{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where party = \"Republican\", state = \"NJ\" and year = 2014 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397800", "Smith on Fox News ChannelCongressman Calls for Extradition of Convicted Murderer of NJ State Trooper to the U.S.", "2014-12-24", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), a vocal critic of President Obama\u2019s decision to embrace the Castro regime after decades of human rights abuses, including the harboring of fugitives, appearred on Fox News Channel today reiterated his call to Cuba to extradite Joanne Chesimard, the convicted murderer of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith noted the long record of human rights violations of Fidel Castro and Raul Castro,\u00a0and has said the Castro brothers should be tried at The Hague for their brutal crimes against humanity\u2014including mass murder, torture and unjust incarceration.Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith and Rep. Albio Sires (NJ-08) unveiled the\u201cWalter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act\u201d (H.R. 3585) in 2013. The bill, sponsored by Smith, would require the executive branch to report to Congress on the number of fugitives in Cuba and other countries which our government is seeking to extradite, the efforts it has undertaken to secure their return, how often it is successful, and factors that have prevented their return. The information would allow Congress to evaluate and strengthen the executive branch\u2019s efforts to extradite fugitives.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The bill is also named after Walter Patterson who was also brutally murdered by a killer who had been convicted, escaped prison and simply moved abroad beyond the reach of U.S. justice. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For years Smith has been active in advocating for Cuban political prisoners, including Dr. \u00d3scar El\u00edas Biscet, M.D., a courageous human rights advocate who has spent over 11 years in jail. Biscet testified via telephone at a hearing chaired by Smith in 2012. Smith nominated Biscet for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 and again in 2011, when he led an international movement nominating him. Shortly after the nominations were made, Biscet was released. He remains in Cuba, today. It was reported he was beaten and shortly detained earlier this year. \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 2001, Smith offered an amendment to pressure the Cuban government to return fugitives killers, including Chesimard, as well as release political prisoners languishing in Cuban prisons. The amendment would have required that before the U.S. allows unrestricted leisure travel to Cuba, the Castro regime return fugitive killers living in Cuba, and that political prisoners be released.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397797", "USA Today, Asbury Park Press articleAdvocate to help Sandy victims with flood claims", "2014-12-19", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY RUSS ZIMMER, ASBURY PARK PRESS - \r\n\u00a0 \r\nThousands of superstorm Sandy victims didn't know where to turn when they ran into issues with their flood insurance providers. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is announcing today that a new, independent consumer advocate will be activated next week for just that purpose.The Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate was established as part of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 that was passed earlier this year, but hadn't yet been opened. An expedited installment of the advocate's office was one of four major changes to FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program that was announced by a group of New Jersey federal lawmakers earlier this month in Secaucus. It will open on Monday, according to a statement from the agency to the Asbury Park Press\r\n David Stearrett will serve as the acting Flood Insurance Advocate. According to FEMA, Stearrett has worked inside the NFIP for 17 years. He has spent the last eight years as chief of the program's Floodplain Management Branch.\r\n Related: FEMA agrees to flood insurance reforms\r\n The advocate's office is intended to help policyholders navigate the NFIP, which was designed to provide flood insurance protection for flood-prone communities. The insurance is backed by the federal government but administered by private insurance companies. Countless New Jerseyans have complained about what they perceive as lowball insurance payouts for their flood-damaged property.\r\n The advocate will also educate the public on regional flood zone maps, the periodically-updated maps that dictate the expected flood risk in a given area.\r\n \"FEMA's establishment of the Flood Insurance Advocate is long overdue and desperately needed by National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders,\" said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., in a prepared statement. \"It's why we passed legislation specifically calling for a FEMA Advocate. Regrettably, in assisting my constituents with NFIP casework, it is clear that the program has not met the minimum standards for treating policyholders\u2014i.e. Sandy victims\u2014in a fair, equitable, and timely manner.\"\r\n Until funding is secured for a permanent office \u2014 FEMA is operating under a continuing budget resolution from Congress \u2014 the agency will reassign a number of FEMA employees to the advocate's office.\r\n Related: FEMA asks some Sandy victims to return aid money\r\n The public can contact the advocate's office by email at insurance-advocate@fema.dhs.gov. Within a month, a phone number will be established.\r\n \"As FEMA begins the process of finalizing and implementing preliminary flood maps in New Jersey, an effective, independent advocate within FEMA is critical,\" Smith said. \"The flood maps can have a huge financial impact on homeowners and their communities, who deserve a fair and transparent appeals process and an explanation of all mitigation options.\"\r\n FEMA recommends that policyholders continue to work with their insurance agents to resolve any flood insurance-related concerns or with their local floodplain manager on questions about flood maps. Floodsmart, the NFIP's information arm, can be contacted at 1-888-379-9531. Originally published at:\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/18/advocate-to-help-sandy-victims-with-flood-claims/20620881/\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0http://www.app.com/story/news/local/2014/12/18/fema-flood-insurance-advocate/20594383/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397799", "NJ.com-/Star Ledger article:'FEMA to set up office to help Hurricane Sandy flood victims'", "2014-12-19", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By Jonathan D. Salant, Star Ledger Staff --\r\n\u00a0 \r\nThe Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a new program to help victims of Hurricane Sandy and other participants in the National Flood Insurance Program.\r\nAn interim office will begin operating Dec. 22 until the agency can fulfill its congressional mandate to set up a permanent Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate. The independent office will report directly to top FEMA officials.\r\nDavid Stearrett will be the acting flood insurance advocate and he will be assisted by FEMA employees temporarily detailed from other offices until funds are available to set up a permanent department.\r\n\u201cFloods are the most common disaster affecting communities in America,\u201d said David Miller, associate administrator for the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration. \u201cAs someone who has worked tirelessly on behalf of policyholders for many years, I know Mr. Stearrett will fight each day to ensure that policyholders have the information they need to navigate the flood insurance process and ensure any concerns are addressed.\u201d \r\nOnce the office begins operating, the acting advocate will be able to be reached at insurance-advocate@fema.dhs.gov, with a phone number to be set up next month.\r\nToday's action is the latest effort by FEMA to address complaints from homeowners and members of Congress over the way Sandy damage claims have been handled by insurers.\r\n\u201cFEMA\u2019s establishment of the flood insurance advocate is long overdue and desperately needed,\" said Rep, Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) \u201cIt\u2019s why we passed legislation specifically calling for a FEMA advocate. Regrettably, in assisting my constituents with NFIP casework, it is clear that the program has not met the minimum standards for treating policyholders\u2014i.e. Sandy victims\u2014in a fair, equitable, and timely manner.\u201d\r\nFEMA said earlier this month that it would make an advocate available to help policyholders file claims and appeals.\r\nThe agency also said at the time that it would consider appeals from homeowners whose damage claims were initially denied because they missed a filing deadline, to take action to ensure that insurance companies face the same penalties for approving underpayments of claims as they do for overpayments, and to require companies to release engineering reports they rely on to determine how much they will pay for damages.\r\nThe issues were brought to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate at a Dec. 3 meeting by Democratic U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker of New Jersey and Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.\r\nAt a press conference Wednesday to highlight a tax break for Sandy victims who sold their damaged houses to the state for less than they owed on their mortgages, Booker said that there was more work to be done to help Sandy victims. \r\n\"We have a lot more challenges to meet,\" he said. Article originally published at:\r\nhttp://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/12/after_hurricane_sandy_fema_to_set_up_office_to_help_flood_victims.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397793", "Smith: Establishment of Flood Insurance Advocate Long Overdue", "2014-12-18", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) released the following statement in response to the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA) establishment of an Interim Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFEMA\u2019s establishment of the Flood Insurance Advocate is long overdue and desperately needed by National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders,\u201d said Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s why we passed legislation specifically calling for a FEMA Advocate. Regrettably, in assisting my constituents with NFIP casework, it is clear that the program has not met the minimum standards for treating policyholders\u2014i.e. Sandy victims\u2014in a fair, equitable, and timely manner.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs FEMA begins the process of finalizing and implementing preliminary flood maps in New Jersey, an effective, independent advocate within FEMA is critical,\u201d continued Smith. \u201cThe flood maps can have a huge financial impact on homeowners and their communities, who deserve a fair and transparent appeals process and an explanation of all mitigation options.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs a cosponsor of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (PL 113-89), I view this as a step in the right direction. That said, the office will need to hit the ground running, and I will be working together with them to ensure that quality assistance is provided to homeowners, policyholders, and impacted communities.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Throughout the 113th Congress, Smith has supported measures offering relief and assistance to those facing flood insurance premium hikes. In addition to H.R. 3370, he cosponsored H.R. 1485, Congressman Frank LoBiondo\u2019s (NJ-02) bill that would phase in rate increases over an eight-year period, and supported Congressman Bill Cassidy\u2019s (LA-06) amendment delaying rate premium hikes by at least a year. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In his remarks during the debate of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, Smith noted that the legislation would \u201cprovide individualized assistance by establishing a flood insurance advocate to help homeowners and towns obtain information and fair treatment during the mapping process. After hearing from hundreds of families, particularly in Monmouth and Ocean Counties, who are simply looking for information on how they will be impacted by changes to the flood mapping process, I am pleased that this important provision was retained in the final bill.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith took a lead role in obtaining federal disaster relief funding for Superstorm Sandy victims in 2013. He successfully pushed for a 90 percent FEMA reimbursement rate for shore communities decimated by Sandy and facing extraordinary and unprecedented clean-up and disposal costs, up from the normal 75 percent federal reimbursement. He also wrote a bill that overwhelming passed in the House in 2013, H.R. 592, called the \"Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013.\u201d\n \u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397794", "75-plus House Members Oppose Proposed Rule Allowing Secret Abortion Surcharge in Obamacare", "2014-12-18", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) and over 75 Members of Congress have filed a comment \u200bletter with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) opposing the abortion aspects of the proposed rule on \u201cHHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2016\u201d for the Obamacare marketplace. \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Specifically the lawmakers object to the rule\u2019s section on \u201cSegregation of Funds for Abortion Services,\u201d which they say ensures that the abortion surcharge (required for all Exchange plans that cover abortion) will remain hidden from consumers. \n\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 In their letter they note \u201c\u2026 it is essential that the administration at least follow the minimal statutory requirements related to the accounting gimmick, often referred to as the Nelson amendment.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the proposed rule does the opposite by actually telling issuers how to avoid the requirements outlined in the ACA\u2026under the proposed rule, the surcharge is not billed separately and will likely be all but invisible to the consumer. The text of the law and the legislative history is clear. The abortion surcharge must be a separate payment.\u201d\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The comment period on the proposed rule closes December 22. \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Obama Administration\u2019s cover-up of abortion insurance plans on the exchange is unnecessary, unacceptable and absolutely unconscionable,\u201d said Smith co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. \u201cConsumers have a right to know. Abortion is not healthcare \u2013 it dismembers and chemically poisons defenseless unborn children and hurts women. \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cPresident Obama\u2019s solemn promise not fund abortion on demand continues to be broken with impunity. For 2014 the GAO found that over 1000 plans included abortion on demand.\u00a0 Research by ObamacareAbortion.com has shown that for 2015 abortion coverage continues, and once again health consumers are left almost clueless as to which plans fund abortion on demand and which do not. Furthermore, no information about the abortion surcharge is provided to consumers while shopping for Obamacare coverage.\u201d \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt is a shame that the administration that claims to be the most transparent in history has failed to provide this basic information to consumers\u2014despite multiple inquires by Congress in the past.\u00a0 The language in the explanatory statement of the recently-passed \u201cCRomnibus\u201d spending bill is a modest step in the right direction by calling on Secretary Burwell to ensure \u201cfull transparency\u201d to consumers \u201cprior to plan purchase\u201d and requires a timeline for clarifying guidance to be submitted within 30 days. \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI hope this language will finally motivate the administration to take action to provide total and complete transparency regarding abortion coverage and the abortion surcharge. If they do not, it will be incumbent on Congress to take further action in the coming year. When the new Congress convenes in January I will reintroduce the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act to remove abortion from Obamacare and ensure transparency in the interim.\u201d\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397791", "Cong. Smith Comments on Obama Move to Embrace Castro Government", "2014-12-17", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The news of President Obama\u2019s decision to embrace the Castro regime after decades of human rights abuses, including the harboring of fugitives and stymieing U.S. government efforts to extradite Joanne Chesimard, the convicted murderer of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and other fugitives, is disappointing in light of the long record of human rights violations of Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said today.\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\nWhile we all welcome the return of Alan Gross to his family and to freedom, it is outrageous that President Obama chose to link the despicable jailing and long-delayed release of this humanitarian with a trade for three spies convicted of espionage against the United States, including Gerardo Hernandez, who also conspired to commit murder\n,\u201d said Smith, chairman of the House panel that oversees international global human rights.\u00a0\u201c\nAdditionally, the President has announced plans to normalize relations with the Cuban dictatorship while he ignores the fact that the Castro brothers continue to harbor convicted cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, a murderer who gunned down New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in cold blood, shooting him twice in the head while he lay on the ground wounded\n.\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\nThe Obama Administration\u2019s capitulation to the Castro brothers\u2019 tyranny, as in the case of Bowe Bergdahl, once again sends a most dangerous message to terrorists around the world: if you take an American hostage, we will release dangerous criminals, be they spies like the Cuban Five, or Taliban jihadists\n.\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\nRather than bringing the Cuban people closer to democracy and freedom, by pandering to the Castro brothers, Obama allows them to strengthen their grip on the Cuban people\n.\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\nJust as with countries like China, President Obama continues to demonstrate a pattern of indifference to, and gross enabling of, human rights abuses. The Castro brothers should be tried at The Hague for their brutal crimes against humanity\u2014including mass murder, torture and unjust incarceration\n.\u201d\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith and Rep. Albio Sires (NJ-08) unveiled the\n\u201cWalter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act\n\u201d (H.R. 3585) in 2013. The bill, sponsored by Smith, would require the executive branch to report to Congress on the number of fugitives in Cuba and other countries which our government is seeking to extradite, the efforts it has undertaken to secure their return, how often it is successful, and factors that have prevented their return. The information would allow Congress to evaluate and strengthen the executive branch\u2019s efforts to extradite fugitives.\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The bill is also named after Walter Patterson who was also brutally murdered by a killer who had been convicted, escaped prison and simply moved abroad beyond the reach of U.S. justice.\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For years Smith has been active in advocating for Cuban political prisoners, including Dr. \u00d3scar El\u00edas Biscet, M.D., a courageous human rights advocate who has spent over 11 years in jail. Biscet testified via telephone at a \nhearing chaired by Smith in 2012\n. Smith nominated Biscet for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 and again in 2011, when he led an international movement nominating him. Shortly after the nominations were made, Biscet was released. He remains in Cuba, today. It was reported he was beaten and shortly detained earlier this year.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 2001, Smith offered an amendment to pressure the Cuban government to return fugitives killers, including Chesimard, as well as release political prisoners languishing in Cuban prisons. The amendment would have required that before the U.S. allows unrestricted leisure travel to Cuba, the Castro regime return fugitive killers living in Cuba, and that political prisoners be released.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://frelinghuysen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=2&itemid=961", "Chairman Frelinghuysen Returns from Trip to Persian Gulf with Focus on ISIL and Iran", "2014-12-17", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Rodney Frelinghuysen", "F000372", "frelinghuysen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC - Congressman Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (NJ) returned to the United States from an official Congressional delegation trip to the Persian Gulf region.\u00a0 Frelinghuysen, the Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, traveled with incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (TX) and incoming Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (CA).\u00a0 The delegation, led by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA), visited Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe delegation met with national leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, along with many other senior defense officials, as well as U.S. military and State Department officers in these strategically important nations, to assess the vitality of U.S. partnerships in the region.\u00a0 The purpose of the trip was to examine 1) the counter-ISIL strategy and the evolving military campaign in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding region and 2) Iran and its regional influence and actions. \u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cIn recent years, the United States has established valuable working partnerships with most nations in the greater Persian Gulf region,\u201d said Frelinghuysen.\u00a0 \u201cIt is in the national security interest of the United States to ensure that these relationships remain active and vibrant.\u00a0 Our discussions with leaders and defense officials across the region were designed to be very helpful in this regard.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tFrelinghuysen also met with men and women of our Armed Forces, all volunteers, who are serving in the area. He expressed his appreciation for their commitment to defending America\u2019s interests in the region, especially over the holidays when they are away from their families.\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://frelinghuysen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=2&itemid=962", "Rep. Frelinghuysen Statement on U.S-Cuba Relations", "2014-12-17", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Rodney Frelinghuysen", "F000372", "frelinghuysen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Alan Gross is Home, Killer of NJ Trooper Remains in Cuban Safe Haven\r\n\r\n\t\u201cWe all welcome the release of Alan Gross and his return to his family in the United States,\u201d said Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11). \u201cHowever, we cannot forget that New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster will never return to his family and Cuba is harboring his killer.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tMr. Gross\u2019 release came a week after White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement that Gross\u2019s continued detainment was an \u201cimpediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba.\u201d Media reports indicate that the Obama administration plans to start talks with Cuba on normalizing full diplomatic relations and opening an embassy in Havana.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cTo me, the New Jersey law enforcement community and many other Americans, one of the biggest impediments to improved relations between the United States and Cuba is the continued safe haven provided to the fugitive, Joanne Chesimard,\u201d Frelinghuysen said.\u00a0 \u201cI would demand that the White House and the State Department work much harder to bring this murderer \u2018home\u2019 to New Jersey where she can face justice and serve out her sentence.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tChesimard, was convicted of the 1973 execution-style murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster along the New Jersey Turnpike and sentenced to life in prison.\u00a0 She escaped from prison in 1979 and eventually fled to Cuba where she has been provided refuge.\r\n\r\n\t#######", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397787", "Trenton Times ArticleU.S. Rep. Chris Smith named grand marshal of 30th annual Hamilton St. Patrick's Day Parade", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY MIKE DAVIS, TIMES\u00a0OF TRENTON STAFF\u00a0-\r\n \r\nU.S. Rep. Chris Smith on Tuesday was named grand marshal of the 30th annual Hamilton St. Patrick's Day Parade.\r\n\"I'm honored and humbled to be a grand marshal,\" Smith (R-4th Dist.) said on Tuesday. \"I look forward to marching with you and celebrating our Irish heritage. It's a tremendous culture that we celebrate, and a saint who is second to none.\"\r\nSmith was selected to lead this year's parade, scheduled for March 14 at 1 p.m., because of his legislative work scheduling hearings and markups on human rights abuses in northern Ireland since the mid-1990s, parade organizers said. \r\nSmith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, said it was Irish-American communities in the 4th District, which includes Hamilton and\u00a0Robbinsville,\u00a0that prompted him to push for peace in Northern Ireland. \r\n\"In many cases, our hearings were carried live in the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to tell this story that had to be told,\" Smith said. \"We made a difference, but you made a difference. You provided the guidance and the sense of where to go on these very important issues.\"\r\nSince the Good Friday Agreement, which outlined peace in Northern Ireland, was signed in 1998, Smith has continued trying to hold accountable those who committed violence during the 30-year conflict, said Sean Pender, a past president of the Trenton Ancient Order of Hibernians and director of the national organization. \r\n\"As he continues to shine a light on what needs to be done in the north of Ireland to fully implement the Good Friday Agreement, Congressman Smith continues to push to have all signatories of the agreement live up to their obligations, especially our friends in the British government,\" Pender said. \"I can think of no better person suited to lead us in the St. Patrick's Day Parade than Chris Smith, a tireless advocate of peace, truth and justice in Ireland.\"\r\nSmith joins a long line of Hamilton politicians and Irish-American community leaders to have served as grand marshal of the township's St. Patrick's Day Parade, including Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton), former mayors Jack Rafferty and John Bencivengo, current Trenton AOH president Vince McKelvey and Pender himself. \r\nSmith said the work of St. Patrick -- a Catholic missionary who brought the faith to Ireland -- continues to ring true. Smith said he met Irish missionaries in Nigeria, where he visited earlier this year as part of U.S. partnership with that country to combat the Boko Haram terrorist group.\r\n\"Everywhere I go, Irish priests are doing missionary work,\" Smith said. \"They're everywhere and have made a huge difference, and it all came out of the preaching of St. Patrick.\"\r\nMost recently, Smith's role with the House Foreign Affairs health and human rights subcommittee came into play when a four-year-old Hamilton boy died of enterovirus-68, the first in the country whose death was directly attributed to the virus. \r\nSmith helped expedite lab results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, turning a timeline of months into 72 hours, Mayor Kelly Yaede said. \r\n\"Our Congressman cleared his schedule and came into an elementary school in Hamilton Township to provide information and literature,\" Yaede said. \"He left no stone unturned and was part of a team that got Hamilton through a very dark day.\"\r\n The original story can be found at: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/12/us_rep_chris_smith_named_grand_marshal_of_30th_annual_hamilton_st_patricks_day_parade.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397790", "USA Today article on Smith Letter to President...", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By Ken Serrano at APP \u2014 The hulking gray aircraft lined a portion of the the flightline at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as Air Force One touched down Monday, perhaps just a customary display of hardware for a visiting dignitary or maybe more than that.\r\nBut did the commander-in-chief inside the presidential jet notice?\r\nPresident Obama in his speech at the Joint Base Monday did not mention the planes, refueling tankers that the Department of Defense has considered retiring.\r\nBut jobs connected to the retirement of the KC-10 \u2014 and its impact on the mission of the base \u2014 are what's on the mind of many people here.\r\nThe refueling tanker means much to the base \u2014 half of them are stationed here. The jets and thousands of local jobs they support are caught in a squeeze between tightening budgets and the time lapse for bringing on the Air Force's next-generation tankers, base advocates say\r\nRep. Chris Smith, R-N.J, wrote a letter to the president Friday, pushing to keep the tankers at the Joint Base.\r\nUSA TODAY\r\nObama thanks troops for their service\r\n\"Eliminating the KC-10s would have a detrimental impact on the installation you will visit on Monday and serious negative consequences for the strategic capabilities of our military around the world,\" Smith wrote. \"Accordingly, I am hopeful that you will seek a firsthand look at the capabilities of the KC-10 given the opportunity your visit presents and take this damaging proposal off the table as you draft the final FY 2016 budget request.\"\r\nThe joint base supports some 44,000 jobs and pumps about $6.9 billion into New Jersey's economy annually. What concerns Smith and others is that if the KC-10 is retired, it could negatively impact the base's air mobility and refueling mission.\r\nSmith said that leading up to the release of the FY15 budget, Air Force and Department of Defense officials signaled the administration's intent to phase out the KC-10s. The tanker escaped the budget axe then, but Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the department would continue to review the retiring of the KC-10 in future budget years.\r\nFor Obama, the visit to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst provided an opportunity for the president to formally thank three branches of the military simultaneously at a time when the war in Afghanistan is drawing to a close, said pollster Patrick Murray. The U.S. and NATO ceremoniously ended the 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan last week by lowering the flag at NATO's combat command center there.\r\nPresident Obama holds up a stuffed bear that N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, not shown, had won in a game on the boardwalk during their visit to Point Pleasant, N.J., May 28, 2013. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)\r\n\r\nThe last time Obama came to New Jersey the state was still emerging from the effects of superstorm Sandy.\r\n\r\nObama went to the boardwalk May 28, 2013, and Gov. Chris Christie went with him, in a visit was meant to spur the Shore economy as the summer approached. Christie beat Obama in an arcade game where participants spiral a football through a swinging tire. Despite an 0-5 performance, Obama walked away with a teddy bear wearing a Chicago Bears sweatshirt.\r\nThe president was due to return this past October for a Democratic fundraiser. But that trip was canceled so he could speak to cabinet members about the response to the Ebola virus outbreak.\r\nA year and a half after the Shore visit, Obama arrived at a time when New Jersey is still recovering from the storm and still struggling economically \u2014 especially with regard to job creation.\r\nChristie is trying to recast his image as a bipartisan politician who can get thing done that he cast during the heady post-Sandy days, trying to recapture that moment that's known as the \"Obama hug\" \u2014 when Obama visited New Jersey after the storm. Bridgegate interrupted Christie's stride.\r\n\"He's trying to make that his calling card again,\" said Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.\r\nAnd the KC-10 could matter. The further loss of jobs in New Jersey would not help him.\r\nThere was no actual hug at the Joint Base Monday. But the two men shared what appeared to be a laugh as Obama stepped down from the plane. And they shared a ride in the motorcade to the hangar where Obama gave his speech. This article was originally published at:\r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/16/obama-visit-could-impact-christie-joint-bases-kc-10s/20469349/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397798", "Ancient Order of Hibernians NJ President Cites Congresman Smith's accomplishments on Ireland Issues", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The following is the introduction of Congressman Smith by Ancient Order of Hibernians New Jersey State President Sean Pender at a Dec. 16 press conference at the announcing Smith as 2015 Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Hamilton Township: It is my great honor today to introduce the Grand Marshall of the 2015 Hamilton St Patrick\u2019s Parade.\r\nCongressman Chris Smith is a man that is a true public servant, he is a tireless worker whose moral compass is guided by one of life\u2019s most simple lessons: \u201cWhatsoever you do for the least of my brothers that you do unto to me\u201d\u00a0 \r\nIn his 30 plus years in Congress he has built a congressional portfolio of leadership based on human rights, the protection of life, the support of our veterans, and fighting for the least of our brothers and sisters when he stands for the oppressed throughout the world.\u00a0 He has fought to protect woman and children caught up in sex-trade, he has supported a living wage, worker protections, senior and child health programs and a safe and clean environment.\u00a0 \u00a0\r\nThe residents of the 4th district are very lucky to have a Congressman like Chris Smith who for 30 plus years, supported by his tremendous staff has worked tirelessly for his constituents.\u00a0 \r\nWhile this resume in of itself deserves recognition and acknowledgment it is Congressman Smith\u2019s impeccable record on the struggle for peace, truth and justice in the North of Ireland that we as Irish Americans are most thankful for and recognize him for. Congressman Smith held the first-ever congressional hearing on human rights abuses committed in the North.\u00a0 Since then, he has chaired fifteen\u00a0hearings and markups condemning paramilitary violence and also focusing on human rights abuses, discrimination against Catholics, and police brutality as fundamental causes of the \u201cTroubles\u201d in Northern Ireland.\u00a0\r\nAt these hearings he has taken on hard issues, asked hard questions and stated the facts as he continues to shine the light on, what still needs to be done in the North to fully implement the GFA. At a time when many believe that the GFA has addressed all outstanding issues pertaining to the Troubles Congressman Smith continues the push to have all signatories of the agreement live up to their obligations, especially the British government, who without any reason continue to renege on their responsibility to hold an independent inquiry into the collusion murder of Irish civil rights lawyer Pat Finucane.\r\nOver the years Congressman Smith has provided to so many victims and survivors their only platform to speak about the injustices and losses they have encountered.\u00a0 So many travel 3000 miles to his hearings since they are ignored and not listened to by their own government\u00a0\u00a0\r\nOf all of those that have testified perhaps the most memorable was civil rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson who in September of 1998, testified about the ongoing harassment and intimidation of defense lawyers in Northern Ireland and the threats she herself was receiving. Sadly her testimony was predictive as on March 15, 1999, six months after testifying before Congress and six weeks after filing a complaint against the RUC for the assault against her Rosemary Nelson was murdered.\u00a0 On the eve of the 16th anniversary let us remember that brave young mother as we march \r\nOn March 14th I can think of no person better suited to lead the 30th annual parade than Chris Smith a tireless advocate of peace, truth and justice in Ireland.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397786", "Star Ledger Article...President Obama should reconsider phasing out aircraft at Joint Base, Smith says", "2014-12-15", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "When President Obama visits Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Monday to thank American service members, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith wants the Commander in Chief to use the time to also reconsider plans phase out certain refueling aircraft.\r\nIn a letter sent Friday to Obama, Smith (R-4th Dist.) said the \u201cmisguided proposal\u201d of phasing out KC-10 aircraft without another model ready to take their place would be a \u201ctremendous risk\u201d to the Air Force.\r\nHe said two of the three active-duty flying squadrons on the base use KC-10s, which refuel other aircraft while in flight. and that eliminating those 32 aircraft from the military\u2019s fleet at this time would greatly hamper missions.\r\nProduction of the KC-46s \u2014 the replacement for the KC-10 \u2014 most likely would be delayed, leaving the military with too few refueling options, Smith said. Those aircraft, in production by Boeing, are not expected to be available until at least 2017. \r\nSmith noted that while the KC-10 is capable of refueling any aircraft, the only aircraft that would be left in service at the base \u2014 the KC-135 \u2014 is not as adaptable.