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Reps. Smith, Yoho Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Strengthen U.S. Foreign Assistance and Development

February 28, 2018

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Effective Foreign Assistance, and fellow Co-Chair Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) have introduced H.R. 5105 – the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act of 2018. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) have introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Congressman Smith had these comments following introduction yesterday:

“The United States has a proud history of leading the international community in helping others during times of conflict, strife, and instability – times when people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.  Since World War II, the United States has invested and supported economic growth in countries all around the world to ensure that people have the opportunity to live healthy lives and achieve their fullest potential. Through our partnerships with friends and allies, we work to raise up local communities – strengthening institutions, combating hunger and disease, and ensuring that development projects have sustainable, long lasting impacts.

“This legislation will strengthen the ability of the United States to promote critically needed projects in low- and lower-middle income nations. It streamlines authorities from other agencies into one central institution. U.S. diplomats and development officers working overseas will have one-stop-shop access to a suite of tools to help empower local communities, bringing technical assistance and partnerships to tackle their biggest humanitarian and development challenges. 

“To be clear – this initiative does not represent a shift away from grant-based direct assistance. Our commitment to providing help to those most in need remains unwavering. Investments in foreign assistance are a critical component of our overall national security, and I will continue to fight for these essential programs. The United States is uniquely positioned to help promote peace and stability, and the new International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) will be at the forefront of helping nations transition into active participants in global markets.”

Smith Statement in Opposition to Budget Bill

Washington D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith released the following statement after voting in opposition to the government funding bill.

February 9, 2018

“I could have supported most, if not all, of the funding in this bill but for the fact that just two months ago, we cut taxes by $2 trillion dollars. This legislation is like quitting your job and only then deciding that you want to buy a new house and a second car. I am supportive of spending the money necessary to meet our country’s needs. I am not in favor of continuing to borrow it; I want to raise the revenue necessary. For this reason, I not only opposed the tax cut we passed in December, but I have also long insisted that we need to increase revenue to fund the priorities that are included in this bill.

“For the most part, the priorities contained in this legislation, such as disaster relief and modernizing infrastructure, are very important. While the defense spending it provides is higher than I would have preferred, we need to increase defense spending given the wars we’re fighting and the readiness crisis our military is facing.

“As a country, we have to be prepared to pay for the critical programs we need instead of putting them all on a credit card and sticking future generations with the bill. Ten years from now--even twenty years from now--I have no doubt that we will face national security threats, have disasters, and need to invest in infrastructure and health care. Where will the money come from when we are 25 or 30 trillion dollars in debt? We have to be fiscally responsible both in the way we spend and generate revenue. This legislation, combined with the recently passed tax cuts and all of the other tax cuts we’ve enacted in the last seventeen years, simply does not meet that test and puts us further down a fiscally irresponsible path that I cannot support.

“The other problem with this bill is that it does not address DACA or take action to help DREAMers. DACA remains a very important and deeply frustrating issue for me. Eighty percent of the country supports the DREAMers and enacting a clean fix for DACA into law. More than a majority of the House has expressed support for solving this crisis, yet Speaker Ryan refuses to allow a vote for the democratic process to play out. Democrats alone cannot force him to do that. Instead, we have to look for leverage to compel him to do what he should. Unfortunately, we are limited in our ability to drive the agenda. Even after the Senate did not provide the votes to keep the government open last month, Speaker Ryan still refused to allow a vote on DACA.

“I will continue to look for every conceivable point of leverage to push Speaker Ryan and the Republicans to do the right thing on DACA. Ultimately, only the Majority can make that decision. Everyone in the country--in addition to the Democrats in Congress--needs to continue to put pressure on Speaker Ryan to act on clean DACA legislation. I will continue to do my part.”

 

Congressman Adam Smith Delivers Weekly Democratic Address

January 26, 2018

 

Congressman Adam Smith Delivers Weekly Democratic Address

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered the Weekly Democratic Address.  In this week’s address, Smith condemns the Republican Congress’ refusal to govern and inability to pass a budget that meets the needs and values of our country.  Video and audio of the Weekly Democratic Address can be downloaded here.

Below is a full transcript of the address:

“Hello, I’m Adam Smith.  I’m the Congressman who represents the 9th District of the state of Washington, and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to give the Democratic message for this week. 

“I know a lot of people paid close attention to the government shutdown that happened last week and are wondering what it was all about.  Why did it happen?  And there’s really a very simple explanation.  The Republicans who control the House, the Senate and the White House are refusing to govern on the critical issues that face our country.  And what they were trying to do last week – and ultimately did do – was pass yet another short-term, stop-gap spending bill.  That is not funding the government. 

