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August 5, 2024
Congressmen James P. McGovern and Chris Smith, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, issued a joint statement on the release of 16 wrongfully detained prisoners from Russia, including Defending Freedoms Project prisoner of conscience Vladimir Kara-Murza, through a multi-country prisoner exchange on August 1, 2024.
February 23, 2024
Congressmen James P. McGovern and Chris Smith, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, join those all around the world who are appalled, saddened and angered by the sudden death while in state custody of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, and call for full accountability.
December 15, 2023
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Co-Chairs Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) issued a joint statement recognizing the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on human rights defenders, and the 15th anniversary of the creation of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
October 5, 2022
The Charity & Security Network applauded the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for hosting the October 4, 2022 hearing "Considerations on Economic Sanctions." The Network, a resource and advocacy center for nonprofit organizations, encouraged the TLHRC to follow up with additional hearings to hear from witnesses who have experienced the collateral impacts of U.S. sanctions themselves.
December 14, 2021
Washington, D.C. - Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Congressmen James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) signed a bipartisan letter urging Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to give Special Student Relief eligibility to Belarusian students in the U.S. and extend Temporary Protective Status to Belarusian democracy activists in the U.S.
December 14, 2021
Washington, D.C. - Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Congressmen James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) lead a bipartisan group of 27 House lawmakers in a letter asking the Biden administration to make Tibet a priority.
May 20, 2021
A congressional panel, during a May 18 hearing, weighed the possibility of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to call attention to China’s long-standing human rights abuses.
May 18, 2021
Members of Congress’ Human Rights Commission, in a rare display of bipartisan unity, on Tuesday called on the International Olympic Committee to remove the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing, accusing the IOC and its corporate partners of being complicit in human rights violations by the Chinese government.
March 25, 2021
Experts told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a House body that focuses on human rights around the world, that the Global Magnitsky Act had been a game-changer since it was passed in 2016. The law provides sweeping human-rights and anti-corruption sanctions authorities to the executive branch, but it will expire in late 2022.
TLHRC Co-Chairs join 396 members of the House of Representatives to condemn the coup d’état in Burma
March 19, 2021
Washington, D.C. - Congressmen James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, voted to pass H.Res. 134, a resolution condemning the military coup that took place February 1, 2021 in Burma.