Congressman Adam Smith released the following statement opposing Trade Promotion Authority:
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), as they are currently being discussed, do not do enough to protect workers and the environment at home and abroad.
The biggest problem facing our economy is a vanishing middle class. Corporations are incentivized to value customers, shareholders, and executives over their workers resulting in less take home pay and benefits. This is evidenced by the bottom 90 percent of Americans owning just 23 percent of total U.S. wealth. TPA and TPP are far from the only or even largest contributors, but they provide the wrong incentives allowing corporations to grow and benefit from undervaluing workers both here and abroad.
This trade framework is skewed to benefit corporations; an example of this is the investor-state dispute settlement. This mechanism gives corporations the private right to sue countries directly for what they may deem to be discriminatory, unfair, or arbitrary treatment by the host government. Meanwhile, workers do not have the same right to action should a country violate its worker or environmental obligations under the agreement. For example, if a corporation perceives that it is negatively impacted by a country’s enactment of a safety or environmental protection law it has the right to sue that country. However, violations brought by labor or environmental groups must go through a long and cumbersome process through the U.S. Government that can take several years.
I believe in the benefits of trade and I have supported trade promotion authority and many trade deals in the past. But I voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement precisely because it lacked protections for labor and the environment. In 2007, the May 10th Agreement was reached and it provided enforceable protections for workers and the environment. However, the promises of this agreement have not yet been fully realized and much more work is left to be done. Although on paper enforcement standards have improved, our government has not demonstrated to American and international workers its commitment to fully doing the job.
I often hear an argument in support of TPA and TPP that if we don’t set the rules in Asia and the Pacific, China will do so. Although clearly better than China’s, our record is not stellar either. The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh killed over 1,100 garment workers and injured 2,000 more due to a failure to ensure safe working conditions for workers. There were several American companies whose products were made at that factory by subcontractors with terrible labor and safety practices. Corporations should not skirt their responsibilities by using willful ignorance or global supply chains as an excuse to absolve them of their responsibility to ensure the health and safety of workers.
Currency manipulation is another problem that remains unaddressed. Until we find an effective way to ensure that other countries cannot devalue their currency to boost their exports, U.S. gains from trade will be limited. Finding a solution to currency manipulation matters to American workers and businesses. This agreement does not address this issue in a meaningful way.
These concerns aside, I would be more inclined to support a trade deal if I believed that American and global corporate culture was committed to paying workers fairly and ensuring their safety in the workplace. However, skyrocketing executive pay and huge stock buybacks at the expense of worker compensation convince me that there is an insufficient commitment to preserving the middle class. Too many businesses value executives, shareholders, and customers over workers, who today are not being adequately compensated for the work they do.
I grew up in the SeaTac area where my father worked as a ramp serviceman for United Airlines and my mother stayed at home to raise the family. As a blue collar worker in the 1980s, my father was a member of the union and was paid $16 an hour with benefits. His job allowed him to provide for my family and to support my educational and professional goals. Unfortunately, his job today would pay only $9.73, making it impossible for a family to enjoy the financial security and upward mobility mine did.
Trade agreements should create sound incentives and reinforce business cultures that value workers, as they have the ability to help spread these practices worldwide. We must do more to support the companies in the 9th District and around the country that are doing so already. Unfortunately, Wall Street and trade deals too often reward these companies’ competitors that improve their bottom line by shortchanging their employees–many of whom are not being adequately compensated for their work.
In voting against TPA, it is my hope the Administration will take a step back and better engage on strengthening compliance with worker and environmental protections through trade agreements. When I supported trade agreements in the past, I believed the commitment to strong enforcement would result in tangible improvements. I want to be able to support future trade agreements, but until our record improves, these deals will fail to deliver on their promise of shared economic prosperity for American businesses and workers.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement upon hearing that Nestora Salgado was on a hunger strike:
“It is unacceptable for the Mexican government to continue to imprison Nestora Salgado in conditions that fail to protect her life and physical integrity. Nestora’s health continues to deteriorate and without immediate action by the Mexican government, Nestora’s life is truly at risk.
“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, United Nations human rights experts, a Mexican federal court, and many civil society groups in the United States and Mexico have all called for immediate action by the Mexican government to protect Nestora, which is long overdue.
“We urge the United States government to take immediate action to secure Nestora’s release on humanitarian grounds. Nestora has been deprived from due process and justice by the Mexican government and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that she receives it.”
Ms. Salgado is a resident of Renton, WA who was arrested for her leadership in community police group in her hometown of Olinalá in the state of Guerrero, which has a long tradition of legally-recognized community self-defense groups. As her Members of Congress, Congressman Smith and Senator Murray have been working with Nestora’s family and her legal representation at Seattle University to help secure her release. They have joined to send letters to the State Department to bring attention to the case and ensure Nestora can safely return to her family.
House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith offered an amendment during markup of the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) designed to allow DREAMers an opportunity to serve in the military and earn permanent legal status. While the amendment was withdrawn on procedural grounds, Smith pledged to continue to push the legislation as the NDAA process continues.
The amendment, modeled after the ENLIST Act, would authorize the enlistment in the armed forces of undocumented immigrants who have been continuously present in the United States, were younger than 15 years of age when they initially entered the United States and are otherwise eligible for original enlistment in the Armed Forces.
On April 30th, Congressman Smith became a cosponsor of the Raise the Wage Act introduced by Senator Patty Murray and Ed & Workforce Chairman Bobby Scott. This legislation would raise the minimum wage nationwide to $12.00 per hour by 2020. Congressman Smith released the following statement in support of the bill:
“As our economy continues to recover from the Great Recession, we need policies that support investing in our workforce to ensure that everyone is sharing in the recovery. A large part of this is making sure that employees earn a living wage. This legislation would help do so by increasing the national minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.
“Studies have shown that the fall in minimum wage over the last 30 years has led to an increase in inequality between median wage earners and workers at the bottom of the wage ladder. Addressing this issue is central to establishing wage equality for all workers but particularly women, as female employees are 60% more likely to be paid minimum wage than male employees.”
Besides increasing the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $12.00 by the year 2020, this bill would also index the minimum wage to the median wage starting in 2021, and eliminate the tipped minimum wage gradually by raising the cash wage from the current $2.13 per hour to match the regular minimum wage.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released a statement following his signing of an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States supporting the expansion of DACA and DAPA:
Today, 181 Members of Congress filed an Amicus Brief in support of the Obama Administration’s appeal of a Texas judge’s ruling that temporarily blocks the implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents and Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Both of these programs are part of the President’s executive actions on immigration.
“Last November, the President took legal and necessary executive action to reform our broken immigration system.” said Congressman Adam Smith. “Today, I joined my colleagues in Congress in signing this brief so the President’s actions can bring millions of families and children who are part of our communities and live in constant fear of deportation out of the shadows.”
The Amicus Brief expresses the opinions of Members of Congress that the deferred action programs comport with Congressional will and the President has the authority to exercise discretion when enforcing immigration laws.
Full text of the amicus brief can be found here.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement in support of President Obama’s request for Economic Support Funds to Somalia:
Washington, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Adam Smith wrote the House Appropriations Committee a letter expressing strong support for the President’s request of $87.7 million in Economic Support Funds to promote stability and economic development in Somalia. Somalia has made meaningful economic and security gains over the last few years and these funds would be targeted towards building government institutions and strengthening civic capacity. This is a key, necessary step to securing the flow of remittances to Somalia in the long-term.
“The need to invest in Somalia’s development has been made clear by the recent situation affecting remittance flows from the U.S. to the country,” said Congressman Adam Smith. “Although an immediate solution is needed, we should also simultaneously support the people of Somalia in their efforts to form legitimate, durable institutions.”
On February 6th, Merchants Bank closed the accounts of all Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) to which it provided banking services. This has left Somali Americans in the 9th District and across the country without any secure means to send money back to their families. With U.S. remittances to Somalia making up a large part of the Somalian economy and being the only source of income for many families, this situation threatens the fragile progress made by Somalia.
“While I continue to work with the National Security Council and other federal agencies to find an immediate solution, it is also critical that we look for long-term, sustainable solutions. This investment in Economic Support Funds will help Somalia build a stronger central bank and the robust regulatory institutions necessary to ensure that Somalia can participate in the international banking system in the future.”
Congressman Smith’s letter was co-signed by Congressman Keith Ellison and 9 other members.
Setting detention goals for immigrants is a waste of taxpayer dollars
THE Northwest Detention Center is a large, privately operated detention facility in the Tacoma Tideflats that has been in the news a lot this past year. Despite multiple hunger strikes, public protests and the introduction of federal legislation to address issues at the facility, immigration officials are set to sign another multimillion-dollar contract with the same private prison company that has run it for years.
Due in large part to a misguided federal policy called the “detention bed mandate,” large, for-profit prison corporations that have the resources to build and maintain detention centers are left in charge of operating these facilities at a high cost to taxpayers, detainees and families of those affected.
In the United States, GEO Group, the company that runs the detention center, and the Corrections Corporation of America are the only two corporations large enough to bid on a contract like the Tacoma facility. That leaves us with a detention policy that benefits them, but not society.
The detention bed mandate, which was passed by Congress in 2009, requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to fill 34,000 detention beds for immigrants at any given time. Rather than targeting enforcement toward individuals who pose risks to our community, this indiscriminate quota incentivizes the inhumane and arbitrary detention of thousands for whom we have no justifiable reason to detain.
Take Ramon Mendoza Pascual, for example. In September 2013, Ramon had a few beers at a bar in Auburn and walked to his car to go home. Realizing he shouldn’t risk driving, he called his wife, Veronica Noriega, for a ride home and waited in his car. When she arrived, he was gone. She was told later that Mendoza had been arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Despite the fact a judge had dropped the DUI charge, when Noriega went to court to pay her husband’s bail, she was told Mendoza could not be freed. ICE had placed a hold on his case and he was being transferred to the Tacoma detention facility.
