Dear Friend,

The past few weeks on Capitol Hill have been busy as we continue to challenge the Biden agenda and rollback the past two years of Democrat legislation.

Notable Legislation Passed in the House:

DC Crime Bill

Following the DC council's passage of their revised criminal code which reduced penalties for crimes like burglaries, carjackings, and robberies, House Republicans passed a resolution disapproving of the District's dangerous soft-on-crime bill. The Senate took up the resolution and blocked the DC Council from enacting this bill. This is a win for law-abiding DC residents who know all too well that the one thing DC clearly needs less of is more crime.

Condemning China for Violating U.S. Airspace

House Republicans passed a Resolution condemning Communist China for violating U.S. sovereign airspace and using a high-altitude surveillance balloon over United States territory as a brazen violation of U.S. sovereignty.

Reining In Inflation

In response to persistent and record high inflation, House Republicans passed H.R. 347 which requires the Biden Administration to publish the inflationary impact of executive orders before enacting them.

House Appropriations Subcommittee Briefings:

As Chairman of the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, we held briefings on:

Broadband Issues:

We are all acutely aware of the lack of broadband access in rural areas across the country, which makes this an important issue for Maryland's First Congressional District. By USDA’s own estimates, 22% of rural areas and 28% of Tribal lands lack fixed terrestrial coverage of minimum broadband speeds. We need to improve those numbers and address the increasing demand for faster speeds. The purpose for the hearing was to hear more about the general state of broadband issues and how Congress can be helpful.

Egg Prices:

We all understand that the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has decimated poultry flocks. Over 58 million farm-raised birds have died during the current outbreak, including 43 million laying hens. It makes sense that fewer layers have resulted in lower egg production, leading to higher prices for consumers. However, it seems baffling that a 5 percent decrease in layers has resulted in a 70 percent increase in egg prices. Economic research suggests that during the 2015 outbreak, the price of eggs increased 6 to 7 percent for every 1 percent loss in egg layers. During the current outbreak, the price of eggs has increased about 15 percent for every 1 percent loss in egg layers. It is important for our Subcommittee to understand the market dynamics causing this significant increase in prices, as well as actions USDA is taking to mitigate the issue for both producers and consumers.

District Updates

School Choice:

Following Governor Wes Moore's decision to defund school choice in Maryland, I announced my intention to seek language in the FY24 Department of Education funding bill that would limit federal funding to states without school choice programs or to states that reduce funding to existing school choice programs.

In Maryland, despite running budget surpluses, Governor Wes Moore seeks to cut two million dollars in State funding from Maryland’s popular school choice program, Broadening Options & Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST). Governor Moore’s budget also includes language to completely phase out the program over the next few years.

As a very successful school choice program, BOOST provides scholarships to more than 2,500 Maryland low-income families and gives these children a chance at a quality education. According to the latest data available from the BOOST program, nearly $3 million has been awarded to families in Baltimore City alone.

We cannot tolerate the status quo with failing schools, especially for our underprivileged youth that deserve high quality education. I firmly believe Maryland families, and families across our country, deserve options to improve their children’s education. In Maryland, parents are concerned by the recent Maryland State test results showing that 23 schools in Baltimore had zero students proficient in math—despite high funding levels for public schools. Parents should not be forced to send their children into the same public-school systems that fail them year after year. Now that his campaign is over, Governor Moore clearly is beholden to the teacher’s union—and is not delivering on his promise to “Leave No One Behind.” States which don’t have, or are cutting their school choice programs, clearly don’t have the best interests of students in mind. That’s why I’m offering language to the FY24 Federal Department of Education Bill that would limit federal funds to states that do not have school choice options or are actively cutting funding from school choice programs already in place.

In The News

Recent Interviews:

Following recent reports that the ATF is storing an Out-of-Business Records Imaging System database, I sat down for an interview on this topic. While reports indicate that this database is designed to store federal firearms licensees (FFLs) that go out of business, there are valid concerns that the ATF could use this database to lay the groundwork for a federal firearms registry-- which would be a direct violation of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act Congress passed in 1986 to explicitly prohibit the federal government from establishing a federal firearms registry.

I always have and will continue to be a vocal supporter of the Second Amendment. Any attempt to challenge the rights of law-abiding American citizens to carry out their constitutional duty to bear arms will be challenged by myself and my Republican colleagues in the House.

Biden's Budget:

Recently, President Biden released his annual budget a full month after it was due. As I said on the day of release, President Biden should’ve waited until April 1st to release his budget because it’s obviously a joke. Only in the fairytale land of Washington DC could a budget that never ever balances be presented as a serious product.

The President's budget proposed raising taxes on individuals, families, and businesses. This will only result in higher prices, lower wages, and fewer jobs.
His budget proposal includes 137 million for the Department of Energy that “Advances Environmental Justice and Equity." Americans work too hard to have their taxpayer dollars be wasted on leftist green new deal nonsense.
The budget also proposed “more than $3 billion” for the State Department to “Advance Gender Equity and Equality Around the World”.

Despite claiming he wants to lower the deficit, the President's budget included millions of dollars of wasteful spending that American taxpayers should never be forced to fund.

How We Can Help

If you have any issue with a Federal agency, like the IRS, the VA, Social Security, Medicare, or passports, please don’t hesitate to contact my office. My office teams are ready to assist you. If you are interested in purchasing a flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol, for a special person or occasion, please visit my website or call my office at 202-225-5311. Below are links to services my office offers and we hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Andy Harris, M.D.
Member of Congress

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