{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399876", "Smith: Its Deja Vu All Over Again with Navy Earle Housing", "2016-10-18", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) has asked the Navy to reconsider its recent controversial housing proposal for Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County that would expand the rental of public private venture (PPV) housing at the base to non-Department of Defense-affiliated civilians.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe proposal is fraught with security concerns, as well serious challenges to local systems, and it is in fact deja vu all over again\u2014despite the fact that security at our bases has proven to be even more challenging in the last several years,\u201d said Smith in a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Dennis McGinn. \u201cGiven that our nation has been exposed to numerous national security threats in the homeland since the original signing of the PPV lease\u2014including the planned attack by the Fort Dix Five\u2014it is evident that this type of housing venture is no longer practical and in fact a security risk here at Earle. Furthermore, recent terrorist activity and bombings just miles from NWS Earle demonstrate that security is indeed of paramount concern in this suburban and rural area.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Click here to read Smith\u2019s letter to the Navy.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Smith, who represents Earle and the surrounding communities, helped lead the fight to successfully persuade the Navy to abandon an earlier proposal to open 300 units at Laurelwood Housing to unscreened and unaffiliated civilians. After a four year confrontation with the local community that was deeply divisive, the Navy reached a settlement with the developer to purchase and demolish the surplus housing in 2010.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In requesting a meeting with the Navy, Smith said the current agreement, which seeks to opens dozens of housing units to non-affiliated renters, raises nearly identical questions of how rental applicants will be\u2014or even can be\u2014properly vetted so that the munitions station\u2014as well as its neighboring communities\u2014are protected and secure.\u00a0 Only 81 percent of these homes have been occupied in the last six years. As a result, housing partner Northeast Housing LLC, a wholly-owned corporation of Balfour Beatty Communities (BBC), has recently ramped up efforts to attract non-affiliated civilians to occupy the remaining approximately 20 housing units.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI urge you and your team to revisit the plan to open the housing on the base and work with me and other local officials with the hope of finding an alternative solution that enables the Navy to meet its obligation to BBC without threatening the safety of the base, our military personnel and the surrounding area,\u201d Smith wrote to McGinn. \u201cAdditionally, I hope you will partner with me to determine why more affiliated personnel are not taking advantage of the vacant homes on the installation, and work to make the base housing and installation environment more competitive.\u201d\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399876"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0870229452848434, "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"}