Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Just before going home for Christmas, Congress cleared legislation spurred by the murder of a New Jersey woman that would require a comprehensive study of the ride-sharing industry. The last-minute maneuvering saw the U.S. Senate unanimously pass the measure, known as Sami’s Law, without debate late Thursday night as lawmakers left for the holidays. Then the U.S. House cleared the legislation, also without debate, just before completing action on... Read more

Communications High School students Kristen Gallagher, Nicholas Martino and Zaina Saif were announced the winners of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge hosted by Rep. Chris Smith for the Fourth District of New Jersey. Communications High School students Kristen Gallagher, Nicholas Martino and Zaina Saif have won the 2022 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) for the Fourth District of New Jersey, announced Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) today. “Congratulations to Kristen, Nicholas and Zaina for ... Read more

The investigative arm of Congress would be required to produce a comprehensive study of the ride-sharing industry under legislation spurred by the murder of a New Jersey woman that passed the U.S. House on Wednesday. Under the bill, the Government Accountability Office would study the incidence of assault and abuse of both ride-sharing passengers and drivers, the quality of the background checks of drivers and of the state and local laws requiring such examinations. It also would look at the saf... Read more

In a bicameral letter today, 66 Members of Congress called on Secretary Lloyd Austin to “immediately” revoke his illegal Defense Department policy funding travel for abortions, saying they were “appalled by the flagrant disregard for the law” demonstrated by the Biden Administration. The letter—led by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) and Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and James Lankford (R-OK)—comes on the heels of Secretary Austin’s October memorandum proclaiming that the Pentagon... Read more

At a bipartisan congressional hearing chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), human rights activists today sounded alarm bells over the brutal crackdown on the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, calling on the Vatican and White House to speak out and take immediate action in response to the extreme anti-Catholic persecution being perpetrated by Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing—entitled “The Perilous State of Religious Freedom in Nicaragua”—comes just days afte... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), who voted this week to repeal President Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate for US service members, said “ending Biden’s outrageous military COVID vaccine mandate is long overdue. The Biden COVID mandate has wrongfully discharged thousands of our courageous service members, threatened the livelihoods of tens of thousands more, and weakened our national security forces.” The repeal of Biden’s mandate is now well on its way to becoming law as part of the finalized versi... Read more

The “Kyle Mullen Naval Safety Enhancements”—a measure authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) to improve medical care and oversight for rigorous military training programs—is now well on its way to becoming law after being accepted by the Senate as part of the finalized version of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House today for a second time by a vote of 350-80. Named for the 24-year-old Navy SEAL candidate from Manalapan who passed away after the notori... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights, today issued the following statement on the recent reports of forced abortions in Nigeria: “The credible reports by Reuters implicating Nigerian officials in systematic forced abortions performed on women and girls who were kidnapped and raped by Islamic militants shock the conscience. The United States must stand with these victims and ensure that those involved i... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) testifies before the House Rules Committee in July on his NDAA amendment to protect the education benefits of US service members forcibly discharged because of Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate. Democrats on the Committee blocked Smith’s amendment, denying it a vote by the full House of Representatives. As Congress enters eleventh-hour negotiations over its key annual defense policy bill, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today continued his full-court press to restore hard-earned edu... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the House Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, today condemned the United Nations’ passage of a resolution—by a vote of 90 to 30 with 47 abstentions—that called the foundation of the State of Israel a “catastrophe”: “This week’s egregious vote by the United Nations General Assembly condemning the founding of Israel as a ‘catastrophe,’ or Nakba, is a display of hatred for Israel and callousness towards its citizens and comes at an especially chilling time w... Read more