Chris Smith

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, Americans simply cannot afford S. Con. Res. 14--the Biden-Sanders budget that will authorize trillions of dollars in new taxes and spending, and I join my Republican colleagues in strongly opposing this irresponsible proposal. One of the many egregious provisions in the Biden/Sanders budget will make conveyance at death of a small business or family farm to family members or loved ones a catastrophic tax event--possibly triggering a 40 percent death tax that must be paid immediately on how much the asset has appreciated. Shockingly, this Biden/Sanders new death tax would not be triggered by the sale of the business or family farm--instead merely taking ownership makes the inheritor liable for the new 40 percent confiscatory tax. Many of those who inherit would be forced to sell the hereditary asset just to pay the new tax. The author of this massive new tax and spend proposal, Bernie Sanders--Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee--President Biden and the Democratic leadership are ramming this highly partisan bill through Congress without serious consideration of its disastrous impact on families and the economy. My constituents deserve better than this. When will we return to working across the aisle in a bipartisan way? After all of the suffering and economic pain endured by the people of my district and throughout the country during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Biden/Bernie Sanders budget: doubles the capital gains tax to 43.4 percent, raises the tax rate for many businesses--including at least 2 million small businesses--from 21 to 28 percent and as I mentioned a moment ago imposes a major expansion of the ``death tax'' by taxing unrealized capital gains at death. Small businesses in particular should not face additional tax burdens as they struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations such as the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressed alarm at these proposals, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses stated, ``increased taxes on small businesses mean less investment in employees, less investment in small businesses, and less economic growth.'' According to the Senate Republican leadership on the Budget Committee, the reckless tax and spend plan includes: $4.2 trillion in new spending over 10 years; $3.5 trillion in new mandatory spending; $263 billion in new discretionary spending, and $390 billion in increased interest on the debt. National debt soars to $40 trillion (119 percent of GDP) by 2031. Total debt (subject to limit) soars to $45 trillion (134 percent of GDP) by 2031. Nearly $400 billion in defense cuts compared to current law projections. Deficits that average $1.6 trillion annually under the plan, reaching $2.2 trillion by 2031. According to supporting documents provided by Chairman Sanders, the $3.5 trillion reckless tax and spend spree will be ``fully offset.'' Because the Finance Committee was given a broad reconciliation instruction that did not require or disclose a specific level of revenue, this can be accomplished entirely by raising $3.5 trillion in new truces. There is no restriction on the amount of tax increases allowed under this budget resolution or through the fast-track reconciliation process. Especially in New Jersey, one of the highest taxed states in the Nation, taxpayers need relief, not the massive taxes that will be levied to pay for this Biden/Sanders budget bill.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, by executive order, President Biden reversed the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy, which was a reiteration and expansion of President Ronald Reagan's Mexico City policy. Announced by Ronald Reagan at a U.N. conference on population growth in Mexico City in 1984, hence its name, the policy was designed to ensure that U.S. taxpayer money was not funneled to foreign, nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion. My amendment, which was not made in order, would have inserted new text that reinstates the Mexico City policy which was rendered inoperative by the President, and it also would have taken out new pro- abortion language that says that no President in the future can promulgate any iteration of the Mexico City policy. The Mexico City policy established pro-life safeguards; benign, humane conditions on global health assistance. For years, foreign nongovernmental organizations have been subsided and empowered by taxpayer funds--and let's not forget, this is grant money--to weaken, undermine, or reverse pro-life laws in other nations, especially in Africa, and to destroy the precious lives of unborn children. The Mexico City policy mitigates U.S. taxpayer complicity in global abortion and underscores our deep commitment to protecting the weak and most vulnerable. According to a recent Marist poll, 77 percent of Americans are opposed to using tax moneys to pay for abortions in other countries. Only 19 percent support it. The Marist poll found that 55 percent of Democrats, 85 percent of Independents, and 95 percent of Republicans were against using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions in other countries. U.S. foreign assistance, Mr. Speaker, and foreign entities that we fund with billions of dollars of grant money should consistently affirm, care for, and tangibly assist women and all children--all children, including unborn babies--regardless of their age or condition of dependency. Second, Mr. Speaker, since 1973, the Helms amendment has prohibited using taxpayer funds to directly pay for abortions in other countries. Helms is the Hyde amendment for the rest of the world. The bill before us today, however, completely reverses the Helms amendment. I had offered in Rules a second amendment that would have reinstated Helms. It was not made in order. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for child dismemberment, including severing arms and legs and actual decapitation of the baby with sharp knives, or deadly poisons or drugs like RU-486, which starves the baby to death. Children alive but not yet born who are killed by abortion after 20 weeks or later experience excruciating suffering and pain. And until they are rendered unconscious or dead by these hideous procedures, the baby feels the pain of every cut. Years ago, Senator Biden said, and he wrote to constituents, that opposition to abortion funding would: ``Protect both the woman and her unborn child.'' He said: ``Those of us who are opposed to abortion''--again this is Joe Biden--``should not be compelled to pay for them.'' Finally, my amendment on the U.N. Population Fund was not made in order, as my good friend and colleague Harold Rogers had said, this legislation weakens the Kemp-Kasten language significantly. I would point out to my colleagues--because I offered the first amendment on this floor back in 1984 on the complicity of the U.N. Population Fund in forced abortion and forced sterilization in China. For over four decades, the U.N. Population Fund has vigorously supported, funded, defended, promoted, even celebrated the Chinese Communist Party's coercive population control program. I met with the head of the Chinese program, Peng Peiyun, back in 1991 in Beijing, almost a 3-hour meeting.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, Peng Peiyun told me over and over again, there is no coercion in the Chinese program, even though everyone who has followed it knows that there is, because she said the UNFPA was there, on the ground whitewashing and falsifying the truth. We are missing maybe 60 million females, women of all ages now, because it has been a systematic extermination of the girl child in China. It is one of the reasons why human sex trafficking has exploded in China, because the girl child has been killed, exterminated, and the UNFPA has been at best silent on that issue, again, giving the Chinese Communist Party a clean bill of health. Doubling the amount of money that was in previous bills from $35 million to $70 million while simultaneously weakening Kemp-Kasten trivializes these crimes against women and these crimes against children.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, this needs to be clarified for all Members who are listening. The Kemp-Kasten language--is and has been--the law and has been supported in a bipartisan way for years, because we are so unalterably opposed to coercive population control. It says that we will not support any organization that supports or comanages a coercive population control program. The new language takes out ``supports and comanages'' and puts direct, ``directly involved with abortion.'' China is an absolutely closed society. It is run by a dictatorship under Xi Jinping. I have chaired 72 congressional hearings over the years on human rights in China, and many witnesses were women who have been forcibly abducted. Usually only the ones that escape and get here and become asylees and get asylum by our law here in the United States can speak out about it. So how will you ever ascertain if it is ``direct'' because Xi Jinping is not going to let you in to investigate. We can't even get answers on Wuhan, and this is even more closed than that, quite frankly. I do hope Members will realize this is a gutting of the Kemp-Kasten language. No matter how you feel about population control, we should be absolutely opposed to coercion. Nobody should be forced.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, sadly the rule under consideration precludes a vote on the Cole amendment to preserve the Hyde amendment and Weldon conscience protection law as well as other pro-life amendments, including one that I first successfully offered back in 1983 prohibiting abortion funding in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. All of our amendments were ruled out of order. That is tragic; we are not even going to get to vote on these lifesaving measures. Madam Speaker, the Hyde amendment has saved more than 2.4 million lives, about 60,000 per year since first enacted. If retained in law, more innocent lives will be protected. It is time, I believe, for more of us to face the harsh reality of what abortion actually does to children. No one in the media ever bothers to expose the violent methods of abortion that include dismemberment of a child's fragile body, including decapitation; that drugs like RU-486 starve the baby to death; or that unborn babies killed by abortion at 20 weeks or later experience excruciating physical pain, and until rendered unconscious or dead by these hideous procedures, the