From the office of Congressman Andy Harris:
Congressman Harris was sworn in today to the 113th Congress. He is beginning his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I am excited to start my second term serving the constituents of Maryland’s First District,” said Representative Harris. “America’s challenges are great. The new Congress must take action to improve our struggling economy and to control federal spending to address our unsustainable level of national debt.”
In the new Congress, Representative Harris will continue to serve on the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Dr. Harris has so much to be proud of already: http://gawker.com/5973255/here-are-the-republicans-who-voted-no-on-hurricane-sandy-relief-funds
Wow. And he led the fight to get federal dollars for Crisfield…for the same storm. I feel like Charlton Heston getting firehosed in Ape Prison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFCM6TZgTMI
In addition, Harris voted against the Obama tax cuts. So much for wanting to lessen the tax burden for his constituents!
As usual, Tom, you have distorted what little truth there is. He voted against a tax increase! The rest of that bill was to make the permanent those hated Bush tax cuts. The tax burden on some, albeit, very few, that increased was the tax on over $400,000. All of the rest of us got a 2% tax increase due to the elimination of the theft from the Social Security trust fund.
Tom, we have all come to realize that you only see what the party tells you to see. Di Art Helton put you up to making this most recent post?
There’s no distorting the fact that he also voted AGAINST extending the payroll tax holiday in February 2012, which he then refused to vote for ending last week AND had the nerve to say he voted not to increase taxes on 77% of Americans!
I don’t care whether you think the payroll tax holiday was a good or bad idea, but Mr. Harris needs to make up his own mind. You can’t explain away his votes on that or the ludicrous spin his office put out on it. He is a mindless tool of the machinery that voters need to turn their backs on.
The fight for the Chrisfield dollars has absolutely nothing to do with the rejection of this train load of pork. The names of the Senators who loaded up this bill with unrelated expenses in order to “buy their vote” need to be brought out. I’m for horse whipping any congress person who does this.
I’m confused on the ‘train load of pork.’ in HR 41…am I looking in the right place? Thanks for any help!
As you imply, there is no “train load of pork.” This is the standard line they use when there’s a vote that they should be ashamed of, “Oh I didn’t vote against the bill, I voted against the pork attached to it.” Yeah, right.
H.R.41 — To temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program. (Introduced in House – IH)
HR 41 IH
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 41
To temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2013
Mr. GARRETT (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. LANCE, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. HANNA, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. RUNYAN, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. MENG, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. TONKO, and Mr. BISHOP of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
——————————————————————————–
A BILL
To temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN BORROWING AUTHORITY FOR NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.
(a) Section 1309(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is amended by striking `$20,725,000,000′ and inserting `$30,425,000,000′.
(b) The amount provided by this section is designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 403(a) of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, and as an emergency pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)).
Now post the POS that came over from the Senate and the Republicans refused to vote on.
So Arturro….Cong Harris voted against hr41 for an increase in fema nfip monies only
? Why did he do that when there wasn’t a ‘train load of pork’ attached. I’m a Cong Harris fan, but not understanding THIS vote?? Any help on this?? (confused)
This is the only bill he voted on. Nice try!
$8 million to buy cars and equipment for the Homeland Security and Justice departments.
$150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dole out to fisheries in Alaska
$2 million for the Smithsonian Institution to repair museum roofs in DC.
$13 billion would go to “mitigation” projects to prepare for future storms.
$207 million for the VA Manhattan Medical Center
$41 million to fix up eight military bases along the storm’s path, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba;
$4 million for repairs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida;
$3.3 million for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center
$1.1 million to repair national cemeteries.
$58.8 million for forest restoration on private land.
$197 million “to… protect coastal ecosystems and habitat impacted by Hurricane Sandy.”
$10.78 billion for public transportation, most of which is allocated to future construction and improvements, not disaster relief.
