Congressman Says I-90 Interstate Tolling to Pay for State Highways 'Problematic'

Questions on immigration reform, the economy, food stamps and closing Guantanamo Bay's military detention center were topics that topped the list.

US Ninth District Rep. Adam Smith (D-Renton) met with about two dozen constituents Monday night at the Mercer Island VFW Hall to meet veterans and answer questions about the latest developments in Washington DC and how he voted on key issues.

Smith began the town hall meeting with an informal rundown of topics organizers asked his to address: the economy, the federal budget and sequestration, immigration reform and tolling Interstate 90. He acknowledged the difficulties Congress faced in trying to pass the current budget, blaming the current impasse on the 2011 debit limit fight that resulted in sequestration — a nearly universal 10 percent cut across the entire federal government.

"There is a huge difference" between Democrats and Republicans on the budget, he said, while he agreed with several members of the audience that annual deficits were unsustainable.

"I don't believe that we can balance the budget anytime soon," he said.

Some questions and comments raised an important local issue — tolling Interstate 90. Smith conceeded that Congress had little influence over the ultimate decision, which he said rested with state lawmakers and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). But he said he did believe trying to toll a federal highway to pay for repairs to a local road was "problematic".

"There is not a precedent" for that, he said. "Ultimately, the FHA will have to sign off on the state tolling plan."

The gathering continued as a cordial yet pointed question-and-answer session, with most of the audience disagreeing and at times arguing with votes Smith, a Democrat, took in the current session of Congress.

Smith also received several questions focused on his vote to protect funding for food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or to hasten the closure of a secretive military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — where former officials have since conceded that detainees were tortured. At one point, he compared Congress to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, referring to an earlier 2011 law that prevents release of detainees deemed no threat to the US.

"We go all around the world, looking at people like Assad and all these other people who do this, and rightfully condemn them. I just think it puts us in a very uncomfortable position. Unless we have some kind of proof that they're either an enemy of war, or they committed an act of terrorism. And if we have proof — try them and convict them and lock them up. We've done it 400 times already, and quite successfully."