Christopher H. Smith

46 years in the U.S. Congress · since 1981

• Representative NJ-4 1981–present

• background Born March 4, 1953
• role U.S. representative for New Jersey's 4th district (since 1981)
• background Switched from Democratic to Republican Party (1978)
• achievement Authored Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (2000)
• role Top House Republican on Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1993–2019)
• achievement Tied with Hal Rogers for longest currently serving House member (as of 2025)

Assembled from Congress.gov · FEC · official disclosures — each fact links its own source

These are verifiable facts from the public record, assembled in one place and presented without judgment. They are not a score, a grade, or a ranking. Context matters: a missed vote may be excused, on leadership or committee duty, or paired; a party-unity rate reflects agenda alignment, not virtue or independence; a disclosed trade or a documented relationship is a required public filing, not evidence of wrongdoing. Each fact links to its full source below.

• 98.9%
  Roll-call participation →

  voted in 619 recorded roll calls · chamber median 100.0%

  Missing a vote is not inherently negative — an absence can be excused, reflect leadership or committee duty, or a recorded pairing.

• 61
  Bills sponsored →

  plus 243 cosponsored

  A count of bills introduced as the primary sponsor; most legislation never advances, regardless of who sponsors it.

• 2
  Sponsored bills enacted →

  of 61 bills sponsored

  Whether a bill becomes law depends on the whole Congress, not the sponsor alone; substantive provisions often pass folded into other vehicles.

• 96%
  Party-unity voting →

  votes with the party majority · median 99% · on 436 party-line votes

  Party-unity is how often a member votes with their own party's majority on party-line votes — it reflects agenda alignment, not loyalty, independence, or virtue.

• 4%
  Cross-party voting →

  votes with the other party's majority on those same votes

  The share of the same party-line votes cast with the OTHER party's majority — a descriptive rate, not a measure of principle.

• 0
  Documented positions →

  no positions documented yet

  Documented, sourced positions we have on record — the absence of a documented position is not the absence of a view.

• 3
  Committee assignments →

  committees and subcommittees

  Committee seats are assignments made by party leadership — a measure of role and jurisdiction, not an achievement or a conflict in itself.

Assembled from CivicGate's ingested public records for Christopher H. Smith. A fact shown as “—” means we don't yet hold that data — not that the value is zero.

Data from Congress.gov roll-call records

Data from Congress.gov committee memberships

• Africa Subcommittee Chair
• Foreign Affairs Committee
• Western Hemisphere Subcommittee

Data from FEC — PAC (political action committee) contributions, 2026/2024/2022 cycles

Total disclosed PAC money: $833,515. Industry is approximated from a curated map; individual (non-PAC) donations are listed separately above.

• Health $17,000 · 7 PACs
• Telecom $10,000 · 3 PACs
• Finance $5,500 · 3 PACs
• Defense $5,000 · 1 PAC
• Technology $2,500 · 1 PAC
• Energy $1,000 · 1 PAC

Data from FEC, itemized campaign receipts

Data from FEC, Schedule E independent expenditures

Documented + CivicGate vote-derived — stated positions link their source; derived positions come from votes on direction-tagged bills

• AbortionPartial oppose from votes
• Civil RightsPartial support from votes
• Climate & EnergyPartial oppose from votes
• Criminal JusticePartial support from votes
• DefensePartial support from votes
• Economy & TaxesPartial support from votes
• Foreign PolicyPartial support from votes
• Gun PolicyPartial support from votes
• HealthcarePartial support from votes
• HousingPartial support from votes
• ImmigrationPartial oppose from votes
• Labor & WagesPartial support from votes
• Technology & PrivacyPartial support from votes
• Voting & ElectionsOppose from votes

Data from Stock Watcher / official disclosures

Data from Congress.gov

The members Smith most often co-sponsors bills with — their legislative coalition.

Data from Congress.gov · FEC

How Smith connects to other members, committees, and PACs — drawn only from ingested records.

Data from Congress.gov