NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Chris Smith

NEW JERSEY — When voters go to the polls Nov. 8, they will be asked to choose the representative for New Jersey's 4th Congressional District.

There are six people seeking the seat, which is a two-year term in the House of Representatives.

The candidates are: Republican Christopher H. Smith, Democrat Matthew Jenkins; Libertarian Jason Cullen; Pam Daniels, running under the "Progress with Pam" banner; David Schmidt, running under the "We the People" banner and independent candidate Hank Schroeder.

The 4th District's boundaries have changed due to redistricting. The district now includes the following towns: In Monmouth County: Avon, Belmar, Brielle, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Farmingdale, Howell, Lake Como, Manasquan, Ocean Twp., Sea Girt, Shrewsbury borough and township, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Tinton Falls, Wall and part of Freehold Township and Middletown; In Ocean County: Bay Head, Beachwood, Brick, Island Heights, Jackson, Lakehurst, Lakewood, Lavallette, Manchester, Mantoloking, Ocean Gate, Pine Beach, Plumsted, Point Pleasant, Point Pleasant Beach, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, South Toms River, Toms River and part of Berkeley and Lacey.

Patch asked each candidate to answer questions to give voters information about who they are and their stances on various issues. We are printing their responses in full, unedited except for spelling or punctuation.

Here are the answers for Christopher "Chris" Smith, 69, who lives in Manchester.

Party affiliation: Republican

Tell voters about your family: Married with four grown children, eight grandchildren.

Tell voters about your education: Attended St. Cecilia’s grammar school in Old Bridge; St. Mary’s High School in Perth Amboy: Received a B.A. in Business Administration from the College of New Jersey (Trenton State College). Comparative politics study. Worchester College in England.

What is your occupation? Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, since 1980 (42 years).

Previous elective office, if any: N/A

Do you or anyone in your family work for the state, county or local governments? Yes. NJ state and local government.

NOTE: Smith did not follow the question format that was presented to all candidates in the 4th District. His statement is presented as written.

America is truly at a crossroads.

Skyrocketing inflation, increased crime, threats to parental rights, chaos at our border and America’s perceived weakness on the international stage have put us at grave risk.

I am seeking re-election to continue using my knowledge and experience to help the people of the
4th Congressional District through this most difficult time and to keep fighting to stop — and reverse — Biden’s extreme, reckless agenda.

I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to serve in Congress. Representing the people of the 4th Congressional District is an honor and privilege I have not, and will never, take for granted.

I have been fighting to curb wasteful, inflationary spending; rebuild our supply chain; hold the Biden Administration accountable; and restore American energy independence and greatness on the international stage.

I voted against the inflationary tax-and-spend bills rammed through Congress, and I opposed the policies that have exacerbated the ever-increasing cost of daily necessities from food, to fuel to heat homes and run cars, to health care and housing, all of which are smothering families and hitting those on a fixed income especially hard.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, the AFL-CIO, and several building trade unions have all endorsed me for reelection because they know I am working hard to restore our economy and create a climate that will enhance our manufacturing base, increase domestic production and supplies and secure good paying jobs.

Crime in America is on the rise due in large part to bias against police, widespread defunding efforts, inadequate prosecutions, and permissive bail arrangements. This has put us all in danger, and I continue to advocate for funding and training for law enforcement.

I am honored to have been endorsed by the NJ Police Benevolent Association (NJPBA), the NJ Fraternal Order of Police (NJFOP), the State Troopers Fraternal Association of NJ (STFA) and the Professional Firefighters Association (NJPFA)—all of whom represent New Jersey’s brave and remarkable first responders.

In 2021, I was named the Legislator of the Year by the National Police Defense Foundation for “outstanding legislative support on behalf of law enforcement” and for being a leader in the fight against human trafficking in the United States and internationally.”

The explosion of illegal immigration and open-door policies advanced on Biden’s watch has undermined our national security. I have voted 93 times for secure fencing and the wall and I support other efforts to prevent illegal crossings, human trafficking, and the flow of the deadly drug fentanyl and other dangerous drugs across our border.

Part of the job in Congress includes helping people who have been wronged by bad policies or government red tape. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously.

To that end, I have assisted more than 94,000 people with individual casework problems they have experienced with federal, state, and local agencies. And, I often take lessons learned from these casework matters and turn them into legislation to help others facing similar problems.
For instance, after I received calls from military personnel who were abruptly discharged for refusing to take the COVID vaccine, I not only went to work on their individual casework matters, but I also wrote a bill (HR 7570) to require the Biden Administration to reinstate the thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen who have been wrongly discharged for not taking the vaccine. My bill will also ensure that those who choose not to return to the military are given a full honorable discharge.

Recently, I called out the Biden CDC for recommending that all children ages six months and older get the COVID vaccine, without providing parents with the data and information from research and clinical trials.

Parents are rightfully concerned about possible side-effects of the vaccine and with the health and wellbeing of their children at stake, parents deserve the absolute truth and transparency. I remain opposed to COVID vaccine mandates for kids before they can enter the classroom.

I am deeply concerned about other efforts to undermine parental authority in their children’s health and education. I have cosponsored the Parents Bill of Rights Act to foster transparency in schools and ensure parental involvement and impact on curricula. I also cosponsored the Stop CRT Act to ban federal funds from school programs that teach radical ideologies to school age children.

I enjoy working with local elected officials to obtain assistance, support and resources from the federal government. I worked closely with local leaders and veterans groups to bring a veterans outpatient clinic to central New Jersey. Though the Senate blocked my bill to establish the clinic, I never gave up and ultimately, we secured the Brick Clinic in Ocean County. About a decade later, I brought a second veterans health care clinic to Monmouth County.