baby feels the pain of every single cut. Madam Speaker, abortion is not healthcare unless one construes the precious life of an unborn child to be analogous to a tumor to be excised or a disease to be vanquished. Mr. Biden once wrote to constituents explaining his support for laws against funding for abortion by saying, ``It would protect both the woman and her unborn child.'' He went on to say that ``those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.'' Over the years, the polls have consistently shown that Americans do not support taxpayer funding of abortion. The January 2021 Marist poll found that 58 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion as opposed to 38 percent who support it. The Marist poll also found a supermajority of 65 percent Independents oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. Madam Speaker, unborn babies need the President of the United States of America and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to be their friends and advocates, not powerful adversaries.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, the bill under consideration removes several longstanding pro-life protections and advances provisions that would force U.S. taxpayers to pay for abortion-on- demand. It removes the Hyde Amendment which protects federal taxpayers from being forced to fund elective abortions--an agreement that has received bipartisan support since 1976. It also removes the Weldon Amendment which prevents discrimination against health care providers who do not want to participate in abortion. Similarly, the rule under consideration precludes even a vote on the Cole amendment, which would restore the Hyde Amendment and the Weldon Amendment. The rule also denies a vote to my amendment, which would restore a law I authored in 1983--38 years ago--prohibiting funding of abortion under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Like the Hyde Amendment, that law must be renewed every year. A total of 14 pro-life amendments were ruled out of order by the Democratic majority. All is not lost, however. I remain hopeful--confident--that the Senate will reinstate all current pro-life protections, like the Hyde Amendment. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize abortion nor should anyone or any entity be coerced against their conscience to perform or facilitate the killing of an unborn child. The Hyde Amendment has saved more than 2.4 million lives--about 60,000 per year since it was first enacted. If retained in law, more innocent lives will be protected. It is time, I believe, for more of us to face the harsh reality of what abortion actually does to children and look beyond the sound bites and slogans. No one in the media ever bothers to expose the violent methods of abortion that include dismemberment of a child's fragile body, including decapitation, and that one of the drugs in RU-486 starves the baby to death. Or that unborn babies killed by abortion at 20 weeks or later experience excruciating suffering and physical pain. And until rendered unconscious or dead by these hideous procedures, the child feels the pain of every cut according to medical experts in life-enhancing prenatal surgery. Abortion is not health care unless one construes the precious life of an unborn child to be analogous to a tumor to be excised or a disease to be vanqulshed--pregnancy is not a disease. Mr. Biden once wrote constituents, explaining his support for laws against funding for abortion, by saying ``it would protect both the woman and her unborn child.'' Mr. Biden went on to say ``those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.'' I agree. Most Americans agree. Over the years, the polls have consistently shown that Americans do not support taxpayer funded abortion. The January 2021 Marist poll found that by a margin of 58 percent to 38 percent Americans oppose taxpayer funded abortion. The Marist poll found that a supermajority of 65 percent of Independents oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. Unborn babies need the President of the United States and Members of Congress to be their friend and advocate, not powerful adversaries.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I have three amendments that I am asking our colleagues to support. They are bipartisan amendments. The first is a redirection of $3 million to the Centers for Disease Control for Lyme disease. I would point out to my colleagues that I have been working on Lyme disease issues since 1992, and we tried very hard for years to get a federal working group up and running. And in 2016, we did it. The Health and Human Services Tick-Borne Disease Working Group found that there are about 300,000 new cases of Lyme every year. The higher estimate or guesstimate is 476,000 cases each year. It is exploding all over this country, particularly in the northeast where the chair, obviously, comes from, as do I. It is highly endemic in New Jersey. This additional money brings the total to $24 million for CDC to work on issues related to Lyme. Amendment 51, the second amendment, has do with LymeX. It provides $5 million, through give and take, and underscores that we really believe the LymeX Innovation Accelerator will help find new diagnostics, research, and treatments. What the working group found and then what an NIH document produced by Secretary Azar, and others, found, was that we really don't have a diagnostic that works. We don't have a Lyme testing capability that is reliable and affordable. And, finally, years ago I founded, along with my good friend and colleague, Mike Doyle, the Autism Caucus. We have been leading it for over 20 years. We have done a number of bills, including the Autism CARES Act, that have become law. Amendment 52 would provide $10 million to help the CDC's developmental disabilities account to expand the Autism Developmental Disability Monitoring Network, or ADDM, and at least nine new sites could be established.