In the Press...

By John T. Ward

It’s a viper’s pit these days. With public trust in government trending at or near all-time lows, and political debate as bitter as ever heard in American history, who in their right mind would go into the public sector?

These 14 TCNJ alums did.

Some have been in it for decades; a few left, but went back; and two started at a time when they weren’t exactly alumni yet.

But while all have had their ideals tested in some way, they remain in government, because as banal as it may sound, they still believe they can make a positive difference in the lives of their fellow citizens.

Or as one put it, “At the end of the day, it’s all that matters.”

Chris Smith ’75

U.S. House of Representatives

Chris Smith doesn’t recall if he was assigned to defend the “rights of the unborn” or if he chose the topic himself; the issue had not previously been on his radar, he says. But in his public speaking class at Trenton State, the freshman knew he’d struck a chord by the vehemence of the pushback he received from some fellow students.

“That’s where it all started, right there,” Smith says; both the unborn and their mothers were victims who needed advocates, he decided. Before long, he was running a Right to Life campus organization.

Smith had planned to study business administration, with the idea of taking over his parents’ sporting goods business. In addition to his degree, he emerged with a lifelong passion — as well as a girlfriend, Marie, a fellow student who became his wife. By 27, he’d won a seat in Congress, on his second try, in part as an anti-abortion candidate.

Still debated today, the “right to life” has been Smith’s signature issue through four decades on the Hill. But it’s just one of his many efforts to defend society’s “most vulnerable,” he says: veterans, people with autism or Alzheimer’s, victims of human trafficking, and more.

“It is rooted in my faith,” he says. “We need to have their back.”

Frequently “bending into the wind,” Smith champions the rights of people who face persecution all over the world: Muslim Uyghurs in China, victims of genocide at the hands of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. When Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, Smith did not hesitate to label Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and call for his immediate indictment.

He’s one of the House’s most prolific authors of legislation and claims his staff has handled 94,000 constituent cases over the years, helping individuals navigate government. In one of his re-election campaigns, an opponent dismissed him as “an overpaid caseworker.” Smith took it as a compliment. “Casework and policymaking are the two jobs” of congressional members, he says.

Though he is steadfast in his opposition to abortion, Smith is known for crossing the aisle on issues and hopes that the practice makes a comeback. He loathes “deceit, bickering, and mockery” and regards personal attacks as “tragic.” All are far too common in D.C., Smith says. “It is a bipartisan, bicameral process here, and if you can find common ground, you ought to,” he says. People with opposing views “are not the enemy,” he says, and “We need to reclaim that, for the sake of our democracy.”