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Washington, Jul 26 -

Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been chosen as a 2012 Best of Congress Award recipient by Corporate Voices for Working Families and Working Mother Media for his demonstrated leadership on and support of policies that create opportunities and improve the quality of life for working Americans and their families.

Winning Members of Congress were chosen by the Best of Congress Steering Committee based on their achievements, voting records, office policies and advocacy efforts to advance economically sound policies that support the following issues: Workplace Flexibility, Family Economic Stability, Work and Family balance and Workforce Readiness.

“All people should have the opportunity to work and still be there to meet their family’s needs,” said Congressman Smith. “Policies that support the balance between work and family are critical to maintaining a healthy quality of life for all Americans and to enhancing productivity in the workplace.” 

Notable working-family friendly policies sponsored and supported by Congressman Smith include:

• H.R. 6046 – Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2012 – Ensures equality of military and veteran benefits for all military spouses.
• H.R. 687 - Military Spouses Employment Act - Gives tax incentives to employers for hiring spouses of active duty members.
• H.R. 865 - Veteran Employment Transition Act of 2011- Increases the eligibility of veterans to receive the Work Opportunity Tax Credit
• H.R.1519 - Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for, enforcement of, and exceptions to prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages.
• H.R. 2364 - Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide for employee leave to care for a domestic partner or his or her child, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law (as well as for a spouse, child, or parent), if such person has a serious health condition.
• H.R. 1537 - Uniting American Families Act of 2011 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include a "permanent partner" within the scope of such Act.

The 2012 Best of Congress Winner profiles can be seen online at WorkingMother.com and will be included in the August/September issue of Working Mother magazine.

For more information on Congressman Smith’s efforts on behalf of working families, visit www.AdamSmith.House.gov/AmericasWorkers.