Smith Visits Monmouth On Sandy Anniversary

Congressman Chris Smith, center, meet with Middletown Administrator Anthony Mercantante, Public Works Director Ted Maloney, Mayor Stephanie Murray and Committeeman Tony Fiore (right) in the Township’s new Emergency Command Center on the 2nd Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy.

Congressman Chris Smith visited Howell and Middletown Townships on the second anniversary of Superstorm Sandy to assess the progress of recovery and determine remaining needs to be fought for in Washington.

Smith joined Mayor Bill Gato and Deputy Mayor Rob Nicastro at the Mariners Cover community along the Manasasquan River to the the sites of four demolished homes that had been damaged by Sandy and Hurricane Irene in 2011, and one remaining home that is slated for demolition. The homes were purchased by the township with state and federal funding.Disney Princess Chambre de rebond

In Middletown, Smith joined Mayor Stephanie Murray, Committeeman Tony Fiore, Administrator Anthony Mercantante and Public Works Director Ted Maloney in the Township’s Emergency Command Center from where Fiore directed the rescue and recovery efforts two years earlier in the aftermath of the storm, before touring three sites in the Township still in need of federal support.  While in the command center Smith recalled that NBC’s Andrea Mitchell showed up and asked to interview him. “I told her to interview Fiore because he was the one doing the work. She refused, so I spent the interview talking about him and the amazing work he was doing protecting the lives and property of his community.”  Fiore was Mayor during the recoveries of Hurricanes Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Congressman Smith Announces National Blue Ribbon Schools

Biotech High School, Pace Charter School, Performing Arts Academy and St. Gregory the Great recognized

Congressman Chris Smith announced yesterday that four schools in New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools.

“Educating our children is among the most important investment we can make in our families’ and our nation’s future,” said Smith.  “I am thrilled that four of the 11 Blue Ribbon Schools in New Jersey are located right here in the Fourth Congressional District of New Jersey.”

The four schools being recognized for their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups, which requires demonstrating that all students can achieve to high levels, are:

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Two Smith Laws Signed Into Law On The Same Day

In Dec 2013, left-behind parents, Captain Paul Toland whose daughter was kidnapped in Japan; Bindu Philips of Plainsboro, N.J., whose two sons were abducted to India, and David Goldman whose son was abducted to Brazil and returned after a five year ordeal, joined Rep. Chris Smith in calling for passage of legislation, dubbed the Goldman Act (HR 3212) to help families who have been victimized by international abductions

It is rare for most congressmen to get one of there bills signed into law. Frank Pallone, for example, has only had 6 bills, two naming post offices, become law in his entire 26 year career in congress.

Congressman Chris Smith is #4 of all members of the 435 member House of Representatives in getting their bills through both houses and signed by the president.  On Friday, two more of Smith’s bills became the law of the land. Families and children are better off because of Smith’s new laws.

Between ordering airstrikes in Iraq and flying off to vacation in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday, President Obama signed two separate bills sponsored by Smith. One to help prevent international child abduction and return American children now held overseas, and the other targeting $1.3 billion in federal funds to assist families touched by autism.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Sean and David Goldman Act Passes House and Senate

Congressman Chris Smith’s International Child Abduction Bill Awaits President Obama’s Signature

Sean Goldman, 14, celebrating the passage of a child abduction bill named for him, with Congressman Chris Smith. Photo and graphic via Bring Sean Home Foundation’s facebook page

Legislation that will give the State Department tools to apply pressure on foreign government to return abducted American children that Congressman Chris Smith as been pushing through congress for five years has finally passed both the House and Senate.

The Sean and David Goldman Act first passed the House unanimously last December.   With the help of Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the bill passed the Senate with some changes on July 16. On Friday, the House passed the Senate version.

Sean Goldman, of Tinton Falls, was four years old in June of 2004 when his mother Bruna told her husband David that she was taking the boy to her native Brazil for a two week vacation to visit her parents.  Instead, Bruna divorced David in a Brazilian Court and married another man, keeping Sean in her native country.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Ocean Grove Opens Its New Boardwalk

Dr. Dale Whilden, President of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Assoc, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Sen Jennifer Beck, Gov Chris Christie, Congressman Chris Smith and Neptune Mayor Dr. Michael Brantley cut the ribbon of Ocean Grove’s rebuilt boardwalk

After being twice denied funding from FEMA before finally getting $2.4 million on their second appeal, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association re-opened their boardwalk to the public today with a ceremonial ribbon cutting lead by Governor Chris Christie, Congressman Chris Smith, Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Neptune Township Mayor Dr. Michael Brantley and Dr. Dale C. Whilden, President of the OGCMA.

“Today is truly a great day for Ocean Grove, Neptune Township, Monmouth County, and the Jersey Shore, and a critical step forward in our recovery from Sandy,” said Smith.”This boardwalk is an integral part of Ocean Grove the neighboring Jersey Shore community, a fact we reinforced during our efforts to reverse FEMA’s original decision at the local level—and yet another at the regional level—to deny critical funding.”

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Why Did New Jersey Get Only Half as Much Sandy Aid as New York?

Why Did New Jersey Get Only Half as Much Sandy Aid as New York? (via NJSpotlight)

On April 29 of last year, six months to the day after Sandy made landfall, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stood with U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan in a seafood restaurant in Highlands, NJ. Surrounded by cameras, Donovan…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Smith’s Autism Bill Passes House Energy and Commerce Committee

Congressman Chris Smith

Bi-partisan legislation authored by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) that provides $260 million per year over five years to fund research into autism and that urges federal agencies to examine and anticipate needs for autistic children who are “aging out” of current programs and need different assistance as adults, the “Autism CARES (Combating Autism Authorization) Act”, HR 4631, passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday on a voice vote and is headed to the full House.

“My bill begins the conversation on how we as a society can best address the aging out crisis—that every year 50,000 youths with autism enter into adulthood and communities unprepared to support them—which will be augmented by a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the efficacy of the services landscape,” said Smith who, along with the bill’s Democrat cosponsor Rep. Mike Doyle, founded and co-chairs the bipartisan Coalition on Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.). “The research authorized in this bill through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is helping families better understand and assist children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).”

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

N.J. Congressman: Sandy funds still needed for infrastructure, businesses

N.J. Congressman: Sandy funds still needed for infrastructure, businesses (via NJ.com)

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – While public officials welcomed the news that the latest round of Hurricane Sandy recovery money will cover the New Jersey’s unmet need for housing funds, one congressman says that the funding does not go far enough. U.S. Rep…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith to hold information session about nominations to military service academies

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith to hold information session about nominations to military service academies (via NJ.com)

It should come as no surprise that the application process to the nation’s five military service academies is more demanding than other colleges and universities. After all, tuition is free, but comes with an obligation of five years of service after…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

International Megan’s Law moves through Congress

International Megan’s Law moves through Congress (via NJ.com)

The International Megan’s Law cleared a major hurdle Friday when the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed it. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) has worked to pass the bill, which would expand the system of registering…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet