By Jean Mikle, Asbury Park Press Plans to build a new, expanded veterans clinic in Ocean County have hit yet another roadblock. A notification on the federal Business Opportunities web site said the process to award a bid for the lease of an expanded clinic — along with plans to select a site has been canceled. That means the VA will have to re-do the entire bidding and site selection process, a lengthy procedure that could take many months. This marks the second time the VA has restarted the pr... Read more

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times The coronavirus crisis hasn’t derailed Rep. Chris Smith — he’s written six bills while Congress has been on a virus-induced recess, including a demand that airlines refund unused tickets and a trend-setting bill to punish China for mismanaging the virus. Rep. Joe Neguse, also a prolific legislator, has written nine bills ranging from swatting price gougers to mandating that businesses pay their front-line essential workers a 25% hazard pay boost, with the ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), responding to a notice he received Friday about yet another delay in the replacement of the Brick Veterans Clinic, made an immediate and direct appeal to Robert Wilkie, Secretary of the Department Veterans Affairs (VA). Smith fired off a letter requesting to meet with the VA to discuss—and resolve—the long-delayed construction of a new clinic for Ocean County. In a letter to Secretary Wilkie, Smith asked for a meeting to discuss “the extraordinarily disappointing announc... Read more

While much of the world’s intelligence forces are focused on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, human trafficking victims are at risk of being overlooked, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., told a European security organization this week. “Traffickers are not shut down—they haven’t gone on a holiday,” Rep. Smith warned in an April 27 webinar speech to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE-PA). “Victims still need to be rescued. Survivors still need assista... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and author of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (P.L. 114-381), today released the following statement in response to the April 28 launch of the 21st annual report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on the state of religious liberty around the world: “I commend USCIRF for taking on the worst violators of religious freedom around the world, and for issuing a ha... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) released the following remarks today on the 45th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon for the Black April Memorial Event sponsored by Viet Tan of North America, TNT Media, and Democracy for Vietnam Association (watch the video here): Forty-five years ago, the city of Saigon fell, and along with it the hopes of Vietnamese, Americans and allies who had endured over 20 years of fighting a grueling communist insurgency financed by the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Un... Read more

More federal funding to combat opioid and other addictions is on its way to Monmouth and Ocean counties and it could not come at a more critical time, said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) who represents several towns in Monmouth and Ocean. “This grant funding comes at a crucial time for people who are recovering from addictions or facing mental illness in the Ocean and Monmouth County areas,” said Smith. “The isolation that can come with social distancing, quarantining and the closing of many me... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today addressed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE-PA) as its Special Representative on Human Trafficking Issues at the OSCE-PA's Bureau Spring 2020 Meeting, held this year in a teleconference due to the COVID-19 outbreak. President Tsereteli, Secretary General Montella, and all my distinguished colleagues on this webinar, it is good to see you and I hope that everyone is staying healthy and safe. As lawmakers, all of us... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) released the following statement to mark World Malaria Day, April 25, 2020: “As prime author of a law to provide funds to combat malaria, HIV/AIDs and other diseases, and as co-chairman of the House Malaria Caucus, I remain deeply concerned that globally, 228 million people suffer from malaria with 405,000 deaths in 2018. “The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) notes with alarm that ‘Children under age five accounted for more than two-thirds (67 percent) of all malaria... Read more

For the first time ever, the annual Congressional Art Competition held by Rep. Chris Smith as part of a national competition for his district’s high school students, will be a “virtual” online show to ensure the safety of students, parents, teachers and the interested public. In response to the coronavirus national emergency, the artwork, which is normally displayed for a month at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton’s Lakefront Gallery, will be posted on Smith’s congressional we... Read more