\r\n\u201cEliminating the KC-10s would have a detrimental impact on the installation you will visit on Monday and serious negative consequences for the strategic capabilities of our military around the world,\u201d Smith wrote in his two-page letter.\r\nTalk of retiring the KC-10s first surfaced for the FY15 budget but the fleet was not touched in that budget. However, the aircraft is being considered again to be eliminated from next year\u2019s budget. Smith, as well as military leaders in New Jersey, are concerned that would signal the start of the decommissioning of the base, which survived the Department of Defense\u2019s most recent base closure plan in 2005. This article was first published at:\u00a0\r\nhttp://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2014/12/president_obama_should_reconsider_phasing_out_aircraft_at_lakehurst_smith_says.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397785", "Smith, Task Force Seek More for Research in Alzheimer'sAlzheimers Task Force Seeks More Federal Funding for Research", "2014-12-14", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Representatives Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Maxine Waters (CA-43), House co-Chairs of the Bipartisan, Bicameral Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, wrote a letter to the President this week asking for additional federal resources to be directed to fighting Alzheimer\u2019s in the Administration\u2019s upcoming 2016 budget. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe believe that an increase in resources for Alzheimer\u2019s research is both necessary and a smart investment that will lower future government spending,\u201d the letter stated. \u201cSimilar investments in research for other diseases have yielded tremendous results: patients have access to new treatments, and death rates are decreasing.\u00a0 At the same time, mortality due to Alzheimer\u2019s is escalating dramatically, and it is unique among the top ten causes of death in that it cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. That said, there is promising research in the pipeline that holds great hope for Alzheimer\u2019s patients and their families. The research community is poised to make important contributions toward the treatment of this disease through clinical trials and by investigating new therapeutic targets if adequate resources are available. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"For these reasons, we urge you to call for an additional $200 million in Alzheimer\u2019s research in the coming fiscal year and work with us to develop a plan to meet our ultimate goal of a $2 billion annual investment within the next five years.\u201d \u00a0(Click here to read the letter) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s is costing Americans more than $200 billion a year, yet the federal government is spending less than three tenths of one percent of that amount (an estimated $566 million in 2014) on research, far less than other deadly diseases. The Omnibus Appropriations bill for FY2014 did provide a $100 million increase at the National Institute of Aging to enhance Alzheimer\u2019s research, but the Advisory Council established by the 2010 National Alzheimer\u2019s Project Act (NAPA, P.L. 111-375)\u2014the House version of which as co-authored by Smith\u2014estimates the government will need to devote $2 billion a year to Alzheimer\u2019s research to reach the goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer\u2019s disease by 2025. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith, who also is chairman of the House subcommittee which oversees global health issues, held the first ever congressional hearing examining the global strategies to address Alzheimer\u2019s disease, entitled\u201cGlobal Strategies to Combat the Devastating Health and Economic Impacts of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease\u201d in 2011, and a second in 2013. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, with a 68 percent increase in deaths caused by Alzheimer\u2019s in the last 10 years. Alzheimer\u2019s disease, a degenerative condition characterized by steadily deteriorating thinking and memory skills, currently has no cure. In New Jersey, an estimated 170,000 Garden State residents suffered from this form of dementia in 2014, and 443,000 caregivers provided unpaid care.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://frelinghuysen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=2&itemid=959", "Chairman Frelinghuysen's Statement on Passage of Defense Title of Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY2015", "2014-12-12", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Rodney Frelinghuysen", "F000372", "frelinghuysen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cThe Defense Title of H.R. 83, the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015 meets the two goals I set at the first hearing our Defense Appropriations Subcommittee held earlier this year.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cFirst, it ensures that our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to defend our nation and support their families.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cSecond, it ensures that the Department of Defense has the resources it needs to carry out their mission in the most efficient and effective manner.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cOur legislation is a clear example of our commitment to U.S. military dominance across the air, land and sea; our commitment to our allies and partners; and our commitment to our service-members, all of whom are volunteers, and their families.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tAdditional Details of the Defense Title:\r\n\r\n\tFY 2015 Omnibus -Department of Defense Appropriations\r\n\r\n\tThe Defense Title of H.R 5230 will strengthen national security and military readiness, provide troops with the resources they need, care for military families.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe Omnibus legislation contains the fiscal year 2015Defense Appropriations bill, which provides funding for our nation\u2019s security, military readiness, support for our troops at home and abroad, and care for military families.\r\n\r\n\tIt also includes emergency funds to combat the emerging real world threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).\r\n\r\n\tIn total, the Defense portion of the Omnibus contains $490.2billionin base discretionary funding, $3.3 billion above the fiscal year 2014 level. This bill also includes $64 billion in emergency war Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding.\r\n\r\n\tOngoing Military Operations \u2013 The bill contains $64 billion in OCO funding for ongoing military operations abroad. This is a reduction of $21.2 billion compared to the fiscal year2014 enacted level \u2013 largely reflecting the drawdown of military personnel and operations in Afghanistan. This funding level will provide needed resources and training for our troops in the field. This also includes funds to combat the threat presented by ISIL \u2013including $3.4 billion to continue the air campaign and replenish weapons and $1.6 billion to train and equip our Iraqi allies \u2013and additional resources to help reinforce European countries facing Russian aggression.\r\n\r\n\tMilitary Personnel and Pay \u2013The legislation includes $128 billion to provide pay for 1,310,680 active duty troops and 820,800 reserves. This funding level is $800 million below the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, which reflects the reduction in U.S. military force. The bill fully funds the one percent pay raise for the military and provides $215 million above the request to fully fund The cost-of-living allowance for military retirees.\r\n\r\n\tDefense Health and Military Family Programs \u2013 The bill contains $32.1billion for the Defense Health Program to provide care for our troops, military families, and retirees. This is $600 million below the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, due to increased efficiency of care within Military Treatment Facilities. Several important health programs receive increases above the\u00a0 President\u2019s request, including increases of $281million for cancer research, $125 million for traumatic brain injury and psychological health research, and $39 million for suicide prevention outreach programs.\r\n\r\n\tOperation and Maintenance \u2013The legislation includes $161.7 billion for operation and maintenance \u2013 $1.8 billion above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. Within this amount, priority is placed on key areas such as essential readiness programs to prepare our troops for combat and peacetime missions, flight time and battle training, equipment and facility maintenance, and base operations. An additional $900 million above the request for Facilities Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization is included, as well as $1.2 billion to address shortfalls in military readiness, depot maintenance, and base operating support. The bill also includes $257 million for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response programs, and an additional $25 million to continue the expansion of the Sexual Assault Victims Counsel program to all the military services.\r\n\r\n\tResearch and Development \u2013 The bill contains $63.7 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation of new defense technologies. These efforts will help to advance the safety and success of current and future military operations and prepare our nation to meet a broad range of potential security threats.\r\n\r\n\tEquipment Procurement \u2013 The legislation provides a total of $94 billion for new equipment and upgrades. This funding is necessary to ensure our nation\u2019s military readiness, and will provide the platforms, weapons, and other equipment our forces need to train, maintain our force, and to conduct successful operations.\r\n\r\n\tGuantanamo Bay \u2013The legislation prohibits funding for transfers of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. or its territories, prohibits funding to modify any facility in the U.S. to house detainees, and places conditions on the release of detainees to other countries. These provisions are similar to language contained in the fiscal year 2014 Defense Appropriations legislation.\r\n\r\n\tSavings and Reductions to President\u2019s Request \u2013The bill reflects common-sense decisions to save taxpayer dollars where possible in areas that will not affect the safety or success of our troops and missions. Some of these reductions include: $660 million in excess civilian personnel costs; $386 million for revised economic assumptions; $270 million for overestimation of information technology costs; and $2.5billion in savings from rescissions of unused, prior-year funding.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397780", "Smith-McCollum Global Food Security Act Passes House", "2014-12-11", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The House of Representatives last night passed bipartisan legislation to address global hunger and help the world\u2019s poorest countries develop better agriculture.\u00a0Sponsored by Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the House panel that oversees global health initiatives, along with lead Democrat cosponsor Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), HR 5656, \u201cThe Global Food Security Act,\u201d is designed to help prevent starvation and famine, and reduce hunger and malnutrition by enabling countries to feed their own people.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis is important bipartisan legislation which will help provide a long-term solution to global hunger by authorizing and strengthening the existing national food security program coordinated by USAID commonly known as Feed the Future,\u201d said Chairman Smith, who has spearheaded similar U.S. international, health and nutritional initiatives throughout his career dating back to legislation he successfully offered in 1985 to restore and double the commitment to the then Child Survival Fund program to protect children who would otherwise die from preventable, curable diseases.\u00a0\u201cThis program encourages self-sufficiency, and operates in targeted countries where the host governments have committed to investing in local agricultural development and undertaking reforms that allow the private sector to flourish.\u00a0 Its hallmarks are the building of local capacity and sustainability, linking local entrepreneurs to the global economy, while boosting transparency and accountability. The end result of this can be seen in lives saved and lives enriched.\u00a0 In the past year, Feed the Future has helped seven million farmers across the globe increase harvests, resulting in improved nutrition for 12.5 million children.\u00a0 To give one example, in Ethiopia, stunting rates were driven down by nine percent in just three years, resulting in roughly 160,000 fewer children suffering from malnutrition.\u201d \u00a0 \n\u00a0 \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0McCollum joined Smith on the floor to support passage. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe cannot sit by and do nothing as 800 million hungry people suffer, parents are forced to watch their children go hungry, and far too many die from malnutrition,\u201d said Congresswoman McCollum. \u201cHuman dignity, decency, and our own national security demands that we support and sustain this important investment in agriculture development and nutrition. This bill is about partnering with hardworking farmers \u2013 who are mostly women \u2013 to make them more successful. It helps provide access to the knowledge, tools, markets, and business opportunities they desperately need. Because when a woman farmer succeeds, her children and family are healthier and more likely to succeed.\u00a0I have seen the difference our investments in agriculture development and nutrition are having in developing nations. I have met women farmers who are feeding their families, sending their children to school, and investing in their communities.\u00a0 These investments have been proven to work, and I am glad that today we were able to do more.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chronic hunger afflicts over 800 million people around the world.\u00a0The Smith-McCollum bill would coordinate the efforts of 11 government agencies in improving basic nutrition and reducing hunger in the poorest in 19 priority countries. The legislation authorizes the Feed the Future Initiative. It coalesces the abilities of private businesses, faith-based organizations and community-based non-profits while fostering women\u2019s economic empowerment and building the\u00a0capacity of local small farmers. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Launched by President Bush and continued by President Obama, the current U.S. food security program has been funded by Congress in annual appropriations legislation, but without official statutory authorization. The Smith-McCollum bill would permanently codify and authorize such efforts and help marshal a worldwide commitment to tackling hunger and malnutrition. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will be the lead U.S. agency, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of State, the U.S. African Development Foundation and other agencies. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beyond its humanitarian impact, the Smith-McCollum bill also buttresses national security.\u00a0A 2014 Worldwide Threat Assessment produced by the U.S. Intelligence Community stated that the \u201clack of adequate food will be a destabilizing factor in countries important to United States national security that do not have the financial or technical abilities to solve their internal food security problems.\u201c Lack of food and nutrition in nations with weak governments might embolden insurgent groups to exploit conditions and undermine and destabilize regions.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many groups have called for the legislation, including American Jewish World Service, Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry, Lutheran World Relief, Oxfam America, Self Help Africa, Stop Hunger Now, United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, World Vision and dozens of others. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSave the Children welcomes the leadership of Reps. Chris Smith and Betty McCollum and the House passage of the Feed the Future Global Food Security Act, and looks forward to continuing our work with Congress and the administration on this important effort for the world's children,\" said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children.\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397782", "Smith-Authored Bill Passes HouseSave the Children Praises Passage of Bipartisan \"Feed the Future\" Bill to Fight Child Hunger and Malnutrition", "2014-12-11", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Save the Children today praised the passage in the House of Representatives of the bipartisanFeed the Future Global Food Security Act of 2014 (H.R 5656). The bill, introduced by food security and nutrition champions Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Betty McCollum (D-MN), is a strong showing of bipartisan cooperation and action to maintain the U.S. commitment and progress in combating global hunger and malnutrition for the more than 800 million children and families suffering worldwide.\r\n\"Feed the Future has become a breakthrough development model that has a potential to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come,\" said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children. \"It has raised the bar on tackling hunger and malnutrition, focusing particularly on the critical 1,000 day period from pregnancy through a child's second birthday. Through this initiative, nutrition becomes the essential bridge between agriculture and health that enables millions of children to reach their full potential.\"\r\nThe vote comes on the heels of the release of the Global Nutrition Report, which provides the first-ever comprehensive narrative and analysis on the state of the world's nutrition. The report highlights the need to confront this urgent crisis that underpins a nation's overall development. The report shows that for every $1 invested in improving nutrition $16 is returned to the economy; a ratio highly competitive with investments in roads, irrigation, and health.\r\nPassage of the Feed the Future bill is a major congressional achievement toward ensuring the U.S. meets its commitment to end preventable child deaths, nearly half of which are caused by malnutrition, and its goal to prevent stunting, an indicator of chronic malnutrition which can be a debilitating life-long sentence, in at least 2 million children by 2017.\r\nHunger, food insecurity and malnutrition are intrinsically linked. More than three-quarters of the world's hungry depend on agriculture and food production for their livelihoods. Ensuring smart, sustained U.S. investments in small-scale livelihoods, agricultural development and improved nutrition, particularly for women, will reduce hunger and poverty. These investments also will help children survive, thrive and live up to their full potential.\r\nThe bill, if passed into law, would essentially solidify the current U.S. initiative known as \"Feed the Future,\" and ensure the program lives on beyond the Obama administration. It also, importantly, supports the vision of theUSAID Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy 2014-2025to achieve long-term success in tackling malnutrition by supporting the development plans of low-resource countries and deepening engagement with all stakeholders, including local communities, governments and private sector leaders. Feed the Future has proven results, including increased crop production for more than 7 million small scale farmers and reaching 12.5 million children with key nutrition programs in 2013 alone.\r\nThe bill requires the U.S. government to:\r\n\u00b7 Develop a food security strategy with specific and measurable goals and targets\r\n\u00b7 Coordinate expertise from across all relevant federal departments and agencies for a \"whole-of-government\" approach\r\n\u00b7 Support country-led agriculture and nutrition investment plans to ensure investments are sustainable\r\n\u00b7 Focus on nutritional outcomes for women and children, particularly in the first 1,000 day window of opportunity between a woman's pregnancy and her child's second birthday; and\r\n\u00b7 Put in place strong reporting, oversight and accountability measures.\r\n\"Save the Children welcomes the leadership of Reps. Chris Smith and Betty McCollum and the House passage of the Feed the Future Global Food Security Act, and looks forward to continuing our work with Congress and the administration on this important effort for the world's children,\" said Miles.\r\nSave the Childrengives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood \u2014 every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow us onTwitterandFacebook. This press release was originally posted at:\r\n\u00a0http://www.savethechildren.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=8943305&ct=14385595¬oc=1", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397777", "Intl Human Rights Day Weds. Dec 10Smith cites rights violations in China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, other nations; Honors retiring human rights leader Rep. Wolf", "2014-12-10", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Promoting and protecting human rights should be a central part of U.S. foreign policy around the world, including in dealings with rising powers such as China, developing nations like Sudan and Nigeria, and every other nation where human rights violations occur, said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) today. The Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees global human rights issues, Smith marked Wednesday, Dec. 10, as the anniversary of the founding of International Human Rights Day. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cChina, which today continues to defiantly imprison Nobel Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo and over a thousand other documented political prisoners, remains among the world\u2019s worst human rights abusers,\u201d said Smith, co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on China and chair the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. \"On International Human Rights Day we remember how far we have come and how far we\u00a0still have to go to ensure that all individuals can enjoy the fundamental freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, press and association. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe\u00a0need to support true defenders of human\u00a0rights and hold accountable\u00a0the abusers.\u00a0It is the\u00a0abuser that jailed Liu Xiaobo, that attacked Malala and assassinated Shabazz Bhatti in Pakistan, that maintains gulags in North Korea, that spreads\u00a0anti-Semitism\u00a0and\u00a0sectarian violence, and trafficks young woman into\u00a0sexual\u00a0slavery,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThese are intolerable abuses that occur much too often.\u00a0But I remain hopeful\u00a0today because\u00a0I have seen how the universal demand for freedom\u00a0can break down the walls of tyranny.\u00a0That is what we celebrate on International Human Rights Day because we\u00a0believe that\u00a0good will triumph over evil,\u00a0that the desire for basic human rights will\u00a0correct many of the world's wrongs, and\u00a0that,\u00a0despite the seemingly unassailable power of the abusers, that power is fleeting because of the millions of people working to promote human rights around the world.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith chose Wednesday, Human Rights Day, to introduce the \u2018\u2018Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Support Act of 2014\u2019,\u201d because religious freedom is so central to human rights, including our own First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The legislation is named for one of the leading voices in the U.S. Congress, Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10). Wolf, who is concluding his final term after 34 years in Congress, authored the landmark International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which established both an independent commission and a State Department office wholly dedicated to safeguarding\u2014via sanctions if necessary\u2014religious freedom. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAt home and overseas, Frank Wolf\u2014the William Wilberforce of the United States House of Representatives\u2014has been an indefatigable defender of human rights and human dignity,\u201d Smith said on the House floor today. \u201cWhether it be helping a young mother in a refugee camp in Sudan or political prisoners in Russia or jailed pastors in China or any number of the marginalized and persecuted, Frank Wolf has sought to protect and rescue.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Regarding the many challenges to religious freedom, Smith said, \u201cToday Christians and other religious minorities, such as Yezidis, Shabaks, and Turkmen Shiites are not just facing a long winter without homes,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThey are not just hungry and thirsty and wandering from village to village in Northern Iraq and Kurdistan.\u00a0 They are facing annihilation\u2014genocide\u2014by \u00a0fanatics who see anyone who does not subscribe to their draconian and violent interpretation of Islam as fair game for enslavement, forced conversion or death.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Though there are so many human rights abuses throughout the world that one would be hard-pressed to address them all in a single day, Smith noted Vietnam\u2019s documented use of forced labor and horrendous record on human trafficking, and jailing prisoners of faith, such as Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has been jailed and tortured for his beliefs, stand out. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Vietnamese government\u2019s violations of religious freedom against Buddhists and Christians are severe and ongoing,\u201d said Smith, author the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013, H.R. 1897, which was approved by House of Representatives in 2013 but has not been taken up by the Senate. \u201cThe restrictions and jailing of labor and democracy advocates, discrimination against ethnic Montagnards and the pervasive censorship of the Internet are far too harsh for Vietnam to be given trade benefits or security assistance it wants from the U.S. As Vietnam seeks entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and its generous trade benefits, the U.S. should be conditioning any new\u00a0\u00a0 economic and security assistance on real advances in freedom and human rights.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith has also pressed the Nigerian government to fight for the hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped earlier this year by the notorious terrorist group Boko Haram. The congressman visited the country and held congressional hearings on the Nigerian crisis. He led the fight to have the U.S. State Department declare Boko Haram a terrorist organization in 2013. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI met in Abuja with one of the Chibok girls who escaped early on in the ordeal,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThis brave young woman has suffered much\u2014was clearly traumatized and in emotional pain.\u00a0You could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes\u2014as she sat motionless recounting her story.\u00a0Yet she spoke of her concern not for herself, but her friends and classmates who remain in captivity. I met with a Muslim father of two girls abducted from the Chibok school.\u00a0Fighting back tears, he said the agony was unbearable.\u00a0The story of his daughters underscored the fact that Boko Haram brutalizes Muslims as well.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith has also pushed for the return of U.S. children abducted or unlawfully held in other countries\u2014an act which he describes as a blatant human rights violation\u2014 including Brazil, Japan, Tunisia, India and other countries by non-custodial parents. His parental child abduction bill, The Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act, H.R. 3212, was signed into law in August. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Human Rights Day was first proclaimed in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly.\n \u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/114th-congress-convenes", "114th Congress Convenes", "2014-12-09", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "114th Congress Convenes \n \t Start: \n \t January 6, 2015\n \t End: \n \t January 6, 2015\n \t \n \t \t Location: \n \t US Capitol, Washington, DC\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Dec 9, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/hanukkah-begins", "Hanukkah Celebration", "2014-12-09", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Hanukkah Celebration \n \t Start: \n \t December 16, 2014\n \t End: \n \t December 24, 2014\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Dec 9, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397762", "Smith to request a GAO investigationHearing Probes Chinas Influence on U.S. Universities", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cIs Academic Freedom Threatened by China's Influence on U.S. Universities?\u201d is the title of a hearing held today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the global human rights subcommittee in the House of Representatives and co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on China. Smith, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, said the U.S. needs to take a long hard look at the costs and benefits of the growing number of Chinese educational partnerships started by U.S. universities and colleges, including exchange programs and satellite campuses in China and China\u2019s recent Confucius Institutes in the U.S. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe are seeing emerging faculty opposition to these Institutes, as well as to the all-too cozy and lucrative arrangements which American universities have with institutions affiliated with the Chinese government,\u201d said Smith, who has held nearly 50 congressional hearings on the Chinese government\u2019s human rights abuses on freedom of speech, academic, religion, the press and other basic human rights. \u201cThis prompts us, however, to ask the question:\u00a0 Is American higher education for sale? And, if so, are U.S. colleges and universities undermining the principle of academic freedom \u2013 and, in the process, their credibility\u2014in exchange for China\u2019s education dollars?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhile foreign educational partnerships are important endeavors\u2014for students, collaborative research, cultural understanding, and even for the host country\u2014I think we all can agree that U.S. colleges and universities should not be outsourcing academic control, faculty and student oversight, or curriculum to a foreign government,\u201d said Smith, citing the American Association of University Professors\u2019s (AAUP) July 2014 report blasting China\u2019s Confucius Institutes established in U.S. colleges. The report states the institutes \u201csacrificed the integrity of the [host] university and its academic staff\u201d by requiring concessions \u201cto advance a state agenda in the recruitment and control of academic staff, in the choice of curriculum, and in the restriction of debate.\" The AAUP report concluded that \"Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom\u201d\u00a0 and recommended shutting down U.S. Confucius Institutes unless they could meet certain standards of academic freedom and transparency. Click here to read Chairman Smith\u2019s opening remarks. \n\u00a0 \n Testifying at the hearing were: Dr. Perry Link, Ph.D., Chancellorial Chair for Innovative Teaching, University of California, Riverside; Dr. Thomas Cushman, Ph.D., Deffenbaugh de Hoyos Carlson Chair in the Social Sciences, Wellesley College; Dr. Xia Yeliang, Ph.D., Visiting Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute, and; Sophie Richardson, Ph.D., China Director at Human Rights Watch. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While no serious scholar could argue that the U.S should not have scholarly exchanges and higher learning relations with China, Cushman said, there are troubling aspects of these relations that may infringe upon academicfreedom in American universities, and more generally on the right of freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He also noted the financial aspect of Chinese presence on U.S. universities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cChina is a rich source of revenue from the estimated 274,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S., the vast number of whom pay full tuition and costs. Students from the PRC bring huge benefits to the U.S. economy, which are estimated by the Institute of International Education at $27 billion per annum,\u201d Cushman said. Click here to read Cushman\u2019s testimony\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Link said that the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has continuously exercised one-party dictatorship over all programs of the Chinese government, has goals to advance its own power interests.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cScholars in China have come under sharply increased pressure in recent months,\u201d Link said. \u201cUnsubtle guidelines that university professors must be \u2018patriotic\u2019 (i.e., support the CPC) and must oppose ideas like \u2018universal values\u2019 have been spread all across the country,\u201d Link said. \u201cThe orders have been broadly obeyed, in part because of the punishments that disobedience brings. The few scholars who dare not to obey have been monitored, threatened, harassed, fired, beaten, indicted, or imprisoned\u2014the degree of their punishment calibrated to the degree to which they persist in their dissent. Individual American scholars often speak out for their Chinese colleagues under pressure, but American academic administrators seldom do, and formal cooperation with the CPC\u2014the oppressing party\u2014marches forward. This is not because U.S. academic administrators are illiberal in their values; it is because they do not understand the realities of the Chinese side and are insufficiently diligent in discovering them.\u201d Click here to read Dr. Link\u2019s testimony\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Yeliang Xia said he doubted how the New York University campus in Shanghai \u201ccould possibly avoid CCP\u2019s ideological control and Marxist education while all Chinese students in the university have to take (five) compulsory courses in the first three years of undergraduates and two compulsory courses for the first year of graduate studies. It means the Chinese students who will get degrees of prestigious U.S. universities must meet the requirement for ideological and moral education of CCP while foreign students may choose take those course or alternatives of some Chinese cultural courses by themselves.\u201d \u00a0Click here to read Dr. Xia\u2019s testimony \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith said he will ask the non-partisan Government Accountability Office to review the agreements of both satellite campuses in China and of Confucius Institutes in the U.S. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI would like to know if those agreements are public, whether they compromise academic or other freedoms of faculty, students, and workers and whether Chinese teachers are allowed the freedom to worship as they please and teach about Tiananmen, Tibet, and Taiwan,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI will also ask the GAO to study whether U.S. satellite campuses in China operate differently from Chinese universities.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith said he would ask the GAO report to include whether Communist Party committees operate on campus, and whether fundamental freedoms are protected for both Chinese and U.S. students and faculty\u2014religious freedom, internet freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397770", "USA Today article on Smith hearing on ChinaHouse panel investigates 'Confucius institutes'", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NICOLE GUADIANO, USA Today - Lawmakers are investigating whether academic freedom is being threatened at universities building campuses in China and partnering with the Chinese on \"Confucius institutes\" in the U.S.\r\nRep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of a House subcommittee focusing on human rights, said at a hearing before the panel Thursday that he will seek a Governmental Accountability Office study of agreements between U.S. universities and China that allow China to promote its culture and language here through education programs it supervises and finances.\r\nSmith said Congress could decide to withhold money for the Education Department or for State Department exchange programs if it decides the Chinese-sponsored efforts are compromising academic freedoms in the U.S.\r\n\"I think we can all agree that U.S. colleges and universities should not be outsourcing academic control, faculty and student oversight or curriculum to a foreign government \u2014 in this case a dictatorship,\" said Smith, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.\r\nThere are 357 \"Confucius classrooms\" in secondary and elementary schools in the U.S., and 97 \"Confucius institutes\" at universities, including Stanford and Columbia universities. The institutes are named for the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius who paradoxically was vilified during the 1949-1976 reign of Communist Chairman Mao Zedong.\r\nThey are subsidized and supervised by Hanban, a Chinese government agency that influences the institutes' staff recruitment and curriculum.\r\nA small number of American universities have satellite campuses in China.\r\nThe American Association of University Professors opposes Confucius institutes, writing in a June report that they \"function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom,\" and sacrifice the integrity of universities and academic staff. The association recommended that universities cease involvement with the institutes unless agreements are renegotiated to provide for transparency and control by U.S. universities over all academic matters.\r\nWitnesses at Thursday's hearing said the Chinese exert influence over American scholars by denying them visas and blocking access to archives. Perry Link, chancelorial chairman at the University of California, Riverside, said fear of being denied a visa by the Chinese results in self-censorship.\r\n\"I have been on a visa blacklist since the mid-1990s, and I hear, on average, two or three inquiries per month from younger scholars who want to know what they should avoid saying in order not to end up where I am,\" he said in written testimony.\r\nLink said American administrators who accept funds from the Communist Party of China for endeavors such as Confucius institutes understand, without being told, which topics are unwelcome, such as Tibetan or Uighur autonomy, Taiwan independence or the Tiananmen massacre.\r\n\"American students are presented a roseate cameo of China and are told that it is the whole,\" he stated. \"Omission of the forbidden topics not only reduces the size of the picture, it misrepresents the character of the part that remains.\"\r\nAnother witness, Yeliang Xia, a visiting scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute, said a speech he was scheduled to give on China's economy at Stanford University's Confucius institute was canceled last year by a student union leader who said the institute wasn't happy about his earlier discussion on constitutional issues in China.\r\n\"How can you export liberal ideas to ... authoritarian countries if you cannot persist on your own ideals?\" he asked.\r\nSmith said he continues to question why New York University last year terminated the fellowship of human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, who alleged the university succumbed to pressure from China.\r\nNYU, which recently launched a campus in Shanghai, has said the fellowship was always intended to expire after a year. The university's president and faculty declined multiple invitations to testify, Smith said.\r\nThe subcommittee hearing was the first in a series, Smith said, and the beginning of \"a long hard look\" at costs and benefits of partnerships between U.S. universities and China. He said he will ask the GAO to investigate whether the partnership agreements are public, whether they compromise academic or other freedoms, and whether Chinese teachers are free to worship as they please and to teach topics considered taboo by Chinese officials.\r\nHe will also ask the GAO to investigate whether U.S. satellite campuses in China operate differently from Chinese universities, whether Communist Party committees operate on those campuses and whether academic freedoms on the campuses are protected.\r\n\"We need to look at whether these issues can be handled by the universities, their faculties and trustees themselves, or if there is something the U.S. Congress must do to ensure academic freedom is protected,\" Smith said.\r\nOriginally published at: \r\n\u00a0http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/04/house-china-confucius-institutes/19909507/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397771", "Wall Street Journal article on China's influence on US universitiesChina defends Confucius Institute after new doubts in U.S.", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "China defended its relationship with U.S. universities on Friday after critics of Beijing told a panel of U.S. lawmakers that those growing ties challenge their commitment to academic freedom.\r\nThe hearing held Thursday by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) \u2013 who has held a number of hearings on China\u2019s human-right practices \u2014 took a critical look at the increasing ties between U.S. universities and Chinese schools, including Chinese-funded language and culture institutes at U.S. campuses as well as U.S. satellite campuses on the Chinese mainland.\r\n\u201cThe formation of partnerships with Chinese universities has far outpaced the development of procedures and mechanisms for the monitoring and protection of academic freedom on American campuses,\u201d Thomas Cushman, a sociology professor at Wellesley College, told lawmakers Thursday.\r\nMuch of the focus has been on Confucius Institutes, which are funded by a Chinese government organization\u00a0and have locations at nearly 100 U.S. universities, school districts and elsewhere.\u00a0The institutes have come under scrutiny at a number\u00a0of schools.\r\nChina\u2019s Foreign Ministry lashed back Friday, saying that the institutes weren\u2019t being forced on U.S. institutions. \u201cAll Confucius Institutes in the U.S. are there because they were applied for by U.S. universities of their own will,\u201d spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing. She added, \u201cwe have assisted with supplying teachers and textbooks at the request of the U.S. side but have never interfered with academic freedom.\u201d\r\nThe greater ties reflect both rising interest in China, its language and its culture at the same time that Beijing is seeking to build up its soft power \u2013 the kind the U.S. wields through everything from its pop songs and TV shows to its long history of taking foreign-exchange students.\r\nMany U.S. universities \u2014 such as New York University \u2013 have expanded partnerships with China, opening campuses there to attract local talent.\r\nMr. Cushman is among a number of Wellesley faculty members who have called into question a cooperation between Wellesley and a top Chinese school that dismissed a professor after he expressed negative views of the Chinese government.\r\nPerry Link, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, urged the U.S. to fund more of its own China-focused programs. He also pushed U.S. universities to set broader, clearer academic agendas and demand to include Tibet and democracy in lessons when cooperating with China.\r\nThe issue isn\u2019t like to die down soon. Rep. Smith said he is calling for a government probe of academic agreements U.S. universities have made with China.\r\n\u2013 Laurie Burkitt. Follow her on Twitter @lburkitt This story can be found at: \r\nhttp://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/12/05/china-says-its-never-interfered-with-u-s-academic-freedom/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397772", "AP: State-funded institutes give China foothold, rosy image on US college campuses, scholars say", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "China's authoritarian government is gaining a foothold on American campuses by funding dozens of institutes that project a rose-tinted view of the Asian nation that compromises the academic integrity of U.S. universities, a congressional hearing was told Thursday.\r\nScholars of China testified that these state-funded Confucius Institutes teach nonpolitical subjects like Chinese language and culture but suppress discussion on sensitive topics like Tibet and the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on democracy protesters.\r\nThe hearing was chaired by House Republican Rep. Chris Smith, an arch critic of Beijing, who questioned whether American education was \"for sale.\"\r\nStudents from China now make up 31 percent of all international students in the United States. Last year, Chinese students in U.S. colleges and universities contributed $8 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the Commerce Department.\r\nU.S. colleges such as New York University are also opening campuses in China, hoping to tap into the country's enormous, growing pool of students.\r\nGeng Shuang, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China-U.S. educational exchange is carried out on a voluntary basis and respects the academic independence and integrity of all educational institutions.\r\nPerry Link, a China expert at the University of California at Riverside, said independent scholar-to-scholar exchanges with China should be encouraged.\r\nBut he said the Communist Party of China opposes the exchanges and prefers to negotiate campus-to-campus cooperation. He said inexperienced U.S. academic administrators, eager for funding, reach protocols with party officials that allow authorities in Beijing to choose teachers and set curricula that provide a rosy \"cameo\" of China.\r\nThomas Cushman, a professor in social sciences at Wellesley College, said the Chinese government's effort to forge ties with U.S institutions is part of a more general \"soft power\" strategy toward the West.\r\nMATTHEW PENNINGTON, ASSOCIATED PRESS - There are now about 90 Confucius Institutes in the U.S., part of an expanding network of more than 400 worldwide. Geng, the embassy spokesman, said the institutes help people learn about Chinese language and culture and strengthen cooperation between China and other countries.\r\nBut there has been some push back from scholars and colleges in the U.S. In June, the American Association of University Professors called on universities to cancel their current agreements with Confucius Institutes, and this fall the University of Chicago and Penn State ended their relationships with the institute.\r\nThe Chinese state-funded outreach comes amid growing restrictions on scholars at home as President Xi Jinping's government has tightened controls over a wide range of society since he took power early last year.\r\n\"For decades, the primary strategy of the CPC in censoring its own people has been to induce self-censorship,\" Link said, referring to the Communist Party of China. \"Now the CPC, stronger and wealthier than before, is looking to project these battle-tested methods onto the world stage.\"\r\nCushman said U.S. scholars of China are careful what they say in public so they can keep visiting. He said that leads to a \"beautified\" version of China that avoids the realities of repression.\r\nLink said he's been blacklisted since the mid-1990s and gets two or three inquiries per month from younger scholars wanting to know what they should avoid saying in order not to be barred.\r\nCushman also contended that professors on U.S. campuses may avoid discussing sensitive tops about China in their classes out of fear of negative evaluations by the growing number of Chinese students. This\u00a0Associated Press story ran in\u00a0numerous places, including: \r\n\u00a0http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/scholars-china-govt-foothold-us-campuses-27368225 \r\n\u00a0http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/chinas-ties-u-s-universities-healthy/ \r\n\u00a0http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_CHINA_UNIVERSITIES?SITE=NCWILHN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT \r\n\u00a0\u00a0http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/04/chinese-government-gaining-foothold-on-us-campuses-scholars-say/?intcmp=latestnews", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397773", "LA Times Article on Hearing China's Sway on U.S. universitiesChina's influence threatens American universities, experts say", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Much of the debate centered on the Confucius Institutes, Chinese government-sponsored cultural centers at universities worldwide. Funded by the Chinese government, the institutes provide language instruction and sponsor cultural exchanges, but some experts worry they allow China to engage in \"soft power\" propaganda campaigns and encourage censorship over certain topics.\r\nChina says the institutes \u2014 which experts estimate could number more than 400 worldwide \u2014 are established only at schools that invite them and do not force their curriculum on any campus.\r\nExperts suggested that the federal government could do more to finance Chinese-language programs within the United States, rather than relying on Chinese funds to do so.\r\n\"Why should we hand our young people over to an authoritarian government because they supply the funds?\" asked Perry Link, a Chinese-language professor at UC Riverside. \"We have enough funds for that.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nExperts also called on lawmakers to withhold visas for Confucius Institute instructors as long as China continues to do the same for American scholars.\r\nMainly, they said, American universities must do more in their negotiations as they develop partnerships with China, pushing for broader discussion rather than quieting debates over controversial topics on their campuses.\r\n\"If you don't stake out the borderline, natural self-censorship will stick in,\" Link said.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\nPrestigious American institutions, including New York University and Carnegie Mellon University, have partnered with Chinese universities to open satellite programs there. Many institutions maintain that their influence will lead to gradual change within the authoritarian Chinese government, Smith said. But he challenged academic leaders to reconsider their positions, given what he said was pervasive self-censorship by American scholars.\r\n\"So long as the dragon is not provoked, they think they will be allowed to continue doing their work, slowly changing from the inside,\" he said. \"But are these American universities changing China, or is China changing these American universities?\"\r\nHuman rights observers noted that American universities often pledge to uphold Western ideals of free speech on their Chinese campuses, but few, if any, of these promises have been put to the test.\r\nIt's unclear how American colleges would react if, for example, a student on their Chinese campus wanted to host a symposium on Tibet, a fraught topic in China, said Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch. For university administrators, such a situation would be \"one of their worst nightmares,\" she said.\r\nScholars within China face significant consequences for research into unfavorable topics, such as the 1989 protests and crackdown at Tiananmen Square and the imprisonment of Nobel Prize-winning human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.\r\nEconomics professor Xia Yeliang lost his position at Peking University in 2013 for his political activism, supporters say. Despite protests on his behalf, Wellesley College, which partners with Peking, chose not to terminate its partnership with the Chinese university.\r\n\"How can you export ideals to authoritarian countries if you can't persist on your own ideals?\" Xia asked lawmakers.\r\nEarlier this year, the University of Chicago chose not to renew its contract with the Confucius Institute on its campus, citing an \"incompatible\" relationship.\r\nThis story was originally published at:\r\n\u00a0http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-chinese-influence-20141205-story.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397774", "Reuters Article on Hearing China's Sway on U.S. universitiesChina defends Confucius Institute after new doubts in U.S.", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Reuters) - China defended its government-funded Confucius Institute programs on Friday after new questions were raised in the United States about their transparency and effect on academic freedom.\r\nChina says its Confucius Institutes around the world are established by universities voluntarily, and that such centers promote Chinese-language learning and academic and cultural exchange.\r\nBut the institutes have raised concerns that they threaten academic freedom, conduct surveillance of Chinese students abroad and promote the political aims of China's ruling Communist Party.\r\nOn Thursday, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on whether academic freedom is threatened by China's influence on U.S. universities, with the Confucius Institute receiving particular attention.\r\nChinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that all Confucius Institutes in the United States had been voluntarily applied for by U.S. universities.\r\n\"All class and cultural activities are open and transparent. The Chinese side has provided teachers and teaching materials assistance according to requests of the U.S. side. It has never interfered with academic freedom,\" she told a daily news briefing.\r\n\"We hope everybody can make joint efforts to reject prejudice and work together to better build these bridges of friendship and make them stronger.\"\r\nAt the Washington hearing, Congressman Chris Smith said he would ask the Government Accountability Office to review agreements of both satellite campuses for U.S. universities in China and of Confucius Institutes in the United States.\r\n\"I would like to know if those agreements are public, whether they compromise academic or other freedoms of faculty, students, and workers and whether Chinese teachers are allowed the freedom to worship as they please and teach about Tiananmen, Tibet, and Taiwan,\" Smith said. \r\nIn September, the University of Chicago said it would suspend negotiations to renew the Confucius Institute on the school's campus, citing comments in the media that were \"incompatible with a continued equal partnership\".\r\nDespite tight government control over curriculum, many foreign universities have rushed to establish partnerships with China in an effort to improve access to the country's huge educational market. That has created unease about whether schools would be forced to sacrifice academic freedoms.\r\nXia Yeliang, a prominent Chinese professor and dissident who was fired from the elite Beijing University last year, has warned that academic exchanges with China carry hidden risks, such as visiting scholars who may be sent as spies.\r\n(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina; Editing by Nick Macfie) This article was originally published at:\u00a0\r\nhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/05/us-china-usa-education-idUSKCN0JJ0MC20141205", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/announcement-2015-atlantic-city-airshow", "Announcement on 2015 Atlantic City Airshow", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Start: \n \t December 5, 2014 9:30 am\n\n \t \nEnd: \n \t December 5, 2014 10:30 am\n \t \n \t \t \nLocation: \n \t Kennedy Plaza @ the Boardwalk, Atlantic City, New Jersey", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397758", "NJ.com Article N.J. students remember Rwandan genocide with Capitol display", "2014-12-03", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2014 The cutouts of human figures stood in neat rows in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, each decorated by a group of New Jersey middle and high school students paying tribute to 800,000 Rwandans massacred two decades ago.\r\nMore than 70 such figures, each 5-feet tall, some covered in black with drawings of skulls and others with doves flying in bright blue skies, stood on exhibit in the Rayburn House Office Building here to remember the 100-day period beginning in April 1994 where the majority Hutu slaughtered the minority Tutsi. \r\n\"We wanted to do something that had an impact,\" said Susan Yellin of Manalapan, a member of the committee that established the exhibit.\r\nPresident Clinton, visiting a Rwandan memorial site more than a decade later, expressed \"regret for my personal failure\" as the U.S. did not intervene to stop the slaughter. The United Nations also sat on the sidelines. The killings ended only after a Tutsi-backed force captured control of the country in July 1994.\r\nHigh school students in Wall Township painted a picture of a woman in a long skirt. On the other side of the figure was a child she was hiding. Another figure, by students at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Jackson, featured doves against a bright blue sky on one side and victims in darkness on the other side with a quote, \"Human life is not meant to be abused.\"\r\nThe Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft designed the project to commemorate the massacre. The figures themselves were decorated by students who weren't born when it occurred. About 450 students participated, organizers said.\r\n\"We needed a way to engage the kids,\" said Dale Daniels, executive director of the center, \"They were all born after the genocide and had no knowledge of it.\"\r\nThe exhibit was brought to Washington by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), who escorted fellow House members and other visitors around the figures.\r\n\"You need to remember the past to prevent such things from happening in the future,\" Smith said. \"This was a preventable genocide. It truly has to be never again.\" By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com on December 02, 2014 at 7:55 PM \u200bThis article appeared on NJ.com on 12/2/2014 and can be found here: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/12/new_jersey_students_remember_rwandan_genocide_with_capitol_display.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397748", "Brookdale Art Exhibit 100 Days of Silence Displayed in Washington, DC", "2014-12-02", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) hosted \u201c100 Days of Silence,\u201d a one-of-a-kind art exhibition on Tues. Dec. 2, 2014, coordinated by the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (Chhange) at Brookdale Community College to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The collection brings together works created by over 450 New Jersey students and includes more than 60 life-size human forms which illustrate students\u2019 artistic responses to learning about the genocide, the silence of the world, and the importance of becoming involved, concerned citizens. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThese are powerful expressions by young people who are concerned about a genocide that unfolded while the world watched,\u201d said Smith, a longtime human rights advocate in Congress and chairman of the House Africa and global human rights subcommittee. \u201cThe pieces in this exhibition remind us that each of the hundreds of thousands of victims in Rwanda was an individual, worthy of dignity, whose precious life was cut short, who the world should have done more to save. If we cannot do more to prevent genocides in the future, \u2018Never again\u2019 will only be lip service. When so many innocent lives are at stake, we must do more. While remembering a genocide often invokes feelings of horror, this exhibition reminds us that hope is also crucial. We must have the hope that we can defeat the evil that is at the root of genocides and we must follow it with the will to act.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The 100 Days of Silence exhibit corresponds with the 100 days in 1994 when some 800,000 Rwandan men, women and children were killed by Hutu extremists.\u00a0The title is a reference to the failure of the global community to intervene. A number of officials stopped by, including U.S. Reps. Jim McGovern, Chaka Fattah, Bobby Rush, Al Green, and Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Medina-Mora. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe exhibit is a chance for students, educators and community members to reflect upon the human experience of the Rwandan people and the silence of the world,\u201d according to Dale Daniels, executive director of Chhange. \u201cIt is a powerful statement from our children and our community about genocide and humanity.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Originally exhibited at Chhange from April through August 2014, the 100 Days of Silence art exhibit will be on display in the Rayburn House Office Building Foyer (first floor) from 4 to 7 p.m.\u00a0The Rayburn building is located Southwest of the U.S. Capitol, bounded by Independence Ave., South Capitol St., First St., and C St., S.W. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith is co-chairman of U.S. Helsinki Commission and an Executive Member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397749", "Hamilton, Red Bank Arts Organizations Awarded National Endowment for the Arts Grants", "2014-12-02", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Three local organizations will each receive $20,000 grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support arts projects, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced today.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Two River Theatre in Red Bank, and Grounds for Sculpture and International Sculpture Center, Inc. both in Hamilton, were among chosen from 3,455 applications for funding.\u00a0 In all, 1,118 awardees were chosen across the country. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThese organizations each contribute to the community and beyond,\u201d Smith said. \u201cTheir work recognizes artists and talent and encourages a wider appreciation for the arts in the public. Two River Theater Company openly fosters young people to participate in its productions, and is a jewel in the crown of Monmouth County theater. Grounds for Sculpture is an amazing display of artistry for both visitors and passers-by along the old State Fair Grounds area in Hamilton, since many displayed artwork \u00a0can be seen and enjoyed driving along East State Street. The international sculpture center serves nearly all aspects of the field sculpture, from artists to museums and virtually anyone with an appreciation of sculpture.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Two River Theater Company of Red Bank in Monmouth County was awarded $20,000 to support the world premiere of \"Be More Chill,\" a new musical by playwright Joe Tracz and composer and lyricist Joe Iconis. Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini, the work tells the story of an unpopular teen boy who inserts a supercomputer into his brain that teaches him how to \u201cbe cool.\u201d\u00a0In an effort to engage young audiences, the theater will recruit teen ambassadors who will attend readings and rehearsals to learn about the show\u2019s development, and the theater will host outreach events and post-play discussions.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The theater company develops and produces American theater created by gifted, adventurous artists.\u00a0Each year, more than 55,000 patrons and guests attend Two River Theater events to see productions in the theater\u2019s intimate performance spaces, the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater and the Marion Huber Theater. Founded in 1994, Two River Theater now enjoys recognition in the national theater community for their new-play commissioning program, launched in 2010 to create a pipeline for developing work that contributes to the vitality and future of the American theater.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nGrounds For Sculpture Inc., of Hamilton in Mercer County, was also awarded a $20,000 grant to support an exhibition of work by Korean-American sculptor Jae Ko.\u00a0The artist will create a massively scaled, deep sculptural relief (raised dimensional technique) made entirely of manipulated paper that she rolls and layers against the gallery wall. The project also will include the exhibition of smaller, \"sumi\" (ink wash) works to demonstrate Ko's artistic depth and talent. Demonstrations, workshops, artist's talks, and a documentary video will help educate the public about the versatility of paper as a medium.\r\nGrounds For Sculpture is a constantly-evolving collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures situated on the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds.\u00a0Established in 1992 to promote an understanding of and appreciation for contemporary sculpture, the organization maintains a 42-acre sculpture park composed of works by well-known and emerging American and international artists in Hamilton Township, NJ. In accordance with its mission, it presents visitors with an evolving permanent outdoor collection, seasonal exhibitions, and educational programs designed to facilitate the understanding of and appreciation for contemporary sculpture. \r\n\r\nInternational Sculpture Center, Inc., also of Hamilton, has been awarded $20,000 to support the \u201cDialogues and Discoveries\u201d initiative.\u00a0Designed to facilitate conversations about contemporary sculpture, the initiative includes the production of Sculpture magazine, online digital content, and a weekly blog.\u00a0Sculpture has a press run of 14,000 copies per issue 10 times per year, as well as an online audience of 500,000, and more than 36,000 unique blog users.\r\nISC is a member-supported, nonprofit organization founded in 1960 to champion the creation and understanding of sculpture and its unique contributions to society. ISC members include not only sculptors but collectors, patrons, architects, developers, journalists, curators, historians, critics, educators, foundries, galleries, and museums.\u00a0The mission of the center is to\u00a0expand public understanding and appreciation of sculpture internationally, demonstrate the power of sculpture to educate and effect social change, engage artists and arts professionals in a dialogue to advance the art form and promote a supportive environment for sculpture and sculptors. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The NEA was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $5 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congressman Smith, who represents New Jersey\u2019s Fourth Congressional District in the House of Representatives, has offices in Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties.\u00a0 For more information call (732) 780-3035 or (609) 585-7878.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397747", "Hearing on Chinas Influence on U.S. Universities Set for Dec. 4", "2014-12-01", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A hearing entitled \u201cIs Academic Freedom Threatened by China's Influence on U.S. Universities?\u201d will be held Dec. 4 by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the global human rights subcommittee in the House of Representatives and co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on China. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Chinese educational market is a lucrative one, but we have to ask if there are any hidden costs for American schools and colleges seeking access to that market,\u201d said Smith, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations. \u201cBy rushing to build campuses in China and signing agreements to have Chinese government entities on American campuses, are universities and schools accepting restrictions on foundational principles of American higher education?\u00a0\u00a0The American university model is the world\u2019s best and they should be ambassadors for freedom and democracy globally.\u00a0They should also be islands of freedom where foreign students can enjoy the fundamental freedoms denied them in their own country.\u00a0\u00a0Our witnesses will provide information on the growing presence of American universities in China and the presence of Chinese government educational entities on American campuses through \u2018Confucius Institutes.\u2019\u00a0They will also detail some of the costs and benefits of such educational partnerships and offer recommendations on how such partnerships can protect academic freedom and the fundamental human rights of faculty and students.\u201d \r\n\u00a0 \r\nWho:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rep. Smith, longtime advocate of human rights in China, other invited members of Congress, and: \r\n\u00a0 \r\nDr. Perry Link, Ph.D., Chancellorial Chair for Innovative Teaching, University of California, Riverside;\r\nThomas Cushman, Ph.D., Deffenbaugh de Hoyos Carlson Chair in the Social Sciences, Wellesley College, and;\r\nXia Yeliang, Ph.D., Visiting Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato InstituteWhen: \u00a0 Thursday, Dec. 4 @ 1 p.m. \r\n\u00a0 \r\nWhat:\u00a0 Congressional hearing on academic freedom and China's Influence on U.S. Universities \r\n\u00a0 \r\nWhere:\u00a0 Room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0### \u00a0http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-academic-freedom-threatened-chinas-influence-us-universities", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397743", "Asbury Park Press Op-EdSMITH: Defiant killer still free 52 years later", "2014-11-25", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The week of Thanksgiving is often a difficult time for the daughters of Walter Patterson, who was attacked on Nov. 23, 1962, at his Wall gas station and died two days later, Nov. 25. Those sad anniversaries are made worse because they know that their father\u2019s killer, George Wright, lives freely and defiantly today in Portugal.\nIn recent years I have been pushing the Obama administration to ramp up efforts to seek extradition of American fugitives who have taken refuge in other countries, with Wright and JoAnne Chesimard, who killed New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster in 1973, at the top of the list. Both committed grisly murders in New Jersey, were convicted and sentenced, escaped prison and now live openly abroad, out of reach of our justice system.\nWalter, a World War II hero and Bronze Star recipient, was brutally beaten and shot in the 1962 robbery. Wright was captured, tried, convicted and sent to prison. Justice seemed to be served. Unfortunately, he escaped from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, Cumberland County, in 1970 and fled the U.S. in 1972 by hijacking a commercial jet. The FBI painstakingly tracked him down in 2011, but Portugal refused to extradite him, declaring it had granted Wright citizenship. Wright gave a gloating media interview, claiming \u201cI really should be a role model of rehabilitation.\u201d\nFoerster was shot and killed on a routine traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. Chesimard was convicted and sent to prison. She broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in 1979 and made her way to Cuba, and has lived there ever since as an honored \u201cguest\u201d of the Castro government.\nWright and Chesimard are emblematic of why we need to bring fugitives back to the United States.\nIn 2011, Patterson\u2019s daughter, Ann, testified at a Capitol Hill hearing I chaired on Wright\u2019s unjust freedom and the efficacy of the U.S. extradition process. Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jonathan Winer also testified and said that the Portuguese judge\u2019s refusal to extradite Wright to the U.S. was \u201clegally indefensible\u201d under international principles of extradition law.\nCurrent Justice Department officials admitted to me that its \u201cdata management system cannot readily specify the number of (extradition) requests presented to a foreign country in a given time period.\u201d Even more troubling, they claim that their system does not maintain a central repository for information on rendition requests \u2014 or their status. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Justice seems extremely reluctant to discuss not only the Wright and Chesimard cases, but even to provide basic information on the extradition system and whether it is working.\nIn other words, American family members are basically left on their own to pursue information and justice for a relative whose killer has outrun U.S. law enforcement.\nTo address this unfairness and garner more support for surviving family members, I have introduced the Walter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act. This bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., would for the first time require the president to report annually to Congress on the number of American fugitives residing in other countries; a list of the countries harboring U.S. criminals; efforts made by the U.S. government to secure a return; the number of resolved cases; and factors that have been barriers to resolving cases.\nArmed with this information, Congress would be able to exercise its oversight responsibility to ensure that federal agencies work more effectively with and on behalf of surviving family members like the Pattersons.\nBoth Patterson and Foerster were violently murdered and torn away from their families. In the name of justice, we owe it to the victims \u2014 and their surviving family members \u2014 to aggressively pursue extradition of convicted murderers and return them to U.S. prisons for the completion of their sentences.\nChris Smith is a Republican congressman who represents New Jersey\u2019s 4th Congressional District. Click here to view Smith's 2012 hearing on George Wright. \n\u00a0 \nClick here to read Smith's Walter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act\u00a0,bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Click on image below or here to view a 2012 CBS 48 Hours on the case:", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397744", "Trentonian Op-EdPut Fugitives Back in American Prisons", "2014-11-25", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY U.S. REP. CHRIS SMITH (NJ-04) \nfor the Trentonian\u00a0\u00a0 The week of Thanksgiving is often a difficult time for the daughters of Walter Patterson, who was attacked on Nov. 23, 1962 at his Wall, N.J. gas station and died two days later Nov. 25. Those sad anniversaries are made worse because they know that their father\u2019s killer, George Wright, lives freely and defiantly today in Portugal. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In recent years I have been pushing the Obama Administration to ramp up efforts to seek extradition American fugitives who\u2019ve taken refuge in other countries\u2013with George Wright and cop-killer JoAnne Chesimard, who killed New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973, at the top of the list. Both committed grisly murders in New Jersey, were convicted and sentenced, escaped prison and now live openly abroad\u2013out of reach of our justice system. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Walter, a World War II hero and Bronze Star recipient, was brutally beaten and shot in the 1962 robbery. Wright was captured, tried, convicted and sent to prison. Justice seemed to be served. Unfortunately, he escaped from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg in 1970 and fled the U.S. in 1972 by hijacking a commercial jet. The FBI painstakingly tracked him down in 2011, but Portugal refused to extradite him, declaring it had granted Wright citizenship. Wright gave a gloating media interview, claiming \u201cI really should be a role model of rehabilitation.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Trooper Foerster, a Vietnam War veteran from Old Bridge, was shot and killed on a routine traffic stop on the N.J. Turnpike. JoAnne Chesimard was convicted and sent to prison. She broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in 1979 and made her way to Cuba, and has lived there ever since as an honored \u2018guest\u2019 of the Castro government. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wright and Chesimard\u2013both convicted murderers and prison escapees who are living openly abroad\u2013are emblematic of why we need to bring fugitives back to the United States. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 2011, Walter Patterson\u2019s daughter, Ann, testified at a Capitol Hillhearing I chaired on Wright\u2019s unjust freedom and the efficacy of the U.S. extradition process. Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jonathan Winer also testified and said that the Portuguese judge\u2019s refusal to extradite Wright to the U.S. was \u201clegally indefensible\u201d under international principles of extradition law. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Current Justice Department officials admitted to me that its \u201cdata management system cannot readily specify the number of [extradition] requests presented to a foreign country in a given time period.