A graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, Smith briefly worked as a prosecutor and pro tem judge for the city of Seattle before entering politics. Smith was elected to the State Senate in 1990; at age 25, he was the youngest state senator in the country. He ran in and won his first congressional race in 1996, and has been reelected 11 times. Since 2019, he has chaired the House Armed Services Committee. Smith is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He is the dean of Washington's House delegation.
Early life and education
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in SeaTac, Washington, Smith was adopted as an infant by Lelia June (née Grant) and his maternal uncle Ben Martin Smith III.[3] He attended Bow Lake Elementary and Chinook Middle School before graduating from Tyee High School in 1983. In high school, Smith participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. His father, who worked for United Airlines as a ramp serviceman and was active in the Machinists' Union, died when Smith was 19.[4]
After law school, Smith worked as a private practice attorney with Cromwell, Mendoza & Belur. From 1993 to 1995, he served as a prosecutor for Seattle.[3][5] In 1996, he worked temporarily as a pro tem judge.[3][5]
Smith served in the Washington State Senate from 1991 to 1997.[5] He was 25 years old at the time of his election in 1990, defeating a 13-year incumbent Republican, Eleanor Lee, to become the nation's youngest state senator.[5]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
Smith won his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 by defeating another incumbent Republican, Randy Tate.
In 2006, Smith won his sixth term in Congress against Republican Steve Cofchin, with 65.7% of the vote to Cofchin's 34.3%.[6]
In 2008, Smith won a seventh term in the House, defeating James Postma, a 74-year-old retired engineer running on a pro-nuclear power platform, with 65% of the vote.[7]
For his first seven terms, Smith represented a district that straddled Interstate 5, from Renton through Tacoma to just outside of Olympia. Smith's district was significantly redrawn after the 2010 census. It absorbed much of southeast Seattle as well as most of the Eastside. As a result, it became the state's first with a majority of residents who are racial or ethnic minorities.[8] It is also the state's second-most Democratic district; only the neighboring 7th district, which covers the rest of Seattle, is more Democratic.
On October 10, 2002, Smith was among the 81 Democratic members of the House to vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq.[13] In March 2012, he said that U.S. troops had done "amazing work" in Afghanistan and that it was "time to bring the troops home".[14]
Smith voted against the Protect America Act of 2007, which has been criticized for violating Americans' civil liberties by allowing wiretapping without issued warrants.[15] But in 2008, he voted for a similar bill, the FISA Amendment Act of 2008 (FAA), reauthorizing many of the provisions in the expired Protect America Act, leading critics like the ACLU to call it "an unconstitutional bill that would significantly modify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act", granting expansive new monitoring powers to the executive branch with very little court oversight. The FAA also ensured the dismissal of all pending cases against telecommunication companies for their previous illegal spying on American citizens on behalf of the Executive Branch.[16][17][18] Smith also voted for the 2001 Patriot Act and to extend the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.[19]
On December 16, 2010, Smith defeated Silvestre Reyes and Loretta Sanchez to become the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee after Chairman Ike Skelton was defeated for reelection. In the first round, Sanchez and Smith earned 64 votes, and Reyes earned 53. In the runoff, Smith defeated Sanchez by 11 votes.[20]
In 2011, recognized for his work in fighting global poverty, Smith became only the second member of Congress selected for the Borgen Project's board of directors.[21] The same year, he argued against cuts that could "jeopardize our national security" and leave the U.S. "more vulnerable to nuclear terrorism".[22]
In 2001, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF),[23] which gave the president authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against those who committed and aided the September 11 attacks. While this power has been rarely used to detain persons in the U.S., Smith introduced a bill to ensure that anyone detained on U.S. soil under the AUMF has access to due process and the federal court system.[24] The bill also prohibits military commissions and indefinite detention for people detained in the U.S. and would ensure the detainees constitutional rights.[24]
Smith and Representative Mac Thornberry co-sponsored an amendment to the fiscal 2013 defense spending bill reversing previous bans on disseminating Defense and State Department propaganda in the U.S., reversing the Smith–Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, designed to protect U.S. audiences from government misinformation campaigns.[25] The bill passed on May 18, 2012, 299 to 120.[26]
Smith, concerned about the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, tried to contact Joe Biden in advance, without success; however, he did get a call from Biden after he criticised the disastrous Afghanistan escape —the only one he got from Biden in four years.[27]
Domestic affairs
In December 2023, Smith introduced the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023 to the House. This legislation would require hedge funds to sell at least 10% of the single-family homes they own yearly over 10 years. After this period, hedge funds will be banned from owning single-family homes.[28]
Smith voted against an amendment restricting the National Security Agency from collecting phone records of Americans suspected of no crimes without a warrant.[31]
Smith has talked openly about his struggles with anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.[40] He wrote about it at length in his 2023 memoir Lost and Broken: My Journey Back from Chronic Pain and Crippling Anxiety.[41]
^"Remarks by Representative Adam Smith (D-WA) at the Democratic National Convention, July 27, 2004", where he said: "It was only because of my father's union and the benefits he had worked a lifetime to secure that my family could continue to pay the bills so that I could finish my education." [1][permanent dead link]
^Annie Linskey; Rebecca Ballhaus; Emily Glazer; Siobhan Hughes (December 19, 2024). "How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 19, 2024. He sought to talk to Biden directly to share his insights about the region but couldn't get on the phone with him, Smith said [...] After the disastrous withdrawal [...] Smith made a critical comment to the Washington Post [...] Shortly after, Smith got an apologetic call from Biden. It was the only phone call Biden made to Smith in his four years in office, Smith said
^"Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
^"Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
^"Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
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