Washington State Congressman Becomes 20th Member of Macedonia Caucus

The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) is pleased to announce the newest member to the Congressional Caucus on Macedonia and Macedonian-Americans (Macedonia Caucus) – Congressman Adam Smith (Democrat-Washington). Congressman Smith represents the 9th Congressional District of the State of Washington and becomes the 20th member of Congress to join the Macedonia Caucus.

Congressman Smith was elected to Congress in 1996 and is serving his 9th term. He is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, which is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States armed forces, as well as substantial portions of the Department of Energy. Congressman Smith served in the Washington State Senate from 1991 to 1997; when elected in 1990 he was 25 years old – the youngest State Senator in the United States.

“It was a pleasure to recently meet Congressman Smith and ask him for his support of the Macedonian-American community by becoming a member of the Macedonia Caucus,” said UMD Seattle/Washington State Regional Representative Gjorgji Gjeorgjievski, who met with Congressman Smith and his staff, together with friend of Macedonia Tiffany Curtiss, on August 14, 2013.

“We informed the Congressman about the Macedonian community and what our heritage means to us. We also discussed Macedonia’s long-term regional security goals and the obstacles the country faces to achieve them. Lastly, the Congressman and I had an engaging discussion on the need to see Macedonia as a member of NATO without further delay.”

Washington State has a growing Macedonian-American community, primarily working in the IT, education, and medical fields. Seattle is UMD’s second West Coast location and UMD is hoping to work to strengthen the community and its activities to uphold our rich Macedonian heritage and culture.

“The Macedonia Caucus serves as a body to maintain and strengthen the positive and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Macedonia, and we are pleased to see Congressman Smith become a new friend of Macedonia,” said UMD President Metodija A. Koloski. “We cannot thank Gjorgji and Tiffany enough for their leadership in the greater Seattle community in educating policymakers about Macedonian issues.”

As the voice for Macedonian-Americans in Washington, D.C., UMD looks forward to working with all Macedonia Caucus members in furthering its work to strengthen U.S.-Macedonia relations. UMD encourages all Macedonian-Americans to contact their members of Congress and ask them to join the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Macedonia and Macedonian-Americans. Please click HERE to send your letter.

To learn more about how you can get involved in UMD, please contact us at (202) 350-9798 or info@umdiaspora.org.