Agence France-Presse - A congressional committee called Thursday for the United States to reach legal agreements with Japan and other countries to help resolve hundreds of cases of children abducted by estranged parents. The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill to require the US secretary of state to reach memoranda of understanding with all nations not party to the 1980 Hague Convention, which requires the return of kidnapped children to wherever they usually live. The bill, which ne... Read more

Efforts to bring home American children abducted to overseas destinations and wrongfully held, will take a big step forward Thursday as legislation authored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees human rights, will be brought before the full Foreign Affairs Committee for a vote. Left behind parents like Iraqi War veteran Marine Sgt. Mike Elias; David Goldman, whose son was returned only after a 5-year abduction; and other “left behind” parents... Read more

With the exchanges of the “Affordable Care Act” (AKA “Obamacare”) activated this month, it has become evident that it is nearly impossible for individuals to try to determine which exchange plans on their state exchange, if any, exclude abortion, said a group of lawmakers at a bipartisan press conference today. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) unveiled his legislation, H.R. 3279, the “Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act” —cosponsored by 70 other Members of the House—to ensure full disclosure of ... Read more

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