Adam Smith (politician)

David Adam Smith (born June 15, 1965), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing Washington's 9th congressional district.

Biography
Born in Washington, D.C., Smith was raised in the Sea-Tac area of Washington State. Smith attended Bow Lake Elementary and Chinook Middle School, before graduating from Tyee High School in 1983. His father, who worked for United Airlines as a ramp serviceman and was active in the Machinists' Union, died when Smith was 19.

Smith attended Western Washington University in Bellingham for a year, later graduating from Fordham University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He completed a law degree at the University of Washington in 1990. He worked his way through college by loading trucks for United Parcel Service. After law school, Smith worked as a private practice attorney with Cromwell, Mendozza, and Belur. From 1993 to 1995, he served as a prosecutor for the city of Seattle. In 1996, he worked temporarily as a pro tem judge.

Politics
Smith served in the Washington State Senate from 1991 to 1997. He was just twenty-five years old at the time of his election in 1990, defeating a 16-year incumbent Republican to become the youngest State Senator in the country. Smith won his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 by defeating another incumbent Republican, religious conservative Randy Tate. Smith hasn't faced serious opposition since, and has turned what was originally drawn as a "fair fight" district into a fairly safe Democratic seat. After redistricting in 2012, Washington's 9th district became the state's first with a majority of residents who are racial or ethnic minorities.

He has been a leader in moderate, "New Democrat" organizations. He serves as the chair of the political action committee of the New Democrat Coalition.

On October 10, 2002, Adam Smith was among the 81 Democratic members of the House voting in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. In March 2012, Smith said that US troops had done “amazing work” in Afghanistan and that it was “time to bring the troops home.”

In 2006, Smith won his sixth term in Congress. His opponent was Republican Steve Cofchin. Smith won 65.7% of the vote to Cofchin's 34.3%.

In April 2007, Smith threw his support behind Senator Barack Obama for the 2008 Presidential Election. He has also appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews speaking for Obama.

Smith voted against the Protect America Act of 2007, which has been criticized for violating American citizens' civil liberties by allowing for wiretapping without issued warrants. However, Smith voted in favor of the 2001 Patriot Act and in favor of extending the “Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.”

In 2008, Smith won a seventh term in the House by defeating James Postma, a 74-year-old retired engineer running on a pro-nuclear power platform, with 65% of the vote.

On December 16, 2010, Smith defeated Silvestre Reyes and Loretta Sanchez to become the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee after Chairman Ike Skelton was defeated for re-election. In the first round, Sanchez and Smith earned 64 votes with Reyes earning 53. In the runoff, Smith defeated Sanchez by 11 votes.

In 2011, recognized for his work in fighting global poverty, Smith became only the second member of Congress selected to the Borgen Project's Board of Directors. In the same year, Smith argued against cuts that could “jeopardize our national security” which could leave the US “more vulnerable to nuclear terrorism.”

In 2001, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which gave the President authority to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against those who committed and aided the 9/11 attacks. While this power has been rarely used to detain persons in the United States, Smith introduced a bill to ensure that any individual detained on U.S. soil under the AUMF has access to due process and the federal court system. The bill also prohibits military commissions and indefinite detention for individuals detained in the United States and affirms that any trial proceedings “shall have all the due process as provided for under the Constitution.”

The congressman co-sponsored, with Republican congressman Mac Thornberry, an amendment to the fiscal 2013 defense spending bill reversing previous bans on disseminating Defense and State Department propaganda in the United States, reversing the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, designed to protect U.S. audiences from government misinformation campaigns. The bill passed on May 18, 2012 with 299 to 120.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Armed Services (Ranking Member)


 * As the ranking member on the committee, Rep. Smith may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommitees.

Caucus memberships

 * 21st Century Healthcare Caucus


 * European Union Caucus


 * Goods Movement Caucus


 * Intellectual Property Caucus (Co-Chair)


 * International Conservation Caucus


 * Waterways Caucus


 * Congressional Arts Caucus

Wikipedia editing
Smith was among 32 Congressmen who have favorably edited their own Wikipedia entries. Smith admitted that “defending himself and his record against false attacks was the main reason for the edits, and that the edits were made on just three occasions and unrelated to any re-election effort.” Smith's communications directors confirmed that they had made “several changes” and claim ignorance about Wikipedia guidelines and possible conflicts of interests.