Lamar Smith

If Congress Finds NOAA Scandal, Media Will Likely Ignore It Like Climategate
By Michael Greibrok | November 5, 2015 | 4:05 PM EST

House Republicans concerned about the politicization of climate science recently subpoenaed emails from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).


According to the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, sought emails related to a May 2015 study revised temperatures and eliminated a roughly 15 year “pause” in warming. The study adjusted temperature readings from ocean buoys upward, to match shipboard measurements and conveniently remove the 15 year pause of global temperature increases.

Citing MRC Research, Rep. Lamar Smith Blasts Media for Biased Border Coverage
By Christian Robey | July 18, 2014 | 6:40 PM EDT

On the floor of the U.S. House this past week Texas Republican Lamar Smith blasted the media’s coverage of the crisis on border while citing Media Research Center's finding to bolster his case.

"The crisis at the border is a result of the president’s allowing half a million illegal immigrants to stay in the country," Rep. Smith argued, "The liberal national media also are responsible for creating this crisis. The Media Research Center found that from June 8th through July 1st, eighty-nine percent of news stories on ABC, NBC and CBS failed to mention that President Obama’s policies have encouraged the surge of illegal minors at the border…."

Immigration Officials Release Murderers, Sex Offenders and Drunk Drivers, Networks Ignore
By Geoffrey Dickens | May 14, 2014 | 5:28 PM EDT

On Monday the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reported that, according to Obama administration statics, immigration officials knowingly released convicted murderers, drunk drivers and sex offenders into the US back in 2013. So far none of the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks have yet to report these stunning statistics.

According to the Washington Times “Among the 36,000 immigrants whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released from custody last year there were 116 with convictions for homicide, 43 for negligent manslaughter, 14 for voluntary manslaughter and one with a conviction classified by ICE as ‘homicide-willful kill-public official-gun.’”

Rep. Lamar Smith: Liberal Media Bias ‘The Greatest Threat We Face in America’
By Mike Ciandella | March 18, 2014 | 2:21 PM EDT

Media bias is a greater threat than terrorism, according to Rep. Lamar Smith. Rep. Smith heads the Media Fairness Caucus on the Hill.

The Business and Media Institute interviewed Rep. Smith about Internews, the liberal journalism group which has gotten more than $364 million in funding from the US government through the State Department and USAID.  Internews also received $1.7 million from liberal billionaire George Soros.

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Rep. Lamar Smith Challenges $364 Million Federal Handout to Liberal Group
By Mike Ciandella | January 17, 2014 | 5:13 PM EST

Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have be paid to a liberal journalism group, and the agencies responsible don’t seem to want to talk about it. But some in Congress aren’t afraid of the issue. Rep Lamar Smith, R-Texas, addressed the issue on the floor of the House of Representatives on Jan. 13, asking his fellow members of Congress why taxpayers were “subsidizing a liberal news outlet.”

Internews is a liberal journalism nonprofit that has gotten more than $364 million from the U.S. government in the past 10 years, as well as $1.7 million from liberal billionaire George Soros.  It has also founded three liberal journalism outfits: Link TV, the Earth Journalism Network and Climate Commons.

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House Committee Finds ICE Exaggerating Deportation Numbers; Will Press Stick to 'Record Number of Deportations' Meme?
By Tom Blumer | August 27, 2012 | 9:53 AM EDT

An Associated Press report by Helen O'Neill time-stamped Saturday afternoon claims that "a record number of deportations means record numbers of American children being left without a parent — despite President Barack Obama's promise that his administration would focus on removing only criminals."

Perhaps the assertion about more parents being forced to leave their kids behind is true. But the "record number of deportations" meme -- a recurring Obama administration claim frequently parroted by the press, despite Obama's other unilateral moves towards de facto amnesty -- is apparently a load of rubbish, based on a review of detailed records by the House Judiciary Committee noted by the Daily Caller's Caroline May on Saturday morning (bolds are mine):

Texas Congressman Lamar Smith Blasts Media on House Floor: 'Be Honest and Fair'
By Noel Sheppard | February 25, 2012 | 2:58 PM EST

Last Friday, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Tx.) used his minute of opening speech time before the rule debate on extending the payroll tax cut to blast the press.