$17 billion for wasteful Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), a program that has become notorious for its use as a backdoor earmark program.
not my words, but some of what was included
Again B….I was reading the hr 41 and it was just an increase in fema nfip…is that what was NOT passed? If so, that is GREAT! Annnnndddd….again….why, if it wasn’t filled with ‘a train load of pork’ did Cong Harris vote against it? Pissing contest….trying to make a point?? I get that if that was the case! The increase….is that was you quoted? If so, it doesn’t add up to 9 billion…it is more. Is it a delay on the 51 billion to come?…what you quoted above? No big deal…I can call Cong Harris’ office if you all don’t understand it:(
Wasn’t just an increase, it was authorization to borrow another 10 billion.
It is my understanding all of the ‘pork’ was removed from the 9billion hr 41 as indicated above….is it in the 51billion to come? If it was removed, WHY did Cong Harris vote against it? You have not explained that. I suggest, like myself, B, you call Cong Harris’ office to find out why….very, very disappointed if that is the case…to be cont….
If you really want to know, then call Congressman Harris’ office and get the answer from him.
I did…thanks Mike!
What was his response
To say thanks for your question, here is my canned response, and add the email address to his propaganda and fundraising mailing lists, I’m guessing.
(Well ‘noble’, not that far off…canned response that I will get a detailed response…I have faith:)
Did you think that perhaps he voted against relief for other places because it did not provide for enough relief in MD?
You would think if that was the case, he would say so. In his press release explaining his vote he did not say any such thing. All he said was his usual blah blah about government spending and borrowing too much money – topics he and all other Republicans were largely SILENT on during President Bush’s preceeding two terms as president, and which certainly have no traction in the aftermath of a NATURAL DISASTER.
Great job of obfuscation there Tyldak. does the face that Harris was first elected in 2010 mean anything?
Even though Cong Harris was first elected in 2010, he was around to vote on the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (HR 5740, 112th)…a ‘yea’ vote, btw. The NFIP program was reformed in 1994, 2004, and most recently 2010. Like Alex said below, ‘who in the world is advising this guy?’…what a shame….people in his district will remember this vote.
(p.s. still no response from Cong Harris’ office on my request)
Art,
Yes of course Andy Harris did nothing and made no statements and had no positions before being elected in 2010.
Yes he wanted more “relief” for Maryland and less “pork” for everyone else.
Let’s cut the crap, Andy.
Andy Harris was voted for by over half of the people in his district who cast a ballot. I’m not sure what that tells you about him or the district or the voters or the opposition. As I said before, at least we don’t have Pelosi or anyone like her. Maybe next time we can get better choices nominated. I voted for him based on who was running against him. If we have similar choices the next time I will vote for him. I would like a better Republican choice and hope that he loses the primary to someone I like better.
That being said, who in the world is advising this guy?
Wendy Rosen, if I’m not mistaken, got more votes than the last minute writin-in de facto Democratic candidate for the office after she was accused of vote fraud and withdrawn from the race (but too late to come off the ballot)
I’m not sure what that tells you about either of those candidates, or the unusual circumstances, or about Democrats, but I have some hunches on what it tells me about the electorate at large.
I haven’t much faith that if a better Republican candidate made the effort people would actually notice. Besides, it’s not going to happen, because the major parities virtually ALWAYS support the incumbent candidate because they tend to win on name recognition alone. And winning is all that matters.
It’s a mess.
Winning of course, does in fact matter. If you don’t win the election you don’t have the opportunity to represent the voters. Why is that a mess?
The lesser of two evils still gets you evil
It’s a mess because, as in the scenario I gave, the party is more concerned with winning the election than finding the best person to represent the voters.
Unless Jesus himself decided to run against Harris, I don’t think the party would support any other challenger, so voters end up with Harris whether he does a good job or not, generally speaking. This is because, as others have pointed out, they voted for and would vote for Harris again over any Democratic opponent, and when Congressional districts are as heavily gerrymandered as ours are (cram all the Republicans into one), this is what happens.
Multiply this process by 400 and you end up with our Congress. A half-baked bunch of second-choice egotistical tools of party and lobby.
If you think the best people are entering the races, or being financially supported by the parties, or being elected by voters, I wouldn’t even know where to start that conversation.
So the whole thing is a mess.