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... Read more

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... Read more

– 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... Read more

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... Read more

— 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... Read more

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. ... Read more

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... Read more

— 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... Read more

— Flying into the jungles of South Vietnam and meeting with community leaders in remote villages was a dangerous job. And Mike Vaccaro, then 24, did it often. “What I was doing was helping local people protect themselves, defend themselves, and know what to do,” when faced with threats from the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army raiding their villages, Vaccaro told Congressman Chris Smith (NJ04) on Friday, Feb. 21, at Smith’s office in Middletown. Though the dangerous terrain in the Mekong Delta... Read more

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, a four-star general and top commander of all air defenses for the continental U.S. and Canada, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 13th that the Pentagon needs more technology and expanded authorities to deal with the large numbers of drones over U.S. military installations, including in New Jersey. The commander of NORTHCOM, the Northern Command of the U.S. military responsible for defending North America from various threats,... Read more