Press Releases
Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith will present a donation of $500 to the Des Moines Senior Center on Thursday, August 24th, at 12:00 p.m. at the Des Moines Senior Center.
The $500 is from Smith's congressional pay raise. Although he voted against the pay raise, it became law. As he has done with past Congressional pay raises, Smith promised to donate it to local community and education programs. The $500 donation will allow the Des Moines Senior Center to purchase new tables for their daily program activities.
Today, Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith announced that the House of Representatives passed H.R. 894, "Aimee's Law", legislation he has co-sponsored and worked to pass for nearly three years.
"This bill encourages states to keep the most violent and dangerous criminals off the streets," said Smith, a former prosecutor for the City of Seattle. "I am pleased that the House has finally passed this important bill."
Last year, the House passed the measure as an amendment to H.R. 1501, the Child Safety and Protection Act, but the Senate has not yet acted on that bill.
Saying that it fails to meet the needs of seniors, Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith will oppose the Republican prescription drug proposal today.
"This plan fails on four critical fronts," explained Smith. "It does not guarantee prescription medicine access for all Medicare recipients, it does not adequately control the spiraling costs of prescriptions medicines, the cost is unpredictable, and it is extraordinarily confusing to patients."
Ninth District Congressman today joined the New Democrat Coalition (NDC), a group of 65 centrist Democrats in the House of Representatives, to unveil the group's "e-genda 2.0."
The e-genda is a list of the NDC's technology priorities and includes measures to improve teacher quality, expand technology education, provide greater access to overseas markets, encourage innovation, promote e-commerce, and maintain fiscal discipline.
Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith announced today that Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation to repeal the federal telephone excise tax. Smith, an original co-sponsor of H.R. 3916, has prioritized repeal of the phone tax this year.
"We should be encouraging growth in telecommunications and Internet access, not taxing it," Smith said. "I'm very pleased that this legislation was passed so overwhelmingly and seems to be on a fast track to becoming law."
In response to concerns that managed care organizations will cease providing Medicare+Choice services to Washington seniors, Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith is urging five health care organizations to remain in the Washington state market while working with Congress and the Administration to solve the financial crisis facing the program.
Today the House will pass the 2001 Defense Authorization bill, which includes several key prioritizes for Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith.
"The defense bill makes key investments in quality of life measures for our armed services and invests in the leap-ahead technology we need to continue having the best military in the world," Smith said.
The bill authorizes $309.9 billion for defense and national security in 2001. Highlights include:
Health Care
Ninth District schools that benefit from Impact Aid funds stand to receive a major boost today when the House of Representatives passes H.R. 3616, which re-authorizes this popular education program, now in its 50th year, under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith will join the Highline Artists Guild and the Highline Nurses Club to install "Grate Mates" throughout the Highline area in honor of Earth Day.
Smith and the community groups will begin installing Grate Mates at 3:30 on Friday, April 21 at the following sites: the Burien Value Village, Burien Honda, Burien QFC, Lamonts, and Highline Hospital.
Ninth District Congressman Adam Smith is aggressively working to obtain funding and pass legislation to address the growing methamphetamine lab problem in the South Puget Sound region.
"Between 1999 and 1998, the number of meth labs and dumpsites reported in Washington state more than doubled," Smith said. "It is absolutely critical that we take action to combat this serious problem."