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Rep. Smith Commends Biden Administration’s Support for Transgender Service Members

March 31, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the Department of Defense will adopt a new policy allowing transgender members of the military to serve openly.

“President Biden promised to create a diverse and inclusive administration that reflects our country’s values, and today’s change in policy at the Department of Defense is another step towards making that vision a reality. This change in policy affirms the inherent worth of all service members – regardless of their gender identity, race, religion, national origin, color, or sexual orientation – and will allow thousands of transgender service members to continue serving the country they love as their authentic selves.

“For years, these Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsman, Marines, and Guardians continued to serve despite the harmful policies they were operating under. Our military is the strongest in the world because of the brave individuals who have volunteered to defend our rights, freedoms, and values, and today’s change in policy honors each and every one of them.

“This change in policy allows transgender individuals, who are otherwise qualified, to honorably serve, making our Armed Services a stronger and more diverse force. Thanks to this change in policy, new recruits may enter the service in their preferred gender marker and those serving may serve openly and obtain the medical services and support needed to continue to serve in their preferred gender marker. The policy also addresses the transition and approval process including the roles of the servicemember, commander, and medical community.

“I commend President Biden for seeing our transgender troops for who they are, demanding they receive equal treatment under the law, and for appreciating the many contributions they make to our national security.”

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Smith, Jayapal, and Booker Reintroduce Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act to Transform the Immigration Detention System and End Inhumane Conditions at Facilities

March 25, 2021

Transformative legislation ends the use of private detention facilities, repeals mandatory detention, prohibits solitary confinement, and promotes community-based alternatives to detention while also restoring due process for immigrants and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency measures

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Adam Smith (WA-09) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) reintroduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, transformative legislation that ends the inhumane conditions of detention centers and protects the civil and human rights of immigrants. The bill urgently reforms the alarming injustices of a broken, for-profit immigration detention system by ending the use of private detention facilities altogether, repealing mandatory detention, stopping family detention, and prohibiting solitary confinement while also restoring due process and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency measures.

The legislation will shrink the population of detention centers and promote more humane and less costly community-based alternatives by mandating that all detained immigrants have access to a custody hearing in front of an immigration judge. Vulnerable populations — including primary caregivers and asylum seekers — will also be protected. Additionally, the government will be required to show probable cause that someone poses a risk to the community in order to detain them. Importantly, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish legally enforceable civil detention standards, and creates a meaningful inspection process at facilities. 

“Immigrants make our country stronger in countless ways and have become an integral part of the fabric of our communities in Washington’s ninth district and beyond. However, our broken immigration system enables the inhumane treatment of immigrants and denies them basic protections and due process,” said Congressman Smith. “Following four years of attacks that further eroded our asylum and immigration system, we have the opportunity to advance a smarter, more humane vision. Our legislation would reform the immigration detention system to no longer prioritize the unnecessary detention of individuals and families, allowing immigrants to live outside of detention while they await their immigration proceedings. It would end the repugnant for-profit detention system and enact higher standards of care and robust oversight for immigration detention facilities. The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act recognizes the contributions of immigrants to our communities, brings humanity and basic human rights to a failed immigration system, and takes a big step forward to the kinds of reforms we need across our immigration system.”

“Ending the unjust treatment of immigrants and the inhumane conditions that they are subjected to is going to take far more than removing Donald Trump, it will take removing America’s for-profit detention system altogether,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act ends the use of private detention facilities, repeals mandatory detention, promotes community-based alternatives, and restores due process while transforming the entire system so immigrants finally have their human rights and wellbeing protected.”

“During the Trump Administration, we saw vividly how our immigration detention system can dehumanize and harm those seeking asylum in the United States. As we work to reform this broken system, we must ensure that how we treat immigrants who come to our nation to seek refuge reflects our American values,” said Senator Booker. “Our bill will protect the civil rights of immigrant detainees so that they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act is endorsed by dozens of organizations across America, including Amnesty International, National Immigrant Justice Center, Women’s Refugee Commission, Freedom For Immigrants, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), CASA, National Organization for Women, Asia Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, First Focus Campaign for Children, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Public Counsel, Church World Service, National Partnership for New Americans, and Union for Reform Judaism.

