The following are excerpts of remarks by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, at the congressional hearing entitled "The State of Religious Freedom Around the Globe" held on Tuesday, July 13th. To watch the hearing, click here. Pursuant to notice, this hearing on the state of religious freedom around the globe will come to order. We are gathered to explore the state of religious freedom around the world, coinciding with the nongovernmental International Re...
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A significant boost in federal funding is on its way to the greater Lakewood area to help combat substance addictions and mental illness, two conditions made worse during COVID-19 lockdowns—Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04 announced today. “This $4 million federal grant comes at a crucial time for people who are struggling from addictions or facing mental illness in the northern Ocean County area,” said Congressman Smith. “For recovering addicts, COVID-19 has created added isolation, brought about...
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An amendment offered last night by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, establishing a U.S. Special Envoy to respond to the ongoing genocide in Xinjiang, China received overwhelming bipartisan support and was adopted during the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s consideration of the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement (EAGLE) Act. Smith’s amendment—which seeks to hold the Chinese government to account for its genocide and other atrocious h...
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Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) proposal for the much-needed County Road 539 (CR 539) overpass project was approved by the full House of Representatives today as part of a larger roads and infrastructure package. Included within the transportation bill was $8 million—of which Smith secured $7 million—of federal funding to build the overpass on 539, which goes through the center of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB-MDL) in Ocean County. The 539 project––Smith’s top priority for inclusion in the Mem...
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By Nicole Rosenthal, Patch Staff Four Red Bank Regional High School students were recently honored in a congressional competition judging their recent artistic achievements. The winners were announced earlier this month by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4), the sponsor of the annual high school contest in the Fourth Congressional District for the past 20 years. The contest was held as part of a national competition organized by the Congressional Institute to recognize exceptional young artists in each di...
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Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today issued the following statement on the recent collapse of the condo building in Florida and the ongoing search and rescue efforts: “We pray that Benny and Malky Weisz of Lakewood, and Malky’s father Harry Rosenberg—and all those who remain missing—are found and rescued after the catastrophic collapse of their condo building in Florida early yesterday—nurturing the hope that the expertise, tenacity and bravery of rescue workers will result in finding them and others p...
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By Lindy Washburn, Asbury Park Press Staff Writer - New Jersey's rate of autism among children has always been high, but some of the largest school districts — including Toms River, Newark, Jersey City and Elizabeth — have rates even higher than the state average. And in Toms River, the state's largest suburban school district, the autism rate is more than twice the state average, with one in 14 8-year-olds in the district on the autism spectrum, according to the first study to compare a cross-s...
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Heavily traveled bridges on Route 33 and Route 35 and improvement projects for Freehold Borough and Middletown recently cleared their first hurdle as they were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) on the way to a likely floor vote, said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who sponsored each of the four projects. Smith worked with state and local officials to propose and insert prioritized local transportation projects into the Invest in Am...
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The following are excerpts of the opening remarks of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, at a congressional hearing he chaired entitled "Establishing a War Crimes and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia," on Monday, June 21, 2021: Today’s hearing is on the compelling and long overdue need to establish an Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal for Liberia—an unmet need for justice in a country that suffered through two civil wars from 1989 through 2003, which has y...
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By Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff — Middletown is currently making plans to open a new park/parking area, to be located at the corner of Navesink River Road and Hubbard Avenue, and next door to River Plaza Elementary School. That is currently a vacant lot. It is owned by Middletown Township. The park will tentatively be called Koleda Park, but the Township is still working on the name, said Middletown Business Administrator Anthony Mercantante. "The primary benefit of this park is to provide safe p...
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