Public service has long been a priority for Congressman Smith.  While a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he interned in the Nebraska Governor's Office and, later, served as a legislative page in the Nebraska Unicameral.  Upon graduating from college, he moved back to Gering, where in 1994, he began serving his hometown as a member of the Gering City Council.  

After four years of service on the city council, Congressman Smith sought and won the District 48 seat in the Nebraska Unicameral, where he served for eight years.  He served as Vice Chair of the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee and as Chairman of the Four State Legislative Conference in 2001.

Since being elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, Congressman Smith represents a district containing nearly 65,000 square miles, two time zones and 68 and a half of the state's 93 counties.  Included in his district is Cherry County, which alone is larger than the state of Connecticut.

Congressman Smith currently sits on the House Agriculture Committee, House Natural Resources Committee, House Budget Committee and the House Science and Technology Committee.  Nebraska's Third Congressional District has a long history of service on the House Agriculture Committee, and Smith looks forward to continuing that tradition.  He follows in the footsteps of his predecessors, Reps. Virginia Smith, Bill Barrett and Tom Osborne, who were also members of the House Agriculture Committee during their tenures in Congress.  

He is a member of the Leadership Institute's Congressional Advisory Board, ThanksUSA's Congressional Advisory Board, and serves on the board of directors of the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation.

Congressman Smith continues to reside in Gering.