{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415795", "Urges Nigerian gov\u2019t to protect Christian communitiesSmith condemns latest deadly attacks on Christians in Nigeria", "2026-08-21", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, today condemned two deadly attacks in Nigeria that reportedly killed more than 30 people on Sunday and at least 23-25 people on Tuesday. As reports of the attacks and casualty figures continue to emerge, Smith called upon the Nigerian government to take immediate action to protect vulnerable Christian communities and bring the perpetrators to justice.\n\n\u201cDespite denials by Nigerian government actors, Christians continue to be slaughtered while Nigerian officials fail to provide adequate protection or hold the perpetrators accountable,\u201d said Smith, who has chaired 13 congressional hearings on the religious persecution crisis in Nigeria. \u201cEnough is enough. The Nigerian government must fulfill its most basic responsibility of protecting its citizens.\u201d\n\nSmith joined Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia in strongly urging the Nigerian government \u201cto meet their commitments to protect Christian communities and to hold perpetrators of violence accountable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe U.S. State Department's recent public message underscores the urgent need for concrete action\u2014not more assurances\u2014as deadly violence continues to devastate vulnerable communities,\u201d continued Smith.\n\n\u201cInstead of spending millions of dollars\u2014$9 million, to be exact\u2014in an attempt to improve its image in Washington, the Nigerian government should redirect those resources towards protecting its people and addressing this grave security crisis.\u201d\n\nEarlier this year, Smith introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 (HR 7457), which would require the U.S. Secretary of State to compile and submit to Congress a comprehensive report on U.S. efforts to address the ongoing religious persecution and mass atrocities in Nigeria.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-22T05:24:59Z", "2026-08-22T05:26:16Z"]], "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=415795"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8731801062822342, "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"}