Smith is the representative for Washington’s 9th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 7, 1997. Smith is next up for reelection in 2020.
![Photo of Rep. Adam Smith [D-WA9]](/static/legislator-photos/400379-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Smith.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Smith is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Smith has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to May 22, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Adam Smith sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Smith was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6628 (115th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4301 Northeast 4th Street in Renton, Washington, as the “James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix Post Office ...
- H.R. 4401 (111th): To amend the Act of August 9, 1955, to modify a provision relating to leases involving certain Indian tribes.
- H.R. 2115 (107th): To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of ...
Does 3 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Smith sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Transportation and Public Works (24%) Immigration (17%) Armed Forces and National Security (14%) International Affairs (10%) Economics and Public Finance (10%) Social Welfare (10%) Health (7%) Labor and Employment (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Smith’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 6395: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
- H.R. 6038: Aviation-Impacted Communities Act
- H.R. 5908: Freight Infrastructure Reinvestment Act of 2020
- H.R. 5737: Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act
- H.R. 5529: Social Security Equity Act of 2019
- H.R. 5372: Safety Net Health Plan Employee Student Loan Forgiveness Fairness Act
- H.R. 5206: Empowering Individuals to Succeed Through Education and Workforce Training Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to May 2020, Smith missed 1,129 of 15,518 roll call votes, which is 7.3%. This is much worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
