WASHINGTON – Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn released the following statement on the House Armed Services Committee’s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act:
I strongly support Ranking Member Adam Smith’s proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to bar federal funds for senior ROTC programs from being used by institutions that display the Confederate battle flag. Unfortunately, this objectionable banner currently flies at The Citadel in my congressional district.
Ranking Member Smith’s amendment has been crafted to exempt all current students at The Citadel and any other institution that might be affected. Consequently, all current students would be allowed to keep their ROTC scholarships, complete their programs, and receive their commissions.
This flag, which never was the official flag of the Confederacy, is a symbol of hate, racial oppression, and resistance to the rule of law. It did not fly at The Citadel immediately after the Civil War but was raised to its current location in Summerall Chapel in 1939, and it was placed in its current position by the institution. It has been used for over a century as a symbol of southern defiance and white supremacy; it was viewed as such by the perpetrator of the horrific shootings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17 of last year. One of the victims of the Emanuel attack was a Citadel graduate, and six of its employees lost family members in that attack.
Following those tragic, racially motivated shootings, I joined Governor Nikki Haley; Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott; Representatives Mark Sanford, Mick Mulvaney, Joe Wilson, and Tom Rice; and a host of other elected officials and citizens in calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina State House. The Board of Visitors of The Citadel joined us, voting 9-3 on June 23, 2015 to remove the Confederate battle flag from Summerall Chapel.
But while the South Carolina General Assembly voted to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds, the Attorney General has opined that The Citadel is barred from removing the flag from a prominent place on its campus by the so-called Heritage Act, which the General Assembly passed in 2000. While I personally question whether or not a gift from an alumnus is covered by that ill-advised Act, our state legislators acted honorably in removing the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds and should do so again in this instance. Americans’ tax dollars should be directed to institutions free of symbols of hatred.
I urge the members of the House Armed Services Committee and my colleagues in the South Carolina Congressional Delegation to support Ranking Member Smith’s amendment. Any vote to block or weaken the amendment is a vote to support the continued display of the Confederate battle flag at The Citadel and across the country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Members Adam Smith, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, and Elijah Cummings of, respectively, the House Armed Services Committee, the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued the following statements today after learning about forthcoming efforts to ban implementation of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Ordervia an amendment in the FY 2017 Defense Authorization Act.
The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order would require defense contractors who have committed serial violations of employment, safety, and minimum wage laws or serial discrimination based on race, gender, pregnancy, disability, or veterans status to disclose that they have done so to the government when applying for new contracts.
Ranking Member Smith made the following statement:
“We should not be making it easier for companies that violate labor, safety, or gender and racial equity laws to acquire government contracts. It is common sense that when the Defense Department or Nuclear Security Administration is choosing who it will work with, it should have sufficient information about any violations to know what it is getting into. Our labor and nondiscrimination laws exist to uphold the rights of Americans, and we need to stand up for those rights instead of trying to hide evidence that they have been violated. I will oppose any efforts to include language overriding this executive order in this National Defense Authorization Act.”
Ranking Member Scott made the following statement:
“We are deeply concerned about possible amendments to limit the application of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Executive Order as part of the Fiscal Year 2017 Defense Authorization Act. This EO, when implemented, will improve the information available to contracting officers to identify companies which engage in repeated, willful or pervasive violations of employment, non-discrimination, labor, or workplace safety laws. Congress should reject any attempts to provide taxpayer dollars to companies who repeatedly flaunt federal workplace laws or deprive workers of their labor and civil rights.”
Ranking Member Cummings made the following statement:
“It is extremely troubling that House Republicans are trying to pass a measure that would have the effect of encouraging corporate misconduct. The President’s Executive Order establishes a fair and consistent process to ensure that federal contractors pay their workers what they earn, maintain a safe working environment, and do not discriminate on the bases of race, gender, or disability. This is simple common sense, and it should be celebrated and enforced, not criticized and overturned.”
ICYMI: I was on KOMO’s Connect to Congress program on last week in Washington, DC, where I discussed my efforts as a member of the Democrat Whip’s Task Force on Income Inequality, my support for criminal justice reform, my work to end the detention bed mandate, and a few news stories of the day.