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, the ADDM network has been incredible in tracking children and young people to help us understand the prevalence. You can't combat something if there is no solid data. This ADDM network has been a tremendous asset. This amendment would expand it. So I thank my friend for yielding and I thank the committee chair for her support. I thank the Rules Committee for having made the amendments in order. It will make a difference.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to close. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank my good friend and colleague, Congresswoman Karen Bass, the chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. We have worked so close on so many issues. Sometimes she takes the lead; sometimes I take the lead, but we are always striving for that same outcome, and I thank her for her great support for this. It really is an honor to work with the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Desert Locust Control Act, a bill I introduced along with my good friend and colleague, Representative Karen Bass of California, and we have worked on this issue together for quite a long time trying to mitigate its impact that it is having, particularly on Africa. I thank Representatives Meeks and McCaul for their work in ensuring that this legislation is on the floor today so that we can vote on it and hopefully see it enacted into law. Mr. Speaker, this bill will establish--and this is the core of it--an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive, strategic plan to control locust outbreaks in the East Africa region and address future outbreaks in order to avert famine, starvation, and mass scale food insecurity and potential political destabilization that goes along with all of that. According to USAID: ``The desert locust is one of the most destructive migratory pests in the entire world, rapidly consuming most vegetation in its path, including crops and pastureland critical to maintaining the food security and livelihoods of populations in East Africa. Locust swarms are highly mobile and carried on the wind; swarms can travel up to 100 miles per day, and even a relatively small, 0.4 square mile-sized swarm can consume an amount of food sufficient for approximately 35,000 people in one day.'' As recently as July 6, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, has said that ``a desert locust upsurge is still underway in the Greater Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula,'' and that ``although substantial control operations are underway, the battle to control the desert locust is not yet over.'' The World Bank notes that: ``A new generation of locusts emerges every eight weeks. Each generation, on average, sees a 20-fold increase in the population. The growing swarms spread to new areas, disrupting the food supply, upending livelihoods and requiring substantial resources to address.'' Mr. Speaker, I believe there are three very important reasons to support this bill. The first is an obligation that we have to mitigate suffering wherever we are able to do so, and prevent starvation, famine, food insecurity, and stunting. Stunting increases when food is not available to young people especially during the first thousand days of life from conception to the second birthday. The second is our strategic U.S. national interest. Food insecurity causes instability, as we saw with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt a decade ago. Here, the Horn of Africa is vitally important, and we see an area wracked by war and violence, be it the war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and ethnic violence elsewhere in that strategically important country, or Al-Shabaab's efforts in neighboring Somalia to establish a radical terror regime. On top of this political chaos then is the food crisis caused by locusts, compounded by the ongoing COVID concerns. The third is that this legislation is both penny-wise and pound-wise. The bill calls for greater intergovernmental coordination so that we don't waste resources through redundant efforts but work in a highly coordinated fashion. Further, by addressing the food insecurity problem at the source, the locusts, we mitigate the need down the road to provide disaster and humanitarian assistance, which is more costly not only in terms of dollars, but most importantly in terms of human lives. I would further note that just last week Administrator Samantha Power addressed the Foreign Affairs Committee, and she addressed how spending a little money up front can save more down the road, while underscoring there is much work to be done. She said: ``We have