\u201d Even more troubling, they claim that their system does not maintain a central repository for information on rendition requests\u2014or their status.\u00a0Similarly, the U.S. Department of Justice seems extremely reluctant to discuss not only the Wright and Chesimard cases, but even to provide basic information on the extradition system and whether it is working. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In other words, American family members are basically left on their own to pursue information and justice for a relative whose killer has outrun U.S. law enforcement. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To address this unfairness and garner more support for surviving family members, I have introduced theWalter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act.This bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.), would for the first time require the President to report annually to Congress on: the number of American fugitives residing in other countries; a list of the countries harboring U.S. criminals; efforts made by the U.S. government to secure a return; the number of resolved cases; and factors that have been barriers to resolving cases.\u00a0Knowledge is power and armed with this information, Congress would be able to exercise its oversight responsibility to ensure that federal agencies work more effectively with and on behalf of surviving family members like the Pattersons. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Both Walter Patterson and Trooper Foerster were violently murdered and torn away from their families. In the name of justice, we owe it to the victims\u2014and their surviving family members\u2014to aggressively pursue extradition of convicted murderers and return them to U.S. prisons for the completion of their sentences. Click here to view Smith's 2012 hearing on George Wright. \n\u00a0 \nClick here to read Smith's Walter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act\u00a0,bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Click on image below or here to view a 2012 CBS 48 Hours on the case:", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397736", "Two Smith Humanitarian Bills AdvanceEbola Virus & Anti-Hunger Bills Passed by Key House Committee", "2014-11-21", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The \u00a0House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday approved two key humanitarian aid bills authored by Rep. Chris Smith \u2013 one to help contain and better treat Ebola at points of origination overseas and a second bill to combat world hunger by enhancing agricultural and nutrition activities in poor countries.\u00a0The adoption of both bills at the full committee level improves the chances that each bill will be considered by the full congress before the end of this year. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI am proud to have introduced H.R. 5656, the Global Food Security Act, and to have the support of co-sponsors across the aisle,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThis important legislation will help provide a long-term solution to global hunger by authorizing a national food security program coordinated by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) known as Feed the Future.\u00a0 This program strengthens nutrition, especially for children during that critical first 1000 day-window, from conception to the child\u2019s second birthday, and also teaches small-scale farmers techniques to increase agricultural productivity, thereby helping nations achieve food security \u2013 something that is in the national security interest of the United States as well.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith also noted that the legislation is \u201cfiscally-responsible, as helping countries become agriculturally self-sufficient should lead to a reduction in the amount of money we spend on emergency food aid.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Over 800 million people around the world suffer from chronic hunger.\u00a0The Smith bill, co-sponsored by Democrat Betty McCollum, coordinates the efforts of 11 government agencies in improving basic nutrition and reducing hunger within the poorest of 19 priority countries. It promotes women\u2019s economic empowerment and building the\u00a0capacity of local small scale farmers. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Begun by President Bush and continued by President Obama, the current U.S. food security program has been funded by Congress in annual appropriations legislation, but without official statutory authorization. The Smith bill would permanently codify and authorize such efforts and help marshal a worldwide commitment to tackling hunger and malnutrition. USAID will be the lead U.S. agency, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of State, the U.S. African Development Foundation and the other agencies. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Foreign Affairs Committee also passed another key Smith legislative initiative on the Ebola crisis. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith, who chairs the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Global Health, has held three hearings on the West African Ebola epidemic since August \u2013 the most recent one on Tuesday, November 18 \u2013 on the extent of this epidemic and the U.S. government response. The unprecedented epidemic has killed more than 5,000 people, with another 14,000 people known to be infected. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIn previous hearings, we were told that if the rate of infection continued at the level it was at the end of summer, we could have 1.4 million Ebola cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of January,\u201d Smith said. \u201cDue to the robust programming of our government in Liberia, the rate of new infections there is slowing measurably, and we may avoid this dire prediction.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0H.R 5710 \u2013 the Ebola Emergency Response Act \u2013 lays out the steps needed for the U.S. government to continue to effectively help fight the West African Ebola epidemic, especially in Liberia, the worst-hit of the three affected countries.\u00a0The bill supports staffing and training health care personnel, establishing fully functional treatment centers, conducting education campaigns among populations in affected countries and developing diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. It confirms U.S. policy in the anti-Ebola fight and provides necessary authorities for the Administration to continue or expand anticipated actions in this regard. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cUnless we can prevent the further increase in Ebola cases in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, there will be increasing pressure on the United States and the rest of the international community to combat this threat once it reaches our shores,\u201d Smith said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At today\u2019s committee mark-up, Smith also offered a substitute amendment to H.R. 2901, the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act, enhancing local capacity for critical water projects, including safe drinking water. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith has spearheaded similar U.S. international, health and nutritional initiatives throughout his career dating back to legislation he successfully offered in 1985 to restore and double the commitment to the then Child Survival Fund program to protect children who would otherwise die from preventable, curable diseases.\u00a0\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397741", "Smith Urges Resolution of Nigerian Government Crisis", "2014-11-21", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The National Assembly of Nigeria was closed down Thursday in the wake of an effort to block opposition lawmakers from entering the Nigerian House of Representatives. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The apparent main target was Speaker of the House Aminu Tambuwal, who left the ruling People\u2019s Democratic Party recently to join the opposition All Progressives Congress. Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, urges the Nigerian executive branch to respect the democratic process and cease and desist efforts to interfere with the legislative branch. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNigeria is the largest democracy in Africa, and as such has been watched closely by other democratic governments in Africa,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0 \u201cIf the executive branch of Nigeria successfully thwarts the ability of its legislature to operate, other governments could follow, and democracy in Africa will be placed in grave danger.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Speaker Tambuwal was able to enter the House chambers only after his colleagues overpowered State Security Service and police officers blocking his entry.\u00a0 At least 15 other House members from his party had to scale a fence erected to block them from entering the building.\u00a0 Several members reportedly were overcome by tear gas used by Nigerian security and police personnel.\u00a0 In the wake of the conflict, Senate President David Mark closed the entire National Assembly. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The National Assembly had been reconvened at the request of President Goodluck Jonathan to consider his request for an extension of the state of emergency in three states in northeastern Nigeria beset by attacks from the terrorist group Boko Haram: Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://frelinghuysen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=2&itemid=955", "Statement of Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen on President's Executive Order on Immigration", "2014-11-21", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Rodney Frelinghuysen", "F000372", "frelinghuysen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cThe message of the 2014 election was that the American people want Congress and the President to work together to develop solutions for the problems facing our constituents.\u00a0 Yet, just two weeks past that election, the President announced he\u2019s taking unilateral action on immigration by declaring that millions of unlawful immigrants can stay in the U.S. without facing the consequences of violating current U.S. immigration laws.\u00a0 In effect, he\u2019s jumping them to the front of the line, ahead of millions of potential immigrants who have waited their turn and followed our rules.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cIt is absolutely true that the Congress has not agreed on how to legislate reform of the immigration system.\u00a0 But that does not mean, on a whim, the President can ignore the Constitution and alter existing U.S. law before Congress passes new statutes.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cOur immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed.\u00a0 That effort must start with working together to secure the borders first!\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397739", "Obama Continues to Violate Hyde", "2014-11-20", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A new website was unveiled today to address the appalling lack of transparency of abortion coverage in Obamacare by the Administration.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cObamacareabortion.com is an extraordinarily useful new tool for healthcare consumers,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThe Obama Administration\u2019s cover-up of abortion insurance plans on the exchange is unnecessary, unacceptable and absolutely unconscionable. Consumers have a right to know. Abortion is not healthcare \u2013 it dismembers and chemically poisons defenseless unborn children and hurts women.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With \u201copen season\u201d beginning Nov. 15, the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) and Family Research Council (FRC) have been examining healthcare.gov and state-based exchanges for general information on abortion coverage and the accessibility of that information. Researchers from CLI and FRC and Smith, sponsor of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act (HR 7), shared their findings to date and announce a new website, www.obamacareabortion.com. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0An extensive audit this summer by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released in September found that 1,036 Obamacare exchange plans covered elective abortion. GAO also found that separate billing of the abortion surcharge\u2013required by the Affordable Care Act\u2013is not being enforced and the abortion-funding premium is again in 2015 being illegally rolled into the total plan cost. Healthcare consumers are therefore buying health insurance with little or no knowledge that they are purchasing abortion-subsidizing plans. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOn September 9, 2009 President Obama told lawmakers and the American public in a specially called joint session of Congress on healthcare reform that \u2018under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion,\u2019\u201d said Smith. \u201cIn an 11th hour ploy to garner a remnant of pro-life congressional Democrats absolutely needed for passage of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), the President issued an executive order on March 24, 2010 that said: \u2018the Act maintains current Hyde Amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those restrictions to newly created health insurance exchanges.\u2019 Turns out that those ironclad promises made by the President himself are absolutely untrue, and ranks right up there with President Obama\u2019s oft stated deception that if you like your health insurance plan you can keep it, dubbed Politifact\u2019s 2013 \u2018lie of the year.\u2019\u201d Click here to read Smith\u2019s remarks. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith was joined at the press conference with Arina Grossu from FRC; Genevieve Plaster from Charlotte Lozier Institute, and; Kerri Kupec, Alliance Defending Freedom.\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141125192841/http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397735", "Washington Times article: Groups push for openness on subsidized abortions", "2014-11-20", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Washington Times article: Groups push for openness on subsidized abortions \n \n \n \n \n \n \n f \n t \n #\n e\n \n \n \n \n \n Washington,\n Nov 20\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n f \n t \n #\n e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397733", "Smith Comments of Terror Attacks...Five Brutally Murdered in a Jerusalem Synagogue", "2014-11-19", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Responding to the murder of five innocent people in a brutal attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), made the following statement:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMy heart goes out to the families and friends of the innocent people who were savagely murdered in Jerusalem on Tuesday\u2014while praying in the sanctuary of a synagogue,\u201d Smith . \u201cThey are all in our prayers.\u00a0\n\u00a0\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe horrific way in which these murders were carried out indicates the atmosphere the killers came out of\u2013one soaked in religious hatred. This is the tragic result of decades of anti-Semitic incitement. Terror groups and Middle-Eastern dictatorships deliberately create this atmosphere in order to further their own selfish ends and draw attention away from their own failures and tyranny. They all share in the responsibility for what happened on Tuesday, and our government should be holding Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and all Middle Eastern governments to account for a zero-tolerance policy on anti-Semitism.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0News accounts report that one of the victims, Rabbi Moshe Twersky, has a son who attends school Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J. in Smith\u2019s district.\n\u00a0\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rep. Smith has long been a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism. Last Tuesday he held a planning meeting with a group of European officials and activists in the fight against anti-Semitism. The meeting was on the eve of the Berlin + 10 Conference on Anti-Semitism, held by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Smith and others reviewed steps they will take in coming months to ensure that the U.S. and other governments belonging to OSCE work to implement more vigorously the OSCE commitments on fighting anti-Semitism. These include monitoring and prosecuting hate crimes, and Holocaust education and remembrance. In recent years, many of the OSCE member states have ignored their commitments. The commitments date from the 2004 Berlin Conference and Declaration, which became touchstones in the battle against anti-Semitism. From 2002 to 2004 Smith led U.S. and international parliamentarians in a movement to put anti-Semitism on the agenda of the OSCE; this resulted in the Berlin Conference and Declaration. \n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397724", "Smith Chairs 3rd Ebola hearingEbola Aid Organizations Testify on Efforts to Contain the Virus Overseas", "2014-11-18", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Organizations on the front lines of the fight to contain Ebola in West Africa came to Capitol Hill today to detail both the hurdles and the progress of the life-and-death efforts to contain the virus and assist the victims of the epidemic before the House global health subcommittee chaired by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04). Smith introduced legislation on Nov. 14 to authorize U.S. efforts to contain the virus overseas. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today\u2019s hearing, \"Fighting Ebola:\u00a0A Ground Level View,\" follows two congressional hearings Smith chaired on the Ebola threat in August and September featuring key government testimony from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. State Department, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), National Institutes for Health and various Health and Human Services Department officials. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But today\u2019s hearing gave voice exclusively to the groups whose workers who are most at risk, including International Medicorps, Africare and Global Communities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0'This hearing is intended to take testimony from non-governmental organizations providing services on the ground currently in the affected countries so we can better determine how proposed actions are being implemented,\" said Smith , a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairman of its Africa and global health subcommittee who authored and introduced H.R. 5710, the Ebola Emergency Response Act.\u00a0\u201cThis bill lays out the steps needed for the U.S. government to effectively help fight the West African Ebola epidemic, especially in Liberia\u2013the worst-hit of the three affected countries. This includes recruiting and training health care personnel, establishing fully functional treatment centers, conducting education campaigns among populations in affected countries and developing diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.\" H.R. 5710 confirms U.S. policy in the anti-Ebola fight and provides necessary authorities for the Administration to continue or expand anticipated actions.\u00a0The bill encourages U.S. collaboration with other donors to mitigate the risk of economic collapse and civil unrest in the three affected countries.\u00a0 Furthermore, the legislation authorizes funding of the International Disaster Assistance account at the higher FY2014 level\u2014an additional $500 million\u2014to effectively support anti-Ebola efforts. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Building upon testimony from other service providers at previous hearings, witness Rabih Torbay, Senior Vice President for International Operations at the International Medical Corps, one of only a small handful of international NGOs treating Ebola patients in West Africa, said his organization operates in Liberia and Sierra Leone\u2014where more than two-thirds of all Ebola cases and over three-quarters of all Ebola-related deaths have been reported. By month's end he\u00a0anticipates having a total staff of about 800 in Liberia and Sierra Leone, of which 90 percent are African nationals. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"By year's end we expect this number to reach 1,000 working in four Ebola Treatment Units in Liberia and Sierra Leone,\"\u00a0Torbay said. \"I\u00a0would like to acknowledge the dedicated and courageous international and African national staff working in our treatment centers. They have come from inside Liberia and outside \u2013 including physicians and nurses from many parts of the United States, Europe and Africa. Our staff is comprised of doctors, nurses, technicians, specialists in water, sanitation and hygiene, logisticians, mental health professionals, custodial workers, and members of burial teams.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Brett Sedgewick is the Technical Advisor for Food Security and Livelihoods at Global Communities, which began combating the spread of Ebola in April by providing community education, protective equipment and hygiene materials to communities through its existing program partnering with USAID\u2019s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Our activities aim to combat infection through community engagement and education, safe burial and body management, contact tracing, and ambulance services,\" Sedgewick said. \"Beyond the immediate health effects, we are seeing second tier effects of the outbreak: economic downturn, food insecurity, unemployment, a huge number of orphans and child head of households, and potential instability\u2026 Due to the nature of how Ebola is transmitted, at Global Communities we have focused our immediate and greatest efforts on safe burial and body management. Ebola is spread through bodily fluids that increase in their level of contagion as the virus multiplies throughout the body and the patient becomes increasingly ill. Those most at risk for contracting the virus are those caring for the sick, and those handling the dead.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Darius Mans, Ph.D., President of\u00a0Africare testified that when the Ebola crisis began earlier this year in West Africa, Africare mobilized more than $2 million in private donations to help break the chain of transmission. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"We have shipped and will continue to ship personal protection equipment and essential health supplies to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia through partnerships with Direct Relief and local aid organizations,\" said Mans, who told the panel\u00a0that Africare has trained more than 300 local volunteer community health workers who, in turn, have educated more than 150,000 Liberians about Ebola prevention, detection and care. \"One of the big lessons of this crisis is that donors need to move beyond the old vertical program approach of targeting resources to specific disease burdens like malaria and HIV/AIDS and invest in strengthening the public health systems.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To read the testimonies of the witnesses, or to watch video of the hearing, click here.\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith said that with more than 5,000 reported dead, efforts must be ramped up from what the Administration had been conducting at our previous hearings in August and in September. HR 5710 provides necessary authorities for the Administration to continue or expand anticipated actions to tame the outbreak. The bill encourages U.S. collaboration with other international partners to mitigate the risk of economic collapse and civil unrest in the three affected countries.\u00a0Furthermore, the legislation authorizes and restores funding of the International Disaster Assistance account at $1.8 billion (up from the previously reduced level of $1.3 billion) to support anti-Ebola efforts. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0H.R. 5710 authorizes improved border security and the creation of a secure operating environment for health workers and other responders and the communities they are serving. It authorizes coordination of U.S. efforts with countries in Africa affected by or at risk of being affected by the outbreak with other assisting nations, as well as the private sector, regional and international financial institutions, local, regional, and international organizations, civil society, and nongovernmental organizations that possess experience in\u00a0 emergency relief and infection control. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As Chairman of the Africa and Global Health subcommittee Smith ordered an emergencycongressional hearing in August 2014 \u00a0featuring Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, as well as the U.S. State Department, and USAID. He held a second hearing on Sept. 17, 2014, featuring the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID, and the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith has also held numerous hearings on health threats around the world, including hearings on tropical diseases in June 2013 and another on \u201cSuperbugs\u201d in April 2013.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397726", "Free Screenings Available Nov. 18U.S. Reps. Smith, Waters Mark Alzheimers Foundation 12th Annual Memory Screening Day", "2014-11-17", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Representatives Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), House co-Chairs of the Bipartisan, Bicameral Task Force on Alzheimer's disease, commended the Alzheimer\u2019s Foundation of America (AFA) for holding its 12th annual Memory Screening Day on Nov. 18.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe AFA has remained steadfast in its commitment to provide access to these necessary evaluations, which assist Americans in forming their healthcare decisions surrounding Alzheimer\u2019s disease and dementia.\u00a0 I have been fortunate to collaborate with members of AFA for many years to help raise awareness about this debilitating disease, and they have made great inroads in both informing the public and providing the needed resources for early detection of Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d said Smith.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNational Memory Screening Day is a wonderful opportunity for individuals with memory concerns to get free and confidential screenings for Alzheimer\u2019s disease and other problems affecting memory,\u201d said Waters. \u201cIt is also an opportunity to raise awareness of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and promote the value of memory screening and early detection.\u201d\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For over a decade, the AFA has held annual National Memory Screening Days in November during National Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Awareness Month. The AFA provides these safe, private screenings in collaboration with local organizations and healthcare professionals. Last year alone, there were 7,500 NMSD sites with over 250,000 individuals participating.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, with a 68 percent increase in deaths caused by Alzheimer\u2019s in the last 10 years. Alzheimer\u2019s disease, a degenerative condition characterized by steadily deteriorating thinking and memory skills, currently has no cure.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sharing the impact of the disease are the 15 million family members and others who act as caregivers and provide an estimated 17 billion hours of unpaid care\u2014often relinquishing their jobs and other obligations to do so. Economic costs of unpaid care are estimated to exceed $200 billion annually. In New Jersey, an estimated 170,000 Garden State residents suffered from this form of dementia in 2014, and 443,000 caregivers provided unpaid care. In California, nearly 600,000 have Alzheimer\u2019s disease with 1.5 million family members providing care.\n\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0National Memory Screening Day is of great potential significance for the millions of Americans who may be unaware that they have Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and have not yet developed a plan of action.\u00a0 On Nov. 18th, local sites are offering free, confidential memory screenings to the public, as well as education about memory concerns, dementia, caregiving and healthy aging. You can find the nearest screening site by entering your zip code here: http://www.afascreenings.org/.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThere is a persistent stigma associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease that prevents people from talking about it and taking action that could ultimately help improve quality of life,\u201d said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., president and CEO of the Alzheimer\u2019s Foundation of America. \u201cWe encourage people to seek early detection of memory issues on National Memory Screening Day by offering free, confidential screenings.\u00a0 A memory screening is much like any other routine health check-up \u2013 it\u2019s non-invasive and takes just five to 10 minutes.\u201d\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Memory screenings are not used to diagnose illness. Rather, they are an indicator to determine whether a person might benefit from further examination by a qualified physician. These safe and cost-effective interventions can guide individuals to the appropriate resources before long-term complications, hospitalizations or misdiagnoses occur. Those with normal scores also benefit from screenings, as greater knowledge dispels fears, provides a baseline for future screenings, and promotes disease prevention.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEarly detection of Alzheimer\u2019s disease improves treatment and helps individuals and families plan for their future,\u201d said Waters. \u201cI congratulate the Alzheimer\u2019s Foundation of America for organizing the 12th annual National Memory Screening Day.\u201d\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMemory screenings are not only the first step on the path to obtaining an accurate and early diagnosis, they also offer insight into brain health to all who participate,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0 \u201cI highly encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity.\u201d\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For additional information on Alzheimer\u2019s disease and memory screenings, visit: www.nationalmemoryscreening.org.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith and Waters also teamed up with other House members earlier this year to introduce HRes. 489, which calls on the U.S. to both engage in and lead a coordinated, international effort to advance work for the treatment, prevention and, perhaps, even a cure for Alzheimer\u2019s disease as well as other forms of dementia.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith co-authored the bipartisan National Alzheimer\u2019s Project Act or NAPA, which passed the House in 2010 and was enacted in 2011 to establish the goal of preventing and successfully treating Alzheimer\u2019s disease by 2025 in the United States.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0HRes. 489 calls on the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into negotiations with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a Global Alzheimer\u2019s and Dementia Action Plan focused on areas such as research, clinical care, supportive services for patients and for caregivers, prevention and health promotion, public awareness and education.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith recently chaired a series of hearings in the subcommittee on global health. The effort is the latest in the bipartisan endeavors begun by Smith and then-Congressman, now Senator, Ed Markey (D-MA), who teamed up to write NAPA/HR 4689 in 20101. That bill led to enactment of NAPA (PL 111-375), which established the goal of preventing and successfully treating Alzheimer\u2019s disease by 2025 in the United States. Click here to read the national plan.\u00a0 The plan reflects efforts of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer\u2019s Research, Care, and Services\u2014also created by NAPA\u2014as well as advocates across the country. It required the development of the national plan to employ and coordinate government and private sector research and improve care and support services. The law also created an advisory committee of private and federal experts to work with the HHS Secretary to comprehensively assess and address Alzheimer\u2019s research, institutional services and home and community-based care.\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/new-years-day-offices-closed", "New Years Day - Offices Closed", "2014-11-17", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "New Years Day - Offices Closed \n \t Start: \n \t January 1, 2015\n \t End: \n \t January 1, 2015\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Nov 17, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397714", "Smith hearing focuses on helping power a better future for AfricaIncreasing Electricity and Improving Energy Resources in Africa", "2014-11-14", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Efforts to foster electricity and energy development in Africa was the focus of a hearing held today by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee\u2019s Africa Subcommittee. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The congressional hearing, entitled \u201cThe Future of Energy in Africa,\u201d featured testimony from the U.S. State Department, U.S. Energy Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) about prospects to bring about policies to help energize the continent, which in turn could help expand consumer markets and international trade, and improve the quality of life for millions of people. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe great irony is that Africa has more than enough energy capacity to join the rest of the world in utilizing modern technologies that require regular energy supplies,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIronically, 30 percent of global oil and gas discoveries over the past five years have been in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet currently, only 290 million out of 914 million Africans have access to electricity, and the total number lacking such access continues to rise. Bioenergy, mainly fuel wood and charcoal, is still a major source of fuel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt seems that every few months, there is yet another discovery of petroleum or natural gas in Africa,\u201d Smith said. \u201cNevertheless, African countries remain net importers of energy, and the distribution of power from the many new sources of energy in Africa remains unfulfilled.\u00a0 This constrains trade and economic progress, social development and overall quality of life in Africa.\u201d Click here to read Smith\u2019s opening statement. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The hearing included testimony on the prospects of H.R. 2548, the Electrify Africa Act, legislation that seeks to improve the African power sector\u2013from increased production to more effective provision of energy.\u00a0 H.R. 2548 passed the House this past May, but has languished in the Senate ever since.\u00a0 If no Senate action is taken during the remaining days of the current 113th Congress, this legislation will have to be reintroduced next year. Also discussed was the Administration\u2019s Power Africa initiative and other assistance to build the capacity of the African power sector. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAfrican people, like people everywhere, deserve the benefits that modern technology has produced.\u00a0 Africa has become a prized global consumer market, but that market cannot be fully realized without electricity,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnyone visiting stores in Africa can see the many modern technologies offered to African consumers today; they merely need guaranteed electricity for those goods to be useful. The consumer goods the growing African middle class is purchasing need electricity.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The hearing featured Dr. Robert F. Ichord, Jr., Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Energy Resources, U.S. Department of State; Eric G. Postel, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development; Jonathan Elkind, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy; Walker A. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of Leadership Africa USA, and; Dianne R. Sutherland, Owner and Publisher, Petroleum Africa Magazine. Click here to view Smith\u2019s opening statement, read the witnesses\u2019 testimonies or watch the hearing.\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397716", "Engel, Smith Offer Bill to Improve Cultural Preservation, Curb ISIL Funding", "2014-11-14", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), the leading Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations today announced that they have introduced legislation to improve American efforts to preserve cultural property around the world and cut off one source of funding to ISIL.\u00a0 The Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act (H.R. 5703) would take steps to coordinate efforts across government to preserve cultural artifacts where they may be threatened by conflict, instability, or natural disaster.\r\n\u201cWhether art or architecture or archived materials, cultural property plays a vital role in the heritage of peoples all around the world. \u00a0When these materials are lost because of war or natural disasters, they can never be replaced and parts of those cultures are lost forever,\u201d said Rep. Engel.\u00a0 \u201cSince World War II, the United States has been a leader in protecting cultural property. Today, ISIL and other terrorist organizations have found a lucrative source of revenue in artifacts they traffic out of areas of conflict. America must respond by denying terrorists and criminals the ability to profit from instability by looting the world of its greatest treasures.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Representative Smith underscored that too many times in world history aggressors have tried to erase the memory and identity of oppressed peoples. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOur global cultural patrimony has all too often been targeted by extremists who want to wipe out the collective memories of ethnic and religious minorities from lands they seek to control and conquer,\u201d said Rep. Smith. \u201cJust this past July, ISIL destroyed the Tomb of Jonah in Iraq, which was a living link to the biblical prophet Jonah, on the site of the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh.\u00a0The fight to preserve our common cultural heritage, as well as to deny extremists such as ISIL resources from the sale of blood antiquities, is yet another front on the global war against terror.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Engel-Smith legislation would create a White House Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection to coordinate and promote efforts by multiple federal agencies, including diplomatic activities, military activities, law enforcement activities, and the work of the Cultural Antiquities Task Force.\u00a0 It would also impose import restrictions on cultural property unlawfully removed from Syria, protecting the property at risk of loss or destruction at the hands of ISIS/ISIL and other international criminal and terrorist organizations. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The U.S. Armed Forces have long played important roles in protecting cultural property, including through Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) teams, known in the past as the \u201cMonuments Men,\u201d who were the subject of a recent film. The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield supports implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cultural property has recently been lost in Egypt due to political instability, in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, in Syria during the civil war, in Iraq and Syria due to ISIS/ISIL, in Mali and Afghanistan from radical Islamist activity, in Haiti from the 2010 earthquake, and as a result of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397721", "Berlin+10 Conference on Anti-Semitism ConcludesSmith Meets with Intl Leaders to Plan Next Steps in the Fight Against Anti-Semitism", "2014-11-14", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Berlin + 10 Conference on Anti-Semitism, held by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), concluded yesterday in Berlin, Germany, with a commitment to address the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), co-chairman of the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission), the U.S. independent agency tasked with OSCE policy), met a group of European officials and activists on the topic of increasing anti-Semitism in Europe. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a prelude to the conference, held from Nov. 12-13, Rep. Smith and others planned steps to ensure that the U.S. and other governments belonging to OSCE implement OSCE efforts on fighting anti-Semitism. These include monitoring and prosecuting hate crimes, and Holocaust education and remembrance. In recent years, many of the OSCE member states have ignored their commitments. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith committed to using congressional hearings and advocacy to ensure that the U.S. government much more vigorously engage other countries to fulfill their pledges to fight anti-Semitism. Smith also plans to hold meetings with foreign ambassadors to urge their countries to fulfill their commitments. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOver the past 10 years we\u2019ve made progress in getting the OSCE and its member states to recognize their responsibility to fight the terrible social evil of anti-Semitism,\u201d said Smith. \u201cNow we\u2019re going to hold their feet to the fire on their commitments. In 2004 we got the OSCE\u2019s 56 member states to make a commitment to this fight, and since that time Rabbi Andy Baker has given us the tools. He has done a wonderful job in building up the credibility and influence of his office within the OSCE, and documenting the exact nature of the problems in various countries. This conference has also documented the failure of many countries to meet their commitments. Now many of us are going to focus on supporting Andy in pressing the member states to honor their commitments.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Officials meeting with Rep. Smith on Nov. 11 included Rabbi Andy Baker, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office\u00a0on Combating Anti-Semitism, Deidre Berger, Director of the American Jewish Committee\u2019s Berlin Office, both of whom hosted the meeting, and Michael Link, Director of the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Ambassador Felix Klein of Germany and over 20 other human rights and Jewish leaders. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the conference, leaders of civil society groups presented information on the horrifying spike in anti-Semitic violence in Europe in 2014, and reviewed implementation of the OSCE\u2019s existing commitments, adopted in the 2004 Berlin Declaration, which has often been sadly lacking. They also proposed next steps to OSCE governments, many of whom were represented by foreign ministers or other cabinet-level officials. Many American human rights groups played leading roles in the NGO forum on November 12, including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B\u2019nai B\u2019rith, Human Rights First, and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the conclusion of the conference Rabbi Baker delivered a statement from the President of Switzerland, which currently chairs the OSCE. Speaking for the Swiss President, Rabbi Baker stated that events that took place in the summer of 2014\u2014attacks on Jewish people, synagogues, schools and other buildings as well as anti-Semitic threats expressed during assemblies, on the Internet and elsewhere\u2014were disconcerting and highlight that anti-Semitism remains a challenge to stability and security in the OSCE region. He called on political, religious and civil society leaders to \u201cuse the freedom of expression, the freedom of the media and the freedom of peaceful assembly as a starting point for dialogue, coalition-building and open debate, including about conflicts in the Middle East, without justifying or resorting to anti-Semitism.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 2002 Rep. Smith chaired a landmark hearing on combatting the escalation of anti-Semitic violence in Europe, and, following the hearing, led U.S. and international parliamentarians in putting the fight against anti-Semitism on the agenda of the OSCE. One result of this was the 2004 Berlin Conference and Declaration, which became touchstones in the battle against anti-Semitism, in which the OSCE adopted its commitments to fight anti-Semitism\u2013the first intergovernmental organization to adopt such meaningful commitments.\u00a0\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141118201500/http://lobiondo.house.gov/press-release/statement-congressman-frank-lobiondo-nba-commissioner-silver%E2%80%99s-ny-times-op-ed-favoring", "Statement of Congressman Frank LoBiondo on NBA Commissioner Silvers NY Times Op-Ed Favoring Bringing Sports-Gaming to States Like New Jersey", "2014-11-14", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "\ufffd\ufffd\ufffdI am pleased to see that NBA Commissioner Silver has seen the wisdom of bringing sports betting out of the shadows and allow states like New Jersey to share in the benefits of a legal gaming option.\ufffd\ufffd We have worked to pass legislation which would allow New Jersey to legally offer sports wagering, and we have also called for action to change to federal sports gaming law.\ufffd\ufffd\n\"Legalized sports betting can help give Atlantic City a needed boost, providing yet another unique entertainment option for patrons in addition to the quality concerts, dining, shopping and beaches already there.\ufffd\ufffd I\ufffd\ufffd\ufffdm pleased that Commissioner Silver has joined the ever growing chorus of elected officials and casino workers, as well as the overwhelming majority of New Jersey residents in pressing for legal, honest wagering on sporting events.\ufffd\ufffd?\ufffd\ufffd\nCongressman LoBiondo and Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ-06) introduced two bills in February 2013 that that would provide for changes in the law that would allow sports gaming in New Jersey. H.R. 626 (Pallone) would exempt New Jersey from current federal law and H.R. 625 (LoBiondo) opens a window in which all states can enact a law providing for sports gambling in their state until January 1, 2017. Both lawmakers are cosponsoring the other\ufffd\ufffd\ufffds legislation.\nNational Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver\ufffd\ufffd\ufffds op-ed for the today\ufffd\ufffd\ufffds New York Times entitled \ufffd\ufffd\ufffdLegalize and Regulate Sports Betting\ufffd\ufffd? can be found online at:\ufffd\ufffd http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/opinion/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-legalize-sports-betting.html?ref=opinion&_r=0\n\ufffd\ufffd\n###\n\ufffd\ufffd\n\ufffd\ufffd", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397705", "On Passing of U.S. Rep. Marge Roukema", "2014-11-13", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Dean of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation, released the following statement upon learning of the death early today of former U.S. Congresswoman Margaret \u201cMarge\u201d Roukema of New Jersey. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMarge and I were both first elected to Congress\u00a0in the Reagan Revolution of 1980, and we served together for many years,\u201d Smith said. \u201cShe was a true public servant, always looking out for New Jersey and her district. Marge\u2019s leadership role in the enactment of our nation\u2019s family medical leave legislation assisted countless families and is a fitting legacy for her time in Congress.\u00a0Marie and I offer our condolences to her family.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith and Roukema both were sworn into Congress in 1981. Roukema served on the Committee on Education and Labor (later renamed the Committee on Education and Workforce) and on the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs (later renamed the Committee on Financial Services). She rose to serve as chair of Financial Services\u2019 the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee, and its Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, until retiring in 2001. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to the historical records of the House of Representatives, she was born Margaret Scafati in Newark, N.J., on September 19, 1929, and named for her mother. Her father, Claude, was a first generation Italian-American who worked as an auto mechanic. She earned a B.A. degree in history and political science from Montclair State College in 1951 and subsequently pursued graduate studies there. In 1975 she also did graduate work in city and regional planning at Rutgers University. She worked as a high school teacher in American history and government before marrying Richard W. Roukema, a psychiatrist. The couple raised three children: Greg, Todd, and Meg. Marge Roukema\u2019s first public service position was on the board of education in Ridgewood, N.J., where she served from 1970 to 1973. Her political activity was, in part, spurred by her 17\u2013year\u2013old son, Todd, and his battle with leukemia.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397712", "Smith Announces Ebola Bill", "2014-11-13", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) gave the following opening statement\u00a0at a congressional hearing today entitled \u201cCombating Ebola in West Africa:\u00a0 The International Response,\u201d held by the House Committee Foreign Affairs:\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"The unprecedented West African Ebola epidemic has not only killed more than 5,000 people, with nearly 13,000 known to be infected, it also has skewed the planning for how to deal with this outbreak,\" said Smith, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee who has held two hearings this year on the Ebola threat. \"In the past, Ebola outbreaks have occurred in isolated areas that were easy to contain.\u00a0 In this instance, the disease quickly spread from a rural area to an international trading center, and people from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone took the disease home with them.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"This disease in early stages appears as do less immediately deadly diseases, such as malaria, which means initial health care workers have been unprepared for the deadly nature of the disease they have been asked to treat. This meant that too many health care workers \u2013 national and international \u2013 have been at risk in treating patients who themselves may not know they have Ebola.\u00a0 Hundreds of health care workers have been infected and many have died, including some of the top medical personnel in the three affected countries.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"What we found quite quickly was that the health care systems in these countries, despite heavy investment by the United States and other donors, are quite weak.\u00a0 As it happens, these are three countries either coming out of very divisive civil conflict or experiencing serious political divisions.\u00a0 Consequently, citizens have not been widely prepared to accept recommendations from their governments.\u00a0 For quite some time, many people in all three countries would not accept that the Ebola epidemic was real.\u00a0 Even now, it is believed that despite the prevalence of burial teams throughout Liberia, for example, some families are reluctant to identify their suffering and dead loved ones for safe burials, which places family members and their neighbors at heightened risk of contracting this often fatal disease when patients are most contagious.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"The porous borders of these three countries have allowed people to cross between countries at will.\u00a0 This may facilitate commerce, but it also allows for diseases to be transmitted regionally.\u00a0 As a result, the prevalence of Ebola in these three countries has ebbed and flowed with the migration of people from one country to another.\u00a0 However, Liberia remains the hardest hit of the three countries, with more than 6,500 Ebola cases officially recorded.\u00a0 The number of infected and dead from Ebola could be as much as three times higher than the official figure due to underreporting.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"Organizations operating on the ground have told us over the past few months that despite the increasing reach of international and national efforts to contact those infected with Ebola, there remain many remote areas where it is still difficult to find residents or gain sufficient trust to obtain their cooperation.\u00a0 This is why my subcommittee has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday, following up on today\u2019s hearing to find out how well overall plans are succeeding on the ground.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"I also want to announce the introduction today of an Ebola bill.\u00a0 This bill lays out the steps needed for the U.S. government to effectively help fight the West African Ebola epidemic, especially in Liberia \u2013 the worst-hit of the three affected countries.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This includes recruiting and training health care personnel, establishing fully functional treatment centers, conducting education campaigns among populations in affected countries and developing diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. It confirms U.S. policy in the anti-Ebola fight and provides necessary authorities for the Administration to continue or expand anticipated actions in this regard.\u00a0 The bill encourages U.S. collaboration with other donors to mitigate the risk of economic collapse and civil unrest in the three affected countries.\u00a0 Furthermore, this legislation authorizes funding of the International Disaster Assistance account at the higher FY2014 level to effectively support these anti-Ebola efforts.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"This committee has taken the lead in working to shape the U.S. response to the Ebola crisis, and with our hearings and this legislation, we continue to provide a blueprint for both the Administration and Congress on what needs to be done to be effective in the fight to contain Ebola in the three countries currently affected.\u00a0 Unless we can prevent the further increase in Ebola cases in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, there will be increasing pressure on the United States and the rest of the international community to combat this threat once it reaches our shores.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397704", "Hearing Set for Fri. Nov. 14 @ 12 noon...Smith to Hold Hearing on Increasing Electricity in Africa", "2014-11-12", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Hearing Set for Fri. Nov. 14 @ 12 noon...Smith to Hold Hearing on Increasing Electricity in Africa \r\n \r\n \r\n State Dept., USAID, and Dept. of Energy to Testify \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n Washington,\r\n Nov 12, 2014\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n The U.S. State Department, U.S. Energy Department and U.S. Agency for International Development and other witnesses will testify at a hearing to be held by the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee\u2019s Africa Subcommittee, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith scheduled the congressional hearing, entitled \u201cThe Future of Energy in Africa,\u201d for Friday.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Who: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Smith, chair of the Africa and global health subcommittee, other Members of the panel, and: \r\n \r\n \r\n Dr. Robert F. Ichord, Jr., Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary Bureau of Energy Resources, U.S. Department of State\r\n \r\n \r\n The Honorable Eric G. Postel, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development\r\n \r\n \r\n Jonathan Elkind, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy\r\n \r\n \r\n Walker A. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of Leadership Africa USA\r\n \r\n \r\n Dianne R. Sutherland, Owner and Publisher, Petroleum Africa Magazine\u00a0\r\n When: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Friday, Nov. 14 from noon to 3 p.m.\r\n Where: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172 (first floor)\r\n \u00a0\r\n \u201cAccording to the International Energy Agency, sub-Saharan Africa is rich in energy resources, but very poor in energy supply,\u201d said Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee\u2019s Africa Subcommittee. \u00a0\u201cOur hearing will look at how the Electrify Africa Act and the Administration\u2019s Power Africa program can supplement private energy projects to help bring electric power to more people in Africa, lifting standards of living across the continent.\u00a0 A more prosperous Africa means better trading partners.\u201d\r\n ###\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141117150339/https://lobiondo.house.gov/press-release/lobiondo%E2%80%99s-national-estuary-program-reauthorization-approved-house", "LoBiondos National Estuary Program Reauthorization Approved by House", "2014-11-12", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Representative Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-02) today applauded the House\u2019s passage of H.R. 5266, the \u201cNational Estuary Program Reauthorization,\u201d which he co-authored with Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), to reauthorize the National Estuary Program (NEP) through 2018.\nEstablished in 1987, the NEP\u2019s goal is to improve the quality of estuaries by developing plans for attaining or maintaining water quality. This includes protection of public water supplies and the protection of indigenous populations of shellfish, fish, and wildlife. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation\u2019s estuaries provide habitat for 75% of the U.S. commercial fish catch and 80-90% of the recreational fish catch.\n\u201cThis legislation is of vital importance to my South Jersey district and to its residents, who have an economic and environmental stake in protecting this cherished local resource,\u201d said LoBiondo, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. \u201cI applaud my House colleagues for recognizing the vital importance of the National Estuary Program, its impact on every state and the economic value of our estuaries. Likewise, I appreciate Mr. Larsen\u2019s partnership on a critical bill to keep our waters clean for future generations.\u201d\n\u201cPuget Sound borders my district in Washington state and is our county\u2019s second largest estuary, which is home to dozens of species of fish, birds and mammals. I am pleased my colleagues in the House voted to approve funding for restoration of vital habitats like these all over the country,\u201d Rep. Larsen said. \u201cIn the Pacific Northwest, we know that protecting natural resources such as estuaries is critical for both the environment and the economy. Trade, fishing, tourism, and outdoor recreation in our region create and sustain thousands of jobs, and all of these activities depend on a healthy Puget Sound. I appreciate working with Rep. LoBiondo on this bipartisan bill that will ensure local organizations across the country can continue their work to protect and restore estuaries.\u201d\nLocated in South Jersey, Delaware, and Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Delaware Estuary is home to the second largest concentration of migrating shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere, as well as dozens of protected species, and the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world.\u00a0 The Estuary is also home to over 5 million people and some of the largest refineries and chemical manufacturers on the East Coast.\u00a0\nLoBiondo has worked closely with the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the group charged with improving the water quality of the estuary. The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is one of 28 designated NEP organizations.\n\u201cThe clean water, fish, wildlife, and economic value provided by estuaries like the Delaware River and Bay are critical to the future of our region, and the country. The National Estuary Program reauthorization bill, sponsored by Representative Frank LoBiondo, will help insure those values for future generations and it is great news for the Partnership,\" said Jen Adkins, the Executive Director of The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.\n\u201cThe Partnership has done a tremendous job to not only protect and enhance the Delaware estuary, but also to raise public awareness about the need to act responsibly and care for this unique ecosystem,\u201d continued LoBiondo. \u201cIt has been an honor to work closely with them and I look forward to continue our efforts in the years to come.\u201d\nIn addition to reauthorizing the program until 2018, LoBiondo\u2019s bipartisan legislation would reduce federal spending while ensuring that money goes directly to NEP partners. The Congressman was proud to ensure that end users, like The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, would be seeing more money put to work where it is needed and not tied up in Washington D.C.\nThe bill now moves to the Senate for that chamber\u2019s consideration.\n\n\t\u00a0# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397692", "Veteran HonoredMonmouth Vet Presented with Bronze Star for Service", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "To mark Veteran's Day 2014, U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) presented a long-overdue Bronze Medal to Richard A. Walker, Jr. of Neptune City, nearly 44 years after he was supposed to get it for combat action in Vietnam.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith additionally presented Mr. Walker with: the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal; the National Defense Service Medal; the Vietnam Service Medal & Bronze Star Attachment; the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, and; the Sharpshooter Badge & Rifle Bar. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDuring my tour of duty in Vietnam, in which I was proud to serve my country, I was awarded the Bronze Star and other medals,\u201d said Mr. Walker in a request to Congressman Smith for assistance. \u201cIn 1969-1970 it was better to be obscure than chastised.\u00a0 Recently my son, a police officer in Ocean Township, found some of my pictures I had of my Vietnam unit and asked for them [the medals] to hang in his office.\u00a0 I would like to give him my medals but don\u2019t have them. I never received them.\u00a0 My attempts to get them have been in vain.\u00a0 Any help in procuring them would be greatly appreciated.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI wish I could share it with the ones who didn\u2019t come back,\u201d Walker said of his fallen comrades-in-arms when was presented with the medal Friday. \u201cA lot of lost souls there. I\u2019ll accept this for them.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Walker served in the United States Army in Vietnam from Dec. 6, 1969 until 44 years ago today, to Nov. 10, 1970. He quit high school and volunteered in 1966, leaving as a sergeant. He was eligible for the Bronze Star for a special operation close to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) about which he was given few details. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith sent a letter to the National Archives\u2019 National Person Records Center requesting the medals be issued. The Army approved the request and Smith received the medals on Oct. 27, and presented them before Walker's son, Ocean Township Patrolman Steven Walker; a family friend, Officer Chris Stenger, an ex-Marine and combat veteran of Afghanistan, and; several reporters on Nov. 7 at Smith's Freehold Office. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis was a slip up that needed to be made right,\u201d said Smith, who was the chairman of the Veterans Committee in the House of Representatives for four years. \u201cThe Bronze Star and the other medals are an important part of the Walker family history. I am glad his son prompted Mr. Walker to seek them, because he served his country honorably. The medals are long overdue.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397697", "Star Ledger article on Monmouth Vet:Vietnam veteran from Monmouth County finally receives Bronze Star", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Star Ledger article on Monmouth Vet:Vietnam veteran from Monmouth County finally receives Bronze Star \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n FREEHOLD, NJ,\r\n Nov 10, 2014\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n By Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com/The Star-Ledger \r\n\r\nWhen Richard Walker, Jr. came home from Vietnam \u2013 and the conflict he volunteered to serve in with the U.S. Army \u2013 the last thing he was thinking about was collecting the medals he earned there.\r\n\"I think I did a good job and I was proud that I served. But when I came home, we were 'baby killers' and 'dope smokers,' and if you came back as a military person you were ostracized,\" Walker said. \"So I came home, grew my hair long, traveled the country for a few years, finally met a good wife and settled down.\" However, when the 66-year-old Neptune City resident's son, Steven, started asking about his service, looking through photos and asking about the medals he did not have, Walker reached out to U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4th District) to see if it was still possible to get them.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397698", "FiOS 1 TV Features NJ VetVietnam War veteran receives long overdue Bronze Medal", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FiOS 1 TV Features NJ VetVietnam War veteran receives long overdue Bronze Medal \r\n \r\n \r\n Richard Walker of Neptune City was supposed to have been given the award almost 45 years ago \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n FREEHOLD, N.J.,\r\n Nov 10, 2014\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) presented a long-overdue Bronze Medal to Richard A. Walker, Jr. of Neptune City, nearly 45 years after he was supposed to get it for combat action in Vietnam. Mr. Walker accepted the medal before family and friends and reporters from The Star Ledger, the Asbury Park Press and Fios 1 TV.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith additionally presented Mr. Walker with: the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal; the National Defense Service Medal; the Vietnam Service Medal & Bronze Star Attachment; the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, and; the Sharpshooter Badge & Rifle Bar. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n \r\n\u00a0\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397701", "Neptune City Vietnam Vet finally collects Bronze Star", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY DAN RADEL APP STAFF WRITER - When he returned from the Vietnam War in 1970, Richard A. Walker, Jr. did not want to receive his Bronze Star.\r\n\u201cIn the \u201960s and \u201970s being a military person you got spit on, called baby killers. It was better to be obscure than chastised,\u201d said Walker, 66, of Neptune City.\r\n\u201cAnd I never liked the way we ended it there by just walking out,\u201d he added\r\nBorn in Point Pleasant, his family moved to Wall Township where he dropped out of high school and volunteered to go to Vietnam in 1965. The United States Army sent him to Germany instead.\r\nSo he re-enlisted for another three years.\r\n\u201cI had some friends who went over and died and I thought I had to go. I had to get into the fight,\u201d said Walker.\r\nIn 1969, he got the deployment he wanted and touched down in Vietnam on Dec. 6, 1969, into what he said was the most intense experience in his life. It was \u201csheer panic all the time,\u201d a blur, and Walker, who achieved the rank of sergeant, is still not absolutely sure what he did to earn the Bronze Star.\r\n\u201cYour commanders are the ones who put you down for the awards and you don\u2019t always know what you did,\u201d said Walker.\r\nHe knew in 1970 when he received his DD Form 214 \u2014 the Report of Separation \u2014 when his service was complete that someone had put him down for the honor.\r\nBut he opted to put his military life behind him, marry and raise a family.\r\n\u201cHe never talked about it. He only recently started opening up about it, going through pictures,\u201d said his son, Steven Walker, 34.\r\nSteven Walker, an Ocean Township police officer, encouraged his father to seek his long overdue medal and the recognition he never got.\r\nThey wrote Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., in September, who got back to them in \u201crecord time,\u201d said the younger Walker.\r\n\u201cThis was a slip up that needed to be made right,\u201d said Smith, who chaired the Veterans Committee in the House of Representatives for four years. \u201cI am glad his son prompted (him) to seek them because he served his country honorably.\u201d\r\nSmith contacted the National Archives\u2019 National Person Records Center and the Army approved Walker\u2019s Bronze Star, and a half-dozen more medals.\r\nSmith presented them to Walker on Friday at a small ceremony at his second-floor Freehold Township office.\r\n\u201cI\u2019m very appreciative of it. I wish I could share it with everyone who didn\u2019t come back,\u201d said Walker.\r\nHis son intends to keep the medals, with his father\u2019s service photos, next his grandfather\u2019s burial flag for his World War II service.\r\nOriginally printed on Nov. 8, 2014 in the Asbury Pak Press and online at: \r\nhttp://www.app.com/story/news/local/2014/11/07/neptune-city-vietnam-veteram-gets-bronze-medal/18670083/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/cape-may-county-veterans-day-ceremony-and-dedication-prayer-garden", "Cape May County Veterans' Day Ceremony and Dedication of Prayer Garden", "2014-11-06", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Cape May County Veterans' Day Ceremony and Dedication of Prayer Garden \n \t Start: \n \t November 11, 2014 2:00 pm\n \t End: \n \t November 11, 2014 3:00 pm\n \t \n \t \t Location: \n \t Cape May County Cemetery on Moore Road, Cape May Court House, New Jersey\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Nov 6, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/christmas-offices-closed", "Christmas - Offices Closed", "2014-11-06", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Christmas - Offices Closed \n \t Start: \n \t December 25, 2014\n \t End: \n \t December 25, 2014\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Nov 6, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/mainland-regionals-veterans-appreciation-breakfast", "Mainland Regional's Veterans Appreciation Breakfast", "2014-11-06", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Mainland Regional's Veterans Appreciation Breakfast \n \t Start: \n \t November 11, 2014 8:15 am\n \t End: \n \t November 11, 2014 10:00 am\n \t \n \t \t Location: \n \t Mainland Regional High School - 1301 Oak Avenue, Linwood, New Jersey\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Nov 6, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/millville-high-schools-veterans-day-ceremony-0", "Millville High School's Veterans Day Ceremony", "2014-11-06", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Millville High School's Veterans Day Ceremony \n \t Start: \n \t November 10, 2014 8:30 am\n \t End: \n \t November 10, 2014 10:00 am\n \t \n \t \t Location: \n \t Millville High School - 200 N. Wade Boulevard, Millville, New Jersey\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Nov 6, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/upper-deerfield-townships-annual-veterans-day-ceremony-1", "Upper Deerfield Township's Annual Veterans Day Ceremony", "2014-11-06", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Upper Deerfield Township's Annual Veterans Day Ceremony \n \t Start: \n \t November 8, 2014 10:00 am\n \t End: \n \t November 8, 2014 11:00 am\n \t \n \t \t Location: \n \t Veterans Monument (behind the Township Hall) on Route 77, Seabroo, New Jersey\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Nov 6, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397686", "Fallen Vets Being Honored in Middletown", "2014-11-03", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) joined the Middletown Veterans Affairs Committee and local officials Wednesday to inspect one of the first street signs installed to pay tribute to fallen veterans. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 30 signs will be added to township streets that honor our fallen men and women in uniform serving from World War II to present. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The commemorative sign includes the soldier\u2019s full name, an American flag, branch of service, campaign served and a gold star in honor of their mother. (A gold star signifies the soldier was killed in action.) The Veterans Affairs Committee is working with Committeeman Anthony Fiore and Public Works Director Ted Maloney to install all the street signs before year\u2019s end.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Veterans Affairs Committee is looking to contact families of Middletown\u2019s fallen war heroes. Family members are encouraged to call (732) 787-8510 for more information about the project.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397684", "Smith Urges Caution in Establishing New Burkina Faso Government", "2014-11-01", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Continued street protests by tens of thousands of Burkina Faso citizens and the subsequent burning of government building and looting led President Blaise Campaore to dissolve the country\u2019s government.\u00a0However, his effort to seek a negotiated settlement of the crisis failed, and he resigned and left the country.\u00a0 Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, is urging the military junta that has assumed control of the Burkina Faso government to take care not to prolong the uprising by entrenching military rule. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPresident Compaore had been in office since 1987, and while he had been considered a helpful force in working with the international community to address challenges in the West African region, he refused to listen to his citizens on the issue of prolonging his rule, provoking the current crisis,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0 \u201cBurkina Faso experienced several coups and coup attempts before President Compaore took power in 1987, and we hope the military will now act to prevent a return to that period of turmoil.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Both the United States and France have established military bases in Burkina Faso to combat Islamic terrorism linked to al-Qaeda in the greater Sahel region of Africa. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Burkina Faso became independent as Upper Volta in 1960, and was renamed Burkina Faso in 1984. Initial President Maurice Yameogo was overthrown in a coup by Sangoule Lamizana in 1966, who was himself overthrown by Saye Zerbo in 1980. Two more coups in 1982 and 1987 resulted in Mr. Comparore seizing power.\u00a0 He won four disputed elections since that time and was trying to amend the constitution to allow him to run for yet another term in office.\u00a0 This move was widely unpopular and caused both political opposition and street violence. Burkina Faso is now under the control of the military with army chief General Honore Traore nominally in charge. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite an International Monetary Fund prediction of 6.7% growth in Burkina Faso in 2014, the country ranks 181st out of 187 countries on the UN Development Programme Human Development Index and is rated as the world\u2019s third poorest country.\u00a0\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397685", "Smith Issues Welcome to U.S. Marine Unjustly Held in Mexico for 214 Days", "2014-11-01", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) issued a warm welcome to former U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, released last night after an imprisonment in Mexico that lasted for 214 days. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSgt. Tahmooressi has served his country faithfully and fought for the freedom of others, but he was wrongly held in Mexico,\u201d said Smith, who participated at a hearing on Capitol Hill Oct. 1 entitled Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi: Our Marine in Mexican Custody. \u201cI am glad he is home with his family. And while I welcome his release with joy, it is long overdue.\u201d Click here to watch an October 2014 video of Smith at the congressional hearing calling for the U.S. government to more actively facilitate his release. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The House committee heard testimony from Sgt. Tahmooressi\u2019s mother Jill Tahmooressi; Lt. Commander Montel B. Williams, USN, (Retired); Mr. Pete Hegseth, CEO of the Concerned Veterans for America; and Sgt. Robert Buchanan, USMC, (Retired) who served with Sgt. Tahmooressi in Afghanistan. \u00a0 At the hearing Mrs. Tahmooressi described her son as \"privileged to serve the war on terror\" and \"willing to lose his life for freedom, liberty and elimination of oppression.\" According to various accounts, the Marine veteran accidentally drove over the U.S.-Mexican border and was not allowed to reverse his vehicle. According to news reports, a Mexican \u00a0judge released the former Marine Friday for humanitarian reasons on a recommendation from the Mexican Attorney General's Office. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All witnesses expressed concerns for the safety and wellbeing of Sgt. Tahmooressi and the inaction on the part of this Administration to make any effort to contact the family in their time of need or to address this injustice directly with the Government of Mexico. Smith stressed how Sgt. Tahmooressi\u2019s lengthy incarceration and declining health could have long-term negative consequences for his wellbeing. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith has worked on numerous cases where Americans citizens have been unjustly incarcerated overseas, including the imprisonment of American Jacob Ostreicher in Bolivia, or wrongfully separated from their loved ones, as in the case of David Goldman of New Jersey and his son Sean. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith is a co-sponsor of H Res 620, a resolution calling upon the President to utilize the full authority of his office to secure the release of Sgt. Tahmooressi, and for the Government of Mexico to return him to the United States with all possible speed so he can receive the appropriate medical assistance.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397683", "Many NJ fire companies have won AFG grant in pastKey Firefighter Grant Application Period Opens Monday, Nov. 3", "2014-10-31", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Applications for the popular Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) offered by the federal government will be accepted beginning Monday, Nov. 3 and ending Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"This is an important FEMA grant that can help protect firefighters in harm\u2019s way and help them do their job protecting lives, homes and businesses in our communities,\u201d said Smith, a long-time member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. \u201cEvery fire department should take a hard look at this grant.\u00a0 Congress created it to be flexible and it has been historically well-funded.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith, who voted to create the equipment grant program in 2000, noted that under the AFG program, millions of dollars have come to New Jersey firefighters for such equipment as radios, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), turn out gear (firefighting suits, boots and helmet), and even fire vehicles such as ladders and pumpers. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMany local fire companies in Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties have received multiple grants over the years,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut even if a previous application has been rejected, or if other grants in past years have been received, I encourage applicants to consider trying again this year. They can contact my office if they need assistance. We have been able to overcome some hurdles for applicants. The most important thing is to not miss the Dec. 5 deadline.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The grant comes through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Assistance to Firefighters Grants Operations and Safety Grant Program. It is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The purpose of AFG is to award grants directly to fire departments and non-affiliated Emergency Medical Services organizations (EMS) to protect both the health and safety of the public and first-responder personnel. A competitive process\u2014overseen by fire service subject matter experts\u2014awards grants to applicants whose requests are aligned with the priorities of the AFG Program. For more about the FY 2014 AFG Program please visithttp://www.fema.gov/assistance-firefighters-grant. For additional information on the FY 2014 AFG program please visit our web site at: http://www.fema.gov/assistance-firefighters-grant, or contact the AFG Program Help Desk at 1-866-274-0960 or via email at firegrants@dhs.gov. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For towns of less than 20,000, there is a 5 percent applicant match. For towns of over 20,000 residents (but less than one million) there is a 20 percent applicant match. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nationally, $340 million is available via the FY 2014 funds appropriated by Congress, of which $34 million is allocated to fund the FY 2014 Fire Prevention & Safety grant program. The remaining $304 million is available, funding for vehicles limited to 25 percent of the total 2014 AFG appropriation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Interested organizations are eligible to submit up to three applications under the following categories for FY 2014: Operations and Safety for professional training, wellness and fitness programs equipment, personal protective equipment, modifications to facilities, and supplies that support firefighting and non-affiliated EMS operations and safety; Vehicle Acquisition for: pumpers, aerials, brush trucks, tankers/tenders, rescue vehicles, ambulances; and Regional Grants in which multiple organizations serving more than one local jurisdiction would benefit directly from the activities requested with grant funds. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congress created the program to upgrade capabilities of local firefighters to respond to fires and fire-related hazards, such as vehicular accidents. Since 2001, the AFG has provided approximately $6.1 billion in grants to first-responder organizations to obtain much-needed emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles, and training. During fiscal year (FY) 2014, the AFG will award another $304.5 million to first-responder organizations that need support to improve their capability to respond to fires and emergencies of all types. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congressman Smith, who represents New Jersey\u2019s Fourth Congressional District in the House of Representatives, has offices in Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties.\u00a0 Inquiries regarding the AFG program should be directed to the Monmouth County office is located at 112 Village Center Drive, Raintree Towne Center, 2nd floor.\u00a0 The phone number is (732) 780-3035.\u00a0\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141104200215/http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/millville-army-air-field-museums-12th-annual-veterans-appreciation-day", "Millville Army Air Field Museum's 12th Annual Veteran's Appreciation Day", "2014-10-31", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Millville Army Air Field Museum's 12th Annual Veteran's Appreciation Day \n \t \nStart: \n \t November 1, 2014 11:00 am\n\n \t \nEnd: \n \t November 1, 2014 11:00 am\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Oct 31, 2014 \t\t \t \n \t \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Location: 1 Leddon Street, Millville", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397674", "Cong. Smith, Officials Mark Second Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy", "2014-10-29", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "On the two year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy\u2019s landfall in New Jersey, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), who represents some of the hardest hit towns at the shore, toured several areas slammed by Superstorm Sandy to assess recovery efforts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTwo years ago\u00a0today, New Jersey rallied to help those in need after Superstorm Sandy unleashed devastation on our home state,\u201d said Smith, who toured every town in his district and beyond within hours after the Superstorm hit New Jersey. \u201cThe damage to the shore communities was immense on a scale not seen before: towns across the state were ravaged, homes destroyed, thousands displaced with many residents reeling from the aftermath.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today Smith joined Howell Mayor Bill Gotto and Deputy Mayor Rob Nicastro at the Mariner\u2019s Cove community in Howell Township along the Manasquan River to see the sites of four demolished homes that were heavily damaged by Sandy and also Hurricane Irene in 2011, and sole remaining home slated for demolition. The homes were purchased by the township with state and federal funding. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith later joined Middletown Mayor Stephanie Murray and Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore to tour the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach replenishment and restoration project on Ideal Beach in Middletown, and the still-damaged Bray Avenue Bridge on the Middletown-Port Monmouth border, and a Middletown home on Roop Avenue still in need of demolition. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As New Jersey was coping with and recovering from the most destructive storm ever in our region\u2014and perhaps the second or third most costly in all of American history\u2014Smith helped push through Congress a package of legislation which sent $60 billion to Sandy-impacted areas to recover and rebuild. Using the funding provided in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, many communities in the Fourth Congressional District have rebuilt facilities, boardwalks, bulkheads and more. Many towns received substantial federal assistance to rebuild (click here to see some of the grants). \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWinning approval of federal disaster assistance was just the beginning and I have continued to fight to ensure our state\u2019s needs are fully met and prioritized within the federal government,\u201d said Smith who worked to ensure that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would reimburse communities at a rate of 90 percent for clean-up expenses along our shoreline and successfully persuaded HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to make an iron-clad commitment to meet the remaining housing needs of the victims of Sandy in New Jersey. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith met with the highest official at FEMA, Director Craig Fugate, and pressed FEMA to approve a 90 percent federal share for FEMA funding going to all Jersey public assistance programs that pay for cleanup and reconstruction costs\u2014instead of the initially planned 75 percent. The resulting savings added up to millions of dollars which local towns and counties were spared. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFortunately, FEMA awards for 90 percent of the cost of work, with a local cost share of only 10 percent, made a difference for many towns,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHad FEMA not raised the cost-share rate from 75 to 90 percent, many local towns would have had to come up with additional hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time when they were financially strapped and normal tax ratables such as homes and businesses were unoccupied and closed.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For instance, for the hard fought federal dollars to rebuild the boardwalk in Ocean Grove (Neptune Township), the FEMA award of $2.38 million was an estimated $400,000 higher with the 90 percent cost-share. FEMA had initially denied funding the project, but Smith and other local leaders rallied for more than a year to eventually see the decision finally reversed earlier this year. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Post Sandy HUD funding awarded to New Jersey totals $4.174 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), including $2 billion to Homeowner Assistance Programs & Rental Housing and Rental Programs. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith also cosponsored and successfully pushed Congress to enact a number of reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), through the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act (P.L. 113-89). This law stopped the pending flood insurance premium increases mandated under the Biggert-Waters legislation that became law in 2012.\u00a0 P.L. 113-39 also phased in rate changes for current policy holders, enabled the transfer of consistent insurance rates when homeowners sell their properties and promotes the solvency of the NFIP for years to come. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhile there is no doubt that our state is resilient and has rebuilt much of the damaged areas, there are remaining issues impacting homeowners and businesses,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe must continue to work to ensure that our communities will be made whole.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Click here for addition resources on Recovering from Hurricane Sandy for Jersey Residents.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397669", "Smith Presents Safety Awards at UPSCongressman Visits Tinton Falls UPS Facility", "2014-10-28", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith visited workers at the UPS facility on Hope Road\u00a0in Tinton Falls NJ\u00a0 this week to mark employee safety achievements.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0UPS liaison Sean Pender and\u00a0UPS Preload Manager Tracey Celmer conducted the tour of the Tinton Falls facility's preload operations. Smith observed plant operations areas for unload, sorting, and belt-to-car loading. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Plant officials also reviewed\u00a0UPS dispatch process, including ORION and DIAD. He met and spoke to various UPS both management and hourly employees. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Congressman congratulated each of the 10 Tinton Falls Circle of Honor recipents: Ronald Dimsey, Joesph Domas, Daniel Gonnella, Glenn Kenworthy, Kevin Nash, John Nolan, Douglas Silk, Joseph Tamarana, Ronald Thorne and James Wurth. He presented each with congressional certificates of recognition for their safety awards.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397670", "Bill Enacted Oct. 28, 200014th Anniversary of Landmark Trafficking Law; Marking Progress Against Modern Day Slavery", "2014-10-28", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees global human rights, and author of the landmark law, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, Public Law 106-386), today marked the 14th anniversary of the law that has challenged modern day slavery in the U.S. and around the world and is rescuing women and children from the hideous crime of human trafficking.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith, co-chair and co-founder of the House Human Trafficking Caucus and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, said the law was enacted Oct. 28, 2000 to launch domestic and international efforts to monitor and combat human trafficking. \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhen I first introduced the TVPA in 1998, the legislation was met with skepticism and outright opposition,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPeople both inside of government and out thought the bold new strategy that included sheltering, asylum and other protections for the victims, long jail sentences and asset confiscation for the traffickers, and tough sanctions for governments that failed to meet minimum standards, was merely a solution in search of a problem.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But according to the International Labor Organization, as cited in the annual report issued by the U.S. State Department\u2019s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office created by Smith\u2019s law, more than 20 million people worldwide are trafficking victims. Some anti-human trafficking non-governmental organizations (NGO), suggests that there are over 27 million victims. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Progress has been made in combating adult human trafficking over the last nine fiscal years since enactment of the TVPA.\u00a0 According to the most recent data, 1,108 traffickers were charged in the United States under federal human trafficking laws between 2000-2012, with 755 traffickers successfully convicted. In Smith\u2019s own Garden State, there have been 21 state level prosecutions.\u00a0 There have been a reported 237 victims rescued since 2005. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIn the past 14 years we have seen progress on a number of anti-trafficking fronts,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWith a combination of encouragement, plus some persuasion and sustained pressure via sanctions imposed by the United States, countries around the world have created or amended over 200 laws to combat human trafficking and in the past two years alone an estimated 80,000 victims have been identified and assisted worldwide. Since 2004, the TVPA has resulted in Anti-Human Trafficking Task Forces in 42 cities across the U.S., including one in Trenton, N.J.\u00a0These task forces identify potential victims of human trafficking, coordinate local and federal law enforcement to rescue victims, assist with referrals for victim care, and train law enforcement.\u00a0 More than 3,000 women and girls have been identified through federal trafficking grants. In New Jersey, 237 trafficking victims have been identified.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0TVPA funds the toll-free National Human Trafficking Hotline, (888) 373-7888, which connects victims or those concerned about potential victims with assistance and rescue if needed.\u00a0 The hotline showed:\n \n New Jersey is in the top 15 states for number of calls to the hotline.\u00a0Between 2007 and 2013, more than 750 calls came from New Jersey. \n Between 2007 and 2013, more than 14,600 potential sex trafficking victims were identified.\u00a0\u00a0\n Nationally, Approximately 80 percent of calls involve female potential victims of human trafficking.\n Pimp-controlled sex trafficking also had the highest percentage of sex trafficking cases involving minors\u201440 percent of cases involved child victims.\n The data from 2007-2012 showed that 88 percent\u00a0 of sex trafficking victims with a pimp were female, as were 86 percent of likely domestic labor trafficking victims.\n Even more tragically between 2007 and 2013 at least 4,306 likely child trafficking cases were reported nationwide\u2014the vast majority of these cases involved of little girls.\n \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has estimated that 1 in 7 endangered runaways reported to them in 2013 were likely trafficking victims. \u00a0Researchers and NGOs estimate 200,000-300,000 American children are at risk of being trafficked, and that there may be as many as 100,000 American children\u2014mostly runaways, average age of initial enslavement 13 years old\u2014exploited in the commercial sex industry each year. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThese children, when found, need specialized care to help them reclaim their lives from the trauma of human trafficking.\u00a0 States and federal government alike must ensure that these children receive the rehabilitation they need to break free from the emotional chains of abuse and that they know what happened to them is not normal life,\u201d Smith said. \n\u00a0 \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The TVPA-created TIP report uses tier rankings set by the U.S. State Department to evaluate just how hard governments around the world are combating human trafficking. Good or bad, the record is laid out for the world to see. TVPA also created the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department. Its annual TIP Report rates 195 nations.\u00a0Rep. Smith chaired a special hearing in April to evaluate the records of countries downgraded to the lowest tier in the 2013 report, such as China and Russia, as well as countries facing downgrades. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since the TIP Report\u2019s inception, more than 120 countries have enacted anti-trafficking laws and many countries have taken other steps required to significantly raise their tier rankings\u2014citing the TIP Report as a key factor in their increased anti-trafficking response. At the April 2014 hearing, Congress also examined problems in Europe and other developed countries, such as Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Italy and others. The 2014 report confirms again this year that Brazil continues to have a major problem with child sex tourism, and recommends that Brazil vigorously investigate and prosecute those who engage in the prostitution of children. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In addition to the original 2000 law (P.L. 106-386) which provided for the annual reports, Smith wrote two subsequent anti-trafficking laws (PL 108-193 and PL 109-164) increasing resources for crime prevention and expanding treatment assistance for victims.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397664", "Smith, Mayor Yaede announce studyTrenton Times Article: 'U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begin studying flood causes at Assunpink Creek in Hamilton'", "2014-10-27", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY MIKE DAVIS, TIMES OF TRENTON STAFF WRITER - \r\nThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun studying causes and impact of flooding at the Assunpink Creek, officials announced on Friday.\r\nThe $500,000 study is expected to take two years to complete and will include the eight-mile section of the creek that stretches from Mercer Lake in Mercer County Park through Trenton to the Delaware River, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) announced in a news release. \r\nIf a feasible flooding solution is identified, the Corps and state will begin to design alternative improvement options.\r\n\"These types of projects take time, but the Army Corps of Engineers has committed itself to investigate all possible solutions to the flooding which has plagued this area of Hamilton Township for many years,\u201d Smith said in a news release.\r\nThe Trenton portion of the creek is currently undergoing a \u201cdaylighting\u201d project to direct the creek out from underground to improve fish migration and natural habitat, but have no impact on flooding.\r\n\u201cIt is a promising sign for our community, and especially our residents who have endured significant flooding in the past, to finally see a study like this take place; and I am pleased that this issue is now getting the consideration that it deserves,\" Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede said. \r\nIn 2012, the corps issued surveys regarding flood damage to residents and businesses near the creek to determine the viability of new flood mitigation projects. This article was originally published Oct. 24 at: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/10/us_army_corps_of_engineers_begin_studying_flood_causes_impact_at_assunpink_creek_in_hamilton.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397665", "Smith Helped Millstone Senior Project with Federal Home Loan Bank-NY, HUD Issues:'Affordable Housing Alliance provides housing for seniors'", "2014-10-27", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY WRITER KELLY CORDREY FOR ASBURY PARK PRESS - \r\nSome people thought we'd never get a shovel in the ground, Donna Blaze, CEO of the Affordable Housing Alliance (AHA), told the crowd on a rainy Thursday morning. But on October 23rd AHA did just that with a groundbreaking event for its newest project, known as the Allen House Apartments. The design and location reflect the commitment and the compassion of Millstone Township, Blaze said. \r\n\u00a0 \r\nThis ten unit apartment complex, housing seniors 62 and over, will offer units on a four acre, lakeside property in Millstone Township, across from the municipal building. Following the Alliance mission, these ten units will be affordable to low and moderate income seniors and will help Millstone Township meet its affordable housing obligation. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) income limit for Monmouth County, 2014 is $30,600 for one person and $34,950 for a family size of two. As these apartments are one bedroom units, the maximum family size would be two people.\r\nThe success of this project is due to collaboration among Millstone Township, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Home Loan Bank of NY, NeighborWorks America and the Affordable Housing Alliance.\r\nMrs. Blaze also went on to thank Congressman Chris Smith, the consulting engineers on the project, Leon S. Avakian Inc., the contractor, C. Raymond Davis & Sons Inc., and senior associate, Asish Patel, from the Monarch Housing Associates.\r\nMillstone Township Mayor Bob Kinsey also addressed the crowd on the towns experience with the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). The town purchased this property in 2006 and soon after made it a part of the COAH plan. In the past 18 months, weve developed over 20 COAH units. This project, in particular, is a very unique property for seniors. Former Millstone Mayor, Nancy Grbelja, talked about the successful partnership the town has had with the Alliance. She hopes the partnership continues in the future and feels that Millstone is a COAH model for the rest of the state.\r\nThis is the most recent Alliance project to be developed in Monmouth County, adding to the approximately 400 housing units in AHAs portfolio. Allen House will be the Alliance's second sizable senior project, with the Carver House in Neptune, NJ being the first. This is the third partnership between the Alliance and the township of Millstone in the last three years. To date, AHA has provided housing for 26 clients in partnership with Millstone Township, leveraging nearly four million dollars in local, state and federal funding. The budget for the Allen House apartments is just under two million dollars.\r\nMaria Maio-Messano, field office director for HUD-Newark, appreciated the work it took to get the development done for this project. HUD provided 90% of the funds for construction. Tenacity doesnt cover it, she commented. It takes courage and a collaborative spirit. I envy the seniors who live here.\r\nNeighborWorks America was also represented. Keith Getter, relationship manager for the national nonprofit organization, spoke about the outcome of a project such as this. The end result of a project we invest in is to transform lives. The people here understand what it takes to develop this project. Despite the rain right now, at the end of the day, it is sunny and bright. The expertise and the needs of the community all come together. If theres a need, heres a helping hand. In the spirit of the Affordable Housing Alliance, I offer you a heartfelt thank you and congratulations.\r\nThe groundbreaking initiates the start of the construction by C. Raymond Davis & Sons, based on a design provided by local architect, David Feldman. Applications will be available at the municipal administrative building or through the Affordable Housing Alliance directly. Applications can be received by calling 732-389-2958 or going on line at www.housingall.org to do an online intake. Construction is anticipated to be complete in June of 2015, at which time a random selection of applicants will be made from those who have pre-qualified. The development includes the expansion of AHA's Spring House property's social service program, providing monthly medical screenings for residents, and transportation services to popular destinations with\u00a0two outings per year. The original story has been published at:\u00a0 http://www.app.com/story/getpublished/2014/10/24/affordable-housing-alliance-provides-housing-for-seniors/17860711/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397662", "Congressman Smith Gives Keynote Address at Autism NJs 32nd Annual Conference in Atlantic City", "2014-10-25", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), a long-time advocate for autism-related issues in Congress and co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Coalition on Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.), gave the opening keynote address today at the 32nd Annual Autism Conference held by the advocacy group Autism NJ at the Atlantic City Convention Center.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhen I first got elected to Congress in 1980, the generally accepted prevalence rate for autism in America was approximately 3 in 10,000,\u201d Smith told the audience of more the 1,000 parents, educators and caregivers of children and young adults with autism. \u201cToday it\u2019s 1 in 68; 1 in 45 in New Jersey. I\u2019ve chaired three congressional hearings on global autism\u2014no nation is immune.\u201d\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe have made serious progress.\u00a0 The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Plan notes that \u2018with major findings emerging nearly every week, autism research has become one of the hottest fields in biomedical science,\u2019\u201d Smith said. (Click here to read his keynote address.)\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork on early screening tools has accelerated and that\u2019s good, but only 20 percent of children are being identified early\u2014and that\u2019s not good\u2014by three years of age. That needs to improve. Not getting early diagnosis means those kids aren\u2019t benefiting from early intervention,\u201d he said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith focused on a bill he wrote that was signed into law in August 2014, the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support (CARES) Act, which will provide $1.3 billion for autism research over the next five years. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A major requirement of Smith\u2019s legislation is that the Secretary of Health and Human Services along with the Secretaries of Education, Transportation, Labor, Housing and Urban Development and the Attorney General study, analyze and report back to Congress on demographic characteristics of youth transitioning from school-based to community-based supports, all policies and programs relevant to young adults with ASD relating to post-secondary school transitional services, and proposals on establishing best practices to ensure interdisciplinary coordination between all service providers receiving Federal funding. It also promotes comprehensive approaches to transitioning from school-based services to those services available during adulthood including post-secondary education, employment, behavioral supports, housing, transportation, nutrition, health, recreational and social activities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith also told the audience that in July he chaired a congressional hearing on the challenges of aging-out including employment opportunities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith is the author of the 2011 law,The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act (CARA)\u2014 (now Public Law 112-32) enacted in September 2011. CARA authorized autism-related programs for fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014 and included: $22 million for the Developmental Disabilities Surveillance and Research Program; $48 million for Autism Education, Early Detection, and Intervention, and; $161 million for hundreds of Research Grants at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. He is also the author of the landmark federal study and the enactment of legislation in 2000\u2014the Autism Statistics, Surveillance, Research and Epidemiology Act (Title I, P.L. 106-310)\u2014which created the first comprehensive federal program to combat autism.\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397661", "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Launches Feasibility Study of Assunpink Creek", "2014-10-24", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun a feasibility study to examine the flooding that has historically hit neighborhoods along Assunpink Creek in Hamilton Township, said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Hamilton Township Mayor Kelly Yaede.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Corps detailed its plans at a meeting this week with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Hamilton Township Department of Water Pollution Control and Township Department of Community Planning and Compliance, and Smith\u2019s office. The meeting was held at the Hamilton Municipal Building.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThese types of projects take time, but the Army Corps of Engineers has committed itself to investigate all possible solutions to the flooding which has plagued this area of Hamilton Township for many years,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI recall touring the damaged homes along the creek after Hurricane Irene and seeing the devastated homes first hand. Mayor Yaede is leading the effort locally, and with State and federal partners, we will work together to seek long-term improvements to this flooding.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt is a promising sign for our community, and especially our residents who have endured significant flooding in the past, to finally see a study like this take place; and I am pleased that this issue is now getting the consideration that it deserves. While the study will take time to complete, it serves as a real opportunity that could lead to preventative flooding measures benefitting all of the communities surrounding Assunpink Creek,\u201d said Mayor Yaede.\u201cI want to thank Congressman Smith for his continued dedication to addressing this issue and for working collaboratively with our Township government in the hopes of finding a solution to benefit our community.\u201d\r\n \r\n The State DEP has signed on to the effort, which calls for the $500,000 feasibility study to collect and examine data on flooding causes and impacts. The cost of the study\u2014expected to take two years for engineers to complete\u2014will be split between the state and federal governments. When complete, if a feasible solution is identified, the Corps and the State will begin to design alternative improvement options.\r\n \u00a0\r\n PHOTO: New Jersey, at center of photo, received between 12-32 inches of rain statewide during Hurricane Irene. \r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Working with the Township, Smith has been encouraging the USACE to seek solutions to reduce the type of flooding the Township experienced in August 2011 following Hurricane Irene. Flooding across the state occurred and at least 45 people lost their lives on the East Coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including one rescue worker who sustained fatal injuries during a water rescue attempt in Mercer County, and one man died off the beach in Ocean County. Hamilton and especially its Cornell Heights and Whitehead sections near the creek were hit particularly hard.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The study area will include the approximate eight-mile section of the creek from Mercer Lake in Mercer County Park on the Hamilton and Lawrence border through Trenton to the Delaware River. The Trenton portion of the study is currently undergoing a USACE \u201cdaylighting\u201d project to a culvert area that directs the Assunpink underground through the city. The daylighting project is expected to improve fish migration and natural habitat, but have no impact on flooding.\r\n \r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397659", "Smith Helps Vet Get Purple Heart; Asbury Park Press Oct. 19 Article:Manchester veteran honored 70 years after injury", "2014-10-20", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY ASBURY PARK PRESS STAFF WRITER\u00a0AMANDA OGLESBY -- Nearly 70 years after shrapnel tore into the right fingers and hand of Leonard \"Lenny\" Brotzky in a 2 a.m. shelling of his artillery unit during the Battle of the Bulge, the 89-year-old Manchester resident finally received his Purple Heart.\r\nMuch has changed since Brotzky served at a Technician-5 in the Army's 36th Division 155th Field Artillery unit in World War II. But he still remembers how the shrapnel pierced his hand and arm when mortar shells hit his jeep in the early morning attack of World War II's pivotal European battle. He still remembers the cold of the battle field \u2014 temperatures so frigid that he suffered severe frostbite on his feet from sleeping outside.\r\n\"I woke up and I couldn't move my legs,\" he recalled. But \"I was lucky.\"\r\nOther soldiers had their feet amputated because of the frostbite, but Brotzky managed to keep his feet and toes, he said.\r\nIt took 70 years before Brotzky \u2014 who now lives with his wife in Leisure Village West in Manchester \u2014 was awarded the Purple Heart, an honor bestowed on military men and women wounded during combat. The reason for the decades-long delay was because Brotzky's discharge papers lacked details of his injuries, said Congressman Chris Smith. The congressman's staff spent 11 years working to locate the necessary paperwork needed to prove Brotzky's story. On Thursday, Smith was finally able to deliver the Purple Heart to the veteran inside his New Egypt office.\r\n\"I think he well deserves it, and I'm very proud,\" said Brotzky's wife Rose, who attributed her husband's survival to his experience as a Boy Scout.\r\nRose, 92, was also honored by Smith. The congressman gave her a flag that had flown over the capitol building in Washington D.C. to recognize her World War II service in the Marines Reserves Fourth Battalion.\r\nOne of less than 300,000 women who served in the military during World War II, and one of far fewer who served the Marine Reserves, Rose, or \"Rosie\" as she was called then, worked as a radio operator and received the rank of staff sergeant. She still vividly remembers working in a radio room in Hawaii when news of the Japanese surrender came across the airwaves.\r\nThe couple met after the war at a veterans meeting in Bloomfield, married and now have two grown children.\r\n\"The Brotzkys are the quintessential example of the Greatest Generation: patriotic, generous, brave and selfless,\" Smith said.\r\nSmith's 11-year effort to secure Leonard Brotzky's Purple Heart finally came Oct. 2, after Department of Veterans Affairs records surfaced that detailed Brotzky's injuries and service.\r\nThe Purple Heart \"is making him so happy,\" said Barbara Kolodziejczyk, the couple's daughter. \"We're very proud.