Hamilton Fire District No. 4 was awarded a grant in the amount of $140,908 from the Department of Homeland Security through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced today. The grant will be used to purchase self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and a thermal imaging camera that can be used to locate downed firefighters caught in life-or-death situations in burning buildings. “This grant will help protect those who are willing to put their ... Read more

By DAVID LEVINSKY, BCT STAFF WRITER - Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is still in the running to receive some of the Air Force's newest midair refueling jets. The so-called "megabase" landed on the final list of five installations still under consideration to accept the second batch of KC-46 jets being built by Boeing. Originally, 11 bases were being reviewed as possible locations for as many as 36 of the planes, as well as the equipment and support personnel that will accompany them. The other... Read more

Vietnamese religious leaders, bloggers, journalists, labor and democracy advocates were given a voice today at a hearing held by Representative Chris Smith (NJ-04), where they provided expert testimony and a critical assessment of President Obama’s recent trip to Vietnam. The Administration included Vietnam in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and during his visit Obama lifted a four decades long arms embargo, allowing the Communist government to purchase lethal weapons. Smith said... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee that oversees global health and international human rights issues, met with Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo Tuesday along with a delegation of dignitaries from Timor-Leste, a South East Asian nation formerly known as East Timor, which gained formal independence from Indonesia in 2002. Smith recalled his longstanding support of Timor-Leste, including his meeting with independence leader Xanana Gusmao in 1998 in... Read more

“Today in a meeting with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Director of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Joceyln Samuels, I and my pro-life colleagues expressed our strong disagreement with the Administration’s outrageous misinterpretation of the Weldon Amendment,” said Rep. Chris Smith, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Pro-Life Caucus. “In a more than hour long discussion, HHS doubled down on its decision to unilaterally rewrite the law – the Weldon Amendment – to allow Cali... Read more

“Nearly two years after California imposed its draconian mandate that requires all insurance companies to pay for abortion the Obama Administration has reached a new low -- reinterpreting the Weldon amendment to allow the mandate to continue,” said Rep. Chris Smith, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. “This means that Californians, including churches, will continue to be forced to pay for elective abortions in their insurance plans.” Since August of 2014 the state of Calif... Read more

A global epidemic in organ harvesting will be the topic of a joint House hearing titled “Organ Harvesting: An Examination of a Brutal Practice.” B’nai Brith Canada, Harvard Medical School, Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, and a leading independent journalist will testify at the hearing to be held jointly by Chairman of the House global human rights subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), and the Chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommitte... Read more

Fox News Channel reported on Congressman Chris Smith's June 16 congressional hearing about the attacks around the world on international religious freedom, with witnesses from the U.S. State Department and former officials from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Below is the transcript from the segment: FNC Anchor Melissa Francis: Now onto Capitol Hill where a Congressional panel is holding a hearing on religious freedom, exploring whether protecting religious freedom around... Read more

The urgent need for an integrated, sustained strategy to combat the rising tide of religious persecution—especially in Iraq and Syria—was the joint message heard from experts testifying at a hearing chaired by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) today entitled “The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom and Its Challenge to U.S. Foreign Policy.” Smith is the author of the bipartisan Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (HR 1150) which gives the Administration and the U.S. State Department new ... Read more

“The President’s Visit to Vietnam: A Missed Opportunity to Advance Human Rights” is the topic of a hearing set for June 22 that will focus on human rights abuses by the Vietnamese Government on its own people. Boat People SOS, Amnesty International and religious freedom advocates will come to testify at the congressional hearing on Capitol Hill planned for Wednesday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chair of the House panel that oversees global human rights. Who: Chairman Smith, (NJ-04) Senio... Read more