Chris Smith Special to Asbury Park Press USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has handed over an entire nation to unspeakable cruelty, violence, terrorism and egregious abuse of women and girls. Safe passage out of Afghanistan for thousands of Americans and our allies including Afghan translators, their families, former U.S. employees and others must be the immediate priority. To ensure a safer, faster, and a more robust evacuation from Afghanistan, I strongly ur... Read more

Below is the op-ed written by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, on the crisis in Afghanistan: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/aug/20/create-humanitarian-corridors/. Read more

Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press staff Already thinking about a trip abroad next summer, when perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic will — dare it even be imagined — finally be over? Well, better get to work on renewing that expired or soon-to-be expired passport now. A nationwide backlog in passport applications has resulted from a shutdown of passport offices across the country during the public health crisis, said Ocean County Clerk Scott M. Colabella. The county clerk’s office administers the start of... Read more

In response to the backlog of passport applications – which exceeds 2 million nationally, including more than 400,000 that hadn’t even been opened yet as of the last update – a New Jersey congressman is asking that all current passports get extended. Rep. Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, said the last word from the State Department was that there were 1.75 million applications pending adjudication and 413,000 in lockboxes awaiting processing. In response, he has proposed legislation that would temporari... Read more

By Julie Asher | Catholic News Service and Staff Reports As he offered three amendments to the State Department appropriations bill before the House July 28, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., asked his House colleagues in remarks from the floor, "Where is the justice and empathy and compassion for unborn babies?" "Rather than funding the death of a baby, I believe we must increase access to maternal and prenatal care and ensure access to safe blood and better nutrition," said Smith, a Catholic, wh... Read more

REUTERS - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and relocate the event unless China ends what the United States deems an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jim McGovern were joined by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris Smith in a letter saying that no Olympics should be held in a country "whose ... Read more

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com As coronavirus-related travel restrictions subside, Americans wishing to travel overseas face a new hurdle: Their passports are expiring and a huge backlog of applications means it will take months to get new ones. The State Department’s website says to expect a wait of 18 weeks to renew a passport or get a new one, though some of that is due to mail delays. Even expedited service will take 12 weeks, the State Department said. The department s... Read more

By Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff Robert Trionfo and his wife Eileen had been planning the Cancun trip since early spring. After living through the past seventeen months, all this Millstone Twp. couple wanted to do was take the entire family — their three kids, six grandchildren and various spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. — to Mexico in July. This was a particularly special vacation for Trionfo's grandson, 24, who is battling leukemia. Except the family reunion — and up to $14,000 in deposits... Read more

By Kaity Assaf for Asbury Park Press, Burlington County Times The U.S. House on Thursday passed the INVEST in America Act, which would provide critical funding for projects in Burlington and Ocean counties and help create good paying jobs. More:Lawmakers try new path for federal funding of Joint Base overpass Written into the bill are several priorities championed by U.S. Reps. Andy Kim (D-03) and Chris Smith (R-04). Among them is the Route 539 overpass project aimed at allowing military convoys... Read more

Amid the enormous and growing backlog for renewed passports faced by Americans eager to travel, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today introduced the Passport Emergency Extension Act of 2021 (H.R. 4615) with lead cosponsor Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) to ensure American citizens are able to travel while the State Department addresses serious delays in processing passport applications. Smith’s bipartisan legislation would require the U.S. Secretary of State to establish an expedited procedure to renew or exte... Read more