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Rep. Smith Statement on Passage of Article of Impeachment Charging Trump with Incitement of Capitol Insurrection

January 13, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to pass the impeachment resolution charging the outgoing President with a count of “Incitement of Insurrection” for his actions on January 6, 2021.

“The assault by pro-Trump extremists on January 6 was not just an attack on the United States Capitol but an attack on the United States and our democracy. After President Trump and his supporters spent months spreading lies and propaganda about the election, President Trump’s supporters attempted to stage a coup and overturn the results of our free and fair presidential election and end our democracy as we know it.

“Everyone involved in this attack must be held accountable, including the President. There is no question that President Trump incited this violence starting with his perpetual lies about the presidential election, encouraging his supporters the morning of the attack, and utterly failing to quell violence and respond sufficiently after the attack had begun. From the beginning, the lies about the presidential election stoked by President Trump and his co-conspirators, including many Republicans in Congress, are not about election fraud but a brazen attempt to hold onto power by any means necessary, even at the cost of lives and our democracy.

“With only seven days left in office, Trump has demonstrated he is unfit to remain in office a single day longer. Inciting an insurrection in an attempt to maintain power warrants the immediate impeachment of President Trump, also ensuring his disqualification from holding any public office in the future. All Americans who believe in the rule of law and our Constitution must hold President Trump accountable for his actions and I urge my Senate colleagues to convict and remove him.”

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Rep. Smith Statement on House Passage of Resolution Calling for Pence to Mobilize the Cabinet to Activate the 25th Amendment

January 12, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to pass H.Res. 21 which calls upon Vice President Pence to mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th amendment to remove President Trump from office.

“Last week, President Trump instigated and encouraged a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of five Americans and more than fifty police officers seriously injured. The President called for this seditious attack leading up to and on the morning of the January 6th rally encouraging rioters to fight and then refusing to call off the mob when it became violent.

“The President’s actions show his absolute ineptitude and inability to perform the most basic and fundamental duties of his office. With just a matter of days left in his term, President Trump has demonstrated he remains an unpredictable threat to peace and our democracy. We urge Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment and remove Donald Trump from office. We must hold President Trump accountable for his actions, and that begins with his immediate removal from office.”

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Rep. Smith Statement on Capitol Campus Insurrection

January 6, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement in the midst of the protest that has overrun the Capitol campus during the proceedings to certify the 2020 general election results. 

“The assault by pro-Trump extremists on the United States Capitol is a criminal act aimed at ending our democracy as we know it. The Capitol campus must be cleared of these extremists as soon and as safely as possible. 

“I have spoken with Department of the Defense leadership – specifically Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley and Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy – who are now working with the District of Columbia government, the Department of Justice, and Capitol police to restore order to the Capitol and allow Members of Congress to safely certify the election results, as is our constitutional obligation.

"President Trump and his enablers are directly responsible for the despicable acts at our nation's Capitol that we all have witnessed today. The President incited and encouraged this riot. He has lied repeatedly, as have his enablers in Congress and elsewhere about this election. They do not believe in democracy. They believe in retaining power by any means necessary. All Americans who believe in the rule of law and our Constitution must clearly and unambiguously hold these people accountable for their actions.  

“Order will be restored. Congress will do its job. This election will be certified, and Joe Biden will, as he was duly elected to do, take office as our next President on January 20th.”

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Smith Statement on Final FY21 NDAA Veto Override Vote

January 1, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement after the Senate voted to override the President’s veto of the Conference Report for the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 by a vote of 81 to 13, the final step in the legislative process required to enact the law over the objection of the President. 

“With today’s successful veto override vote in the Senate, the Congress has prevailed despite the President’s illogical opposition to this year’s annual defense bill, and for the 60th consecutive year the NDAA has become law. After a year’s worth of difficult work and thorough negotiations, the legislature has once again fulfilled our constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense. The NDAA’s broad and deep support is a testament to the merits of this year’s bill and underscores the seriousness with which the Congress takes our commitment to our services members, their families, and our national security.”

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Rep. Smith Introduces Bill to Provide Automatic Rental Assistance to Families in Response to Recessions and Natural Disasters

December 29, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) introduced the Crisis Housing Act which would establish a new automatic housing assistance program to provide emergency rental assistance vouchers to households during natural disasters or economic recessions.

“When responding to an unforeseen disaster like a pandemic, hurricane, or economic recession, families cannot wait in uncertainty for a relief bill to pass in Congress,” said Congressman Adam Smith. “As we have seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for rental assistance skyrockets in times of economic downturns, and we need a system that can rapidly deploy support to ensure vulnerable families at risk of displacement continue to have access to stable housing. Housing insecurity affects far too many families as is, and this bill would provide an automatic safety net to those most in need during a crisis.”

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, the United States had an affordable housing crisis, which puts more families on the brink of displacement. The pandemic has further highlighted the heightened vulnerability of families in the case of economic crises in the future. There is currently no housing support program that is automatically triggered when a natural or economic disaster occurs, and this bill would remedy that gap.

The Crisis Housing Act would automatically provide low-income families and individuals with rental assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when either: the Stafford Act is invoked during a natural disaster, or when the state unemployment rate suddenly increases by a specific amount.

This legislation is the House companion bill to the Crisis Housing Act introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). You can read a one-pager of the bill here and the full bill text here.

Statements of Support:

“One of the fundamental lessons of this pandemic is how important housing assistance is in a crisis or disaster,” said Stephen Norman, Executive Director of the King County Housing Authority. “The speed at which aid can be provided is critical. Representative Smith’s bill is a common sense approach that lays the groundwork, before a crisis, for the government to respond quickly. He should be commended for paying attention to a nuts and bolts issue in federal policy that will make a real difference in people’s lives when assistance is needed.”

“Disasters often hit the lowest income households hardest, yet these same families struggle to receive the housing assistance they need afterwards. The result is often a predictable and entirely preventable rise in eviction and homelessness rates,” said Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “If passed, the Crisis Housing Act would play a critical role in providing safe, accessible, and affordable homes to individuals with the greatest needs after a disaster by providing longer-term, flexible, rental assistance – helping them safely recover without the fear of being rendered homeless.”

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