After years of advocacy, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) has secured approval for a federal investigation into whether the military played a role in the spread of Lyme disease through Cold War-era experiments involving ticks. The measure is part of the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 18, 2025.
Smith’s amendment instructs the Government Accountability Office to examine whether military research may have contributed to the proliferation and severity of Lyme disease in the United States, an illness that has significantly affected New Jersey residents.
The amendment attracted attention from Rich Smith, whose late wife Pat Smith was a leading advocate for Lyme disease patients and died in 2024 at age 78. “I think she would think it’s way past due and a very positive step in tracing the history of Lyme — one more step in the process of beating back this disease,” Rich Smith told the Asbury Park Press.
“She’s smiling from above,” Chris Smith said. “She’s the pioneer.”
Pat Smith founded the nonprofit Lyme Disease Association after two of her daughters contracted Lyme disease in the 1980s. She worked nationally to raise awareness about chronic or long-term cases. Her efforts included collaborating with Chris Smith on legislation funding Lyme research and participating in a congressional working group focused on federal policy changes related to Lyme disease.
“She’s the one who got me into Lyme,” Chris Smith said. “She came to a town meeting in Wall in 1992 and said, ‘What are you doing about Lyme disease?’ I said ‘Nothing.’ We had lunch, and I’ve been working on it ever since.”
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 500,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease annually in the U.S., with New Jersey ranking second after Pennsylvania for reported cases. Early detection is key; while many recover after standard antibiotic treatment, others experience ongoing symptoms for months or years due to challenges with diagnosis and limited established treatments.
Previous attempts by Chris Smith to launch such an investigation passed in the House but did not clear the Senate in 2017 and 2019. Interest increased following Kris Newby’s book “Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons,” published in 2019.
“With this new GAO report, we will have both a public report and where necessary, one that is confidential and that hopefully will allow unfettered access to the files about what we (the U.S. Department of Defense) were doing,” Chris Smith said. “If it’s not an issue, the investigation will prove that and we’ll turn the page.”
The amendment directs review of military, National Institutes of Health, Department of Agriculture, and other federal agency research between January 1, 1945, and December 31, 1972 concerning experiments involving Spirochaetales and Rickettsiales—two types of tick-borne bacteria.
Chris Smith stated that “an enhanced understanding of how Lyme came to be will only assist in finding a cure for this debilitating disease.”
Rich Smith called passage of this amendment “quite a testament” to his wife’s legacy: “I’m very heartened by this,” he said. “This woman devoted every spare second, everything she had, to make sure other parents didn’t go through this with their children.”
Chris Smith has represented New Jersey’s 4th District since replacing Frank Thompson in Congress in 1981 (https://www.house.gov/smith). He was born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1953 and currently lives in Manchester Township. He graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975.
The original article can be found online at https://www.app.com/story/news/health/2025/12/22/lyme-disease-possible-military-origins-will-be-studied-under-trump-law/87828229007/
