{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400797", "On the Deadly Attack Against U.N. Peacekeepers In the Democratic Republic of the Congo", "2017-12-08", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) issued the following statement after an attack on U.N. peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday killed 14 and injured dozens of others:  \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0   \r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cIn what is being described as the worst attack on United Nations peacekeepers in recent history, at least 14 \u2018blue helmets\u2019 were killed and many more injured yesterday.\u00a0 The attack occurred at the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) operating base at Semuliki in North Kivu when elements believed to be part of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group that has adopted increasingly radical Islamist views, fired upon the UN base,\u201d Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, stated.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"The DRC army has launched three major offensives against the ADF since 2005, but the group\u2019s leadership reportedly remains intact, and it has continued to operate in at least two areas of eastern DRC \u2013 sometimes in association with DRC militia groups.  \r\n\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"This new outbreak of violence threatens the peace hoped to be established in eastern DRC prior to scheduled elections next year.\u00a0 Along with the recent violence in the DRC\u2019s central Kasai region and potential violence from groups and individuals opposing the extension of DRC President Joseph Kabila\u2019s term in office, the long-awaited national elections even now must be considered in danger of yet another postponement.\u00a0 Those elections were originally supposed to be held in November 2016, and then by the end of this month before the DRC government announced it could not fulfill the agreement on the election date.  \r\n\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"The Administration, in collaboration with the UN and others in the international community, must continue to support MONSUCO\u2019s mission to protect civilians and help implement plans to conduct elections by the current December 23, 2018, target date.\u00a0 To back up this effort, I intend to introduce a bill next week that, among other provisions,\u00a0seeks to punish those individuals blocking democracy and good governance in the DRC.\u201d", 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=400797"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7816520519554615, "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"}