“The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act is a transformative measure moving the U.S. toward achieving what should be the administration’s and Congress’ number one goal: freeing people, including all children and families, from immigration detention. It's high time that the U.S. makes immigration detention the rare exception, not the norm, and eliminates the profit motive from detention," said Joanne Lin, National Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "The Biden Administration needs to do much more, and faster, to reset our immigration detention system. Working with Congress to pass this bill will get the U.S. on the path to doing just that.”

"This bill marks a very important first step towards dismantling a system that is built on the mass incarceration of Black immigrants and immigrants of color,” said Sirine Shebaya, Executive Director of the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG). “Particularly in this moment of racial reckoning, its passage is critical to ensuring a move away from criminalization and oppression and towards a more humane and compassionate immigration system."

“The Department of Homeland Security utilizes a sprawling network of jails to detain tens of thousands of immigrants every day in harsh and punitive conditions. The failings of this system include dozens of deaths, rampant allegations of abuse, and countless unjust deportations. The agency holds far too many for far too long in a system that incentivizes profits and politics over human life and due process,” said Nayna Gupta, associate director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). “The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act takes overdue steps toward a civil immigration system with greater humanity.” 

“The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act lays the foundation for a transformative vision of our immigration system. U.S. immigration detention cruelly jails hundreds of thousands of people each year in unconscionable conditions, leaving them separated from their communities, families, and the support to successfully navigate an immigration case,” said Katharina Obser, Acting Director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program at the Women’s Refugee Commission. “This important legislation puts forward an affirmative vision for a different, better way. The Women’s Refugee Commission is grateful to the leadership of Representative Jayapal, Representative Smith, and Senator Booker, and looks forward to working with Congress to create a more rights-respecting, dignified, and just immigration system.”

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detains tens of thousands of people every year in a sprawling network of immigration detention centers across the country with a horrific history of abuse, negligence and even death. This is a shameful moral failure of the US immigration system. No one should have to suffer behind bars while they are going through their immigration case. Currently the overwhelming majority of people in ICE detention are held in facilities operated by private prison companies or state and local governments who get paid for each individual they detain,” said Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network. “The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act gets rid of these perverse financial incentives by requiring the phase out of private prisons and local jails for ICE detention. The Act will also have a real impact on individual lives by ending detention for certain vulnerable populations, ending mandatory detention provisions in our immigration laws, and establishing a presumption of release for everyone. Dignity for Detained Immigrants brings us closer to a more just and humane immigration system.”

To view the text of the legislation, click here.

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Representative Smith, Senators Murray and Manchin, Reintroduce Legislation to Expand Worker’s Compensation for Toxic Exposure at Hanford and Other Nuclear Sites

March 25, 2021

The Toxic Exposure Safety Act would make it easier for workers at the Hanford clean-up and other nuclear clean-up sites to receive the full benefits they’re entitled to when suffering illnesses due to toxic exposure on the job 

Senator Murray and Representative Adam Smith originally introduced the Toxic Exposure Safety Act in July of 2020 after the Seattle Times ran an investigative story

Legislation supported by Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598, Central WA Building & Construction Trades

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Adam Smith (D, WA-09), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the Chair of the Senate health and labor committee, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), the Chair of the Senate energy committee, reintroduced the Toxic Exposure Safety Act—legislation in the Senate that will ensure cleanup workers at the Hanford Nuclear Site and other Department of Energy (DOE) environmental management sites can more easily claim worker’s compensation benefits when they suffer from certain medical conditions as a result of exposure to toxic substances. Representative Adam Smith (D-WA, 9th) is introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Currently, Hanford workers can file for worker’s compensation claims when they have health issues through both the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries and DOE’s third-party insurer, Penser. Washington state’s 2018 presumption law makes it easier for Hanford workers to file for state compensation claims for covered conditions, but the state program, while valuable, very often falls short of being able to compensate these workers equitably when they are off the job from work-related illness due to toxic exposure. The Toxic Exposure Safety Act seeks to make such claims at the federal level more achievable, and allow Hanford workers and workers at similar DOE sites to collect the full worker’s compensation benefits they’re entitled to.

“There is still a lot to learn regarding the long-term impacts of working nuclear cleanup sites such as Hanford, but it is clear there are certain risks to the health and wellbeing of workers,” said Congressman Smith. “There is an absence of research focused on these impacts and unfortunately, when workers develop medical illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances, they struggle to receive benefits under federal law in many instances to address their ailments. The Toxic Exposure Safety Act would facilitate the research necessary to understand the impacts of toxic substance exposure on workers’ health so they can rightfully receive the compensation they deserve for illnesses contracted on the job. I appreciate Senator Murray sharing my concerns – I thank her for her leadership in fighting for Hanford workers and I am proud to join her and Senator Manchin on this important bill.”

“There is too much we don’t know when it comes to the health outcomes of exposure to the toxic substances required for plutonium production and other activities at nuclear sites that workers at Hanford go through every day,” said Senator Murray. "This legislation takes the right steps to help fix this knowledge gap and ensure Hanford workers and those at other nuclear clean-up sites can obtain the full benefits they’re entitled to when they’ve contracted illnesses as a result of workplace exposure. As a voice for Hanford workers in the Senate, I will be working to pass this legislation and get them the support and assistance they deserve.”

“Americans who work to clean up nuclear sites risk their health every day to help power our great nation. These workers are exposed to radiological substances and chemicals that can cause terminal illness, and we must ensure they receive the benefits they deserve. I’m proud to work with my colleagues to introduce the Toxic Exposure Safety Act, which will make it easier for workers at nuclear clean-up sites to claim worker’s compensation benefits when they are afflicted with illness due to toxic exposure. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in passing this commonsense, compassionate legislation and I will continue to advocate for stronger safety and benefits to support workers who have been exposed to toxins on the job,” said Senator Manchin.

Senator Murray and Representative Smith originally introduced the Toxic Exposure Safety Act in July of 2020 after the Seattle Times ran an investigative story profiling a worker who suffered from seizures after being exposed to toxic substances at the Plutonium Finishing Plant on the Hanford site, as well as the financial problems the worker encountered following their diagnosis.

“Every day our Nation relies on skilled and dedicated working families to serves our Country’s needs and accomplish our most important goals. There is no more apparent example of this dedication than the decades of operation and remediation performed at our Nation’s nuclear cleanup sites.  The hazardous nature of this work has the potential to expose workers to some of the most toxic substances on earth.  Too long have the impacts of these toxic substance exposures been overlooked and their study underfunded, leaving many hardworking American families without the care they deserve.  Senator Murray’s efforts address this injustice for so many families struggling with illness and will secure the research needed to protect American families as they continue their work on behalf of us all,” said Nickolas Bumpaous, President of Central Washington Building & Construction Trades.

"This legislation is an important reform to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA). EEOICPA was intended to compensate workers who worked for the national defense in the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons facilities and developed diseases from the exposures to toxic substances they experienced on a daily basis. The Toxic Exposure Safety Act of 2021 will take the burden of proof off some of the claimants to prove causation and have claims based on the consensus of the scientific community. We thank Senator Patty Murray, Senator Joe Manchin, and Congressman Adam Smith for their continued efforts to support the dedicated workers, or their survivors, to receive the fair compensation for their work in protecting our country, " said Terrie Barrie, Founding Member of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups.

"Cold War Patriots applauds the ongoing efforts of Senator Murray, Senator Manchin, and Congressman Smith to create and pass much needed legislation to streamline the claims process for toxic illnesses and expand program coverage to those workers previously overlooked.” Tim Lerew, Spokesperson, Cold War Patriots.

The Toxic Exposure Safety Act of 2020 would expand covered employees and the covered illnesses under subtitle E, Section 3671 of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA) to specifically include employees exposed to toxic substances at cleanup sites. Part E provides variable cash and medical benefits for DOE contractor and subcontractor employees who contracted an illness or died as a result of exposure to any toxic substance, as well as their eligible survivors. A person is eligible for Part E benefits if it is “at least as likely as not” that exposure to a toxic substance at a DOE facility caused, contributed to, or aggravated the worker’s illness or death.