The Brick VA Clinic has since outgrown its capacity, and I worked successfully to help secure the federal funding needed for a new, state of the art clinic that will open in Ocean County in 2024.
I have worked with local leaders to win federal support for beach protection. Earlier this year, I secured more than $30 million for the Manasquan to Barnegat beach replenishment project. I have garnered federal support for dredging our inlets, the restoration of Wreck Pond and needed repairs to the Point Pleasant Canal. We have also secured federal funding for roadway improvements throughout both Monmouth and Ocean Counties, fire safety and police grants, and housing and mental health assistance grants.

When Navy Lakehurst was wrongfully put on the list for closure, I led the fight to save the base and protect the local commerce and important jobs that come with it. We not only won—and removed the base from the chopping block—but working with others, I helped bring new, expanded, sophisticated missions to the new Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Among these missions is the KC-46s which we secured after a lengthy competitive bid process conducted by the Air Force.

The Joint Base is the largest employer in Ocean County and the second largest in the entire state. I am proud of the national security missions I helped secure there, and I will continue to work to protect our jobs and missions at this critical facility.

I thrive on the rigors of debate and securing the details needed for good lawmaking. And I know how to get things done.

According to data from the Library of Congress, I rank first among all 435 Members of the House of Representatives in successfully turning bills into law.

I am the prime author of five historic laws to combat human sex and labor trafficking including
the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) which assists victims of trafficking, mostly women and children, helps prevent these crimes in the first place and ensures prosecution of those profiting from this horrific human rights abuse.

As a result of the TVPA and four additional anti-human trafficking laws I wrote — Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act — many victims have been rescued and protected. Predators have been apprehended and jailed. Comprehensive prevention strategies have spared many from exploitation and abuse.

This year, the House passed my sixth trafficking bill, The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Prevention and Protection Act of 2022 which will reauthorize $1.1 billion over five years to enhance successful programs, strengthen laws and add more accountability in the fight against human trafficking.

I am also the author of 14 veterans’ laws including the landmark Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act, which established the first federal, coordinated effort to combat homelessness and offer housing and shelter for vets needing assistance.

Earlier this year, I was honored to participate in the opening of the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Village, a veterans’ affordable housing facility in Monmouth County sponsored by Soldier On and funded in part by a rental assistance program authorized in my law.

Some of my other laws include four laws to assist persons with autism, two laws on researching and using the miracle of umbilical cord blood and bone marrow stem cells to cure patients, two laws promoting religious freedom, a law against parental child abduction, and another to combat terrorism.

On Lyme disease, and other tick‐borne diseases, I have pushed hard and effectively for new policies to increase prevention, diagnosis and cures for the millions of individuals and families impacted by that insidious disease.

On Alzheimer’s disease, I have chaired the congressional Alzheimer’s caucus for two decades and helped boost research in delaying onset with the goal of finding a cure and offering assistance to caregivers.

I strongly oppose the privatization of Social Security and Medicare and have consistently advocated to protect these programs to ensure that the government keeps its commitment to the those who have built and invested in our country and paid into the system through their hard work. I am also fighting to change the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) formula so that it will properly reflect the bulk of expenses seniors face, such as health care, which can drive up the cost of daily living at a rate higher than other expenses.

The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision earlier this year has empowered the American people through their elected representatives to establish compassionate legislation to protect women and unborn children from the violence of abortion.

Prior to Dobbs, the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision allowed for abortion on demand, right up to birth, without even the modest protections.

The Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act, passed by the Democrat House twice this congress, is an extreme pro-abortion bill that goes beyond Roe and would legally authorize and enable the violent death of unborn baby girls and boys by dismemberment, decapitation, deadly poisons, and other methods at any time and for any reason until birth.

The Democrats’ legislation would also nullify every modest pro-life restriction ever enacted by the States — including Women’s Right to Know laws in 35 States, parental involvement statutes in 37 States, the pain-capable unborn child protection laws in 19 States, waiting periods in 26 States, and so much more.

In dramatic contrast to the Democrats’ bill, I introduced the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act—which would prevent most abortions after 15 weeks gestation except in the cases of rape, incest and life of the mother. The bill reflects the compelling scientific evidence that unborn babies feel excruciating pain earlier than previously known.

We all dread pain, avoid it, and even fear it. And we all go to extraordinary lengths to mitigate its severity and its duration for ourselves. Yet every day, a whole segment of human beings is being subjected to painful — and deadly — abortion procedures. This unconscionable human rights abuse must stop.

According to a recent Harvard poll, 72 percent of Americans — including 75 percent of women — oppose abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A Marist poll from January 2022 similarly reported that 71 percent of Americans oppose abortion after the first three months of pregnancy.

As fetal surgeons seek to heal, they routinely administer anesthesia to children in the womb to protect them from pain. The unborn child is a patient, and there are many anomalies, many sicknesses that can be treated with a degree of success while she or he is still in utero. When those interventions are performed, anesthesia is given.

Abortionists on the other hand are in the business of ensuring that children neither survive nor
thrive. Unborn children, including children with disabilities, deserve treatment not excruciating deaths by dismemberment.

As we look to the coming election, much has been accomplished but there remains much to do — so many unmet needs. You can be sure I will continue to pour every ounce of my energy into finding solutions and to continuing to help the people of the Fourth Congressional District. I respectfully request the voters’ support for my re-election to Congress.

What do you feel is the most pressing issue facing New Jersey's 4th District, and what do you want to do about it?

Do you believe there should be a federal ban on abortion or should the decision be left to each state and why? If you believe in a ban, should there be any exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother?

There has been a proposal to eliminate Social Security and Medicare. In a district that’s home to thousands of retirees and seniors, where do you stand on this?

Inflation is causing stress for millions of Americans, particularly those at the low end of the wage scale. What do you believe should be done to address it?

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you will be effective in office?