{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415219", "Chairman Smith on President Trump\u2019s decisive action to strike ISIS encampments in Nigeria", "2025-12-27", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee issued the following statement after the U.S. military\u2019s coordinated strikes on ISIS settlements in northwestern Nigeria:\n\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s decisive action reflects the United States\u2019 unyielding commitment to standing up to the Nigerian terrorists, who have been murdering, raping, torturing and violently harassing Christians and non-radical Muslims in the region for decades.\n\n\u201cCoordinated under Secretary Pete Hegseth, the limited precision airstrikes against Islamist terrorists in Nigeria clearly demonstrate that violent actions against Christians and other religious groups have profound consequences.\n\n\u201cThe strikes also put the radical Islamist terrorists in Nigeria on notice that the United States will never condone or turn a blind eye to religious persecution and violence.\n\n\u201cSignificantly, the U.S. Department of State and Nigeria on December 19 signed a five-year bilateral America First Global Health Strategy, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s health system with a strong emphasis on promoting Christian faith-based healthcare providers. The U.S. intends to commit $2.1 billion in health assistance in the combined investment of nearly $5.1 billion over the life of the MOU.\n\n\u201cAccording to State, \u2018The MOU was negotiated in connection with reforms the Nigerian government has made to prioritize protecting Christian populations from violence\u2026.\u2019 Additionally, it was announced that the Trump Administration \u2018expects Nigeria to continue to make progress ensuring that it combats extremist religious violence against vulnerable Christian populations.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn October, I and many of my colleagues applauded President Trump and welcomed his declaration of Nigeria as a \u2018Country of Particular Concern\u2019 based on the religious persecution of Christians in that country.\n\n\u201cI then chaired a hearing entitled, \u2018President Trump\u2019s Redesignation of Nigeria as a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern\u201d: A Serious, Well-Founded Wake-Up Call,\u2019 at which key State Department officials made it clear that the Trump administration was working tirelessly to ensure that human rights and religious freedom remain central to our bilateral relationship with Nigeria.\u201d\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=415219"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1119097471237183, "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"}