There has been a lack of substantial clinical or epidemiological studies performed in relation to toxic exposures at DOE sites, and as such, there is no way to create an accurate causal correlation for Part E, similar to what has been effectively established for Part B of the program, which involves radiological exposures. As a result of the lack of this knowledge, federal law provides very little remedy to workers who suffer illness from these toxic exposures. To that end, the Toxic Exposure Safety Act of 2020 would amend Part E of the EEOICPA to establish a presumption of occupational disease exposures, create a research program to determine exposure-disease correlation, and direct the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate scientific evidence regarding chemical exposures—making it easier for Hanford clean-up workers and workers at other DOE nuclear clean-up sites to claim federal worker’s compensation benefits.

Senator Murray has long worked to make sure the federal government honors its moral and legal obligation to Hanford clean-up, including fighting repeatedly against efforts to slash or cut federal funding for the vital DOE project and advocating on at the federal level on separate occasions to help ensure Hanford workers receive sick leave back pay and regular pay during work-stop periods due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Murray and her office began working in 2019 to investigate the needs of Hanford workers who have specifically been exposed to toxic chemicals at DOE sites.

Congressman Smith has fought for worker safety and protections at the Hanford site for years. In his role as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Smith has passed into law provisions to enhance whistleblower protections, increase accountability for the release of radioactive or hazardous contamination, and improved transparency on vapors from nuclear tanks. He has also fought for better oversight of nuclear facilities across the country, including protecting the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) from dangerous cuts and reforms that harm its mission of independent nuclear safety and oversight.

In addition to Senators Murray and Manchin and Representative Smith, Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) cosponsored the legislation.

The legislation is supported by the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council, Building Trades, Local 598, and the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups, and Cold War Patriots

Read the bill text HERE.

For more information, read the fact sheet available HERE.

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Rep. Smith Supports Legislation to Avert Cuts to Medicare and Vital Programs

March 19, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash) released the following statement after House passage of H.R. 1868, Medicare PAYGO Waiver, which would exempt the American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 relief package from statutory PAYGO scorecards.

“We should not have to choose between protecting Medicare and providing relief during the public health and economic crises due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Medicare PAYGO Waiver exempts the American Rescue Plan from statutory budget rules and defers sequestration dates to after the pandemic, preventing cuts in Medicare and other mandatory spending programs. This is consistent with exemptions Congress provided under the three previous COVID-19 relief packages passed in 2020.   

“Today’s passage of H.R.1868 will also support health care providers by suspending across-the-board payment cuts. Many hospitals and other health care providers are already under significant financial pressure from the pandemic. Delaying these cuts is a commonsense step to help ensure health care providers are able to continue providing care at a time when individuals and families need it most.”

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Rep. Smith Votes to Pass Farm Workforce Modernization Act, Protection for Immigrant Workers

March 18, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash) released the following statement after House passage of H.R. 1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would reform stabilize the agricultural sector and provide a path to citizenship to the workers who feed America.

“The pandemic and economic crisis have inflicted a devastating toll on immigrant communities, including farmworkers, who face instability and uncertainty due to our broken immigration system. The existing agricultural worker system fails to adequately support immigrant agriculture workers and strains our nation’s farmers and the food supply chain. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act finally reforms this broken system that has failed the undocumented and documented workers supporting our food supply chain for decades.

“The Farm Workforce Modernization Act creates a path to legal status for undocumented farmworkers who have spent years in these jobs and makes enormously important reforms to the existing H-2A agriculture visa program. The new system would give farmers more flexibility, establish desperately needed labor protections, and provide stability for workers and their families to live in the United States.

“This common-sense bipartisan bill, which has broad support from labor, immigration advocates, and agriculture employers, is a great step toward meaningful immigration reform. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and the Biden-Harris Administration to build on this momentum to make our immigration system fairer and more humane to the benefit of our nation.” 

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