treated more than 5 million acres of infested lands since 2020``--and the last administration and this administration is very focused, I would say parenthetically, on this--``preventing the loss of four million metric tons of crops. That's $1.2 billion worth of crop yields that were saved by virtue of this effort. I gather that things got better and now are turning downward again, so that is something that has my attention.'' She went on to say: ``Whether it is providing surveillance, aircraft training, pesticides, and training about how to use the pesticides in order to avoid environmental damage and so forth--it is a very important enabling complement to the other work we do on food security.'' Finally, I would like to call attention to the yeoman's work that was done by our past ambassador to the United Nations Food Agencies, Kip Tom. This is an absolutely critical position that tends to be overlooked. He advised us, provided unbelievably important insights and information that helped us craft a response to push the previous administration to do more. And, hopefully, this will help coordinate everything. I would note, parenthetically, that President Biden has nominated Cindy McCain to fill that role at FAO, and I look forward to working with her and the rest of the administration on this important initiative. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Refugee Sanitation Facility Safety Act. I commend my colleagues, Representative Meng and Chairman Meeks, for their work on this issue. Around the world, we are seeing unprecedented levels of displacement due to conflict and humanitarian disasters. Unfortunately, many of these crises have gone on for many years, even decades, like we have seen in South Sudan. I would just note, parenthetically, my good friend Karen Bass and I have been to refugee camps throughout Africa and have seen the great work that is done by the United States, working with the UNHCR and other international organizations, literally saving people who otherwise would die of starvation or sickness, so what a great humanitarian effort made by this country and by others, including the UNHCR. I would point out to my colleagues that new emergencies, like Ethiopia and the growing instability in Afghanistan, have stretched the capabilities of the United Nations and the international community. The COVID-19 pandemic, as it surges in much of the developing world, is only making these crises worse. Lack of access to clean water and cramped living conditions continues to hamper prevention efforts. A generation of young people is growing up knowing only life in a refugee camp. The conditions in many of these camps around the world are dire and particularly dangerous for vulnerable populations, such as women and children. This bill ensures support for safe sanitation facilities for refugees and displaced persons living in camps around the world. The U.S. continues to be the largest donor to refugees and displaced persons around the world. That has been a historical fact no matter who was in the White House, speaking to the humanitarian beliefs of this country to care for those who are at risk and who are vulnerable. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of the Divided Families Reunification Act. The sorrowful legacy of the Korean war is with us even today, almost 70 years after the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. The Korean peninsula remains divided between a nation of free people and a nation that subjects its people to utter tyranny. The barbaric Kim regime continues to threaten the peace and security of South Korea, the region, and even the world. And families remain broken, from those still fighting to bring their loved ones' remains home, to those with family members trapped in North Korea. This is an attempt to try to say let's get this moving to try to get those families reunited. Our vibrant Korean-American community, led by groups such as the Korean American Grassroots Conference, feels this legacy strongly, so I commend Congresswoman Meng for introducing this legislation which directs the State Department to consult with South Korea and Korean Americans on opportunities to reunite families separated by the DMZ. I also trust that the State Department will be vigilant in ensuring that organizations with ties to North Korea will not be exploiting the desire of these families to be reunited with their loved ones to raise hard currency for the Kim regime. Mr. Speaker, with that in mind, I urge support for the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), the vice ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and an original cosponsor of this legislation.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 294, which reaffirms the House's commitment to support our Korean-American families seeking to reunite with relatives who are trapped in North Korea. The resolution, authored by my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass), rightly observes that family reunification is a humanitarian priority. As she points out, it calls on the United States and North Korea to begin the process of reuniting North Korean and Korean-American divided family members with their immediate relatives through ways such as--and I quote from the resolution: ``Identifying divided families in the United States and North Korea who are willing and able to participate in a pilot program for family reunions; ``Finding matches for members of such families through organizations such as the Red Cross; and ``Working with the Government of South Korea to include American citizens in inter-Korean video reunions; ``Reaffirms the institution of the family as inalienable and, accordingly, urges the restoration of contact between divided families physically, literarily, or virtually.'' Mr. Speaker, it is a very, very good resolution. I thank my good friend and colleague for authoring it. