On The Ballot: Running, Republican for U.S. House (NJ) - District 4
Chris Smith has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2024 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2024.
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.
X | a) Abortions should always be illegal. | ||
b) Abortions should always be legal. | |||
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy. | |||
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. | |||
X | e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. | ||
X | f) Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions. | ||
Abortions takes the life of an unborn child and harms the mother emotionally and physically. Women deserve better. |
Using the key, indicate what federal funding levels you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category, you can use a number more than once.Budget Priorities
Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
Greatly Increase | f) Homeland security | ||
Slightly Increase | g) International aid | ||
Slightly Increase | h) Law enforcement | ||
Greatly Increase | i) Medical research | ||
Maintain Status | j) National parks | ||
Greatly Increase | k) Public health services | ||
Slightly Increase | l) Scientific research | ||
Maintain Status | m) Space exploration programs | ||
Slightly Increase | n) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
Slightly Increase | o) Welfare | ||
Greatly Increase | p) Emergency preparedness | ||
Greatly increase Veteran's healthcare and benefits |
Defense Spending
Slightly Increase | a) Armed forces personnel training | ||
Greatly Increase | b) Intelligence operations | ||
Slightly Increase | c) Military hardware | ||
Slightly Increase | d) Modernization of weaponry and equipment | ||
Slightly Increase | e) National missile defense | ||
Greatly Increase | f) Pay for active duty personnel | ||
Greatly Increase | g) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
Slightly Increase | h) Research and development of new weapons | ||
Greatly Increase | i) Troop and equipment readiness | ||
Greatly increase Veteran's healthcare and benefits |
Using the key above, indicate what federal tax levels you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category.TaxesIncome Taxes:Family IncomeRetiree IncomeOther Taxes:Deductions/Credits:
Eliminate | a) Less than $25,000 | ||
Greatly Decrease | b) $25,000-$75,000 | ||
Slightly Decrease | c) $75,000-$150,000 | ||
Maintain Status | d) Over $150,000 | ||
e) Other or expanded categories | |||
f) Over $40,000 | |||
g) Other or expanded categories | |||
Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
Maintain Status | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
Slightly Increase | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
Maintain Status | d) Corporate taxes | ||
Maintain Status | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
Eliminate | f) Inheritance taxes | ||
g) Other or expanded categories | |||
Slightly Increase | a) Charitable contributions | ||
Greatly Increase | b) Child tax credit | ||
Maintain Status | c) Earned income tax credit | ||
Greatly Increase | d) Medical expense deduction | ||
Maintain Status | e) Mortgage deduction | ||
Slightly Increase | f) Student loan credit | ||
Greatly increase Education Expenses Credits |
Yes | 4) Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax? | ||
Yes | 5) Do you support making President Bush's tax cuts permanent? | ||
7) Other or expanded principles | |||
Support economic growth to increase the tax base and increase revenues flowing into the US Treasury. Eliminate tax fraud and unfair tax aviodance gimmicks - both on and off shore - so everyone pays their fair share. Strengthen oversight of government spending and reduce fraud and waste by holding accountable both government and private sector officials who betray the trust given them. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.
a) Support public taxpayer funding for federal candidates who comply with campaign spending limits. | |||
b) Increase the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns. | |||
c) Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to candidates for federal office. | |||
d) Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to political parties or committees. | |||
e) Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and parties. | |||
f) Require Section 527 organizations to register with the Federal Election Commission as Political Action Committees. | |||
No | g) Do you support instant run-off voting? | ||
No | h) Should Election Day be a national holiday? | ||
Yes | i) Do you support a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and woman? | ||
j) Other or expanded principles |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
a) Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes. | |||
X | b) Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes. | ||
X | c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with educational, vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. | ||
X | d) Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment. | ||
e) Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent crimes. | |||
X | f) Require that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and disability be prosecuted as federal hate crimes. | ||
X | g) Impose stricter penalties for those convicted of corporate crimes. | ||
X | h) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | ||
Continue my leadership to protect women and children from sex-trafficing and to combat child and slave labor |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding drugs.
X | a) Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs. | ||
X | b) Expand federally sponsored drug education and drug treatment programs. | ||
c) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. | |||
d) Allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |||
X | e) Increase border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. | ||
f) Eliminate federal funding for programs associated with the "war on drugs." | |||
X | g) Support a federal law to standardize testing and penalties for steroid use in professional sports. | ||
Strong action against steroid use in professional sports is needed to discourage younger athletes from that dangerous practice. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
X | a) Support national standards for and testing of public school students. | ||
b) Allow parents to use vouchers, (equal opportunity scholarships) to send their children to any public school. | |||
c) Allow parents to use vouchers, (equal opportunity scholarships) to send their children to any private or religious school. | |||
X | d) Allow teachers and professionals to receive authorization and funding to establish charter schools. | ||
X | e) Reward teachers with merit pay for working in low-income schools. | ||
X | f) Increase funding for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings, infrastructure, technology). | ||
g) Support affirmative action in public college admissions. | |||
X | h) Increase funding of programs such as Pell grants and Stafford loans to help students pay for college. | ||
X | i) Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college. | ||
I supported a demonstration pilot voucher program to assess its application nationwide |
1) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.2) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding affirmative action.
X | a) Increase funding for national job-training programs that re-train displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market. | ||
b) Reduce government regulation of the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion. | |||
X | c) Provide tax credits or grants to businesses that offer child care services to employees. | ||
X | d) Encourage employers to offer flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies. | ||
e) Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment. | |||
X | f) Increase the federal minimum wage. | ||
X | g) Support the right of workers to strike without fear of being permanently replaced. | ||
h) Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws. | |||
a) The federal government should consider race and gender in government contracting decisions. | |||
b) The federal government should discontinue affirmative action programs. | |||
c) The federal government should continue affirmative action programs. | |||
As the author of the law to help homeless veterans rebuild their lives, I strongly believe our government must work to improve job-training and related assistance. | |||
The federal government should continue to reform programs that seek to ensure fairness in employment and contracting. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.
X | a) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act. | ||
X | b) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act. | ||
X | c) Support Clear Skies Act to reduce power plant emissions by setting a national cap on pollutants. | ||
d) Require states to compensate citizens when environmental regulations limit uses of privately-owned land. | |||
e) Relax logging restrictions on federal lands. | |||
f) Relax standards on federal lands to allow increased recreational usage. | |||
g) Support increased development of traditional energy resources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil). | |||
X | h) Strengthen emission controls and fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles. | ||
i) Support opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. | |||
X | j) Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels to reduce pollution. | ||
k) Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel. | |||
l) Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits. | |||
X | m) Support the Kyoto Protocol to limit global warming. | ||
Support initiatives to ban dumping of waste into our oceans |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
X | a) Reauthorize the ban on the sale or transfer of semi-automatic guns, except those used for hunting. | ||
X | b) Maintain and strengthen the current level of enforcement of existing federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. | ||
c) Ease federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. | |||
d) Repeal federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. | |||
e) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns. | |||
X | f) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows. | ||
g) Require a license for gun possession. | |||
Regarding (a) support reauthorizationg the ban on the sale or transfer of semi-automatic assualt weapons. Support the Brady Bill and support state licensing of firearms. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health care.
a) Providing health care is not a responsibility of the federal government. | |||
b) Implement a universal health care program to guarantee coverage to all Americans regardless of income. | |||
X | c) Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts. | ||
X | d) Establish limits on the amount of punitive damages awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | ||
X | e) Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare. | ||
X | f) Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage. | ||
X | g) Support automatic enrollment of children in federal health care programs such as CHIP and Medicaid. | ||
h) Support stem cell research on existing lines of stem cells. | |||
i) Allow laboratories to create new lines of stem cells for additional research. | |||
Support regotiations of Medicare drug prices and drug importation with protection against fraud. Support multi-pronged approach to providing access to healthcare such as tax incentives to individuals and companies strong veterans healthcare, medicare and a broad safety net, including Community health Centers, Medicaid & SHIPP. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding immigration.
a) Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country. | |||
b) Establish English as the official national language. | |||
c) Support a temporary worker program that would enable illegal immigrants to work in the United States legally. | |||
d) Relax restrictions barring legal immigrants from using government funded social programs (e.g. public housing, food stamps). | |||
e) Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States. | |||
We should strengthen border security to protect our national security. We should maintain our nation's proud tradition of welcoming legal immigrants |
International AidIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding United States economic assistance.
X | a) Aid should be granted to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives. | ||
X | b) Aid should be granted to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States. | ||
c) Aid should be eliminated for any nation with documented human rights abuses. | |||
d) International Aid programs should be scaled back and eventually eliminated. | |||
Regarding c. I support terminating non-humanitarian aid to nations that abuse human rights. |
International Policy1) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the Middle East.2) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Central and East Asia.3) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the United Nations.
