BY SHANNON MULLLEN, APP STAFF WRITER - Jan Buttler couldn’t help thinking how much her brother Ron would have enjoyed being at a ballgame like the one played here Thursday. Balmy and breezy, it was the perfect night for baseball. The setting sun sent shafts of golden light and long, creeping shadows across the field, and from behind the scoreboard in centerfield, a low, slow full moon began to rise. Buttler, 69, of Lake Como, had come to FirstEnergy Park to honor her brother, an Air Force naviga... Read more

"The veteran’s housing project to be built in Tinton Falls is the culmination of over five years of collaborative work by federal, state and local officials—under the tremendous leadership of Freeholder Lillian Burry and Soldier On’s Jack Downing—to bring a proven and effective housing model to Monmouth County that will provide services for homeless veterans and help homeless vets in the community,” said Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), who authored the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance law (P... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) released the following statement after Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L) officially filed a petition seeking approval from the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for the construction of a new electric transmission line in Monmouth County: “I oppose the Monmouth Reliability Project as currently planned and believe that the many substantive concerns expressed by local residents outweigh the speculative benefits of running high-voltage electricity lines above ground... Read more

The somber facts delineated in the State Department’s 2015 International Religious Freedom (IRF) Report, released this week, are not reflected in the Obama Administration’s foreign policy actions and priorities. “The 2015 IRF Report shows that the world is experiencing a religious freedom crisis that directly challenges U.S. interests around the world,” said Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of a House panel on global human rights. “The Obama Administration has routinely de-emphasized religious... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) meets with the Spratt family of Jackson, N.J. in August, nearly one year after their safe return from a dramatic ordeal overseas. Hayden, now one, was born 13 weeks prematurely on a trip to Portugal. Smith worked to get her medical transportation back to the United States. Also pictured are Hayden's mom and dad, Kim and Fred Spratt, at the Congressman's office in Freehold, N.J. BELOW: Photos taken in Freehold, NJ, and a USA Today article and other new articles abo... Read more

The chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Representative Christopher H. Smith, chair, and Senator Marco Rubio, co-chair, issued the following statements in response to the public confessions and trials involving human rights lawyers and religious leader Hu Shigen and the harassment of their families. With next month’s G-20 summit being held in China, both chairs urged the United States to lead an international effort to demand that the Chinese government drop all charges aga... Read more

"The Hong Kong government will say the court's decision was a triumph for the rule of law, but the appearance is that this was a political prosecution, further tarnishing Hong Kong's reputation as a city built on guaranteed freedoms and rights," said Representative Chris Smith. "These student activists should never have been prosecuted in the first place, Hong Kong's Basic Law clearly protects the freedom of expression and assembly." "Whether the Hong Kong government likes it or not, Joshua Wong... Read more

By David Levinsky, Times staff writer - Hundreds of civilian workers on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst can expect a boost in pay before the end of the year thanks to the impending correction of a long-standing pay disparity issue. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management plans to publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register this week to designate the entire joint base in the higher-paying New York wage area, rather than split between New York and the lower-paying Philadelphia wage area, acco... Read more

Today, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced that his bill, the “Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer’s Act,” has earned the bipartisan support of a monumental 301 members of Congress. Smith, co-founder and co-chairman of the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, introduced HOPE to provide Medicare coverage for a care planning session for patients newly-diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, family caregivers or legal representatives. “I am gre... Read more

Despite the appeals from South Sudan’s top leaders to end violence by their loyalists, reports of violence and tensions have increased in the past several days, not diminished. In light of this uneasy “peace,” Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, called on the United Nations to expand its mandate and take a more active role in protecting civilians and restoring and maintaining order. “The U.N. mission in South Sudan was established in 2011 to ease the transitio... Read more