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Securing America From Epidemics Act. I thank my colleagues, Congressmen Bera and Fitzpatrick, for introducing this bill and for their work to address this important issue. COVID-19 has shown once again that pandemics know no borders, and that the United States and the world must be better prepared to respond to disease outbreaks, including pandemics, around the world. The bill authorizes the United States to participate in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, an alliance of countries and private partners that are financing and coordinating the developing of new vaccines for infectious diseases. In addition to COVID-19, CEPI has developed a list of priority diseases with epidemic potential, including MERS, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. By leveraging contributions from member states with expertise and funding by private partners, CEPI seeks to develop vaccines before a disease outbreak occurs. I would note, parenthetically, that in October of 2020, the Trump administration gave CEPI a $20 million grant to advance its work. Mr. Speaker, according to the Johns Hopkins Resource Center, COVID-19 has killed over 4,092,000 people worldwide, including 609,000 in the United States and in my home State of New Jersey, 26,545 deaths, the most COVID-19 deaths per capita in the United States. The pandemic could cost the global economy approximately $10 trillion, or more than 12 percent of global GDP. The loss of jobs and businesses is unprecedented in modern times. And all of us know it from our case work working with our local businesses. This has been an incredibly horrible pandemic, and we have to make sure it is never repeated. Developing vaccines and treatment for emerging infectious diseases is not just an issue of individual health, but it is important to national security, including economic security. Our committee has worked together on many pieces of legislation over the last several months in response to COVID-19. The SAFE Act, for example, is an example of this kind of bipartisan effort. I urge all my colleagues who believe we must do all we can to prevent another pandemic like COVID-19 from emerging in the future to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Rewards for Justice Act introduced by our good friends, Joe Wilson and Congressman Deutch. It is a good bipartisan bill, and I think it will really make a difference. The bill would expand the Rewards for Justice program at the State Department to authorize rewards for individuals coming forward with information on sanctions evasion practices. The bill was inspired by Bassam Barabandi, a Syrian defector and former diplomat at the Syrian embassy in Washington, who worked to provide passports to critics of the criminal Assad regime. For years after his defection, Bassam lobbied the U.S. Government with information on Syrian oligarchs close to Assad, detailing their sanctions evasion practices. Bassam's assistance highlighted the need to create a clear mechanism to incentivize individuals to come forward with this kind of vital information. The legislation will do just that and ultimately enhance compliance with U.S. and international sanctions, increase confidence in the rule of law, and bring criminals and rogue regimes seeking to circumvent U.S. law to justice. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, more than 20 peer-reviewed studies show that more than 2.4 million people are alive today in the United States because of the Hyde amendment, with about 60,000 babies spared death by abortion each and every year. Over 2.4 million girls and boys who would have been aborted instead survived because taxpayer funding was unavailable to effectuate their violent demise. Growing numbers of Americans, Madam Speaker, continue to be shocked to learn that the methods of abortion include dismemberment of a child's fragile body, including decapitation, and that drugs like RU-486 starve the baby to death before he or she is forcibly expelled from the womb. There is nothing benign or compassionate about abortion methods. The multibillion-dollar abortion industry cleverly markets the sophistry of choice while going to extraordinary lengths to ignore, trivialize, and cover up the battered baby victim. By reason of their age, dependency, immaturity, inconvenience, fragility, and unwantedness, unborn children have been denied justice and the most fundamental of all human rights, the right to life. The right to life, Madam Speaker, is for everyone, not just the planned, the privileged, and the perfect. Ultrasound has not only been an amazing diagnostic tool for treating disease and disability before birth, it has also made the unborn