t feel represented in the church as a Catholic and as a Christian.

On Feb. 10, 2023, Bishop Rolando Alvarez was sentenced to 26 years in prison for criticizing religious freedom conditions in the country. He declined to be exiled to the United States. Smith asked Ortega to let him meet with Bishop Alvarez in person so he can perform a welfare check.

If the meeting happens, it wouldn’t be Smith’s first time in the country. Smith met with Ortega in 1984 along with other members of Congress including former Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Tony Hall, D-Ohio.

The delegation raised human rights concerns, specifically about torture. The group then had a suspicious experience after Ortega served them tea.

“The three of us that drank it got deathly sick. So I’m sure he drugged it or did something. You know, for two weeks, I was doubled over, as were my colleagues,” Smith said.

The State Department says the Ortega regime has allowed corruption and impunity to reign. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on the state-owned mining company after it said Ortega stole the 2021 election. But Smith wants more.

“Shut him down.” Smith said. “No economic trade, nothing. How else you reach a guy that is destroying his own people?”