U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Dean of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation, announced today that he will be hosting a meeting with Brad Kieserman, Deputy Associate Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which oversees the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), in order to establish a new, workable process for revisiting and resolving all flood insurance claims brought by Sandy-affected homeowners. Kieserman agreed to the meeting to which Smith will invite the ent... Read more

The Borough of Manasquan was awarded a nearly $2.4 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today to help rebuild dunes, snow fence and beach access destroyed by Superstorm Sandy, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) said. “I am happy to assist Manasquan in working to obtain funding to protect homes, businesses and lives in the Borough,” said Smith. “I stood on those very beaches with Mayor Dempsey in the days after Superstorm Sandy hit and committed to helping Manasquan and ... Read more

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress today was heartily welcomed by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04). “We have to be realistic about Iranian President Rouhani because many in the media – and some in the administration – have been reluctant to do that. Rouhani has a long history of murderous anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. The corpses are all over the globe,” said Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “This is the man that ... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees global human rights and author of the landmark law, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, Public Law 106-386), was a keynote speaker at an event today co-hosted by the Heritage Foundation and Arizona State University’s McCain Institute. The discussion focused on modern day slavery in the U.S. and around the world, and highlighted the need to rescue women and children from the scourge of human... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) today marked February as national American Heart Month with a statement for the Congressional Record. MR. SMITH of New Jersey. "Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize American Heart Month and commend the staff and volunteers of the American Heart Association, and the organizations in New Jersey and around the country for participating in this year’s successful effort to raise awareness of heart disease and the associated risks. "American Heart Month is a critical ... Read more

Today U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) along with Representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) announced introduction of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, HR 1159, a bipartisan bill that would enhance U.S. monitoring of Hong Kong’s autonomy and human rights and ensure that these issues remain a cornerstone of U.S. policy. “The steady erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, press freedoms, and the rule of law should be concerns of freedom-loving p... Read more

Human rights abuses in Iran, including the holding of American prisoners and widespread persecution of religious minorities, were the topics of a House hearing Thursday held by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the Africa and global human rights subcommittee, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee. “At a time when the Administration seems keen to reach a nuclear accord that relies on trust in the Iranian regime and perhaps even a de fac... Read more

At a hearing today on Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, the author of the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction and Return Act (H.R. 3212, PL 113-150), urged Secretary John Kerry to get personally engaged in the proper implementation of the new law designed to help reunite parents and American children abducted and held overseas. “Japan remains breathtakingly unresponsive,” said Smith (NJ-04), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights who has fought to ass... Read more

Chen Guangcheng, right, Hillary Clinton, left Photo: Reuters; Getty Images By Peter Foster, Washington Bureau 8:00AM GMT 25 Feb 2015 Hillary Clinton’s account of one of her crowning moments as secretary of state has been flatly contradicted by a leading Chinese activist. Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer who escaped house arrest and caused an diplomatic crisis between China and the US by taking refuge in the American embassy in Beijing in 2012, accused the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton... Read more

Special to NJJN February 24, 2015 U.S. REP. CHRIS Smith (R-Dist. 4) gave the keynote address to a gathering of over 300 people at the Center for Jewish Life dinner held Feb. 8 in Marlboro. CJL religious leader Rabbi Yossi Kanelsky presented Smith with an award for his “outstanding leadership and vision and for confronting anti-Semitism at home and abroad.” Smith, who is cochair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and an executive member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, is the author of the... Read more