Yes | a) Should the United States continue to provide leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? | ||
Yes | b) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state? | ||
No | c) Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq? | ||
d) Should the United States send more troops to Iraq? | |||
f) Other or expanded principles | |||
Yes | a) Should the United States use diplomatic and economic pressure to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program? | ||
b) Should the United States use military force to dismantle the North Korean nuclear weapons program? | |||
c) Should the United States remove the North Korean government from power? | |||
Yes | d) Should the United States increase financial support to Afghanistan? | ||
Yes | e) Should the United States increase military support to Afghanistan? | ||
Yes | a) Should the United States maintain its financial support of the United Nations? | ||
No | b) Should the United States decrease its financial support of the United Nations? | ||
Yes | c) Should the United States commit troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions? | ||
No | 4) Should the United States lift the travel ban to Cuba? | ||
Yes | 5) Should the United States increase its financial support to Colombia to combat "the war on drugs?" | ||
Yes | 6) Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs fund distribution of contraceptives? | ||
Yes | 7) Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs fund abstinence education? | ||
I want our soldiers to come home-and- soon. But that fervent hope must be tempered with realities on the ground. What do our military commanders think? To leave prematurely or pursuant to an arbitrarily arrived at deadline established by members of Congress may unwittingly put more lives at risk and strengthen the fanaticism and hopes of terrorist. Public debate on exit strategy is important, even necessary... | |||
The US must do all it can to fight and eliminate terrorism. | |||
The US should push the UN to reform; particularly the new Human Rights Council should address major human rights abusers who are not being recognized for their abuses. | |||
I strongly support the scientifically proven ABC method used to combat AIDS in Africa. Uganda is a prime example of this success. |
International TradeIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding international trade.
No | 1) Do you support the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)? | ||
No | 2) Do you support the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)? | ||
No | 3) Do you support the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? | ||
No | 4) Do you support continued U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO)? | ||
Yes | 5) Should a nation's human rights record affect its normal trade relations (most favored nation) status with the United States? | ||
Yes | 6) Do you support the trade embargo against Cuba? | ||
Yes | 7) Should trade agreements include provisions to address environmental concerns and to protect workers' rights? | ||
I have long opposed entering into unfair trade relationships that do not protect human rights, worker rights, the environment and access to medicines. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding national security.
Yes | a) Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or impractical? | ||
b) Should the United States grant law enforcement agencies greater discretion to read mail and email, tap phones, and conduct random searches to prevent future terrorist attacks? | |||
Yes | c) Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country? | ||
Yes | d) Should the federal government increase funding to states and cities for homeland security? | ||
Yes | e) Do you support the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in U.S. custody? | ||
f) Do you support a policy of pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be a threat to U.S. national security? | |||
g) Other or expanded principles |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Social Security.
a) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts which they manage themselves. | |||
b) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts managed by private firms contracted by the government. | |||
c) Invest a portion of Social Security assets collectively in stocks and bonds instead of United States Treasury securities. | |||
d) Increase the payroll tax to better finance Social Security in its current form. | |||
e) Lower the annual cost-of-living increases. | |||
f) Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive full Social Security benefits. | |||
X | g) Other of expanded principles | ||
I have grave concerns about diverting current Social Security payroll taxes into personal accounts. Payroll taxes from today's workers are used primarily to pay benefits to current recipients. To guarantee current promised benefits an estimated $754 billion extra (including added debt interest) would be needed to cover funds reprogrammed into personal accounts. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding technology and communication.
a) Collect taxes on commercial Internet transactions. | |||
X | b) Continue the moratorium on Internet taxation. | ||
c) Implement government regulation of Internet content. | |||
X | d) Support government mandates to curtail violent and sexual content on television. | ||
X | e) Support strict penalties for Internet crimes (e.g. hacking, identity theft, worms/viruses). | ||
X | f) Support legislation to detail how personal information can be collected and used on the Internet. | ||
g) Regulating the Internet is not a responsibility of the federal government. | |||
Child pornography is not freedom of speech and must be eliminated from the Internet. Means must be developed and available to protect our children from violent and sexual content on the Internet. |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare and poverty.
X | a) Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week in a combination of work and training programs. | ||
X | b) Increase funding for child care programs. | ||
c) Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants. | |||
X | d) Direct federal poverty aid through religious, community-based, or other non-profit organizations. | ||
e) Abolish all federal welfare programs. | |||
X | f) Support housing assistance for welfare recipients. | ||
Welfare recipients should be supported with the assistance needed to rebuild their lives and care for their families |
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