The infant sperm whale lay on its side in the cold sand, sleek and shining in the December sun. Adult sperm whales can grow up to 67 feet and weigh as much as 45 tons. This one was tiny by comparison—weighing about a ton and, at 12 feet long, measuring roughly the size of a kayak. Authorities from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) in Brigantine noted that it was still nursing before it died and speculated that it might have gotten separated from its mother and starved to death. What mad... Read more

A groundbreaking ceremony was held July 21 to celebrate the start of renovations being made to the Ocean County Safe House operated by Providence House of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton. Providence House provides services to victims of domestic violence and their children. Funds for the renovations, which amounted to $750,000 were secured by New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith. Along with the Congressman, those in attendance included diocesan and Catholic Charities staff as well as local ... Read more

The following op-ed by The Washington Times Editorial Board discusses legislation authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) that would bar the importation of all goods containing cobalt, lithium and other rare earth minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo through child exploitation and forced labor trafficking and would counter China’s control of strategic metals and minerals in the global supply chain: Read more

By Jeanne Wall Published June 24, 2023 at 10:14 PM Mission accomplished-80 years later: A longtime Middletown resident, SSgt. Thomas P. Culkin, eighty years after his B-17 was shot down over Belgium, and he became a prisoner of war in World War II, is now honored, 37 years after his death, with not one, but two Purple Heart Medals. On Monday at the Middletown headquarters of Congressman Chris Smith, a special ceremony was held with members of Culkin's family that included his children, a son-in... Read more

Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff Eighty years after his B-17 was shot down over Belgium and he became a prisoner of war in World War II, the late SSgt. Thomas P. Culkin, a longtime Middletown resident, was honored with a Purple Heart. In a ceremony held in Middletown on Monday, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) presented two of Culkin's daughters with the Purple Heart he longed for and tried to get, but was denied by the U.S. Defense Department. “This is a proud day for the family, and their history,” s... Read more

Jerry Carino Asbury Park Press On May 14, 1943, Thomas Culkin was a 21-year-old gunner on a B-17 bomber that got shot down over Belgium. The crash killed two crewmates, but Culkin survived with a shrapnel wound in his back. That soon became the least of his problems. Culkin was captured by German soldiers and imprisoned, beginning a two-year ordeal during which he escaped and injured his spine and leg while jumping from a train, was beaten nearly to death by the Gestapo upon being recaptured, an... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith presented posthumous Purple Heart medals to Thomas Culkin's daughters Kathy Maurer and Joan Manley during a ceremony at his district office in Middletown Monday, June 19, 2023. Culkin was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II and a longtime Middletown resident. THOMAS P. COSTELLO/ASBURY PARK PRESS Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) joined Fox Business reporter Jeff Flock at the Manasquan Inlet to discuss the independent investigation he secured from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into the potential irreparable harm that New Jersey’s unprecedented offshore wind development could have on the environment, the fishing industry, military operations, navigational safety and more: Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) joined Fox Business live from Middletown, NJ to call attention to the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal genocide against the Uyghurs, severe religious persecution and egregious human rights abuses as President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken court Chinese dictator Xi Jinping. Smith also discusses his legislation (HR 638) that would revoke China’s special trade privileges and require China to stop its horrific human rights violations if it wishes to enj... Read more

Pat McDaniel,Patch Staff Regina Mullen has finally received official acknowledgement of what she, as a nurse, has known for more than a year - that her son's death during Hell Week training in February 2022 came about from inadequate medical treatment. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, announced Thursday that top Navy officials briefed him and Mullen, of Manalapan, on the findings of a long-anticipated “command” investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of her 24-year-old son, Kyl... Read more