\"\r\nAmanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby@app.com This article was originally published in the Oct. 19 printed edition: \u00a0http://www.app.com/story/news/local/jackson-lakewood/manchester/2014/10/18/manchester-vet-finally-gets-purple-heart/17533873/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397653", "The Philadelphia Inquirer70 years late, man gets a Purple Heart", "2014-10-17", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY EDWARD COLIMORE, Inquirer Staff Writer -- Maybe he should have gotten a medal for patience.\r\nAfter waiting seven decades, World War II veteran Leonard Brotzky was honored Thursday with a Purple Heart for wounds he received during the Battle of the Bulge.\r\n\"After 70 years, I'm finally getting it,\" said Brotzky, 89, of Manchester Township, Ocean County, at a presentation ceremony at the district office of U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.). \"I felt I earned it.\"\r\nThe medal should have been awarded in 1944 but was apparently overlooked because of a record-keeping foul-up. It was corrected through efforts begun by Smith more than a decade ago.\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\nAt Brotzky's side was his wife, Rose, who was also honored for her trailblazing service as a Marine radio operator in Hawaii during the war. She was presented by Smith with a flag that flew over the Capitol.\r\n\"I was waiting for this [the flag] when I passed on,\" said a smiling Rose Brotzky, 92, who met her husband after the war at a veterans' gathering. \"It's just an honor to be here. I'm so proud of my husband.\"\r\nDuring a brief ceremony, Smith praised the couple's contributions in and out of uniform.\r\n\"We honor today two extraordinary Americans - Lenny and Rose Brotzky - for their courageous service to our nation during World War II,\" he said. \"The Brotzkys are the quintessential example of the 'greatest generation' - patriotic, generous, brave, and selfless.\r\n\"They not only saved America and the world from tyranny, but they built and sustained America and American values,\" he said.\r\nSmith began trying to obtain the medal in 2003 but was asked by the Army to produce more evidence of the wounds. Records surfaced recently and Smith petitioned the National Personnel Record Center, which approved the medal and sent it to Smith on Oct. 2.\r\n\"The French honored him with the French Legion of Honor, but the U.S. government is a little bit later than the French,\" Smith said.\r\nOn Thursday, the congressman handed the Purple Heart to Brotzky.\r\n\"He definitely deserved it and should have had it long before,\" Rose Brotzky said.\r\nLeonard Brotzky's division had been \"part of the Allied forces that chased the Germans out of Italy and France, and back to Germany and ultimate defeat,\" said Smith, whose father fought in New Guinea during World War II.\r\n\"He was injured in the heat of battle and is fully deserving of this Purple Heart,\" he said. \"I just wish it wasn't 70 years late.\"\r\nA native of Orange, Brotzky enlisted in the Army in 1943 and underwent basic training at Fort Dix.\r\nIn the winter of 1944, he was serving in the 36th Division, 155th Field Artillery Unit, and riding in a Jeep during the Battle of the Bulge when enemy shells rained down around him.\r\nJumping from the vehicle, Brotzky was struck in a hand and arm by shrapnel, and treated at a field hospital. He also suffered frostbite on his feet because of the extreme cold during the battle.\r\n\"It was cold,\" he said. \"We were fighting and doing the best we could.\"\r\nBrotzky was honorably discharged in 1945 at Fort Monmouth. At the time, he didn't know Rose Katz of Bloomfield, Essex County.\r\nShe had signed up with the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in 1943, learned a new skill as a radio operator, and was sent to Hawaii.\r\n\"I was 20 when I enlisted,\" she said. \"When we did have the time, we went to the beach . . . but I'd rather be at a Jersey Shore beach than Hawaii.\"\r\nRose Brotzky served at the Marine station at Ewa for eight months and returned to the continental United States in October 1945. She was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant.\r\n\"Tears fell from my eyes as we approached the Golden Gate Bridge,\" she wrote in her recollections of that time. \"There was a boat escorting us with a band playing 'Sentimental Journey.' \"\r\nAfter the war, Rose Brotzky worked at the Bloomfield Independent Press and West Essex Tribune while Leonard Brotzky graduated from Cornell University with a premed degree and Rutgers University with a hospital administration degree. A pharmaceutical sales representative, he married Rose and they settled in Livingston, where they raised two children.\r\n\"These are two extraordinary Americans,\" Smith said. \"This is the ultimate power couple, people who believed in America and did so much to save America.\"\r\nOriginally published at: \r\n\u00a0 \r\nhttp://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20141017_70_years_late__man_gets_a_Purple_Heart.html#fhLYf3jXf8IWPJzU.99", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397657", "Smith Calls for Visa Ban on Travel From Ebola-Affected Countries", "2014-10-17", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As the number of confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola in the United States increases, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, has called for a visa ban on travel from the three Ebola-affected countries in West Africa: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is the duty of U.S. government officials to protect U.S. citizens and ensure their health, welfare and well-being.\u00a0 That must be our first priority,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0 \u201cIf the U.S. military is establishing an air bridge to Liberia as a major part of its role in combating the West African Ebola epidemic, then either military or charter flights could sufficiently ensure that volunteers could be evacuated in a timely manner when necessary and supplies can be transported.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are no longer any direct flights to and from the three countries to the United States.\u00a0 Currently, only Air France, Royal Air Maroc and Brussels Airlines fly to there.\u00a0 Additionally, Senegal and Cote d\u2019Ivoire closed their borders to the affected countries, and an increasing number of other countries have ended air flights to and from the three countries. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The visa ban called for by Smith and other members of Congress would affect only non-American travelers from the three countries and would exempt volunteers helping in the international response.\u00a0 U.S. citizens in the three countries would not be prevented from returning to the United States, but could be isolated if they demonstrated symptoms of the disease.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the more robust screening of visitors at airports in New Jersey, New York, Washington, Chicago and Atlanta should continue. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397658", "Asbury Park Press Oct. 6 Article:Downtown Lakewood store will offer mail service", "2014-10-17", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY ASBURY PARK PRESS WRITER KEVIN PENTON - The U.S. Postal Service has settled on a location where township residents will be able to go to fulfill their mailing needs in the downtown area once the Clifton Avenue building is sold.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The post office will contract with a private company that will operate a facility at 218 Clifton Ave., just a couple of blocks north of the current building, said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who met with postal officials on the matter in recent days.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe postal needs of the downtown customers will continue to be met under the new retail (store) to be established a block away from the current post office,\u201d Smith said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The new Clifton Avenue location, Mail Mart, will be owned and operated by Gary and Gita Patel, she said. The couple already operate a post office location on West County Line Road in Lakewood known as News Mart, she said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Clifton Avenue store will have at least four employees and will operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays, Patel said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The couple is waiting for the Postal Service to give them the computer equipment to be utilized at Mail Mart so they can open it, said Patel, who expects the store will open before the Clifton Avenue post office closes.\nLakewood post office to close\nClose to sale\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Clifton Avenue location \u2013 an Art Deco-designed building erected during the Great Depression by Works Progress Administration workers \u2013 will close once its sale is finalized and a retail window at a postal distribution center in the Lakewood Industrial Park is ready to receive customers, said Raymond V. Daiutolo Sr., a Postal Service spokesman.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The office was originally expected to close this month, but likely will shutter later than that because of various delays in getting everything in order, he said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Kasturi DasGupta, an educator at Georgian Court University, said she is concerned employees at the private location will not have the same training for handling the mail that postal employees have.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIs taking the post office away from the public going to encourage more business?\u201d asked DasGupta, who organized a protest against the post office\u2019s sale last week.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lakewood Property Developers LLC is buying the existing post office, according to a notice of settlement filed on Sept. 10 with the Ocean County Clerk\u2019s Office.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Daniel Czermak, president of AcuteCare Health System in Lakewood, serves as the company\u2019s registered agent and as its authorized representative, according to documents filed with the state Department of the Treasury.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Czermak could not be reached for comment on what may occur at the post office site once the sale is finalized.\nIndustrial Park\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Postal Service has agreed it will ensure wait times at the industrial park location are under seven minutes, said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Smith.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A staffer for Smith recently had to wait in line more than 15 minutes at the Clifton Avenue location before she could buy a book of stamps, Sagnip said. \u201cThey were surprised to hear that it took that long,\u201d said Sagnip of the postal officials Smith met with.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The privately-owned post office that will open will not have post office boxes, Daiutolo said. It will otherwise have up to 80 percent of the services offered in a regular post office, such as registered mail, express mail, and stamps, he said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If the Postal Service is so concerned about declining sales, it does not make sense for it to shutter a downtown location and replace it with one in an industrial park, DesGupta said.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe option that they have presented is really unsatisfactory,\u201d DesGupta said. \u201cIt does not sound like a place that will really take care of the public\u2019s welfare.\u201d\nKevin Pent\u00f3n: 732-643-4009; kpenton@app.com \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This story was originally published\u00a0in the Asbury Park Press print edition:\nhttp://www.app.com/story/news/local/jackson-lakewood/lakewood/2014/10/08/lakewood-post-office/16938333/ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congressman Smith met with the highest USPS officials in New Jersey and with Lakewood leaders on Sept. 29, 2014 to ensure Lakewood would receive \u00a0adequate service.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397640", "From the Greatest GenerationWorld War II Husband/Wife Vets Honored at Ceremony", "2014-10-16", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) presented a long-overdue Purple Heart to a World War II veteran for being injured in the Battle of the Bulge, and a U.S. Flag flown over the Capitol to his wife to recognize her own service as a U.S. Marine serving in Hawaii during the war.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mr. and Mrs. Leonard and Rose Brotzky, a retired couple from Manchester, N.J., both served in uniform during the Second World War. Mr. Brotzky, 89, a native of Orange, N.J., entered the U.S. Army in July 1943 with basic training at Fort Dix. Serving with the 36th Division 155th Field Artillery unit, he was injured by shrapnel during artillery exchange with the enemy in the Battle of the Bulge. He also suffered from extreme cold exposure during the battle, the coldest winter on record for 30 years. He was honorably discharged in 1945 at Fort Monmouth at the rank of Technician-5. Then Rose Katz, a native of Essex County, from Bloomfield, N.J., Mrs. Brotzky signed up for the Marines in 1943, serving in Pearl Harbor and separating with an honorable discharge as a staff sergeant in 1945 at the end of the war. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMr. Brotzky is receiving the Purple Heart Medal today for battlefield injuries sustained during the Battle of the Bulge\u201470 years late,\u201d said Smith, the former Chairman of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee. \u201cThe French have honored him with the French Legion of Honor\u2014the U.S. government is a bit slower.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Brotzky was happy that the long wait for the medal was over. \u201cAfter 70 years, I\u2019m finally getting it,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith\u2019s office had been attempting to obtain the medal since 2003, but the Army insisted on more evidence to satisfy requirements for the medal. Recent VA records surfaced, and Smith petitioned the National Personnel Record Center which finally approved the medal and sent it to Smith on Oct. 2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After the war he graduated from both Cornel University with a pre-med degree and Rutgers University with a hospital administration degree. He met Rose at a veterans\u2019 meeting. They married and settled in Livingston, N.J., raising two children. He worked for many years in pharmaceutical sales. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mrs. Brotzky, 92, indicated that as soon as she read an article in the newspaper the women were being invited to sign up as Marines, she wrote to enlist and later had her father take her to New York City to be inducted. She served as a radio operator in the Marines, including being stationed at Pearl Harbor. A clerk at a motor company before the war, she later worked at the Bloomfield Independent Press and the West Essex Tribune after the War in advertising and feature writing. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She wanted the focus today to be on her husband\u2019s Purple Heart, but said she was glad to have enlisted in the Marine: \u201cI\u2019m so happy I did it. When I saw it in the newspaper, nothing held me back.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Brotzky previously earned other honors, including the European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon, the Good Conduct Medal, the bronze Arrowhead Medal, the Victory Medal and the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal. Mrs. Brotzky earned the Honorable Service Label Button and the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Brotzkys are the quintessential example of the Greatest Generation\u2014patriotic, generous, brave and selfless,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThey not only saved America and the world from tyranny, they built and sustained American values.\u201d\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397644", "ABC Channel 6 Feature70 years later, Ocean County WWII vet gets Purple Heart", "2014-10-16", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(WPVI) -- A World War II veteran from Ocean County received a long overdue honor Thursday and there was even a surprise in store for his wife, who also served in the war.Seventy years after he was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge, the bloodiest U.S. battle fought in World War II, 88-year-old Army veteran Lenny Brotsky finally received his Purple Heart. \"Means everything in the world because I earned it. If I didn't earn it, I wouldn't have got it,\" said Brotsky. Brotsky was a member of the 155th Field Artillery Unit fighting to beat back Hitler and the Nazis when he was injured by shrapnel during an attack \"Jumping out of the jeep from mortar fire and I hit the ground,\" he said. Brotsky was awarded the French Legion of Honor years ago. \n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nIn 2003 he asked Congressman Chris Smith for help getting his Purple Heart. After years of searching through military records, his office found the paperwork needed.\"We finally got that piece of evidence in a VA document that opened it up and they were able to convey to this very brave and courageous man what should have been given to him 70 years ago,\" said Congressman Smith. Brotsky's 92-year-old wife Rose was also honored for her service. She enlisted in the Marines in 1943 and was among the first women to enter that branch of the service. She was stationed at Pearl Harbor years after the attack. \"I ended up as a radio operator, communications chief in Hawaii and I felt I was doing it for my country. I'm a trailblazer,\" said Rose. The Brotsky's are really a power couple, but if Rose wants to pull rank she's entitled. Lenny left the service as a tech, but she left as a sergeant.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397656", "News12 New Jersey ReportWorld War II couple awarded military medals", "2014-10-16", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News12 New Jersey ReportWorld War II couple awarded military medals \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n OCEAN COUNTY, NJ,\r\n Oct 16, 2014\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n NEWS12 New Jersey - A husband and wife who both served during World War II have been presented with military awards 70 years later.\u00a0\nLeonard Brotsky, 89, was injured by shrapnel and suffered frostbite while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. \u00a0However, his Army discharge papers left out his injuries.\nNow, with the help of Rep. Chris Smith, Brotsky has finally been presented with the Purple Heart Award.\u00a0\nREAD MORE: New Jersey Top Stories\nThe congressman's office has been working on getting the award for Brotsky since 2003, but the Army kept asking for more evidence. \u00a0\n\u00a0\n \n \n \n \n \nBrotsky's 92-year-old wife Rose was also honored for her service with the United States Marines. \u00a0She was a radio operator at Pearl Harbor. Originally published at: http://newjersey.news12.com/news/world-war-ii-couple-awarded-military-medals-1.9513049\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141014184141/http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397634", "Mercer County Freeholder Board Presents Smith with Honor", "2014-10-10", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman\u00a0\u00a0Chris Smith of Robbinsville, N.J. was honored\u00a0by the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders at an Oct. 4 gala. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Freeholder Chairman Andrew Koonz presented\u00a0Congressman Smith with\u00a0a Certificate of Honor proclamation that read: \"Chris Smith has been a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District since 1981. During his tenure, he has helped working class families, improved the lives of the country's service men and women and been active in foreign affairs. While active with his faith, he has also been a tireless advocate for treating autism and stopping human trafficking.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The citation was marked with the seal of the county and signed by Freeholder Vice Chair Samuel T. Frisby, ad Freeholders Anthony Carabelli, Pasquale \"Pat\" Colavita Jr., Ann M. Cannon, John Cimino and Lucylle Walter. \u00a0Smith also received the\u00a02014\u00a0Community Service Award of the Catedral Santa Maria de la Asuncion for his public service, especially his efforts on autism, Alzheimer's disease, human trafficking and human rights.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397631", "Smith keynote at Heritage Foundation Event on Chinas One-Child Policy", "2014-10-09", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on China, (CECC) and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs global human rights subcommittee, called China\u2019s one child policy announced in 1979 state sponsored violence against women and children\u2014including and especially girls\u2014and constitutes massive crimes against humanity. He made the remarks today as a keynote speaker at a Heritage Foundation event on the Chinese government\u2019s brutal implementation of the policy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Nuremberg Nazi war crimes tribunal properly construed forced abortion as a crime against humanity\u2014nothing in human history compares to the magnitude of China\u2019s more than 34-year assault on women and children,\u201d said Smith, who has held almost 50 hearings on human rights violations in China. \u201cAbortion is a weapon of mass destruction. Hundreds of millions of lives have been exterminated.\u201d Click here to read Smith\u2019s speech. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Held to mark the International Day of the Girl Child on Oct. 11, the event was entitled \u201cChina\u2019s One Child Policy: A Discussion on Valuing Women and Girls in the 21st Century.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cToday in China, rather than being given maternal care, pregnant women without birth allowed permits are hunted down and forcibly aborted. They are mocked, belittled, humiliated and exploited. A mother has absolutely no right or legal standing to protect her unborn baby or herself from state sponsored violence,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are no single moms in China\u2014except those who somehow evade the family planning cadres and conceal their pregnancy.\u00a0 Beijing\u2019s One Child Policy bans single moms from obtaining government permission to carry the child to term. For more than three decades, most brothers and sisters have been illegal.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to a report released in 2012 by the Chinese Center for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC), there were a staggering 590 female suicidesper day in China, the only country in the world where the female suicide rate is higher than the male. The Beijing Psychological Crisis Study and Prevention Center determined that in China the suicide rate for females is over three times higher than for males. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe result of this policy is a nightmarish \u2018brave new world\u2019 with no precedent in human history, where women are psychologically wounded, the girl child the victim of sex-selective abortion, and most children grow up without brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles or cousins,\u201d Smith said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Four of Smith\u2019s hearings focused on Chen Guangcheng\u2014the blind, self-taught lawyer who defended women from the one child policy, but paid a heavy price for his work, including jail, beatings and torture. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGuangcheng testified once in person and twice by phone from his confinement in a Chinese hospital after his heroic escape,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI know of no other person on Earth who has personally suffered so much for attempting to stop this cruelty to women. He is a hero.\u201d \n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith noted that in 2000, he wrote a law, The Admiral James W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act for fiscal years 2000 and 2001, which bars foreign nationals complicit with forced sterilizations and forced abortions from obtaining U.S. visas. \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSection 801 of Title VIII of that Act requires the Secretary of State not to issue any visa to, and the Attorney General not to admit to the United States, any foreign national whom the Secretary finds, based on credible and specific information, to have been directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of forced abortion or forced sterilization,\u201d Smith said. \u201cOwing to a glaring lack of implementation only a handful of abusers have been denied visas to the United States.\u201d \n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith also noted China is ground zero in Asia for human trafficking, a main point of the CECC\u2019s 2014 report on human rights in China released today. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith said that China should have not been taken off Tier 3 by the State Department\u2019s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report released earlier this year. The human trafficking problem in China is linked to severe gender imbalances and challenging conditions in bordering countries that lead to trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced marriage. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith is the author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the comprehensive landmark law to prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers and protect victims from modern day slavery. One provision of the law requires an annual assessment of every country, the TIP report. Last year the TIP Report stated: \u201cChina\u2019s birth limitation policy, coupled with a cultural preference for sons, creates a skewed sex ratio in China, which served as a key cause of trafficking of foreign women as brides for Chinese men and for forced prostitution.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI respectfully submit that not only is the Obama Administration turning a blind eye to the atrocities being committed under the one child policy, but it is even contributing financial support\u2014contrary to U.S. law\u2014to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). \u201cThirty years ago\u2014on May 9, 1984\u2014I\u00a0authored the first amendment ever\u00a0to\u00a0a foreign aid bill to deny funding to organizations such as the UNFPA\u00a0that are complicit with China's forced abortion and involuntary sterilization policies,\u201d Smith said. \u201cFor over three decades, the UNFPA has consistently heaped praise on China\u2019s population control program and repeatedly urged other countries to embrace similar policies.\u201d\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397633", "Smith Urges Enhanced Ebola Airport Screening", "2014-10-07", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As the American public becomes increasingly worried about the potential spread of the Ebola virus in this country, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, repeated his earlier call for enhanced Ebola testing for those coming from affected countries. He said improved testing will be an important main component of legislation to address the escalating international epidemic which he plans to introduce when Congress reconvenes in November. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe need to break the Ebola transmission chain,\u201d said Smith, who has held two hearing on Ebola since the outbreak.\u00a0 \u201cThe first line of defense is testing and isolation overseas. It can make it to the U.S. through air passenger. To protect Americans, we should at a minimum be screening people coming into the United States from Western Africa.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as other experts, have said stopping all flights to the affected countries will prevent much-needed supplies from getting into these countries at a time when a steady, increasing supply of medicines and medical equipment is desperately needed.\u00a0Moreover, it is believed that travel restrictions would discourage the necessary flow of volunteers, who will need assurances of evacuation should they become infected. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Frieden personally updated Smith on the Ebola situation last week, and testified before Smith's global health subcommittee at an emergency hearing in August.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is no set U.S. protocol currently to require questioning of travelers from the affected areas about whether they have come in contact with anyone infected with Ebola.\u00a0 The practice at this point is to detain only those travelers who are visibly ill.\u00a0Smith called for required taking of temperature and stricter questioning of travelers from affected countries.\u00a0Visibly sick travelers suspected of Ebola already are tested for the presence of Ebola antibodies and are held until the test is completed.\u00a0Those who test positive are isolated until they can be transported safely for medical treatment.\u00a0\u00a0There are now only 20 airports in the United States where strict quarantine is possible, including Newark Liberty International Airport. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith\u2019s subcommittee has held two hearings on the West African Ebola outbreak: one on August 7 and another on September 17. As a result of these hearings, as well as numerous other briefings and discussions on the matter, Smith is working on Ebola legislation to ensure a strong U.S. response beyond the expiration of the current funding mandate in mid-December.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397626", "Smith Receives Community Service Award", "2014-10-06", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman\u00a0\u00a0Chris Smith of Robbinsville, N.J. received the\u00a02014\u00a0Community Service Award of the Catedral Santa Maria de la Asuncion--St. Mary's Cathedral--of Trenton N.J. for his dedication to serving the public. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His work on autism, Alzheimer's disease, human trafficking, human rights and other issues were cited by Rosa Rosado, Gala Chairwoman as she presented him with the award at the Oct. 4 event.\u00a0 Congressman Smith\u00a0spoke to the over 600\u00a0attendees at the Third Annual Community Recognition Gala held at the Princeton Manor on Route 33 in Hamilton, thanking them for the honor, and\u00a0acknowledging others who were recognized for their service: The Rev. Msgr.\u00a0John K. Dermond, Gladys Ortiz and Carmen Mercado Garcia.\u00a0Garcia also received the Father Armand Community Service Award.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith was also\u00a0honored\u00a0by the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders at the gala. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Freeholder Chairman Andrew Koontz presented a proclamation that read: \"Chris Smith has been a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New Jersey's Fourth Congressional District since 1981. During his tenure, he has helped working class families, improved the lives of the country's service men and women and been active in foreign affairs. While active with his faith, he has also been a tireless advocate for treating autism and stopping human trafficking.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The citation was marked with the seal of the county and signed by Freeholder Vice Chair Samuel T. Frisby, ad Freeholders Anthony Carabelli, Pasquale \"Pat\" Colavita Jr., Ann M. Cannon, John Cimino and Lucylle Walter.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397624", "Hamilton Officials Announce CDC Results; Mercer Medical Examiner Determines Cause of Death of Township Preschooler to Be Enterovirus D68", "2014-10-04", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) joined Hamilton Township Mayor Kelly Yaede and other township and school officials to discuss last night\u2019s news that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s (CDC) finding that a Hamilton preschooler who died last week has tested positive for Enterovirous D68 (EV-D68). Mayor Yaede also announced that the Mercer County Medical Examiner determined today that EV-D68 was the cause of death.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yaede, who with health officials informed the family of the pre-schooler about the test results last night, this afternoon detailed the steps the school has taken to protect other children from the virus. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs a community we will rally behind this family,\u201d Yaede said. \u201cHamilton is here for you. We will help you move forward.\u201d Noting that officials have been working to protect other children, she said, \u201cWhat\u2019s more important than a child? Nothing is more important.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe have anguish for the family,\u201d said Smith who represents Hamilton and participated in a town meeting at the Yardville Elementary School earlier this week. Noting that there are over 500 cases of EV-D68 illness across the country, Smith reiterated what CDC Director Thomas Frieden stressed to him in discussion they had on the Hamilton case earlier this week: thorough washing of hands and good hygiene, as well as watching for symptoms are the best ways to protecting young children, whose developing immune systems can be more susceptible to the virus than older children and adults. \u201cThere is a significant growth in the number of cases. Those who have asthma or other respiratory illnesses are particularly at risk.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Township Health Officer Jeff Plunkett noted that a second child in the same grade but a different class at the same school is being tested for EV-D68. That student\u2019s health is improving, he said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For more information about protection from EV-D68 including facts from CDC, click here.\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397553", "Cong. Smith Helps Recognize High School's Marching Unit's 30th Year Hosting Music Event on Oct. 19", "2014-10-03", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) presented Stephanie Giunta, Director of the Steinert High School Marching Unit, and student Hunter Nolan, a flag and a congressional letter of congratulations on the marching unit's 30th anniversary hosting its \"Music in Motion\" event set for Oct. 19. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith made the presentation just prior to the marching band's performance at the Oct. 2 away game against Allentown High School in Monmouth County.\u00a0 He enjoyed the performance and stayed to talk with parents and other residents.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The text of the letter read as follows: Dear Ms. Stephanie Giunta, It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the members of the Steinert Marching Unit on the 3th Anniversary of the \u201cMusic in Motion\u201d Band Festival. Throughout the years, \u201cMusic in Motion\u201d has provided an outlet for the creativity of so many young, talented musicians and has brought the community together. \u00a0The longevity of this program shows the dedication of the teachers, parents, and students of the Steinert Marching Unit. As the ancient philosopher Plato said of music, \u201cIt gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, and flight to the imagination\u2026\u201d\u00a0 I commend you on giving flight to the imaginations of so many of our youth through music, and I applaud the high level of expertise demonstrated by your extraordinary marching band. Congratulations on this important milestone, and best wishes for success in the upcoming \u201cMusic in Motion\u201d competition.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sincerely,\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Member of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397563", "Rep. Chris Smith says more should be done at airports to stop spread of Ebola", "2014-10-03", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Chris Smith says more should be done at airports to stop spread of Ebola \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n f \r\n t \r\n #\r\n e\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n FREEHOLD, N.J.,\r\n Oct 3, 2014\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n A New Jersey congressman says drastic measures could be needed to stop the spread of Ebola.\r\nRep. Chris Smith is calling for a protocol to be put in place. He sits on the Global Health committee and gets regular briefings from the CDC.\r\nSmith says New Jersey faces unique risks with a major international airport and seaports. \"The next flight that comes here could carry a risk of contamination,\" he says. (Click here or on image below to watch video)\r\n\r\n \r\nThe congressman suggests that the state begin screening at Newark Liberty International Airport.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397375", "Smith Calls for Comprehensive Anti-Ebola Action", "2014-10-01", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now confirmed the first recorded case of Ebola in the United States, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, repeated his call for a comprehensive approach to fighting Ebola and announced that he will be introducing legislation to address the escalating international epidemic when Congress returns in November.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEbola and several other neglected tropical diseases are a global health problem and are not limited to the developing world,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0 \u201cThese diseases plague the poor\u2013whether they be in Africa or in the United States.\u00a0 As I have said for quite some time, any of these diseases are only a plane ride away.\u00a0 Aggressively addressing Ebola at the points of initial outbreak not only prevents loss of life abroad, but also protects Americans here at home\u2014and it is a more effective strategy for disease containment.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith\u2019s subcommittee has held two hearings on the West African Ebola outbreak: one on August 7 and one on September 17. As a result of these hearings, as well as numerous other hearings, briefings and discussions on the matter, Smith is working on Ebola legislation to ensure a robust U.S. response beyond the expiration of the current funding mandate in mid-December. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While Smith is currently preparing to introduce legislation to specifically deal with the current Ebola epidemic in West Africa, he is also calling on Congress to pass his legislation to address neglected tropical diseases\u2013HR 4847.\u00a0 HR 4847 would more broadly increase research and assistance to help developing countries contain diseases before they spread internationally.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397411", "Smith Demands President Obama Intervene to Help Wounded Marine Unjustly Held in Mexico", "2014-10-01", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) Wednesday called on President Obama to get personally engaged and work to resolve the case of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who has been imprisoned in Mexico for 184 days, and bring our Marine back home. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is a dereliction of duty on the part of the President,\u201d Smith said at a hearing on Capitol Hill entitled Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi: Our Marine in Mexican Custody. \u201cAnd not just that he hasn\u2019t called [Mexico's] President Nieto, but that he has not put the full court press on the Mexican government to release Andrew.\u201d Click here to watch video \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The committee heard testimony Oct. 1 from Sgt. Tahmooressi\u2019s mother Jill Tahmooressi; Lieutenant Commander Montel B. Williams, USN, (Retired); Mr. Pete Hegseth, CEO of the Concerned Veterans for America; and Sergeant Robert Buchanan, USMC, (Retired) who served with Sgt. Tahmooressi in Afghanistan. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mrs. Tahmooressi described her son as\"privileged to serve the war on terror\" and \"willing to lose his life for freedom, liberty and elimination of oppression.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All witnesses expressed concerns for the safety and wellbeing of Sgt. Tahmooressi and the inaction on the part of this Administration to make any effort to contact the family in their time of need or to address this injustice directly with the Government of Mexico. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith also stressed how Sgt. Tahmooressi\u2019s continued incarceration and declining health could have long-term negative consequences for his wellbeing. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI served 26 years on the Veterans Affairs Committee, including a stint as chair,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0 \u201cSix months of inattention to any service-connected disability\u2014physical or psychological\u2014causes that condition to fester and worsen. The ongoing appeal to the Mexican government is simple and direct: release Andrew now so he can procure badly needed treatment for PTSD. Andrew\u2019s release must be immediate, or he is likely to get sicker. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOur Marine Sergeant is suffering from physiological wounds as a result of his service to our country and we must press for an expeditious and just resolution of his case and a speedy homecoming, not only for his own wellbeing but also the wellbeing of his family, which has been so tirelessly advocating for his return.\u201d \r\n\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith has worked on numerous cases where Americans citizens have been unjustly incarcerated overseas, including the imprisonment of American Jacob Ostreicher in Bolivia, or wrongfully separated from their loved ones, as in the case of David Goldman of New Jersey and his son Sean.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI believe that for all Americans, military or civilian, who have been unjustly imprisoned or held, our government must do everything possible to secure their release and reunification with their loved ones,\u201d Smith said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI understand how difficult it can be in dealing with foreign governments\u2014even our own neighbors\u2014on behalf of our citizens caught up in their legal processes,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0 \u201cBut we must continue to pressure the Administration and the Mexican government to release Sgt. Tahmooressi, so he may be returned to the loving embrace of his family and find the peace and recovery he so very much deserves.\u201d \r\n Smith is a co-sponsor of H Res 620, a resolution calling upon the President to utilize the full authority of his office to secure the immediate release of Sgt. Tahmooressi, and for the Government of Mexico to return him to the United States with all possible speed so he can receive the appropriate medical assistance.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397364", "Congressman Smith Recognizes National Blue Ribbon Schools in Mercer, Monmouth & Ocean Counties", "2014-09-30", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced today that four schools in New Jersey\u2019s Fourth Congressional District have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEducating our children is among the most important investment we can make in our families\u2019 and our nation\u2019s future,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0 \u201cI am thrilled that four of the 11 Blue Ribbon Schools in New Jersey are located right here in the Fourth Congressional District of New Jersey.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The four schools being recognized for their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups, which requires demonstrating that all students can achieve to high levels, are: > Biotechnology High School, a Monmouth County Vocational School located in Freehold Township; \r\n> Pace Charter School in Hamilton Twp.; \r\n> Performing Arts Academy, an Ocean County Vocational Technical School, which is located on the Lakehurst side of Joint Base McGuire Dix-Lakehurst; and; \r\n> St. Gregory the Great Academy, located in the Hamilton Square section of Hamilton Twp. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith said two representatives from each school will be invited to Washington, D.C. for the Nov. 10-11 Recognition Ceremony, where each school will receive a National Blue Ribbon Schools plaque and a flag to signify its status. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI think the parents, staff and especially the students should be proud of this designation,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHard work pays off. It\u2019s certainly something to brag about.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Blue Ribbon Schools were unveiled today by U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who recognized 337 public and private schools across the country as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2014. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since 1982, the U. S. Department of Education has been seeking out and celebrating great American schools, schools demonstrating that all students can achieve at high levels. The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The National Blue Ribbon School flag gracing an entry or flying overhead is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The list of all 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools will be available on the U. S. Department of Education\u2019s website at http://www.ed.gov/nationalblueribbonschools. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congressman Smith, who represents New Jersey\u2019s Fourth Congressional District in the House of Representatives, has offices in Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties.\u00a0 For more information call (732) 780-3035 or (609) 585-7878.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397366", "Smith Concerned for Peaceful Demonstrators in Hong Kong", "2014-09-30", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on China, (CECC) and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs global human rights subcommittee, called on the government China to show \"leadership and restraint\" in dealing with peaceful demonstrations and urged the Chinese government to respect the commitments it made guaranteeing autonomy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. \r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0Smith also said he will be establishing a congressional Hong Kong Caucus to monitor human rights in the former British colony.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHong Kong's unique system has ensured prosperity and spurred the type of creativity and vitality that only comes with the advance of fundamental freedoms,\" said Smith, who has conducted over 45 hearings on human rights abuses in China.\u00a0 \"At this time, leadership and restraint are needed to avoid unnecessary violence and protect Hong Kong's Basic Law and its long-established traditions.\u00a0The freedom genie cannot be stuffed neatly back into the communist bottle. Beijing can accept this fact, work within the promised \u2018One Country, Two Systems Model,\u2019 and be lauded for its leadership, or Beijing can use force and repression again to stifle peaceful dissent and reform, losing the trust of the people of Hong Kong, neighboring countries, and the international community at large.\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 Smith has a long track record of speaking out on human rights in mainland China, as well as Hong Kong.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0 \"Hong Kong\u2019s continued autonomy is a concern of the U.S. Congress and of freedom-loving peoples everywhere,\"\u00a0said Smith.\u00a0\"That is why I am starting a Hong Kong Caucus in the Congress, to focus attention on Hong Kong and to make sure the tenets of the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 are advanced. In a world where there are many forces seeking to violently roll-back liberty and human rights, China must choose on which side it will stand. Embracing greater freedoms and universal suffrage may be a scary choice for the leaders in Beijing, but Hong Kong's vitality, its prosperity, its freedoms and legal traditions have produced stability and a shining example for the world. Retaining Hong Kong's unique system can have global historical implications.\"\r\n\u00a0\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394739", "Smith, Local Leaders Meet with Postal Officials to Ensure First Class Service in Lakewood", "2014-09-29", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Postal Service (USPS) officials assured Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) today that downtown customers in Lakewood will have their retail postal services met at a new Contract Postal Unit (CPU) scheduled to open in the coming weeks at 218 Clifton Ave.\u00a0in Lakewood. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDistrict Manager Mark Anderson and Postmaster Al Barbato made the commitment today that the postal needs of the downtown customers will continue to be met under the new retail CPU to be established a block away from the current post office,\u201d said Smith regarding the impending sale of the Lakewood Post Office building on Clifton Avenue. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a meeting hosted by Smith, with Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, leaders of the Lakewood community and top-ranking New Jersey postal executives\u2014including South Jersey District Manager Mark Anderson and Lakewood Postmaster Al Barbato\u2014USPS officials expressed their dedication to providing a seamless transition to the downtown area while at the same time significantly increasing services at the Lakewood Carrier Annex located at 1820 Swarthmore Avenue. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The longtime postal facility on Clifton Avenue, which has been slated for closure for several years, is scheduled to be sold in November. The 19,342-square-foot, 1930s art deco-style building has been a downtown hub for many years, but officials says it is underutilized and no longer efficient.\u00a0 As a result, many services will be moved to the more modern facility roughly two miles away in the Industrial Park. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to Anderson, the majority of the services will still be available downtown within walking distance for most, and expanded services\u2014including post office boxes\u2014will be conveniently accessible all day, at night and on weekends on Swarthmore Avenue. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe USPS plans to provide 24-hour access to stamps, mail drop-offs and post office boxes at the expanded Swarthmore Avenue location,\u201d Smith said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congressman Smith scheduled today\u2019s meeting after months of discussions with postal officials about ensuring quality services to the residents of Lakewood.\u00a0 Members of the New Jersey Chaplains Association also attended the meeting and spoke of residents\u2019 concerns about services.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397378", "Trenton Times Article: Parents briefed on death of Hamilton preschooler; CDC investigating", "2014-09-29", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BY TRENTON TIMES STAFF WRITER MIKE DAVIS -- Local officials on Monday night laid out the facts of the case of a 4-year-old Yardville Elementary School preschool student, who died of an unidentified respiratory illness last week.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At times, the crowd of nearly 100 people, made up of parents from throughout the Hamilton school district, erupted in choruses of criticism. Other times, they politely applauded when discussing the family of the deceased student.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis is a heartwrenching time for all of us. Our heart is in the right place with your child. It\u2019s our child as well and we\u2019ll do everything in our power to make sure this school and this community is safe and secure for everyone,\u201d township health officer Jeff Plunkett said. \u201cWe\u2019ll leave nothing unturned to do that. Rest assured that when we all put our heads on the pillow at night, it\u2019s still on our minds. It\u2019s not just our job \u2014 it\u2019s our home.\u201d\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After a two-hour meeting, mostly made up of a question-and-answer session with Plunkett, school Superintendent James Parla and Yardville Elementary School principal Elena Manning, a few themes have surfaced to the top. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u2022The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is fast-tracking the testing of the student's samples for Enterovirus D-68 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) attended the meeting and informed the audience that the samples obtained from the deceased student were flown to CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Tuesday. Smith said the centers will \"expedite\" testing the samples, possibly obtaining a result within three days, after speaking with CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"We'll get a confirmation on that very shortly. It will go through the protocol, including the Department of Health at the state level. The moment they get the results, they'll be in touch with the municipality and the school district,\" Smith said. \"We need answers and we need them quickly. This would be a terrible escalation in terms of the concerns for that disease.\" \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u2022Hamilton schools are safe to attend...\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Plunkett and Parla echoed this point many times throughout the evening. The Yardville student died on Thursday, while schools were closed for Rosh Hashanah, but janitors in the building were already on-site as part of a regular maintenance routine, Manning said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The next morning, township health officials were at the school sanitizing every surface -- especially doorknobs, counters and frequently touched locations -- and disposing of some classroom materials, including toys that may have been in students' mouths.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Manning also noted that the school's preschool students are generally isolated from the rest of the school: There are bathrooms in the classroom and the students don't have lunch periods. Even school buses pick preschool students up in a different location from the rest of the students, Manning said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"I would bring my child to this school and put him in that preschool classroom tomorrow,\" school nurse Alison Timmons said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many parents criticized Parla for not closing the school on Friday, as news of the student's death was still traveling through grapevine.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"How do you send kids into a school when a child died from something and you don\u2019t know the reason?\" one mother asked.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When other parents recommended simply canceling preschool classes, Plunkett quickly dismissed the notion: \u201cThere was no feeling whatsoever that it was a prudent idea,\u201d he said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"We're not recommending keeping a child home unless you feel they are ill, just as you would between now and June,\" Plunkett said. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u2022...but students should remain home if they're sick\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The deceased student was kept home from school last Wednesday, with his mother concerned that her son was developing pink eye, Plunkett said. Even if the CDC testing reveals Enterovirus D-68 as the cause of the student's death, parents should still proceed as normal, he said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Nothing changes if this is confirmed (as Enterovirus D-68),\" Plunkett said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While the schools are clean and safe, it doesn't invalidate basic parenting protocol: \u201cWe want your children to be comfortable in school. We wouldn\u2019t have them here if we didn\u2019t feel it was appropriate to have them here,\u201d Parla said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The district on Monday also ordered a new monitoring system that will help note student absences when they seem to be related, particular in cases such as infections or viruses, Parla said. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u2022The school district needs to re-evaluate its communication protocols.\r\n \u00a0 This was the most common complaint of the parents at Monday's meeting: When Plunkett learned about the death of a student on Thursday, word should have immediately gone out to Yardville parents.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Concerned parents attend a meeting at Yardville Elementary School concerning issues after the death of a 4-year-old preschool student. Hamilton Township health officer Jeff Plunkett is at the microphone.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"We should have known on Thursday. I don\u2019t want a call from the principal telling me about school spirit day. I want a call telling me there was a death in the school,\" one parent said. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A recorded phone message was sent out to parents late on Thursday, and a more detailed one on Friday, Manning said. Another recorded message on Monday informed parents of the meeting.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0 Parla himself said the district could have done a better job of communicating the situation, even if it meant a phone message stating, \"We don't know everything and we're still working.\" He noted that the district had to walk a \"fine line\" between information the community deserved to know and privacy of the family.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe were really at a loss for a lot of this information. We were trying to balance a lot of sensitivities and what was the right thing to do, given the circumstances,\u201d Parla said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0 Some parents complained that they hadn't received the phone message, including one mother whose address had changed since her students began attending Yardville. While student records are updated annually, the parent recommended fast-tracking new addresses so parents could receive messages quickly.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the future, all updates will also be posted on the district and school website, Parla said. \r\n\u00a0 \r\n\u2022Follow basic hygiene practices.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While this includes wiping down surfaces such as countertops and doorknobs, for many officials last night it came down to one simple rule: Wash your hands.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Students and teachers are all educated on the importance of hygiene for the prevention of disease and it will be emphasized even more in the coming days, Manning said.\r\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"It sounds so simplistic but ... if you do that enough, you're far less likely to contract any virus, including this one,\" Smith said, relaying his conversation with Frieden. Original article: \r\n\u00a0 \r\nhttp://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/09/what_we_learned_local_officials_brief_parents_on_death_of_hamilton_preschool_student_which_cdc_is_in.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/columbus-day", "Columbus Day", "2014-09-26", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Columbus Day \n \t Start: \n \t October 13, 2014 12:00 am\n \t End: \n \t October 13, 2014 12:00 pm\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Sep 26, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/did-you-know-billboard-unveiling", "\"Did You Know?\" Billboard Unveiling", "2014-09-26", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Ocean City Community Team Keeping Our Community Healthy and Drug Free - \"Did You Know?\" campaign to raise awareness of negative impact of drugs and start conversations with children.\nParking at Obidiah's Restaurant, Roosevelt Boulevard (34th Street), Ocean City", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/thanksgiving-2", "Thanksgiving - Offices Closed", "2014-09-26", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Thanksgiving - Offices Closed \n \t Start: \n \t November 27, 2014\n \t End: \n \t November 27, 2014\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Sep 26, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/veterans-day-2", "Veterans Day", "2014-09-26", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "lobiondo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Veterans Day \n \t Start: \n \t November 11, 2014 12:00 am\n \t End: \n \t November 11, 2014 12:00 pm\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Sep 26, 2014", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140930195226/http://lobiondo.house.gov/event/nj-state-association-letter-carriers-convention", "NJ State Association of Letter Carriers Convention", "2014-09-26", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "NJ State Association of Letter Carriers Convention \n \t \nStart: \n \t September 29, 2014 9:30 am\n\n \t \nEnd: \n \t September 29, 2014 10:00 am\n \t \n \t \t\n \n Sep 26, 2014 \t\t \t \n \t \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Location: Caesar's - Palladium Ballroom, 2100 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140930195654/http://lobiondo.house.gov/press-release/lobiondo-announces-625000-cops-grant-wildwood", "LoBiondo Announces $625,000 in COPS Grant for Wildwood", "2014-09-24", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-02) today announced $625,000 in federal funding for the Wildwood Police Department under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program (CHP).\n\u201cAs a long-time supporter of the COPS program, I know it continues to be a valuable tool to assist local law enforcement with their ongoing efforts to protect our communities and hire or retain qualified men and women,\u201d said LoBiondo, a member of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus. \u201cI am pleased Wildwood will be receiving federal funding for this important initiative.\u201d\n\u201cThis grant will do volumes for us. Most of all, it allows our police department to do the most important thing for our community: protect it,\u201d said Mayor of Wildwood, Ernie Troiano, Jr. \u201cI appreciate Congressman LoBiondo\u2019s dedicated service to not only our local community, but our entire region.\u201d\nCHP provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide.\u00a0 CHP grants go directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new and/or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.\u00a0 Priority consideration was given to agencies that requested officer positions in order to deploy school resource officers, build trust between the police and community, hire military veterans, focus on homicide or gun violence, have a neighborhood or other geographic area designated as a Promise Zone as part of the President's Promise Zone Initiative, and/or have experienced an unanticipated catastrophic event.\nThis year\u2019s CHP grants provide 75 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years (36 months) for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts.\u00a0 Any additional costs above the approved entry-level salaries and fringe benefits, up to $125,000, are the responsibility of the grantee agency.\nThe COPS program is managed by the U.S. Department of Justice. More information about the COPS program is available at www.cops.usdoj.gov.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 # # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140930195707/http://lobiondo.house.gov/press-release/lobiondo-announces-more-75000-fire-grant-leesburg-station-26", "LoBiondo Announces More than $75,000 in Fire Grant to Leesburg Station 26", "2014-09-24", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Frank LoBiondo", "L000554", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Representative Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-02) today announced the Maurice River Township Fire District #1 - Leesburg Station 26 will receive $75,644 for a federal Operations and Safety grant through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program.\n\u201cOn the heels of today\u2019s COPS grant announcement, South Jersey\u2019s emergency responders continue to receive great news,\u201d said LoBiondo, a member of the Congressional Fire Caucus. \u201cThis funding will keep the men and women of Leesburg Station 26 safe with new personal protective equipment and standard firefighting gear. Once again, South Jersey fire companies continue to receive federal funding through the AFG program.\u201d\n\u201cI am very excited for this grant. It is a tremendous help for us, especially being a smaller community,\u201d said Fire Chief Michael Phillips. \u201cIt will prevent us from having to look elsewhere to get the needed revenue for this important equipment.\u201d\nThe Leesburg Fire Company has previously been awarded two AFG grants for the purchase of safety equipment in the amounts of: $55,711 (2004) and $97,745 (2003).\nThe Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program awards grants directly to fire departments and emergency services to support their efforts to protect the communities they serve. The Fiscal Year 2014 program will award approximately $340 million in competitive grants to first responder organizations across the country to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources required to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.\nThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers the program. For the last ten years, Congressman LoBiondo\u2019s office has hosted local seminars for area fire departments to highlight the benefits of this grant program and assist with the application process. The Fiscal Year 2013 program received 10,700 applications nationwide. More information can be found at www.fema.gov/firegrants/\n\u00a0# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397537", "Asbury Park Press Op-Ed: SMITH: Major step forward in aiding Lyme victims", "2014-09-23", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By Chris Smith - \r\n \r\nIn New Jersey it is estimated that more than 55,000 individuals have reported cases of Lyme over the past 15 years. According to recent data, 96 percent of Lyme disease cases were reported from 13 states, and New Jersey was third highest.\r\nLast year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced what those in the Lyme disease community already knew: Only 10 percent of cases were being reported and the actual number of Lyme cases is over 300,000 \u2014 not 30,000 as CDC had previously insisted. This report has heightened the urgency for a coordinated, targeted effort to assist Lyme patients.\r\nThe House answered the call earlier this month by passing an historic bill, the Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act, HR 4701. I helped write this bill and shepherd it through the House to begin the process of helping Lyme patients by addressing the gaps in health treatment \u2014 the great unmet need \u2014 for the individuals and families in the Lyme community.\r\nThe legislation establishes an interagency working group on Lyme disease and requires the creation of a strategic plan to guide existing federal Lyme disease research and treatment programs. Ensuring decisions are made in an open and transparent manner with the right people at the table, and allowing for greater public input into how resources can improve outcomes for Lyme patients, is a step I have advocated for more than a decade.\r\nIn 1992, I met with the top medical officials at the National Institutes of Health and CDC who were working on Lyme disease. With me was an extraordinary woman named Pat Smith from Monmouth County, founder and president of a national organization called the Lyme Disease Association, based in Jackson, and other advocates from New Jersey who highlighted the increasing prevalence of Lyme disease in my state.\r\nUnfortunately, 22 years later, far too little has been accomplished.\r\nAmong the points I raised in the 1992 meeting is the apparent ineffectiveness of a month-long antibiotic treatment for a sizable portion of those suffering from chronic Lyme.\r\nThe CDC today recognizes that: \u201cApproximately 10 to 20 percent of patients treated for Lyme disease with a recommended two- to four-week course of antibiotics will have lingering symptoms of fatigue, pain, or joint and muscle aches.\u201d Yet they refer to chronic Lyme as \u201cPost-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome\u201d (PTLDS) \u2014 a term that suggests perhaps incorrectly that the spirochete bacteria that causes the disease has been vanquished.\r\nCurrently, the Infectious Disease Society of America\u2019s guidelines recommend only short-term use of oral antibiotics for Lyme patients. I understand that there are concerns about the prolonged use of antibiotics and know \u201cIDSA contends that it does not intend for its guidelines to be applied as mandatory treatment protocols.\u201d\r\nHowever, as a study on how flawed clinical guidelines can compromise patient care recently stated: \u201cguidelines have become a way to drive the medical standard of care that governs physician conduct.\u201d\r\nFurther, the study stated that the IDSA\u2019s conclusion that there are no comparable benefits to prolonged antibiotic therapy beyond one month \u201cwas reached despite the large volume of case reports, case series, anecdotes, and patient testimonials reviewed that attest to perceived clinical improvement during antibiotic therapy.\u201d\r\nAs Dr. Richard Horowitz notes in his bestselling book, \u201cWhy Can\u2019t I Get Better\u201d: \u201cin fact, increasing the dose of antibiotics and/or extending the length of treatment, clearly did help a certain percentage of my patients. Their fatigue, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and cognitive symptoms improved.\u201d\r\nHorowitz is not alone. We need scientifically-based answers and a comprehensive probe that goes wherever the data suggests.\r\nPassage of the Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act is a great step forward for chronic Lyme patients, especially those who have suffered for decades with this debilitating disease \u2014 only to be told that their illness doesn\u2019t exist.\r\nThese patients received overwhelming support in the House of Representatives with passage of the first-ever legislation identifying chronic Lyme and providing a mechanism that will provide real answers on the appropriate treatment.\r\nIt is my hope that HR 4701 will move forward in the Senate and help foster a broad, expanding effort to fight a dreaded disease that threatens hundreds of thousands of people.\r\nRep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., represents the 4th Congressional District. He is co-chair and co-founder of the bipartisan Lyme Disease Caucus in Congress. This article was originally printed on Sept. 23, 2014:\r\n\u00a0 \r\nhttp://www.app.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/09/23/smith-major-step-forward-aiding-lyme-victims/16094967/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://frelinghuysen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=2&itemid=931", "Rep. Frelinghuysen Conducts Annual Inspection of Superfund Sites: Announces Cleanup Plan for Radiation Technology Site in Rockaway Township", "2014-09-23", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Rodney Frelinghuysen", "F000372", "frelinghuysen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Morristown, New Jersey\u2013 Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) conducted his annual tour of Superfund sites in the 11th Congressional District of New Jersey yesterday. Frelinghuysen visited the sites to check on the progress being made in restoring these heavily polluted locations. Frelinghuysen was accompanied by officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including Judith Enck, administrator for EPA Region 2, as well as representatives from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and numerous local elected officials. The highlight of the tour was the announcement made by Frelinghuysen and Enck at the Radiation Technology site in Rockaway Township, Morris County, where they announced that EPA has approved a cleanup plan for this site, which occupies 263 acres. \u201cI am very pleased to announce that EPA has approved a cleanup plan for this Superfund site,\u201d Frelinghuysen said. \u201cI have worked closely with EPA to move all of our Superfund cleanups forward. I am pleased that we are that much closer to the day when the Radiation Technology site land can be returned to beneficial use.\u201d Enck observed during the stop at Radiation Technology that Congressman Frelinghuysen is perhaps the only Member of Congress who visits Superfund sites in his or her District every year to ensure that progress is being made. The Radiation Technology site was formerly used for testing and developing rocket motors and propellants and is contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), asbestos, and other materials. Considerable remediation has already been accomplished at this site, including systems to monitor groundwater and drinking water wells and the removal of 75 rusting and leaking drums. The final cleanup plan will include the demolition or removal of 34 buildings and other structures at the site. Among the other Superfund sites visited by Frelinghuysen yesterday were: Mansfield Trail Dump, in Byram Township, Sussex County, where he was joined by Byram Township councilmembers David Gray, Nisha Kash, Scott Olson, and Marie Raffay; Rockaway Township Wells, Rockaway Twp., Morris County; Rockaway Borough Well Field, Rockaway Borough, Morris County, where he was joined by Assemblyman Anthony Bucco (NJ-25) and Joyce Kanigel, Rockaway Borough Council; Caldwell Trucking, Fairfield, Essex County, where Mayor Jim Gasparini accompanied Frelinghuysen; and Unimatic Manufacturing, Fairfield, Essex County. \u00a0 Administrator Enck accompanied Frelinghuysen at the visits in Rockaway Township and Rockaway Borough.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://frelinghuysen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=2&itemid=932", "Rep. Frelinghuysen Conducts Annual Inspection of Superfund Sites: Visits Two Locations in Fairfield Township", "2014-09-23", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Rodney Frelinghuysen", "F000372", "frelinghuysen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Morristown, New Jersey\u2013 Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) conducted his annual tour of Superfund sites in the 11th Congressional District of New Jersey yesterday. Frelinghuysen visited the sites to check on the progress being made in restoring these heavily polluted locations.\r\n\r\n\tFrelinghuysen was accompanied by officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as representatives from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and numerous local elected officials.\r\n\r\n\tFrelinghuysen visited two sites in Fairfield: Caldwell Trucking Co. and Unimatic Manufacturing Corporation. Joined by Mayor Jim Gasparini, Frelinghuysen received an update on the status of these two sites.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI am pleased to see that the groundwater at the Caldwell Trucking site continues to be cleaned and that the EPA is preparing to evaluate the situation at the Unimatic site,\u201d Frelinghuysen said. \u201cI look forward to continuing to work with the EPA, the DEP, and local officials in Fairfield to protect the health of the community and the environment.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tFrelinghuysen visited four other Superfund sites in his District during the day.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 417, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"party\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Republican", "p1": "NJ", "p2": "2014"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ&year=2014", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 417, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=NJ&year=2014", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ&year=2014", "results": [{"value": "House", "label": "House", "count": 417, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ&year=2014&chamber=House", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ&year=2014", "results": [{"value": "NJ", "label": "NJ", "count": 417, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&year=2014", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ&year=2014", "results": [{"value": "2014", "label": "2014", "count": 417, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2014-09-23,https~3A~2F~2Ffrelinghuysen~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Findex~2Ecfm~3Fsectionid~3D2~26itemid~3D932", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NJ&year=2014&_next=2014-09-23%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Ffrelinghuysen~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Findex~2Ecfm~3Fsectionid~3D2~26itemid~3D932&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 292.6934650167823, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}