By Stephen Edelson, Asbury Park Press Staff Writer - I remember the first time I met Joanne Atkins-Ingram some 20 months ago, listening to her talk about things like answers, accountability and action even as she recounted details from the worst day of her life. Saturday marked the second anniversary of the passing of her son, former Neptune High School football standout Braeden Bradforth, who died of exertional heatstroke during a conditioning test at Garden City Community College in Garden Cit... Read more

By David Chang • Published July 29, 2020 • Updated on July 30, 2020 at 7:39 am What to Know 'Sami's Law' passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The bipartisan legislation ‘Sami’s Law,’ requires rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to deploy a verifiable electronic access system to match drivers with passengers before the ride begins in order to increase the safety of passengers. The bill is named after Samantha "Sami" Josephson, a University of South Carolina student from New Jerse... Read more

By Michael L. Diamond, APP Staff Writer - A bill named after Samantha Josephson, a college student from Robbinsville who was murdered by someone pretending to be her Uber driver, is a step closer to law. The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that in part would force ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft to deploy technology that would match passengers with drivers before the ride begins. "It’s bittersweet," Seymour Josephson, Samantha's father, said. "We’d m... Read more

Co-Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ) held a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission today entitled "Religious Freedom in China: The Case of Bishop James Su Zhimin" Excerpts of his remarks: "We are here today to focus attention on the case of His Excellency Bishop James Su Zhimin, Bishop of Baoding diocese, whom this Commission has recognized as a prisoner of conscience. Bishop Su has endured approximately 40 years in prison. His crime—simply exercising his universally recognized human right ... Read more

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com After their daughter Samantha was murdered after getting into a fake Uber car, Marci and Seymour Josephson began lobbying Congress to prevent other parents from living through a similar nightmare. Their efforts bore fruit Wednesday when the U.S. House, by voice vote, passed legislation requiring that vehicles for ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft be clearly identified before a passenger gets in. “For over a year — especially given t... Read more

Bipartisan legislation named in honor of Samantha “Sami” Josephson—a senior at the University of South Carolina who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in 2019 by a predator pretending to be her Uber driver—was passed today in the House of Representatives. Sami’s Law—HR 4686—passed in a unanimous voice vote. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the bill's prime sponsor, said that among its provisions, Sami’s Law will “require ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft to deploy a verifiable electronic access... Read more

By CHAD GARLAND | STARS AND STRIPES A Vietnam veteran has received his second Silver Star more than five decades after he earned it in a fierce battle at an enemy base camp, where he saved the lives of 10 other soldiers. Bart “Doc” Fabian, a medic with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during the war, received the medal during a ceremony in Rep. Chris Smith’s office in Freehold, N.J., on Saturday. He’d been promised the medal a day after the roughly hourlong battle of April 13, 1969, but “it jus... Read more

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Did the Pentagon look at using ticks with pathogens to infect America’s enemies during the Cold War? And did some of those ticks escape into the U.S., bringing Lyme disease with them? Those are the questions Rep. Chris Smith has been asking for years, and his House colleagues have once again agreed that they deserve answers. The Democratic-controlled House voted to ask the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to... Read more

An amendment offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) which directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the possible involvement of DOD biowarfare labs in the weaponization of Lyme disease in ticks and other insects from 1950-1975 was passed by the House last night. During the debate on his amendment, Smith said Lyme disease patients have “a right to know” whether credible assertions made about causes for the explosion in Lyme disease are true. He also said that with Lyme, like m... Read more

The Belmar Borough Fire Department will receive modest but critical federal funding to purchase essential personal protection equipment (PPE) needed to protect the public—and public servants—during the ongoing coronavirus emergency, said Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today. “Belmar runs an all-volunteer fire department whose members are often the first on the scene and they need good, reliable, medical-grade quality PPE,” stated Smith (NJ-04). “Specifically, this federal funding will help pay for was... Read more