Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) issued the following statement on the passing of President George H.W. Bush: “President Bush was not only a hero of World War II—brave, tenacious, fearless and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism under fire—but he was also an extraordinary family man who deeply loved his wife Barbara and family, and spent his entire public life pursuing peace and an end to the Cold War. He inspired selfless public service—a thousand points of light—and generosity and compas... Read more

At the White House World AIDS Day event on Thursday, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) praised the life-saving success of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) after his five-year, $30 billion extension of PEPFAR passed the Senate on Wednesday. “The Trump Administration’s 2018 PEPFAR Report to Congress highlights the urgency of the HIV/AIDS crisis and affirms that we must continue to be proactive in addressing this epidemic,” Smith said. “I am happy to be able to say that Congress is act... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) legislation to provide humanitarian relief to genocide victims in Iraq and Syria, and hold ISIS perpetrators accountable—HR 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018—passed the House on Tuesday night and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law, after over two years in the making. “When genocide or other atrocity crimes are perpetrated, the United States should direct humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery aid to enable the... Read more

On Tuesday evening, the House passed Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) legislation, HR 6207, the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democracy and Accountability Act of 2018, which would promote free and fair elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “This bill could not be more timely,” Rep. Smith, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Africa, stated on the House Floor before the legislation was voted on. “Next month, just before Christmas, the country is scheduled to vote ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith today introduced legislation that could supplement the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) major medical care programs with outdoor recreational therapy for military veterans. “Studies have shown that outdoor recreation can also produce holistic, therapeutic benefits for veterans, and this is yet another treatment option that we should consider for veterans who want it,” said Smith. “Our military service men and women deserve support in every way, and we should explore all avenu... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, today introduced bipartisan legislation condemning the internment of over a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and forced renunciation of faith occurring in the region. Smith was joined on the legislation by lead Democratic cosponsor Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) and eight other Members of Co... Read more

The 2018 Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Report to Congress—the very first report by the new HHS Working Group—confirms what Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and other advocates have long warned of, that incidents of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are increasing and that more federal attention to the problem is needed, Smith said on Wednesday. “As this report clearly shows, Lyme disease is spreading—in the overall number of cases, in the geographic area of occurrences, and in the number of d... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) congratulated Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health & Science in Neptune on Wednesday, on being recognized as one of the top-performing schools in the country with a National Blue Ribbon School honor by the U.S. Department of Education. “There are few greater priorities we should have as a country than the education of our children, and I am thrilled that Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health & Science is being honored as a national Blue Ribbon School for its... Read more

The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to pass Rep. Smith’s legislation, HR 6651, to extend the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for another five years, continuing a successful international AIDS relief program that has saved tens of millions of lives. “[S]ince 2003 the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or ‘PEPFAR,’ has saved an estimated 16 million lives, and 13 countries today are on track to control their HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2020,” Smith said on the House Floo... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) congratulated St. Catharine School in Spring Lake on Tuesday on being recognized as one of the top-performing schools in the country with a National Blue Ribbon School honor by the U.S. Department of Education. “There are few greater priorities we should have as a country than the education of our children, and I am thrilled that St. Catharine is being honored as a national Blue Ribbon School for its exemplary record in this regard,” Rep. Smith stated. “St. Cathari... Read more