After leading the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee through two years of unparalleled and historic legislative accomplishments, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4) was reelected to a second two-year term as Chairman of the Committee by his Republican colleagues. He is also the most senior member of the state’s 13-member House of Representatives delegation.  

    “I am grateful to my colleagues for giving me the honor and privilege of chairing the Veterans’ Affairs Committee for another two years so we can continue to improve the quality of life for our nation’s 25 million veterans, more than 600,000 of whom live in New Jersey,” Smith said.  

    “As Chairman of the Veterans’ Committee, I will continue to build on the successes we achieved during the 107th Congress and will fight especially hard to increase funding for veterans healthcare programs, so no veteran will have to wait months for an appointment to see a VA doctor,” he said.  

     During the past two years, Smith wrote seven new veterans assistance laws that authorized billions of dollars in enhanced and expanded healthcare and benefits for our veterans.  

    Among the laws authored by Smith are historic pieces of legislation to increase the GI Bill by a record 46 percent, enabling more veterans to afford college and other education costs; and a law to help homeless veterans get off the streets and rebuild their lives. 

    Smith wrote a law to expand specialized healthcare services offered through the VA and to reduce costs for beneficiaries; as well as a law to develop protocols for responding to biological, chemical, and radiological terrorist attacks.  

    “While we accomplished a lot during the last session of Congress, we have no shortage of work before us in the new 108th Congress,” Smith said.  “I will continue to pursue an aggressive and activist course of action to make sure no veterans are left behind.” 

    In addition to expanding VA healthcare services and steering more money to regions in need – especially New Jersey – Smith will oversee the implementation of his counter-terrorism and homeless veterans assistance laws and work to update the GI Bill so it can be better used by service members who want to learn a trade skill.