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Rep. Adam Smith

Representative for Washington’s 9th District

pronounced A-dum // smith


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 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 57 years old.

Photo of Rep. Adam Smith [D-WA9]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2022 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 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 3, 2019 to Mar 17, 2023. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Adam Smith sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Smith was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:

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Does 6 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 (28%) Labor and Employment (21%) Health (16%) Armed Forces and National Security (14%) Immigration (7%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (5%) Families (5%) Environmental Protection (5%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Smith recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Smith voted Yea

Smith voted No

Passed 360/61 on Dec 8, 2016.

The WIIN (Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation) Act was a 277-page bill dealing with federal water policies, particularly for drought-stricken areas. It’s so complex …

Smith voted Nay

Smith voted Yea

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of …

Smith voted Aye

Smith voted Aye

Smith voted Aye

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack …

Smith voted Nay

Smith voted Nay

Missed Votes

From Jan 1997 to Mar 2023, Smith missed 1,139 of 16,803 roll call votes, which is 6.8%. This is much worse than the median of 1.5% 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, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: