{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415162", "Major 2026 defense bill includes Smith amendment to combat LymeSmith amendment to probe whether the U.S. military weaponized ticks with Lyme disease passes House", "2025-12-10", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "A critical amendment authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to investigate whether the U.S. military weaponized ticks with Lyme disease has been included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26 NDAA) (S. 1071), which has cleared the U.S. House of Representatives, headed to the Senate, and is expected to be signed by President Trump upon its final passage.\n\nSmith\u2019s amendment\u2014now Sec. 1068 of the bill\u2014directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO)\u2014the Congressional \u201cwatchdog\u201d\u2014to investigate the Cold War-era Department of Defense (Department of War) bioweapons program and determine whether they ever used ticks as hosts or delivery mechanisms for biological warfare agents.\n\n\u201cNew Jersey has one of the highest Lyme rates in the United States\u2014the disease is present in all 21 counties,\u201d noted Smith, Co-Chair of the Congressional Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Caucus. \u201cThe pervasive presence of Lyme disease in New Jersey not only carries concerns for civilians, but also for the military personnel stationed in the state\u2014especially and including those serving at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, part of which is located within my congressional district.\u201d\n\nSpecifically, Smith\u2019s amendment in the NDAA compels the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct an exhaustive review of research conducted by the military, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other federal agencies between the period of January 1, 1945 and December 31, 1972, regarding experiments involving Spirochaetales and Rickettsiales\u2014two forms of tick-borne bacteria.\n\n\u201cNow that this vital provision has advanced out of the House, we are one step closer to finally determining whether the U.S. government\u2019s bioweapons program contributed to the proliferation of Lyme disease,\u201d stated Smith. \u201cIf the GAO investigation concludes that our government\u2019s bioweapons program was not involved, we turn the page.\n\n\u201cThe hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans suffering from Lyme disease\u2014in addition to the millions across the United States\u2014deserve to know the truth about the origins of their illness. An enhanced understanding of how Lyme came to be will only assist in finding a cure for this debilitating disease,\u201d said Smith.\n\nIn previous Congresses, Smith offered two similar amendments\u2014one in 2019 and the other in 2021\u2014both of which passed the House, but were blocked in the Senate.\n\nSmith\u2019s amendments have been inspired in-part by the explosion of Lyme disease in New Jersey and Kris Newby\u2019s book, Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons. The book includes in-depth interviews with and the personal files of Dr. Willy Burgdorfer\u2014the federal researcher and U.S. bioweapons specialist credited with discovering Lyme disease\u2014who later revealed that he and other bio-weapons specialists injected ticks with pathogens in order to cause severe disability, disease, and even death to potential enemies in unsuspecting ways.\n\nIn addition to Smith\u2019s section on Lyme disease, the FY26 NDAA includes significant reforms to our Nation\u2019s military, making it better prepared to meet the threats of the future and ensuring fairness for those who answer the call to serve.\n\n\u201cThe FY26 NDAA authorizes $900.6 billion for national defense discretionary programs\u2014proving that Congress is capable of properly funding our military\u2019s operations and supporting our servicemembers, all while ensuring greater fiscal accountability for American taxpayers,\u201d said Smith, the former Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs.\n\n\u201cThis bill supports President Trump\u2019s \u2018peace through strength\u2019 agenda by investing in enhanced defense technologies and activities to more effectively protect America\u2019s lands, seas, and skies.\u201d\n\nSpecifically, the FY26 NDAA:\n\nImproves servicemember quality of life by implementing a 3.8% pay raise and enhances military bonuses and special pay;\n\nFully funds the establishment and enforcement of National Defense Areas along the southwest border;\n\nCodifies President Trump\u2019s executive orders and legislative proposals to eliminate poisonous \u201cwoke\u201d and DEI policies, which harm military recruitment and retention;\n\nAdvances and supports President Trump\u2019s Golden Dome program for missile and drone defense to protect the homeland;\n\nAuthorizes more than $1 billion to combat drug trafficking, including $398 million for DOW support of counter-narcotics operations and $216 million for National Guard counter-drug initiatives;\n\nAllocates $145.7 billion to research, develop, test, and evaluate new technologies, such as drones and counter-drone systems, urgently needed by warfighters;\n\nAuthorizes $26 billion in shipbuilding funding for submarines and surface vessels;\n\nAuthorizes more than $35 billion to restore the United States\u2019 arsenal of munitions\u2014critical for installations, such as Naval Weapons Station Earle;\n\nAuthorizes $38 billion to ensure air dominance, including funds for a next-generation fighter;\n\nProtects the security of Israel by fully funding joint U.S.-Israel cooperative missile defense programs, such as the Iron Dome, Arrow, and David\u2019s Sling;\n\nCounters the innumerable national security threats posed by Communist China by removing Chinese products from our defense supply chains, authorizing $2.7 billion for military construction projects in the Indo-Pacific, fully funding the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative at $1 billion, and supporting our allies in the Indo-Pacific to oppose China\u2019s malign influence operations; and\n\nReforms the defense acquisition system by fast-tracking novel war technologies to the warfighter.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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=415162"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8367849513888359, "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"}