By DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press - Lawmakers who had long pushed for U.S. action against Nigerian Islamic extremists welcomed the State Department's decision on Wednesday to designate two militant groups as foreign terrorist organizations blamed for the deaths of thousands of people in Africa's most populous nation. Ansaru and Boko Haram, which have links to al-Qaida, are waging a brutal campaign against military, government and civilian targets, including Christians like Habila Adamu, who de... Read more

At the Nov. 13 joint hearing by the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, the Obama Administration announced its long-awaited decision to designate the Nigerian terrorist organization Boko Haram and its breakaway faction known as Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. This designation was the subject of H.R. 3209, introduced by Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04) of the Su... Read more

“Rollout of the Obamacare exchanges revealed that many health insurance plans throughout the nation will subsidize abortion on demand—even late term abortions,” said Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Co-Chairman of the Congressional Pro-life Caucus. “Billions of taxpayers’ dollars will now be handed out as credits to buy pro-abortion health insurance—a clear violation of the Hyde Amendment’s fundamental principle of restricting funds to abortion subsidizing health insurance plans. At its core, the Hyde ... Read more

The United States on Wednesday designated Nigeria's radical Islamist Boko Haram network and an offshoot known as Ansaru as terror groups, bowing to months of pressure to act. Both groups have spread terror in northeastern and central Nigeria and are blamed for thousands of deaths as they battle to set up an Islamic state. "These designations are an important and appropriate step, but only one tool in what must be a comprehensive approach by the Nigerian government to counter these groups ... to ... Read more

The notorious terror group called Boko Haram will be the topic of a joint hearing to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 13. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) will chair the hearing on an organization dedicated to terrorism, and why the group should be declared a foreign terrorist organization. “Boko Haram, even given the breakaway group known as Ansaru, clearly is an organization dedicated to terrorizing Nigerians and now even foreigners,” Chairman Smith said. “The group should be declared a Foreign Terrori... Read more

By The Associated Press WAYNE PARRY (AP) -- Wider beaches are on the way for some Jersey shore towns whose coast took a pounding during Superstorm Sandy as a $25 million beach replenishment project led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins Friday in Manasquan. "Right after Superstorm Sandy, I remember seeing the devastation," said U.S Rep. Christopher Smith, a Republican who represents some of the affected towns. "We've got to replenish, we've got to rebuild the dunes because they did mitig... Read more

A $25 million federally funded project aimed at replenishing the beaches from Manasquan to Belmar will start on Friday, officials said. Anthony Ciorra, sandy coastal recovery program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York District, said 1.5 million cubic yards of sand would be placed on the beach. That sand is part of a total of 8 million cubic yards being placed from Sea Bright to Manasquan. “The Corps of Engineers mission is primarily coastal flood risk reduction ensuring that ... Read more

The long-awaited $25 million beach southern Monmouth County replenishment project kicked off today with a ground-breaking ceremony on Manasquan Beach. Hurricane Sandy caused severe beach erosion along the five-mile stretch of the project. The massive beach re-nourishment work to repair and restore the beach to better than pre-Sandy conditions starts tomorrow. “I was here on this very beach in the days after the storm with Mayor Dempsey and his team and it was a near unimaginable scene of destro... Read more

The South Monmouth Regional Sewage Authority (SMRSA) received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has awarded more than $1 million to help pay to undo extensive Superstorm Sandy-related damage to the Authority’s Pitney Avenue Pump Station, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said Thursday. The grant will provide $1,081,285 in Federal funding to pay for 90 percent of the $1,201,428 cost to rebuild the pump station. “Sandy damaged critical infrastructure up-and-down the co... Read more

The establishment of a Syrian War Crimes Tribunal was the topic of a joint hearing today of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith chaired the hearing. “The two-year-old Syrian civil war has produced increasingly horrific human rights violations, including summary executions, torture and rape,” said Smith, author of a bill to support the creation of a tr... Read more