Adrian Smith

Adrian Smith, a Republican, has represented the Third Congressional District of Nebraska in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007.

SCHIP
In 2007, Congress took up the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health care for about 6 million children and 670,000 adults from families who earn too much money qualify for Medicare but not enough to afford health insurance. Congressional Democrats and many Republicans tried to use the opportunity to dramatically expand the program but were opposed by President George W. Bush and other Republicans. In 2006, 5.4 million children were eligible but not enrolled in SCHIP or Medicaid and 9.4 million total children were uninsured.

Adrian Smith voted AGAINST the first House bill, which passed along party lines. It would have added $47 billion over five years to the $25 billion cost of the program and added about 5 million people to the program, including children, some legal immigrants, pregnant women and adults aged 18 and 19. The bill was financed mainly by an increase in cigarette taxes.

House Democrats, with 45 Republicans, later compromised and passed a bill which expanded the plan by $35 billion and would have insured about 3.5 million more children from families generally making between 250% and 300% of the federal poverty line (about $51,000 to $62,000 for a family of four). Most non-pregnant, childless adults were excluded, as were most legal immigrants and all illegal immigrants. Adrian Smith voted AGAINST the bill.

After President Bush vetoed the bill, Democratic leaders attempted to override the veto with the same bill but failed. Adrian Smith voted AGAINST the bill.

House Democrats then attempted to override it with another bill, which gave into Republican demands for increased checks for citizenship, the quick phasing-out of adult coverage, a hard limit of 300% of the federal poverty level and funding for families that covered their children through private insurance instead. Republicans, angry that the vote was scheduled during massive fires in California, blocked the veto override. Adrian Smith voted AGAINST the bill. For details on the bills and the debate, see the main State Children's Health Insurance Program page.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Biography
Born in 1970, Smith graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He works as a real estate agent.

In 1994, Smith was elected to the Gering (his hometown) City Council. In 1998, he was elected to the Nebraska legislature where he served until running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006. A 2001 law prevents Smith from running for a third term in the Nebraska State Senate.

Smith was backed in both the primary and general election by the conservative Club for Growth, an organization that has goals of:   Making the Bush tax cuts permanent, death tax repeal, cutting and limiting government spending, Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts, expanding free trade, legal reform to end abusive lawsuits, replacing the current tax code, and school choice. Smith’s opponents say Club for Growth is against farm subsidies even though it is never found on their mission statement. Smith's opponents in both the primary and general election brought up this allegation even thought Smith had been designated as a “Friend of Farmers” by the Nebraska Farm Bureau every year while serving as Senator in the Nebraska Legislature. 

2006 election
Smith defeated Democrat Scott Kleeb 55%-45% to replace retiring Rep. Tom Osborne (R-Neb.) in the 2006 congressional elections.

2008 elections
In 2008, the Democrats nominated Jay Stoddard to face Smith in his reelection bid.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Agriculture
 * Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture Programs
 * Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
 * House Committee on Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation
 * House Committee on Budget

Resources

 * Adrian Smith for Congress, official campaign site.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * New Nebraska Network
 * Smith Watch