Ramon was a carpenter, a volunteer for a local charity, a husband and a father of three young children. But on that day all that mattered to ICE was his immigration status. He is neither a flight risk nor a danger, but he’s now been detained at the facility for 18 months and can only see his family through a window.
Not only is this overuse of detention inhumane, it’s also expensive. Since the passage of the detention bed mandate, the use of detention has skyrocketed to around 450,000 people detained every year. At an estimated cost of $164 per day for each detainee, our government spends approximately $5.5 million a day and more than $2 billion a year on the detention of immigrants.
There are many less wasteful alternatives to detention that exist and offer a more fair, cost-effective and humane approach while still ensuring that more than 90 percent of individuals appear at immigration proceedings.
Community-based support programs are one such alternative that have proved successful. These are programs where nonprofits provide immigrants with legal services, case management, housing and more while they await immigration proceedings in their own homes, rather than in a detention center. A Baltimore-based immigration advocacy group, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, has piloted community-based programs in the past and has built coalitions with local service partners in Seattle and elsewhere that provide important support and services at fractions of the cost of detention.
Other alternatives include telephonic reporting and release on bond, enabling individuals to remain in their communities and with their families at costs averaging $5.16 per day, according to ICE. The stark contrast between $5.16 and the $164 per day it costs to detain an individual begs the question of why Congress requires ICE to detain 34,000 individuals each day.
There is no good answer. Despite being more humane, just and inexpensive, only 23,000 immigrants receive alternative surveillance compared to the minimum of 34,000 who are held in detention centers.
President Obama’s budget request for fiscal year 2016 included a large expansion of so-called “alternatives to detention,” or ATD. The bad news is the increased funding provides almost exclusively for ankle-bracelet monitoring, which only expands business opportunities for for-profit prison companies, like GEO. Additionally, this expanded funding does not repeal or reduce the 34,000 detention beds that are required to be filled. Any expansion of ATDs is only helpful and cost-effective if it’s coupled with less detention.
Individuals should be detained only in cases where the government has proved that no other method is feasible. In order to ensure this, Congress must repeal mandatory detention laws and defund appropriations quotas that require 34,000 daily beds and instead invest money into community-based alternatives.
Until Congress acts, ICE will continue to sign contracts with GEO and heartbreaking stories like that of Ramon Mendoza Pascual and his family will continue to be our legacy.
This Op-Ed ran in the Seattle Times. U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D- Bellevue, represents the 9th Congressional District.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade:
On the 42nd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, House Republicans had planned on advancing extreme legislation that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks with the only exception being to protect the life of the mother. Due to strong opposition by Democrats and some Republicans, they instead introduced a bill that would disproportionately restrict low-income women’s access to abortions and family planning services. Congressman Smith released the following statement opposing the legislation:
“On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we should be building on advancements in women’s healthcare rights and family planning services. Unfortunately, Republicans seem intent on stripping these gains and restricting both comprehensive healthcare coverage and access to abortions. I strongly oppose these efforts because the government should not be making health decisions that ought to be left between a woman, her doctor, and her family.
“That is why I cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act, which protects a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions no matter where she lives and promotes access to family planning services. I will continue to do all I can in Congress to protect a woman’s right to choose and her access to the family planning services she needs.”
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement on the 5th anniversary of Citizens United:
Today marks the 5th year anniversary of Citizens United, a Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to spend freely in federal elections. This decision was a significant change from years of government efforts to regulate the power of corporations in campaign finance. Congressman Smith (D-WA) joined many colleagues in the House of Representatives today to introduce the Democracy for All Amendment. This would amend the U.S. Constitution to grant states’ and Congress the authority to strip the ability for corporations to spend unlimited resources in elections.
“Our current campaign finance system provides wealthy corporations and special interests disproportionate influence on our elections and in the process drowns out the voice of everyday people,” said Congressman Smith. “Congress must reform our campaign finance system to ensure that all Americans, regardless of wealth and influence, have a powerful voice in the election process. I cosponsored the Democracy for All Amendment and the Government By the People Act to reverse Citizens United and establish a new system where candidates can rely on small donors. I will work with my colleagues to pass both of these critical bills.”
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement on remittances to Somalia:
“It’s now been over a month since Merchants Bank closed their accounts with Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) leaving Somali Americans in the 9th District and across the country without any avenues to send money to their families back home. This is an issue of life or death for families in Somalia as they rely on remittances from their families in the United States. Without a resolution, Somali Americans will be forced to find and utilize unregulated and insecure sources to get money back to their families. We must immediately address this problem.
“A few weeks ago, multiple federal agencies that can address this issue came together to engage in a discussion on how to fix this problem. I was disappointed that no specific solutions were offered and that we continue to have no resolution. We need to take a creative approach to resolve this problem in the short-term and continue to explore solutions to resolve this issue once and for all. This meeting simply made clear that we have a long way to go.
“There will be a meeting between Members of Congress and the National Security Council two weeks from now, and I sincerely hope that we can make progress. I will continue to do all I can to advocate for a solution and advance policies that ensure Somali Americans can send money back to their families.”