Bipartisan congressional legislation recognizing February as American Heart Month is designed to bring greater awareness to the cardiovascular public health crisis and reaffirm the commitment of the United States to combat heart disease throughout the year. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition, along with fellow co-chair Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), authored the resolution (H.Res. 128) in honor of the approximately 655,000 Americans who die from some fo... Read more

BY KAYLA MARSH of THE OCEAN STAR — Significant damage to the borough beachfront caused by recent winter storms has brought together officials across all sectors of government to find solutions to help bring some relief to the impacted area. Mayor William Curtis recently met with Congressman Chris Smith [R-04], U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lt. Col. David Park, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s [NJDEP] Director of the Division of Coastal Engineering William Dixon, Ocean... Read more

By Jonathan Salant - In the last Congress, Marci and Seymour Josephson saw the U.S. House pass without opposition legislation named for their late daughter, murdered after getting into a fake Uber car while at college. But the Senate never took up the measure and it failed to become law. Now Rep. Chris Smith, who counts the Josephsons as his constituents, is trying again. Smith has reintroduced what is known as “Sami’s Law,” requiring vehicles for ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft cl... Read more

By ELIZABETH A MEYERS Representative Chris Smith (NJ-4) has renewed his effort to bring "Sami's Law, named in honor of Samantha “Sami” Josephson, a Robbinsville resident, who was kidnaped and brutally murdered by a predator pretending to be her Uber driver near the University of South Carolina just months prior to her graduation in 2019, to the President's desk. HR 1082, sponsored by Smith, a federal Sami’s Law will require transportation networking companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft to deploy ... Read more

John K. “Jack” Rafferty, the legendary public servant who served as Hamilton’s first full-time mayor from 1976 to 2000, died Wednesday of undisclosed causes. He was 82. “Mayor Rafferty left an indelible mark on Hamilton Township,” current Mayor Jeff Martin, a Democrat, said of the former Republican mayor. “We can all learn from his example and strive to be more like Jack.” When Hamilton Township amended its governing structure to the mayor-council form of government in the 1970s — separating the... Read more

By Caroline Fassett | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com John K. “Jack” Rafferty, a one-time New Jersey state assemblyman but better known as the long-time mayor of Hamilton, Mercer County, died Wednesday at the age of 82. Rafferty dedicated roughly 30 years of his life to public service, serving six years on the then Hamilton Township Committee (now council) prior to being elected the municipality’s first full-time mayor from 1976 to 1999. From 1986 to 1988, he also represented the 14th Legislative D... Read more

By Rep. Chris Smith Jack Rafferty was an extraordinary leader—a visionary and doer of great deeds—especially for the people of Hamilton Township. He was smart, tenacious, selfless and had a sense of humor that always brought a smile to anyone he met. He was kind and caring—and had a great big heart. As the can-do mayor, Jack made Hamilton a great place to live and improved the quality of life for all. All Hamiltonians were his priority. I was privileged to work with Jack on many projects includi... Read more

A bipartisan bill that would prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labor in China was introduced today by Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, along with Chris Smith (R-NJ), Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA). The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumpt... Read more

With an eye toward a post-COVID easing of restrictions and a return to economic normalcy, a group of bipartisan lawmakers are determined to establish timely and much-needed safety protections for Americans who will be using rideshare companies to help them get to work, school, appointments or social events. Authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) with lead Democrat cosponsor, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Sami’s Law will require transportation networking companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft to deploy a ver... Read more

By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman It’s back to the drawing board for Sami’s Law. New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith has reintroduced legislation regulating the ride-share industry, because U.S. Senate members failed to pass a companion bill during the last session of Congress. “We must establish safety protocols and accountability in the system to protect rideshare customers who remain extremely vulnerable,” Smith, a Mercer County Republican, said Wednesday in a press statement. “As the nation looks to e... Read more