Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House panel on Africa and International Organizations, took to the House floor to deliver following speech in support of S. 1635, the “Department of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act, Fiscal Year 2016”: Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support for passage of S. 1635. A highly skilled group of Foreign Service Officers—about fifteen thousand strong—are deployed worldwide to promote peace, human rights, support prosperity, and protect Ame... Read more

The following is a letter to the editor by Dr. Suzanne Buchanan, the Executive Director of the advocacy group, Autism New Jersey based in Robbinsville, NJ: As Congress reconvenes to finish the year, we urge our representatives in the House of Representatives and Senate to support the passage of Kevin and Avonte’s Law (H.R. 4919/S. 2614), which would allow Justice Department grants to help protect children with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and seniors with A... Read more

Concrete improvements in human rights and the rule of law in China are directly linked to the security and prosperity of both the American and Chinese people. Advances in protecting human rights and curbing government violations of universal freedoms are essential components of economic development, mutual prosperity, domestic stability, and the type of trust and confidence necessary to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on a range of issues that will define the 21st century. As ... Read more

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the $691 billion bill that directs critical U.S defense policy for 2017. Secured inside the bill is a targeted and critical amendment co-authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) which will ensure military families with a child on the autism spectrum will continue to have access to a key intervention therapy. The Smith provision protects coverage of and access to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy... Read more

The Associated Press Posted: Dec. 1, 2016 8:00 am MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. (AP) — Lawmakers say some 600 civilian employees at New Jersey's Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst are getting pay raises next year. U.S. Reps. Chris Smith and Tom MacArthur say the Office of Personnel Management on Wednesday issued rules to adjust the wages to reflect the higher cost of living in the New York metropolitan area instead of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst is i... Read more

By Erik Larsen of the Asbury Park Press - An estimated 600 civilian employees are getting a raise. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued final regulations Wednesday that will adjust the wages of Joint Base staff so their pay takes into account the higher cost of living in the New York metropolitan area rather than the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to a joint statement from U.S. Reps. Chris Smith and Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., who both advocated for the change. Previously, the fe... Read more

The House of Representatives is expected today to pass the 21st Century Cures Act, bipartisan legislation negotiated with the Senate to reform and streamline the federal research and treatment approval process, incentivize the development of live-saving cures, and bring many other needed improvements to the delivery of health care in the US. Among its many specific provisions, the bill includes significant reforms to our fractured mental health systems, and major provisions to help patients with... Read more

By Carol Comegno, Courier-Post Staff Writer - Hundreds of civilian employees will be getting a holiday present—an automatic raise in their pay scales to bring them in line with the higher federal scale of the New York region. The shift to a higher compensation scale will benefit 600 federal Civil Service workers on the Army and Air Force sections of the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County on what used to be Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base. It will bring them to parity with... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today announced the winners of the Fourth Congressional District’s 2016 Congressional App Challenge (CAC), a competition for U.S. students across the nation. “The App Challenge encourages school students to become active in STEM fields, computer science and programming by creating and exhibiting their software applications,” said Smith. “This challenge is an important step to inspire creativity, career skills and teamwork, which can help participating students to be... Read more

Rep. Smith (NJ-04), an advocate for the prevention of Lyme disease for more than two decades, took to the House floor in support of 21st Century Cures Act today with the following statement: I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his extraordinary leadership on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, in 1992, 24 years ago, I met—along with a great advocate, Pat Smith—with top officials of NIH and CDC on Federal guidelines that precluded the existence of chronic Lyme disease. Subsequently, every Congr... Read more