{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399950", "Protecting Foreign Service Officers and All Americans Overseas", "2016-12-05", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House panel on Africa and International Organizations, took to the House floor to deliver following speech in support of S. 1635, the \u201cDepartment of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act, Fiscal Year 2016\u201d:\u00a0  \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support for passage of S. 1635.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A highly skilled group of Foreign Service Officers\u2014about fifteen thousand strong\u2014are deployed worldwide to promote peace, human rights, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For most, posting overseas requires serious personal sacrifice.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For some, deployment entails serious danger\u2014from disease, crime and terrorism.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After the American embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were attacked by terrorists in August of 1998, I chaired hearings on embassy security in my subcommittee and authored the Admiral James W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Act for 2000 and 2001\u2014 to significantly boost embassy security including\u00a0 reconfigured\u00a0 embassies,\u00a0 \u201csetbacks\u201d and additional diplomatic security personnel.\u00a0 The bill\u2014dubbed the Embassy Security Act\u2014passed the House in 1999, never even got a vote in the Senate, but after much lobbying my bill was included in its entirety in the FY 2000 appropriations omnibus.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 2005 Congress enacted into law another bill I sponsored\u2014the Department of State's Authorities (P.L. 109-140) that among other things boosted danger pay.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today, Senator Corker\u2019s and Mr. Royce\u2019s bill authorizes $4.8 billion for embassy security.\u00a0 It continues the all-important work of ensuring the most effective security possible for our Foreign Service and Americans abroad by directing joint State/DOD contingency plans\u2014including rapid deployment of armed forces\u2014designation of high-risk, high-threat posts with adequate funding and training commensurate with the danger,\u00a0 and utilization of \u201cbest value\u201d contracting.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 S. 1635 provides numerous enhancements of personnel issues for our men and women in the Foreign Service\u2014from promotion opportunities to updated cost-of-living adjustments to improved care for the children of Foreign Service officers with autism spectrum disorders.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During markup, I sponsored an amendment that was approved that recognizes applied behavioral analysis (ABA) as proven evidence-based intervention for autistic children and that the Secretary of State should ensure coverage of and access to ABA for dependents with ASD of overseas employees.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Speaker, our government contributes approximately 22% of the funding for UN operations \u2013 more than half a billion dollars annually. We have a duty to ensure that those funds are not only spent wisely, but also do not unwittingly support those peacekeepers who abuse the very people they are deployed to protect, which unfortunately happens all too often.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since the 1990s, allegations of rape and sexual abuse and exploitation have been made against foreign troops in UN peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan, as well as others.\u00a0 Such cases of abuse last year included the rape of a 12-year-old girl in the Central African Republic.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve chaired numerous hearing on this abuse of women and young girls\u2014pushing zero tolerance for this cruelty and exploitation.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 S. 1635 strengthens oversight and accountability of UN peacekeeping personnel.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 S. 1635 bars troop or police contributing countries with poor records from participating in future peacekeeping operations\u2014resulting in a loss of funds and prestige.", 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=399950"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.855456106364727, "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"}