baby more visible. Today, for many expectant moms, first baby pictures aren't of their precious newborn baby, but of ultrasound imaging photos and videos chronicling the amazing miracle of their child's journey before birth. Madam Speaker, 166 Members of Congress have cosponsored my bill, H.R. 18, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, to make the Hyde amendment and other current abortion funding prohibitions permanent. According to public opinion polls, most Americans, by a decisive margin of 58 percent to 38 percent in a recent Marist Poll, agree that taxpayers should not, I say again, should not be compelled against their conscience to fund abortion. Years ago, then-Senator Joe Biden wrote to constituents explaining his support for the Hyde amendment and said it would ``protect both the woman and her unborn child.'' He said in another letter, ``I have consistently--on no fewer than 50 occasions--voted against Federal funding of abortions. Those who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.'' So says Joe Biden in the past. I wholeheartedly agree. Those of us opposed to abortion should not be compelled or forced to pay for them. Madam Speaker, someday future generations of Americans will look back and wonder how and why such a seemingly smart, enlightened, and compassionate society could have enabled and facilitated the extermination of over 62.5 million children, a number of child deaths that equates with the entire population of Italy.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. So with deep respect for my colleagues, I believe unborn children need the President of the United States and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to be their friends and advocates, not powerful adversaries.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, 166 Members of Congress have cosponsored H.R. 18, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, to make the Hyde amendment and other current abortion funding prohibitions permanent and to ensure that the Affordable Care Act conforms with the Hyde amendment. According to public opinion polls, most Americans, almost 60 percent, according to the Marist poll, agree that taxpayers should not be forced against their conscience to fund abortion. Years ago, then-Senator Biden wrote to constituents, explaining his support for the Hyde amendment, and said it would ``protect both the woman and her unborn child. . . .'' He said: ``I have consistently--on no fewer than 50 occasions--voted against Federal funding for abortions. . . . Those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.'' So said Senator Biden. I totally agree. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 18 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the chairman and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee have negotiated in good faith over several weeks a bipartisan bill--H.R. 3233--to establish a ten- member national commission to investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol. I'm voting yes. If enacted into law both the Republican and Democrat leaders would each select five commissioners who would be tasked with investigating the ``facts and causes'' of the attack. The Commission may issue subpoenas, but subpoenas may only be issued by agreement between the Chair and Vice Chairperson of the Commission-- one Democrat and one Republican--or by the vote of a majority of the members of the Commission. Any interim report, or the final report--which must be submitted to the President and Congress no later than December 31, 2021--must be agreed to by a majority of Commission members. According to the text of H.R. 3233, the final report should include ``findings, conclusions, and recommendations, which may include changes in law, policy, procedures, rules, or regulations, to improve the detection, prevention, preparedness for, and response to targeted violence and domestic terrorism and improve the security posture of the United States Capitol Complex and ensure the security of Members of Congress and staff.'' The attack on January 6 resulted in a tragic loss of life and physical injury. 140 Capitol and D.C. police officers were injured on January 6th, including 15 who were hospitalized. Three police officers later died--including a brave Capitol police officer from New Jersey, Brian Sicknick, who died of a stroke on January 7th and two other officers died by suicide. Four rioters died--one was shot by police. It is my hope that the Commission will establish the truth and provide a way forward to ensure that such an attack never happens again.