Press Releases

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (WA-09.) voted with a bipartisan majority in favor of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act. The bill renews and improves SCHIP, providing health care coverage for 11 million children – preserving coverage for the 7 million children currently covered by SCHIP and extends it to 4 million uninsured children who are currently eligible for, but not enrolled in, SCHIP and Medicaid.

“The reauthorization of SCHIP is a major victory for children in Washington state and across the country,” said Congressman Adam Smith. “The renewal provides millions of children with one of their most fundamental needs – quality healthcare.”

SCHIP was created in 1997 to help families get medical care when they made too much money to get Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance.  The bill passed by the House today will provide states resources needed for outreach to enroll eligible families in the program.

Congressman Smith was particularly pleased to see significant gains for Washington state in today’s bill.  The legislation allows Washington state to use a larger portion of its federal allocation, above the 20% previously allowed, for SCHIP through FY 2013. When SCHIP was first implemented, Washington state already covered SCHIP-eligible children under our state’s Medicaid program.  Because of this it is considered a ‘qualifying’ state and has not been allowed to transfer kids from Medicaid to SCHIP or use the full federal allotment for SCHIP on the Medicaid kids.

Further, the bill will provide matching funds to assist with the state’s planned expansion to cover kids up to 300% of the federal poverty line. The bill also includes a provision – another benefit to Washington state -- that would give states the option of covering legal immigrant children who have been less than five years under SCHIP and Medicaid.  It covers children – legally here – sooner than a five-year waiting period, in order to prevent critical health problems from going unchecked. Washington is one of 22 states that uses state funds to cover this population and current federal law prohibits them from being eligible for SCHIP in their first 5 years of residency.

“The renewal of SCHIP is a win for our country and a win for Washington state,” said Smith. “With unemployment rising, causing many to lose healthcare for their childrenand their families, this reauthorization is exceptionally important."

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Congressman Adam Smith (WA-9) authored a letter sent to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner and committee leadership requesting transparency and accountability requirements for all federal funding in the upcoming economic stimulus package. Specifically, the letter called for requirements to track and measure the impact of federal dollars, ensure spending efficacy and thorough reporting, and make certain that projects eligible for funding through the package have the widest possible exposure to qualified contractors. 

“It is critical that Congress improve transparency and accountability in all federal spending, and particularly in this new package that will inject hundreds of billions of dollars into our economy,” said Congressman Adam Smith. “Technologies exist to track the disbursement and measure the impacts of economic stimulus funds, and we should make sure to use these critical tools.  Doing so will not only increase Congressional oversight and taxpayer confidence, but also help eliminate waste and fraud.”

The letter urged House and committee leadership to include three major provisions to the upcoming economic stimulus package: 

        1)  Track in detail how stimulus funds are spent by state, county and municipal entities, with project visibility from start to finish, and compliance reporting, while placing as little burden as possible on the recipient entities;

        2)  Report the resulting economic impacts down to the local level so the effectiveness of funding can be measured and future funding can be allocated with maximum impact;

        3)  Provide qualified businesses across the United States a simple method to access federally-funded stimulus projects as soon as they are let out for bid, at no cost to businesses.

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Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) toured the town of Pacific over the weekend to meet with local leaders and residents and survey damage caused by the recent flooding. In addition to surveying the damage, the purpose of the trip was also to identify how the Federal Government can help with the recovery efforts and evaluate what can be done to prevent flooding of this scale in the future.

"I want to applaud the residents and local leaders who have responded extremely well in the face of this crisis. They had an emergency plan in place and they executed the plan very effectively," said Congressman Adam Smith. "We must now focus our attention on getting assistance to individuals and businesses in need of help with their recovery efforts. Homes and businesses have been severely damaged and there cannot be a delay in getting help to these people, they are relying on us to give them direction and assistance during this difficult time."

Governor Gregoire gave a preliminary estimate of damage to roads and state property at $125 million. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced Friday that the state had immediate access to $2 million in federal aid and pledged more support once detailed assessments have been made. Congressman Smith has called for the disbursement of more federal funding and a timely assessment of what can be done to prevent this sort of flooding from happening again.

"We must also continue to assess the situation and put measures in place to prevent this sort of flooding in the future," Rep. Smith continued. "We should evaluate the levee system and current flood plain management plans and make any adjustments necessary to ensure flooding of this magnitude never happens again. My office will continue to be a resource to all the individuals, business owners and local officials during their recovery efforts."

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Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) congratulated Pierce County Fire Department District 17 on being awarded a $291,393 grant from the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Fire Administration.

“This money is critical to improving the safety conditions and efficiency of our firefighters. Over the last couple years, this program has become increasingly competitive and I applaud the department for its efforts in receiving this grant.” said Congressman Adam Smith. “The funding will not only protect the health and well-being of our firefighters, it will also improve their ability to protect the health and well-being of the residents they serve. Our nation’s fire departments are the first responders to almost every emergency situation and sometimes communities struggle to find the funding necessary to ensure their local fire departments function as safely and efficiently as possible. This grant program is one of the ways that we can help to ensure they have the funding necessary to protect our communities and themselves.”

The grant will provide funding to purchase new radio devices to improve communication and install an exhaust removal system in all four of its stations. Currently, the department has no formal exhaust removal system. The new systems will dramatically reduce firefighters’ exposure to harmful toxins released by vehicle exhaust and trapped in the garage. The new radios will significantly increase communication abilities within the department and allow emergency response to be coordinated more effectively.

The primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and emergency medical services organizations. The grant, which has existed since 2001, helps firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards. The grant is administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration.

Rep. Adam Smith released the following statement on the recent attacks in Mumbai, India:

“The terrorist attacks that took place last week are extremely unfortunate and saddening. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of India.”

“These coordinated and ruthless attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the severe and urgent threat of violent extremism that the whole world faces. I hope this incident will remind people around the world that we must work together to root out violent extremism wherever it exists. This threat is not confined to a single nation or alliance of nations, it’s an ideology that spans the globe and so must our effort to stop it.”