The United States has been on a foreign policy overdrive lately, dispatching Congressional delegations by the beck and call of geopolitical issues. If Nancy Pelosi’s ongoing tour of the Indo-Pacific is grabbing eyeballs (will she visit Taiwan on the sly or baulk at Chinese pressure?), another senior delegation has returned from Ukraine. Assuring President Volodymyr Zelensky of the US’ unrequited support in the war effort- the Biden administration hopes- will spur the Kyiv loyalists to continue fighting. Leading the delegation was the delightfully named Adam Smith, chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

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A graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, Mr Smith served in the Washington senate from 1991-97. His election to the Washington senate was a milestone in itself. At 25, he became the youngest state senator in the United States, defeating Republican and 13-year incumbent Eleanor Lee. Since 1997, the 57-year-old has been representing Washington’s 9th Congressional District.

An Obama-supporting war hawk (is it any surprise), Smith was among the 81 Democrats who voted in favour of Bush Jr.’s invasion of Iraq. Ten years on, he praised the “amazing work” of American troops in Afghanistan, insisting it was “time to bring the troops home.” One hopes the braggadocio has given way to something more mild-mannered. A New Democrat- akin to the New Labour in Britain- he is among a slew of Democrats proposing the ‘third way’- culturally and socially liberal while economically conservative. That it’s just another smokescreen for a carceral state is evident in Smith’s voting patterns in Congress. He voted in favour of the Bush administration’s Patriot Act in 2001 and the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) in 2012 while voting against an amendment restricting the National Security Agency (NSA) from collecting phone records without warrants.

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He is married to Spokane-born Sara Bickle-Eldridge, a graduate of the University of Washington and Seattle University School of Law. The couple has two children, daughter Kendall and son Jack.