New Democrat Coalition (NDC) co-chair Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) today joined other NDC members to unveil the group’s “e-genda 2002.”  The annually released document is the NDC’s comprehensive technology policy agenda, outlining goals and priorities for the coming year.  

E-genda 2002 emphasizes critical New Democrat efforts on investment in workforce education, privacy standards, providing greater access to overseas markets, encouraging innovation and promoting e-commerce, while also calling for new policy initiatives such as public-private partnerships to improve homeland security and win the war against terrorism, a balanced approach to digital rights management, open trade and travel with Cuba and restoring investor confidence in our financial markets.

“The e-genda outlines policies that we need to adopt in order to keep our country poised to compete in the global New Economy,” said Smith. “One of the most important aspects of this document is the commitment it makes to education and worker training.  In Washington state, for example, the high technology sector employs more people than does Boeing.   Many jobs in the tech sector, however, repeatedly go unfilled due to shortages of qualified workers.  Fifty-nine percent of firms that were hiring new employees last year reported difficulty finding skilled employees and as of January of this year, there were 115,000 dislocated workers in the state.  We need to do a better job of taking advantage of the tremendous opportunities technology provides, not just in Washington, but nationally.”

Technology issues are critically important specifically to the Ninth District, argued Smith. “Growth in the technology sector actually has a far bigger impact in the South Sound than it does up in Redmond and the Eastside,” Smith explained. “I want to encourage technology companies to grow and create good paying jobs in the South Sound, and that is happening.  The entire Puget Sound economy benefits from the growth in technology, and the resulting surge in job creation.  Some of the areas I am committed to working on to promote and expand the South Sound include improving higher education for our state, creating an setting that is friendly to business and job growth, and promoting innovations like comprehensive broadband and securing greater investments in research and development.  Today’s release of the e-genda is one step towards making all of that happen.”

Smith was joined at the release by fellow NDC co-chairs Reps. Jim Davis (D-Fla.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.), as well as key NDC executive council members Reps. Cal Dooley (D-Calif.), Jane Harman (D-Calif.), Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.), and Jim Moran (D-Va.).

The New Democrat Coalition is a group of 74 pro-growth, centrist Democrats in the House of Representatives founded in 1997.  Since then, two-thirds of Democrats elected to the House have joined the NDC, making it the largest and one of the most influential caucuses in the House

The full text of e-genda 2002, along with an executive summary and the New Democrat Coalition’s Record of Results, and can be found online at: www.house.gov/adamsmith/NDC/ndc.html

Today, the House passed the Estate Tax Repeal Act, H.R. 2143.  The following is a statement from Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) on the circumstances surrounding his decision to vote against its passage, breaking with his previous support of the repeal.  

“Fiscal responsibility must be a guiding principle of our government.  My constituents have told me again and again that government must live within its means and balance the budget.  I agree and have consistently fought for more fiscal discipline.

“That is why I am voting against permanent repeal of the estate tax.  I have always supported estate tax cuts - I authored legislation to completely eliminate the estate tax for all family farms and businesses, and have consistently voted to cut and even eliminate it altogether in years past.

“However, this vote today is simply another step down the path of fiscal irresponsibility.  In the past year and a half, our economy has been in recession and was further damaged by the terrorist attacks surrounding September 11.   Instead of responding with tough choices and fiscal discipline, however, Congress and the Administration have responded by passing a $15 billion airline bailout bill, a $30 billion supplemental appropriations bill, a very wasteful and bloated farm bill, and a tax cut that will cost $2 trillion over the next ten years.  Even though I voted against these things, the truth is that they have all been signed into law by the President or will be very soon, and so their fiscal impact is now a reality and must be taken into account.

“There has been no serious effort by Congressional Leaders or the White House to design and implement a bipartisan balanced budget plan.  The result has been a staggering reversal from the once-large budget surplus projections to large budget deficit projections.  Budget deficits mean that we use Social Security and Medicare revenues for other programs, putting us in a terrible position to deal with the entitlement crises that are coming in a decade due to demographic changes and the escalating costs of health care.  We are falling further and further into debt, and interest payments on that debt will eat up an increasingly large share of taxpayer dollars - currently about 12 cents of each tax dollar.

“We’re moving in the wrong direction, and I cannot vote for legislation that will have such a large fiscal impact on our budget without a corresponding plan to return to fiscal discipline and get our budget balanced again within the next few years.  Let me be clear: if the permanent repeal of the estate tax were part of a long-term balanced budget strategy, I would support it.  Unfortunately, in this context, it is one more example of Congress and the Administration’s lack of fiscal responsibility, and I cannot support it at this time.”