The voice of New Jersey in Washington

Congressman Chris Smith is a tireless worker on behalf of the rest of us. Most recently, he took on the tragic issue of speaking up for Braeden Bradforth. He's the college kid from Neptune who went to play football at Garden City Community College in Kansas. He died of exertional heatstroke after a football practice in August of 2018. Months went by and still no real answers from the school as to what happened.

Can you imagine the stress and horror for his mom? Congressman Smith took up the case and applied the kind of pressure necessary to wrangle answers out of the school. Chris Smith of course went a step further. He's pushing for a bill that will establish a commission to help schools identify and train staff to recognize the impact of exertional heat stroke and make sure that they have the proper procedures and emergency operation in place to prevent a future tragedy.

Congressman Smith's leadership and selfless commitment to others is one of the main reasons that as a Republican Member of Congress, he continues to win re-election in a heavily Democratic district. It's about people and not partisan politics. He is one of the main reasons that I do not support term limits for Members of Congress. I support elections and greater participation, informed participation that is!

Nothing is gonna bring back Joanne Atkins-Ingram's son Braeden, but due to Congressman Smith's efforts, perhaps there won't be another mom next August grieving for her son.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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