“There are so many issues that are not being addressed by this Congress, and what Democrats were trying to do was basically to force the Republicans to do their job.  They won the election.  They control the House, they control the Senate, they control the White House.  It’s time to govern, but they’re not doing it.  They’re not passing a budget to begin with. 

“I’m the Ranking Member in the House Armed Services Committee, and I’ve been privileged to work with the men and women who serve in our military.  And we could not be better served, they make us proud every day.  But the Congress right now, the Republican-controlled Congress is not serving our military, because it’s not passing a defense budget.  A short-term spending bill is not a budget.  The leaders of the Pentagon do not know from one week to the next how much money they’re going to have to spend.  That makes it impossible to plan and impossible to put us in a position to adequately meet the national security needs of this country.

“And it’s not just the Defense Department, it’s the entire budget.  Our infrastructure.  We have a crumbling infrastructure in this country estimated to have a $600 billion backfill.  But again, the Republicans will not pass a transportation budget. 

“In a short-term spending bill, what they’ve passed now four times since the end of the fiscal year in September, is not a budget.  They’re not funding infrastructure, they’re not funding research, they’re not funding education.  We are stumbling forward one month at a time, and it goes beyond the budget. 

“We have had horrible hurricanes last year hit Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  They have not passed the disaster relief that these areas desperately need.  Again, simply kicking the can down the road. 

“And of course, DACA.  And we’ve heard a lot about it.  The young people who came into this country didn’t make the choice to come into this country.  The only country they’ve ever really known is the United States of America.  And our government, a couple years ago, gave them legal status in this country – about 800,000 young people.

“And then six months ago, President Trump simply took it away.  Now at the time, he said he hoped Congress would pass legislation to deal with this, but the Republican Congress again has refused to do it.  And again, that’s part of what was trying to be forced last week – to force them to give us a vote.  If a vote came up on DACA, on protection for these DREAMers – for these young people – it would pass overwhelmingly in the House and the Senate.  But the Republicans refuse to even give us a vote. 

“The only thing that the Republicans have done since they took over Congress and the White House last year, is pass a massive tax cut for the wealthiest among us and for corporations.  Two groups of people that have had more than enough benefits in the last couple of decades.  That tax cut even comes at the expense, in some cases, of middle class people. 

“What Democrats want is – we want an economy that builds from the middle out.  That working people in the middle class can benefit from.

“Now, you’ve seen all the signs that our economy is booming.  Unfortunately, about 90 to 95 percent of that benefit is going to about 5 or 10 percent of the country.

“We need to pass a budget to fix health care, to deal with disaster relief to deal with all of these issues if we’re going to actually take care of the middle class and the working people of this country – and that is what the Republicans have refused to do.

“Now regrettably we found out last week that even when Democrats said, ‘Look, we’re not going to vote for another short-term spending bill that continues to put us down this path of uncertainty, that doesn’t fund our priorities, that doesn’t pass the bills that we need to pass, that doesn’t govern our country the way it’s supposed to.’ 

“Even when faced with that, the Republicans said, ‘We don’t care.  We’re still not going to do it.  We’re not going to pass a budget, we’re not going to pass disaster relief, we’re not going to fix DACA, we’re not going to fix infrastructure, we’re not going to fix our health care plan.’ 

“So we hope that that will change.  This latest stop-gap goes to February 8th, we’ll see what happens then.

“But the problem we have in this country right now is the Republicans who control the House, the Senate and the White House, flat out refuse to govern.  They refuse to fix our health care system, they refuse to pass a budget, they refuse to take care of disaster relief.  It is time we hold them accountable.

“And we can’t do it alone in Congress.  So, I ask you, the American people to stand up and tell the Republicans to govern. 

“We don’t need more short-term spending bills, we need a budget and we need a Congress and a White House that actually governs and leads this country.”

# # #

PRESS RELEASE: Congressman Smith Joins Congressman Doyle and Colleagues in Announcing Legislation to Save Net Neutrality

January 16, 2018

Congressman Smith Joins Congressman Doyle and Colleagues in Announcing Legislation to Save Net Neutrality

Washington, DC – January 16, 2018 – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) announced today the names of the Members of Congress who have asked to cosponsor his legislation to reject the FCC’s order to end the Open Internet and eliminate Net Neutrality.

