Bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and enhance federal programs for families touched by autism has cleared its last committee hurdle Tuesday and is ready for consideration by the full House of Representatives. Authored by Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) and now also called “Autism CARES Act”, HR 4631 authorizes $260 million years annually over five years for research into autism and urges federal agencies to examine and anticipate needs for autistic children who are “aging out” of current programs ... Read more

BY NICOLE GUADIANO-GANNETT NEWS SERVICE- Federal officials are investigating whether the Lyons campus of the Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System mishandled the scheduling of veterans' appointments, according to a VA audit released Monday. The Lyons campus in Bernards Twp. is among 112 VHA facilities being investigated because of concerns about "undesired scheduling practices" or because staffers indicated they had received instructions to modify scheduling dates to hide the length of ... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, was in Nigeria as part of a human rights trip to this terrorist-stricken nation, meeting with a schoolgirl who escaped the clutches of the notorious terrorist group Boko Haram, and other victims of the Islamic radical group. “As a sovereign nation, Nigeria owns the responsibility to secure the Chibok girls’ safe release, but the international communit... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said a federal grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been awarded to Lakehurst Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, headquartered on Proving Ground Road in the historic town of Lakehurst Borough, to purchase critically-needed self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). "This federal grant will help protect firefighters in harm’s way,” said Smith, a long-time member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. “People who go into burning buildings need ... Read more

Today we remember--with deep gratitude, respect & awe--those of Greatest Generation who stormed the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago today on D Day, the day that began the end of WWII. I recall my wife's uncle, Joseph Hahn, who endured the long and hard fought Battle of the Hedgerows to liberate St.Lo--a campaign expected to take 7 days that lasted 7 weeks. I recognize local hero Daniel Passarella of Ocean County, NJ who landed on Utah Beach on June 8 and was belatedly awarded the Purple Heart t... Read more

On the eve of the 25th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, when the Chinese government violently suppressed demonstrations for democracy and human rights on June 3-4, 1989, as well as the recent passage of the 20-year mark since then-President Bill Clinton renewed China’s trade privileges and removed an effective tool for supporting democratic reforms, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) said human rights should be put at the heart of U.S. foreign policy toward China’s government. “Twenty-... Read more

Former chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) issued the following statement today following the resignation of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “I remain gravely concerned that the VA’s structural and systemic problems will not be resolved solely with Secretary Shinseki’s resignation,” said Smith, former chairman of the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee from 2001-2005 and author of more than a dozen veterans’ laws. “However, hi... Read more

Survivors of the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre—when the Chinese government unleashed tanks and bullets on unarmed and peaceful demonstrators—told their grim accounts of that fateful day and about their hopes and work for a better future for China’s people at a congressional hearing today held by Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04), head of the global human rights subcommittee in the House of Representatives, and co-chairman of the bipartisan U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “Tw... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), House Speaker John Boehner (OH-08) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) teamed up today for a remembrance event of those who were killed, injured or survived the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, where Chinese government tanks and armed forces brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators. “This week and next, the world remembers the extraordinary sacrifice by hundreds of thousands of peaceful Chinese democracy activists who rallied on Tiananmen Square—and in over 4... Read more

TRENTON – New Jersey will receive nearly $882 million in the final significant round of aid from the federal government for superstorm Sandy relief. An announcement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected today. The new money will bring the total of New Jersey aid over the three rounds of funding to $4.2 billion, less than half the allocation to New York, though the federal government still has about $1.1 billion left to distribute. No plan has been announced for how ... Read more