Smith is the representative for New Jersey’s 4th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 5, 1981. Smith is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
![Photo of Rep. Christopher “Chris” Smith [R-NJ4]](/static/legislator-photos/400380-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Smith.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Smith is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Smith has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jul 2, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Christopher “Chris” Smith sits on the following committees:
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House Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations subcommittee Ranking Member
Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade subcommittees
Enacted Legislation
Smith was the primary sponsor of 60 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 3289: Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019
- H.R. 1058: Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2019
- H.R. 2200 (115th): Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018
- H.R. 390 (115th): Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018
- H.R. 6651 (115th): PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018
- H.R. 3655 (115th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1300 Main Street in Belmar, New Jersey, as the “Dr. Walter S. McAfee Post Office ...
- H.R. 4221 (115th): Kevin and Avonte’s Law of 2017
Does 60 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Smith sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (51%) Health (15%) Crime and Law Enforcement (9%) Transportation and Public Works (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Smith’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 7276: To establish an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive, strategic plan to ...
- H.Res. 994: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives condemning threats to Hong Kong’s ...
- H.R. 7001: World Press Freedom Protection and Reciprocity Act
- H.R. 6915: Global COVID-19 Truth, Transparency, and Accountability Act
- H.R. 6914: New Jersey, New York, and Highly Impacted States COVID-19 Relief Fund Act
- H.Res. 962: Expressing support for assisting East African countries afflicted by the plague of desert ...
- H.R. 6566: Airline Travelers Equity Act of 2020
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1981 to Jul 2020, Smith missed 494 of 23,392 roll call votes, which is 2.1%. This is on par with the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