“We’ve made good progress so far in getting Members to sign on as original cosponsors of our bill to restore Net Neutrality, and I will continue to seek additional cosponsors in the weeks ahead,” Congressman Doyle said today in releasing the list of names. “There’s overwhelming public support for preserving Net Neutrality, so it’s no surprise that there’s strong support in Congress as well. I’m confident that if there’s enough public pressure, Congress will overturn the FCC’s order killing net neutrality.”

On December 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to reverse the Open Internet Order, which regulated Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in order to ensure net neutrality. Later that day, Congressman Doyle announced that he would introduce legislation in the House to overrule the FCC’s action, and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) announced that he would do the same in the Senate.

Under the Congressional Review Act, members of the House and Senate can offer a joint resolution of disapproval on any regulation recently issued by a federal agency. Such legislation can’t be introduced, however, before the regulation is “received by Congress.”

“Senator Markey announced today that they have 50 cosponsors in the Senate, and we hope to mirror their efforts in the House,” Congressman Doyle added.

“The threat posed by the FCC’s actions to overturn Net Neutrality endangers free speech, democracy and a growing internet economy,” said Representative Adam Smith (WA-09). “I am proud to support a legislative fix to the FCC’s unjust ruling.”

As of today, the following Members of the US House of Representatives have agreed to cosponsor Congressman Doyle’s legislation to save Net Neutrality:

Don S. Beyer, Jr. (VA-08)

Sanford Bishop (GA-02)

Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)

Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)

Madeleine Bordallo (GU-Del)

Mike Capuano (MA-07)

Andre Carson (IN-07)

Kathy Castor (FL-14)

David Cicilline (RI-01)

Joe Courtney (CT-02)

Joe Crowley (NY-14)

Danny Davis (IL-07)

Susan Davis (CA-53)

Peter DeFazio (OR-04)

Diana DeGette (CO-01)

John Delaney (MD-06)

Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)

Suzan DelBene (WA-01)

Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)

Keith Ellison (MN-05)

Anna Eshoo (CA-18)

Adriano Espaillat (NY-13)

Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)

Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

Raul Grijalva (AZ-03)

Colleen Hanabusa (HI-01)

Denny Heck (WA-10)

Jared Huffman (CA-02)

Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)

Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

Joe Kennedy (MA-04)

Ro Khanna (CA-17)

Ann Kuster (NH-02)

James R. Langevin (RI-02)

Brenda Lawrence (MI-14)

Barbara Lee (CA-13)

Sander Levin (MI-09)

Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)

Stephen Lynch (MA-08)

Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)

Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18)

Betty McCollum (MN-04)

Donald McEachin (VA-04)

James P. McGovern (MA-02)

Jerry McNerney (CA-09)

Doris Matsui (CA-06)

Jerrold Nadler (NY-10)

Richard E. Neal (MA-01)

Richard Nolan (MN-08)

Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-Del)

Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)

Frank Pallone (NJ-06)

Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)

Collin Peterson (MN-07)

Chellee Pingrey (ME-01)

Mark Pocan (WI-02)

Jared Polis (CO-02)

David Price (NC-04)

Jamie Raskin (MD-08)

Jacky Rosen (NV-03)

Tim Ryan (OH-13)

John Sarbanes (MD-03)

Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)

José E. Serrano (NY-15)

Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01)

Brad Sherman (CA-30)

Louise Slaugher (NY-25)

Adam Smith (WA-09)

Jackie Speier (CA-14)

Tom Suozzi (NY-03)

Mark Takano (CA-41)

Mike Thompson (CA-05)

Paul Tonko (NY-20)

Niki Tsongas (MA-03)

Pete Visclosky (IN-01)

Tim Walz (MN-01)

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)

Maxine Waters (CA-43)

Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)

Peter Welch (VT-AL)

John Yarmuth (KY-03)

Smith Statement in Observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) released the following statement in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day:

January 15, 2018

As a civil rights icon, Martin Luther King Jr. has inspired millions of people throughout the country. On this day, we honor and celebrate the tireless efforts of Dr. King to pursue a better future for all Americans. Dr. King worked to provide a larger voice for marginalized voices. His work sparked change in the hearts and minds of Americans and sought to achieve economic, racial and social equality for everyone. While we are working towards an equal America, we have not achieved Dr. King's complete dream. For all the progress we have made, we risk falling back if we do not stand up to the new rise in white supremacist bigotry on display most notably in Charlottesville last year, and in far too many other places. We must unequivocally say that a diverse America is a stronger America.

We still must undertake fundamental endeavors that will improve the quality of life for Americans. Through community and civic engagement, we can pursue action that will bring forth transformative change. Throughout the year, we should reflect on his work to attain social justice. By the pursuit of change we can make the tenets of Dr. King’s dream a reality for all.

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