Profile: Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey

Chris Smith - "the lion of life on Capitol Hill"

Congressman Chris Smith was born in Rahway, NJ, and is a resident of Hamilton, NJ. He has enjoyed a long career of public service representing NJ's Fourth Congressional District since 1981, when he was sworn into office at the age of twenty seven. During his years in office he has earned worldwide recognition in the areas of veterans' affairs and human rights, "from children forced to toil in sweatshops to women kidnapped and sold into lives of prostitution to unborn children whose very chances to live are threatened."

Among his many achievements is the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Law, the nation's first to specifically address the issue of human trafficking in the U.S. and overseas, providing resources for government prosecutors as well as assistance to women helping them rebuild their lives (originally signed by Pres. Clinton and re-authorized under Pres. Bush in 2003). He has also played a role in various healthcare issues, co-chairing the Congressional Alzheimer's Task Force, Coalition for Autism Research and Education, and Congressional Spina Bifida Caucus.

Regarding his service in defense of the unborn, Christopher Smith currently co-chairs the bi-partisan Congressional Pro Life Caucus. In January 2004 he Silent No More at the 31st Annual March For Life.

In March 2004 he delivered a speech to the House defending Unborn Victims of Violence Protection Act, which was signed by President Bush the following month.

Smith has recently joined Senator Sam Brownback (R.-KS) in sponsoring the latest pro-life legislative effort: The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (S. 2466; H.R. 4420). The Act would require that abortionists, prior to the procedure, convey to patients who are twenty weeks or more into their pregnancy both verbally and in print (via brochure), notification that an abortion inflicts pain on an unborn child, and that they have the option to anesthetize the baby. As Smith says in his introduction to the bill (May 20, 2004): "Women have the right to know the facts about the medical development of unborn children and that they have the option to minimize or eliminate the pain an unborn child would feel during an abortion."

The nature of the bill is such that skeptics might question the purpose of "eliminating a child's pain" by anasthesia before killing it -- is this simply another means to salve the guilty conscience? It might appear that way, if you listened to the endorsement of Francis Kissling of 'Catholics for Free Choice'. But the motivation of Senator Brownback and Rep. Smith is clearly different. In the same manner as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act gives legal recognition to the humanity of the unborn when a "child in utero" is injured or killed during commission of a federal crime, so would the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act advance the recognition of the humanity of the unborn. These may be relatively small pieces of legislation, but they are by no means insignificant in the process of restoring the recognition of the humanity of the unborn -- an integral step to establishing a "culture of life" in our nation.

In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter during the 2004 election, Smith spoke to Joe Feuerherd on the need for Catholics to speak out in defense of the unborn and challenged the doublespeak of Senator Kerry:

The church needs to be willing to bend into the wind, even if it is a hurricane force, and risk being profoundly hated by society" as it pursues its antiabortion agenda, says New Jersey Republican Christopher Smith. If such a stance makes the hierarchy "persona non grata with The New York Times, it's worth it."

"If the actual deed of abortion is what I and Catholics and Protestants and so many others say it is -- an act of violence against children -- then why wouldn't you want to treat it as a severe act of child abuse and exploitative of women, rather than something you can disregard?

"If Kerry or someone like him were to say 'I am for abortion' then they would have my opposition and I will argue against them, but I will at least respect them," Smith told NCR. "But I find it very hard to respect someone who says I'm against it, but I'm going to vote for it, I'm going facilitate it, I'm going to defend it, I'm going to fund it [and] I'm going to try to make it reach the four corners of the globe by repealing the Mexico City policy [which restricts U.S. foreign aid funds to countries with liberal abortion laws]."

Asks Smith: "How hard would any of us fight if it was our child at risk? Well, these are our children. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers."

Source: "Abortion is a fundamental issue, says House pro-life leader", by Joe Feuerherd. National Catholic Reporter July 2, 2004.

RenewAmerica columnist Paul Weyrich has mentioned that Smith's "admirable devotion to the cause has won him the accolade 'the lion of life on Capitol Hill.'" Smith's solid pro-life voting record and 0% rating by NARAL leads me to conclude that he certainly merits the title.

It may be too soon to contemplate prospects for the 2008 presidential race, and I don't know whether Rep. Smith has any political ambitions beyond the House, but I believe he would make a great candidate for the presidency -- a Catholic that we can all be proud of. If such were the case, the fact that he had the highest rating of any Republican (72.7%) on the "Catholic Scorecard" devised by the Democrats should calm the fears of any KerryCatholics.