The final contract for the world’s largest beach replenishment project was awarded last week, area congressmen said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded the fourth contract to replenish Hurricane Sandy-ravaged beaches from Sea Bright to the Manasquan Inlet in Monmouth County, Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th) said in a Friday press release. “This project will help restore and protect our beaches with suitably engineered dunes, which will have the added benefit to better protect homes, businesses an... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ04)—chairman of both the House Lyme Disease Caucus and global health subcommittee, and author of Lyme disease legislation in the House—as well as other Lyme disease leaders in Congress and from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), were featured in a Huffington Post article on Oct. 1 calling for an increased, coordinated effort to combat Lyme disease in the United States and around the globe. Journalist Cathy Rubin reported on the IDSA guidelines which can... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives about the Embassy Security Act (the 2014 State Dept. authorization), which includes provisions of his International Megan's Law legislation to limit to one year the length of U.S. passports for convicted sex offenders. The following are excerpts of his remarks on the Floor, September 28, 2013: "On Tuesday of this week, my subcommittee staff director Greg Simpkins and I returned from a four-day trip to Nigeria,... Read more

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this morning announced it has awarded the fourth and final contract to replenish Sandy-ravaged beaches from Sea Bright to the Manasquan Inlet in Monmouth County, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said Friday. For the beaches between Asbury Park and Avon-by-the-Sea, this phase of the “Sea Bright to Manasquan Beach Erosion Control Project” was awarded to the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company LLC, of Oak Brook, Ill., in the amount of $18,332,500. It was the lower of two... Read more

Concerted international action is needed to help the victims of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia around the world, said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, on the eve of Alzheimer’s Action Day 2013. Scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, Alzheimer’s Action Day is set aside for Alzheimer’s organizations around the world to focus their efforts on raising awareness about Alzheimer’s and dementi... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) meets with U.S. Air Force Assistant Secretary Kathleen Ferguson and Col. James Hodges, commanding officer of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, as well as local elected officials including Assemblyman Ron Dancer, and Mayor David Leutwyler of Plumstead, N.J. to discuss ways for the military and local communities to better work together, improving ongoing partnerships and other important Joint Base issues. Joint Base-MDL is the nation's first and only joint Army-Air ... Read more

There is a non-lethal way to help ensure that Bashar al-Assad and other perpetrators of atrocities in Syria are held to account, not someday far in the future but beginning now. The U.N. Security Council must move immediately to establish a Syrian war crimes tribunal. Past ad hoc war crimes tribunals — including courts for Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia — have made a difference, but they sent thugs to jail after hostilities ended. Regarding Syria, a new sense of urgency and commi... Read more

Written by Dan Radel, Asbury Park Press- Sea Girt and Point Pleasant Borough were awarded grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover 90 percent of costs that were a result of superstorm Sandy, officials confirmed. The boroughs will cover the remaining 10 percent. “This is very welcomed. We’ll be able to pay back our loan and refurbish our cash reserves,” said William Schroeder, Point Pleasant’s mayor. “It will make it easier on our residents.” Point Pleasant will receive $1.3 m... Read more

As talks continue about the situation in Syria, Congressman Chris Smith (R-4) wants the UN Security Council to establish a war crimes tribunal to hold President Bashar al Assad and others accountable for the use of chemical weapons. Smith told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that he believes President Barack Obama made a mistake by threatening force in the region and wants other measures pursued. Smith said the international community has created successful tribunals in the past and bel... Read more

The strained state of U.S.-Zimbabwe relations was the topic of a congressional hearing held Thursday by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. “The United States has experienced a troubled relationship with Zimbabwe since this southern African nation achieved majority rule in 1980,” said Smith, noting that Robert Mugabe, the liberation leader who has led the country for the past the deca... Read more