Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) released the following statement on the passing of New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. “I was saddened to learn of the passing of Senator Lautenberg,” said Smith, Dean of the N.J. Congressional Delegation. “He has been in public office for many years, served his country in uniform and was successful in private business as well. He has been a mainstay of New Jersey politics for decades. Marie and I offer our condolences to the entire family for their loss.” Read more

Wreck Pond, which has long plagued residents and beach goers in southern Monmouth County, will receive much needed funding for a federally-led study to identify the best way to combat the significant hazards associated with drainage problems at the pond, said Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) who represents Spring Lake and the surrounding area. Smith, who has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Wreck Pond and other other recovery projects, said that the corps’ decision came in t... Read more

A congressional hearing on human rights abuse in China and the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre will be held by Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04), head of the global human rights subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Who: Chairman Chris Smith, (R-NJ) co-chair of the China Commission, Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chair of its subcommittee on global human rights; other members of the commission, and witnesses: · Wei Jingsheng, Presi... Read more

$1.8 billion in federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program funding approved by Congress in January is now available to assist Superstorm Sandy-impacted homeowners and communities, said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) whose district includes hard-hit shore towns in Ocean and Monmouth counties which sustained heavy wind and floodwater damage. About $1.2 billion of the funding will be put toward housing-related programs. “The Jersey Shore is in the midst of recove... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) recently met with Girl Scout Troop 1701 of Middletown, N.J. to discuss its unique project and YouTube video promoting mammograms for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. The five fifth-graders from Nut Swamp Elementary School, each of whom has been touched by someone in their life who has had breast cancer, discussed their recently launched campaign, “Do It for Your Daughter,” an initiative to urge moms to get mammograms. As part of the campaign, th... Read more

Ongoing terrorist attacks, reconciling ethnic groups and other challenges to finding how a lasting peace might be achieved in Mali and the rest of the Sahel region were the topics of a hearing held Tuesday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees Africa and human rights. Smith said United States foreign policy must address the challenges faced by the nations of Africa’s Sahel region, especially the spread of both terrorism and drug trafficking i... Read more

The quest for justice and freedom for Jacob Ostreicher, an American businessman imprisoned without formal charges for 20 months in Bolivia, continued at a hearing today where American actor and activist Sean Penn came before the human rights subcommittee chaired by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), a leading human rights advocate in Congress. “On June 4th, it will be two years since he was imprisoned. Bolivian officials are employing delay tactics and giving excuses for his continued detention th... Read more

The long, ongoing struggle of Jacob Ostreicher, an American businessman detained for nearly two years in Bolivia without formal charges, will be the focus of a congressional hearing Monday held by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel that oversees international human rights. Ostreicher, an American businessman imprisoned without formal charges for over 18 months in Bolivia, was finally let out of prison on bail on December 18, 2012, but cannot leave the country. American ... Read more

The fight against one of the deadliest diseases in the world was the topic of a hearing held Friday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees global health. The latest global estimates report about 219 million cases of malaria in 2010 and an estimated 660,000 deaths. An estimated 85 percent of the fatalities are children. Spread by infected mosquitos, most deaths occur among children living in Africa, where a child dies every minute from malaria.... Read more

By Peter Foster in Washington for The Telegraph - The admission in advice to David Cameron comes after the Downing Street continues to block a judicial inquiry into the 1989 murder of the Belfast lawyer, Pat Finucane, who was a victim of the campaign, a US congressional committee was told yesterday. Last year Mr Cameron made an apology in the Commons to the Finucane family, admitting "shocking" collusion in his murder between Loyalist paramilitaries and RUC officers but refusing a public inquiry... Read more