“My thoughts and prayers are with the family of former U.S. Speaker of the House Tom Foley. Tom was a tremendous leader in the Washington State Delegation that will not be forgotten. In his 30 years of service in the House of Representatives and his 5+ years as Speaker, Tom’s kindness, fairness, and honesty allowed him to reach across the aisle and advance policies that benefitted Washington State and the country as a whole. This is a sad day for Washington State. Tom was a wonderful man and he will be deeply missed.”
Press Releases
“My thoughts and prayers are with the family of former U.S. Speaker of the House Tom Foley. Tom was a tremendous leader in the Washington State Delegation that will not be forgotten. In his 30 years of service in the House of Representatives and his 5+ years as Speaker, Tom’s kindness, fairness, and honesty allowed him to reach across the aisle and advance policies that benefitted Washington State and the country as a whole. This is a sad day for Washington State. Tom was a wonderful man and he will be deeply missed.”
“I am glad to see that Congress has agreed to legislation that ends the shutdown and keeps our nation from defaulting on our obligations, but this all should have been avoided. Republicans didn’t have the votes, yet still used the threat of a shutdown and default to try and force policies on Democrats that we cannot support. This approach to governance was doomed to fail from the beginning.
“Congress now has a few months to work on a larger budget agreement. Until Republicans give up their attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and cut deeply into entitlements while refusing to include revenue increases, we won’t get anywhere. If we are to get on a path towards fiscal certainty, we must do it through the regular budgetary process. I will continue to work with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to pass balanced legislation that cuts spending and raises revenues. I can only hope the Republicans have learned that shutting down our government and threatening to default on our nation's obligations to force through their policy agenda is the wrong approach.”
Congressman Smith Statement on the Republican Shutdown
October 1, 2013
“It is critical that Congress pass a bill that allows the United States Government to operate. The consequences of a long-term government shutdown are dramatic and unacceptable. Twice, the Senate has passed a clean funding measure to avoid this shutdown, but House Republican leadership refuses to give House Members an opportunity to vote on it.
“The government is not shutting down because of a disagreement on federal spending levels. Legislation agreed to by the Senate includes spending levels that Republicans demanded under sequestration. We are shutting down because House Republicans are refusing to fund the government unless their hyper-partisan policy demands are agreed to. This is akin to Democrats saying we refuse to fund the government unless gun safety measures are passed. Holding the funding of our government hostage to force their partisan agenda is irresponsible and shameful.
“The debate we should be having is about our larger spending and budget issues. We have a budget that is out of whack and a deficit that we need to get under control. We need to return to regular order and pass thoughtful long-term appropriations bills that aim to reduce our deficit by raising revenues and cutting spending. But the American public and, in turn, their representatives continue to demand balancing the budget in the short-term while opposing attempts to significantly raise taxes or cut spending. As long as Congress and the American people demand 10 dollars worth of services for every 7 dollars of taxes, we will be unable to work on forward-thinking, fiscally responsible policies.
“I am not advocating that we balance the budget in 10 years. The combination of deep spending cuts and higher taxes in the short-term could hurt our recovering economy. We must be mindful of not cutting too much too quickly. We need a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to begin to get the deficit under control. I support rolling back many of the tax cuts passed in the last 12 years because I am determined to raise the revenue necessary to protect critical programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, transportation, and our national defense. With that said, mandatory spending is nearly 60 percent of our budget, and savings must be found in this part of the budget even to achieve the modest goal of deficit reduction.
“I hope we can end the gamesmanship in the House, open the government, and pass a long-term budget that raises taxes and finds savings in all parts of spending. Until the American people and members of Congress are honest about the choices we face, we cannot have a serious conversation about reducing the deficit and balancing the budget in the long-term.”
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Congressman Smith Calls on House to Take Up Senate Funding Bill
September 30, 2013
Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) released the following statement after his vote House Republicans' refusal to bring up a vote on the Senate funding measure:
"For the second time, the Senate plans to consider and vote on funding measures that were passed by the House of Representatives. They have twice rejected the legislation and sent back a clean bill to avoid a government shutdown. House Republican leadership should take the Senate’s lead and bring up the Senate-passed bill and allow the House of Representatives to take a yes or no vote on a clean bill to fund our government.
"This is no longer about spending cuts. We have accepted funding levels Republicans demanded. House Republicans are simply more interested in playing politics and making unreasonable partisan demands that have nothing to do with the budget or securing our nation’s economy. This gamesmanship must end to avoid shutting down the government.”
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Congressman Smith Opposes Partisan Funding Bill in House
September 28, 2013
Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) released the following statement after his vote opposing the House Republicans' Continuing Resolution:
"The House could have avoided a shutdown by passing the Senate's clean bill that would continue to fund the government at levels the Republicans demanded in sequestration, but House Republicans continue to play politics and make unreasonable partisan demands.
"A government shutdown has very real consequences — 2 million civilian federal employees would not be paid, Social Security and disability checks could be delayed, and housing loans for low income families could stop. House Republicans seem to be more concerned with forcing their political agenda through Congress than preventing the harm a government shutdown would cause.
"House Republicans need to focus on keeping our government operating and increasing our debt limit. Their attempts to hold up these basic functions of government for political reasons is irresponsible and needs to end."
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