March 7, 2025 at 2:10 p.m. From OSV News and Staff Reports At their 20th anniversary event, the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast organizers recognized Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., with its Christifideles Laici Award, named for St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation for the laity. In his acceptance speech, the longtime Catholic Congressman hailing from the Diocese of Trenton and human rights advocate pointed to religious persecution in places like Nigeria, Nicaragua and China as issues that shou...
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By Jim Lonergan Published March 9, 2025 at 2:46 PM – Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) was recently recognized for his dedication to stomach cancer research, receiving the Congressional Steward of the Dream Award from Debbie’s Dream Foundation at a Capitol Hill event on February 26. The award, presented by Melani Vincelli, leader of the foundation’s New Jersey South Chapter and a 16-year stomach cancer survivor, highlights Smith’s unwavering efforts to advance research and secure critical funding...
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Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) recently received the Congressional Steward of the Dream Award for his leadership and outstanding commitment to stomach cancer research. “I cannot thank you enough for your years of advocacy for stomach cancer research,” said Melani Vincelli, the New Jersey South Chapter leader of the nationwide Debbie’s Dream Foundation, which presented the award to Smith on Feb. 26 at a Capitol Hill event. Melani Vincelli (right) a resident of the Fourth Congressional District and Debb...
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Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ-), along with Vice President JD Vance, today addressed the 20th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, and the following are excerpts of his remarks: I would like to recognize my dear wife Marie who I met more than fifty years ago in the pro-life movement. She has been—and continues to be—a powerful, talented and incredibly wise, faith-filled pro-life leader, especially in the battle to defend human life around the world serving on Holy See del...
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– Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the Africa Subcommittee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, has introduced legislation (HR 1744) to reauthorize the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) through September 2028. Smith’s bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Henry Cuellar (D-TX). “The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is the U.S. government’s most effective, unbiased, and respected voic...
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Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and co-chair of the Uyghur Caucus, released the following statement on Thailand’s refoulement of Uyghur refugees to China: “The government of Thailand forcibly repatriated 45 Uyghur refugees to Communist China in violation of its obligations under the Convention against Torture. Culpability for this lies directly with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shin...
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— Congressman Chris Smith issued the following statement following the passage of the FY25 Budget Resolution: “The House took the first critical step to tackle our huge $36 trillion debt – a crushing burden that we cannot sustain or survive as a Nation. Most Americans are shocked to learn that the daily interest payment on the national debt is $2.6 billion. Yearly interest payments on the debt alone will rise to $952 billion in 2025 and will climb to over $1 Trillion in 2026—and that interest p...
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By Jerry Carino Asbury Park Press Writer - Pete Celentano was in a foxhole with three other U.S. Army soldiers in northern Vietnam in 1967 when an artillery shell landed in their midst. “When I woke up, the two guys on my left, they were disintegrated — there was nothing left of them,” the Jackson resident recalled, adding that the fourth man, a sergeant, “was lying over my chest, face-down, with a big hole in his back.” Celentano had sustained shrapnel wounds to his face, neck, arms and hands. ...
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Carly Baldwin,Patch Staff Posted Wed, Feb 26, 2025 at 10:32 am ET Congressman Smith presents the Bronze Star to Middletown resident Mike Vaccaro Feb. 21. At either side are N.J. State Assemblymembers Gerry Scharfenberger and Vicky Flynn. (Office of Congressman Chris Smith) On Friday, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) presented the Bronze Star to a 79-year-old Middletown man who served his country in the Vietnam war. The man is Mike Vaccaro. He was 24 years old when he served in the Vietnam War fr...
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— On Nov. 10, 1967, 20-year-old Pete Celentano wrote home to his mother and father about surviving the Battle of Dak To in Vietnam, noting that he was injured in battle, which they might read in the newspaper. Little did he know that very letter and a local news report of the battle published on the same day, would be at the crux of a congressional inquiry to the Department of the Army. The documents would provide proof that the now 78-year-old Jackson resident was deserving of the Purple Heart...
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