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the ranking member, for his kind remarks. I thank him for his leadership on this resolution, as well. I thank Chairman Meeks for his leadership on this. It is a bipartisan resolution, and it is very much needed right now. H. Res. 130 condemns the ongoing violation of human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping and the Government of Hong Kong itself. As the author of the House-passed, bipartisan Hong Kong Human Rights Act signed into law last Congress, which I first introduced in 2014 and again in 2015, 2017, and then for a final time in 2019, I want to just thank Speaker Pelosi for putting that legislation before this body and for her strong support. The Speaker mentioned a moment ago how we have worked for well over 30 years on combating human rights abuses in China whether it be Tibet, the ongoing repression and now genocide against the Uighurs, and the crackdown on religious freedom which has now become nothing but pervasive persecution against people of all faiths as well as the Falun Gong. We have worked very, very closely together, and I believe going back to right after Tiananmen Square, that linkage of human rights with trade was the only way to effectuate systemic change. Regrettably, we have lost so far that linkage. But, again, now we are seeing manifestations, particularly in Hong Kong. Could Taiwan be next? Consider all of the promises that were made-- and there were solemn promises made by the dictatorship in Beijing--to respect human rights in Hong Kong. The basic law is now being violated with impunity. Of course, there is the Sino-U.K. agreement that is being violated. This is an international treaty, and there is the Chinese dictatorship one by one arresting the best, the bravest, and the brightest of Hong Kong and putting them into prison for long prison sentences. As the Speaker noted a moment ago, we just saw that Joshua Wong got an additional jail sentence on his already 13\1/2\-month jail sentence. We know that he is a great young man, and he represents the future of Hong Kong. He now is languishing in prison. I met Martin Lee in Hong Kong in the early 1990s, and he suggested to me that someday he may find himself in prison. He said that it is worth it for human rights and for democracy. He is an absolutely brave and an absolutely principled lawyer, a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. He too has been convicted under this crackdown on democracy promotion in Hong Kong. So there are also many, many others. Jimmy Lai was one of five who were just sentenced last Friday. So this is happening in real time every single day. Once you are arrested and put into prison, the bully boys of the Hong Kong police make sure that you suffer, and you suffer intensely. So, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank, again, Chairman Meeks for bringing this forward and, of course, my good friend, Mr. McCaul.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding and for his leadership, as well as Chairman Meeks. I especially want to thank Chairman Keating for authoring this very, very important resolution and for his hearing that he held in March on the situation in Belarus. Madam Speaker, the resolution condemns Alyaksandr Lukashenka's ongoing and ever-worsening brutality and crackdown on peaceful protestors. As my colleagues know, the leading opposition presidential candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who almost certainly won the election in August and helped form the Coordination Council as a means to seek a peaceful transition of power, needs our consistent and robust support and encouragement. Today, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya is in exile in Lithuania, where she continues to rally the Belarusian people and the world and to demand democracy and human rights for her nation, no matter how long it takes. More than 8 months have passed since the stolen August presidential election, and about 5 months since President Trump signed the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020, which I authored. Let me point out to my colleagues that I first authored the Belarus Democracy Act in the year 2004. It was enacted into law and reauthorized in 2006 and 2011. What it did was focus on denying visas to human rights abusers and made people who are singled out ineligible for participating in our economy. In retaliation, I was told I could not visit Belarus. I was denied a visa repeatedly. I finally got there twice and raised human rights issues with Lukashenka himself. Let me just say that a resolution like this has real impact. Just last week, as a result of an outcry from human rights organizations, the government released Tatsiana Hatsura-Yavorska, the director of the Watch Docs Film Festival in Belarus, and they dropped the charges because of the outcry. Again, I want to thank Mr. Keating, the chairman, for doing this. Let me remind my colleagues, too, that the Russians continue to play a very, very destructive role in the country. This past week alone, Russian authorities detained Yuras Zyankovich, a Belarusian lawyer and U.S. citizen. Madam Speaker, I urge passage.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I rise in support H.R. 965, of which I am a cosponsor, introduced by my friend and colleague, chairwoman of the Africa Subcommittee, Karen Bass, to strengthen and formalize our Young African Leaders Initiative program. The YALI program identifies and invites young leaders from across the African continent to participate in training programs that enhance their leadership skills. Among these individuals, some are selected to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship here in the United States. I have met and spoken with YALI leaders who have participated in the Mandela Fellowship program through Rutgers University in my home state of New Jersey. They are the leaders of tomorrow. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, and again, thank you to Chairwoman Bass for her leadership.