Adam_Smith_(politician)

Adam Smith (politician)

David Adam Smith (born June 15, 1965), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing Washington's 9th congressional district.

Biography

Born in Washington, D.C., Smith was raised in the Sea-Tac area of Washington State. Smith graduted from Tyee High School in 1983. His father, who worked for United Airlines and was active in the Machinists' Union, died when Smith was 17.

Smith graduated from Fordham University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree. He completed a law degree at the University of Washington in 1990. He worked his way through college via employment on a loading dock at a trucking company. After college, Smith spent two years as a private practice attorney with Cromwell, Mendozza, and Belur. From 1993 to 1995, he worked for the city of Seattle as a procescutor. In 1996, he worked temporarily as a pro tem judge.

Political Action

Smith served in the Washington State Senate from 1991 to 1996. He was just twenty-five years old at the time of his election, defeating an incumbent Republican to become the youngest State Senator in the country. He won his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 by defeating another incumbent Republican, religious conservative Randy Tate. Smith hasn't faced serious opposition since, and has turned what was originally drawn as a "fair fight" district into a fairly safe Democratic seat.

Smith is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House International Relations Committee. He has been a leader in moderate, "New Democrat" organizations. He serves as the chair of the political action committee of the New Democrat Coalition.

On October 10, 2002, Adam Smith was among the 81 Democratic members of the House voting in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

In 2006, Smith won his sixth term in Congress. His opponent was Republican Steve Cofchin. Smith won 65.7% of the vote to Cofchin's 34.3%.

In April 2007, Smith threw his support behind Senator Barack Obama for the 2008 Presidential Election. He has also appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews speaking for Obama.

Smith voted against the Protect America Act of 2007, which has been criticized for violating American citizen's civil liberties by allowing for wiretapping without issued warrants.

Trivia

On June 7th, 2007, Smith was featured on Stephen Colbert's "Better Know a District" series, where he did not confirm or deny the existence of shrink rays in the military, but confirmed that time travel technology is not yet available in the United States.