Source: KOMOnews.com
In November 2015, the President took legal and necessary executive action to reform our broken immigration system by expanding both the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In support of the President’s action, I joined members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on the steps of the Capitol. It is critical that we continue to show support for the President’s lawful action, as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments today in the United States v. Texas case.
The President’s common-sense immigration executive actions are authorized by existing laws passed by Congress. I have joined my colleagues in Congress in signing an Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court expressing that both DAPA and DACA are lawful. Once implemented, DAPA and DACA will be able to bring millions of families and children who are part of our communities and live in constant fear of deportation out of the shadows.
Washington D.C. –Congressman Adam Smith released the following statement on Equal Pay Day:
“We must close the gender pay gap. Despite the many positive transformative changes in our nation’s workforce, women still get paid less for equal work and make 79 cents for every dollar earned compared to their male counterparts. This disparity particularly impacts women of color and cannot continue.
“Equal Pay Day symbolizes how much more the average woman in the United States must work to earn what a man earned in the previous year. April 12th marks these extra 103 days, a day where we recognize how much work remains to achieve pay equality. In addition to wage disparities, women are shut out of leadership and management roles far too often. As women continue to make up a growing percentage of our workforce, the gender wage gap is an increasing burden to working families and will limit our nation’s future economic success.
“As we recognize Equal Pay Day, we must continue fighting for policies that move us towards a fairer and more equal society. Congress must implement policies that address the wage gap, such as the Paycheck Fairness Act. I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation that would help ensure women are paid equally for equal work. We also must expand access to affordable child care and paid family leave that can further help women enter and remain in the workforce. When women succeed, America succeeds.”
I was pleased to see that on February 21, 2016, Somali President Hassan Mohamud signed the Anti-Money laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism bill that the Somali Parliament passed in December 2015. This legislation was crafted with the helpful guidance and technical assistance from the Treasury Department, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. On February 23, 2016, I signed a letter, alongside Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and other Members of Congress, to President Mohamud applauding Somalia for their constructive efforts.
I am grateful for the continued input from the constituents of the 9th District. I know that that remittances are a vital component of the Somali economy and they help many families pay for every day necessities such as food, medicine, education, as well as help expand economic and business opportunities in Somalia. We need to make it easier for residents of the 9th District and Somali-Americans everywhere to send money back to their families in Somalia.
In recognition of this important issue, I have cosponsored legislation and met with numerous government officials in attempts to find ways to continue U.S. remittances to Somalia. Additionally, on January 4, 2016, I wrote a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office(GAO) expressing concerns regarding reduced access to banking services, especially remittances providers. Noting the challenges this presents to Somalis and Somali-Americans, I asked the GAO to analyze the effects that de-risking has had on money service providers, the State Department, USAID, and NGOs. Among other requests, I also asked that the GAO report on other options for sending remittances to Somalia.
I am encouraged by the Somali government’s recent actions and will continue to look for ways for the U.S. government to take steps to cooperate and support Somalia and its people whenever possible. I remain ready to help in any way I can.
Washington D.C. – Ranking Member Smith released the following statement on the President’s plan to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility:
“Today, the President announced his plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I have long called for an exit strategy from our use of Guantanamo for detention purposes, and I am encouraged by the President’s plan to responsibly close the facility. I look forward to reviewing the full details of the plan as they become available.
“The President has provided a practicable plan for closing the facility. Congress must now work with the Administration in good faith to effectuate closure. We must start by lifting the current bans on transferring detainees into the United States and on constructing or modifying facilities within the United States to house Guantanamo detainees, bans that have too long served as barriers to closing the detention center.
“The establishment of a detention facility at Guantanamo was misguided from the beginning, and its operation stands in stark contrast to our nation’s values. Today, Guantanamo continues to be an international eyesore that undercuts our national security, damages our credibility with our international partners, and is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars. The President’s plan offers a responsible way forward that would address security concerns, pursue criminal prosecutions, and produce net savings on the order of $335 million over ten years and $1.7 billion over twenty years. It is far past time to end this chapter in our country’s history and to close this facility.”
Posted from CSPAN
House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) talked about issues including the fiscal year 2017 defense budget and whether the U.S. military was being weakened by budget cuts. Other topics included challenges in combating ISIL,* U.S. strike against ISIL in Libya, and China’s actions in the South China Sea. After the interview the reporters in the studio discussed his responses with the host.
