{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415111", "The Southern Examiner article on Smith's House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee hearing on Nigeria'Lawmakers sound alarm on \"deadliest place on earth to be a Christian\" as Nigeria violence escalates'", "2025-11-21", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "By Godswill Udoh\n\nPublished Friday, November 21, 2025\n\nThe chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Representative Chris Smith, opened a hearing on Thursday with a stark warning about what he described as rapidly escalating, religion-driven violence in Nigeria, calling President Donald J. Trump\u2019s recent redesignation of the country as a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern\u201d a necessary and overdue alarm bell.\n\nMr. Smith, a New Jersey Republican who has spent decades spotlighting abuses in Africa, framed the session as part of a long-running effort in Congress to draw attention to what he called the \u201cmost brutal and murderous anti-Christian persecution in the world today.\u201d It was his 12th hearing focused exclusively on Nigeria.\n\n\u201cNigeria is ground zero,\u201d Mr. Smith said, arguing that extremist groups\u2014including Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa and radicalized Fulani militants\u2014have waged a sustained campaign of killing, abduction and village destruction, often with religious motives. He added that moderate Muslims who refuse to align with extremist factions have also been targeted.\n\nRep. Smith", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "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"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415111"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9076162241399288, "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"}