"The national media owe it to the American people to be honest and fair" (video follows with transcript and commentary, file photo):

Media Ignore the Facts on Illegal Immigration
By Lamar Smith | February 16, 2012 | 11:30 AM EST

It's hard to imagine a worse example of media bias than the national coverage of illegal immigration. Every week, it seems there are stories across the United States that minimize the issues of illegal immigration and border security. But look at the facts and the media's bias towards illegal immigrants is clear.

Many reporters often neglect to mention that the immigrants they write about are illegal immigrants. For example, in an article that appeared in the San Antonio Express-News last year, "Hunt for border-crossers is on ground and in air," the reporter used the words "immigrant" and "immigration" five times but couldn't bring himself once to use the word "illegal."

Texas Congressman Takes on Media's Occupy Wall Street Tea Party Double Standard
By Noel Sheppard | December 16, 2011 | 10:50 AM EST

For months NewsBusters has been reporting the absurd double standard regarding media's coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement versus the Tea Party.

On Friday, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Tx.) wrote an op-ed for Accuracy in Media concerning this matter asking, "Why have the mainstream media vilified the peaceful Tea Party all the while praising and celebrating Occupy Wall Street despite violence, clashes with police, and general lawlessness?":

Another Congressman Steps Up for Fox News; Cites MRC’s Business & Media Institute
By Jeff Poor | October 23, 2009 | 1:54 AM EDT

Over the past couple of weeks, the White House has piled on the Fox News Channel, with a trio of high-ranking administration officials publicly criticizing it, followed by words from President Barack Obama himself about Fox News and topped off with the White House attempting to exclude Fox from the White House press pool. That has some members of Congress questioning why they are doing this..

Earlier, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., took on the issue and defended Fox and its audience. However, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, also took on the White House and questioned why it would be something Obama and his administration should be concerned with in comments from the floor of the House of Representatives on Oct. 20.

Republicans Form 'Media Fairness Caucus' to Fight Liberal Bias
By Rich Noyes | June 4, 2009 | 11:57 AM EDT
A dozen Republican members of Congress have formed the “Media Fairness Caucus,” the group’s chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) announced this morning on FNC’s America’s Newsroom. Smith told FNC co-anchor Bill Hemmer that the problem of liberal journalists skewing the information reaching Americans is a worse threat than “a recession or another terrorist attack,” and said his group’s goal would be to “encourage the media to adhere to the highest standards of their profession and to provide the American people with the facts, not tell them what to think.”

Newsmax’ Ron Kessler wrote about the formation of the new group yesterday: “The Media Fairness Caucus will point out unfair stories, meet with members of the media, and write op-eds and letters to the editor to highlight media bias. For the past two years, Smith has conducted his own campaign against unfair coverage in weekly one-minute speeches on the House floor. The caucus is intended to broaden and fortify the effort.”

Here are key excerpts from Smith’s appearance on the Fox News Channel Thursday morning (video here):
'Name That Party' Reaches House Floor
By Warner Todd Huston | February 13, 2009 | 5:03 AM EST

On NewsBusters we have for a few years now been chronicling the constant failure of the media to label a criminal or troubled politician with his party affiliation when that politician is a Democrat, we all know. Every couple of days we detail a new "name that party" story where an Old Media outlet reports on a Democrat politician arrested, convicted, or accused of a crime though he seems never to be labeled as such. We've also noted many times the opposite tale where a recalcitrant pol that happens to be a Republican finds his party receiving top billing in the Old Media. We have dozens and dozens of examples.

Well, it appears that at least one member of Congress has noticed the same thing and has mentioned the media's penchant for Democrat Party passing on the floor of the House of Representatives. The Hill's Briefing Room blog gives us the story.