*The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or DAISH/DAESH in Arabic), is a militant group that has called itself the Islamic State.
Washington D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation to end sequestration and its damage to our economy:
“Over the past three years, sequestration and its drastic and across-the-board cuts have negatively impacted our economy, disrupted our government, and harmed our nation. As Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have long called for ending the sequester. This week, I introduced the Relief from Sequestration Act of 2016 (H.R. 4512) to repeal the sequestration mechanism in its entirety. My bill would end the threat of future government shutdowns and looming draconian cuts to important national priorities.
“H.R. 4512 would end years of harmful and indiscriminate cuts to discretionary programs by eliminating the $1.2 trillion of discretionary reductions that are required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and that will again take effect in 2018. My bill does not deny the fact that we need a comprehensive, long-term deficit reduction deal. We absolutely do. This legislation recognizes that discretionary spending accounts, and the economy, should no longer be held hostage by the threat of sequestration while Congress debates and acts on the larger budget changes that are fundamentally necessary. We have a deficit problem that must be addressed, but we should not continue to damage our economy and undermine national security in the process.
“The President’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget, released earlier this week, eliminates the sequester after 2018 and recognizes that sequestration was never intended to be implemented, but was instead meant to force Congress to have an honest conversation about the budget. The sequestration mechanism is not necessary to reduce our deficits. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement signed into law last October began to address our budget challenges in a more balanced way, but the looming threat of sequestration continues to limit the ability of government to plan in the long term. With the threat of sequestration eliminated, Democrats and Republicans in Congress can finally come together and focus on crafting and implementing a stable and responsible budget that reflects our nation’s priorities without a looming budget threat.”
Background
Sequestration was originally manufactured to force Congress to make difficult decisions about deficit reduction. Unfortunately, Congress failed to find a solution to reduce our deficit and the devastating mechanism of sequestration took effect. Under sequestration, automatic and arbitrary cuts were applied through fiscal year 2021, decimating discretionary spending. The sequester forestalled the sound planning needed for meaningful investments in national security, the workforce, transportation infrastructure, education, health care, public safety, housing, innovation, small business development, and many other facets of enduring national strength. These cuts have also had unacceptable and serious economic implications, slowing the recovery, and disrupting regular order in Congress. While Congress has succeeded in negotiating proposals to minimize the immediate impact of sequestration, these are set to expire within a few years. The solution must be to permanently end sequestration.
Washington D.C. – Congressman Adam Smith issued the following statement on the recent United Nations Working Group Ruling in Nestora Salgado’s case and his continued efforts to advocate for her release:
“On February 1, 2016, the case of Renton resident Nestora Salgado received long overdue legitimacy from the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. In their legal decision dated December 17, 2015 made public this week, the international panel of independent human rights experts announced their conclusion that Nestora’s continued detention by the Mexican government is illegal and arbitrary. The formal UN Working Group Report calls for Nestora’s immediate release. Nestora has been imprisoned for over two years, following an August 2013 arrest for her leadership in a community police group in her hometown of Olinalá in the state of Guerrero.
“Throughout Nestora’s imprisonment, I have urged for her release. In August of 2014, I wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry to call attention to Nestora’s case and to alert the Department of State to the concerning abuses of human rights and due process Nestora has experienced throughout her detention. Since that time, I have engaged with U.S. and Mexican government officials in hopes of securing Nestora’s release and advocating for her safety and well-being.
“As part of my continued calls for her freedom, in October 2015 I again wrote to Secretary Kerry advocating for Department of State assistance for the Salgado family and Nestora’s legal advocate Seattle University School of Law Professor Thomas Antkowiak in advance of hearings at the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. The Department of State responded by attending the October 2015 hearings, meeting with the family, and continued engagement on Nestora’s case.
“My office has remained involved and in touch with the State Department and Professor Antkowiak in the wake of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission hearings. After being notified of the UN decision, my office immediately contacted Professor Antkowiak and the Department of State to advocate for leveraging the recent decision for Nestora’s immediate release.
“I am committed to working toward the safe return of Nestora to her family. The UN Working Group Report is further evidence that the Mexican government’s detention of Nestora is illegal and that she should be released immediately. It is unacceptable for the Mexican government to continue to imprison Nestora, and I will remain involved and engaged on this critical issue until she is released.”