The House of Representatives late last night approved two more bills authored by Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-4) that will expand programs to aid homeless veterans and strengthen legal protections for veterans and servicemembers. Read more

New Jersey and other critical threat risk areas in our region will win big under the "9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act" legislation (HR 10) currently moving through the House of Representatives. This was the conclusion of a meeting held late yesterday by several Members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation with Homeland Security Chairman Chris Cox for a discussion of how the bill’s first responder provisions would affect the Garden State. The meeting was held in the office of Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, who was joined by Rep. Smith and Rep. Ferguson. Read more

New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith (4th District),Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today called for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to spend $125 million to modernize the East Orange VA Medical Center. Smith, whose Committee oversees VA’s $30 billion health care budget, also asked VA to consider establishing a new full-service medical center for southern New Jersey. Read more

A key congressional panel that has the prime jurisdiction over US foreign policy today approved legislation authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to combat Anti-Semitism through the creation of a monitoring office and new reporting standards for acts of Anti-Semitism both here and abroad. Smith coauthored the amendment with Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) a holocaust survivor. Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) said today’s release of a major government investigation of the fall 2001 anthrax crisis underscores the continued need for the federal government to develop a comprehensive database of ready-to-go responses to potential attacks utilizing a wide variety of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons. Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), the author of our nation’s two laws aimed at combating modern-day human slavery, hailed today’s appointment of John Miller as the first Ambassador-at-Large for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), author of two landmark laws criminalizing human trafficking, proudly announced the award of nearly $100,000 for a New Jersey/New York anti-sex trafficking program operated by The Polaris Project. The funds were earmarked for this purpose at Smith’s request as part of the FY 2004 Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations Act. Read more

While testifying before the full House Committee on International Relations today, 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton voiced support for two separate reforms proposed by IR Committee Vice Chairman Chris Smith that would institute stringent travel restrictions throughout the world and enhance public diplomacy with Muslim nations. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), who led a New Jersey delegation effort urging the implementation of a new Medicare rule that will help steer more than $110 million annually to New Jersey hospitals, announced tonight that Medicare officials have just approved the new rule. Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), a leading advocate in Congress for the legislation that established the Independent Commission to investigate the September 11 terrorist attacks, welcomed the release of the commission’s report today and praised the hard work of the panel members. Read more