The son of immigrants who fled communist Eastern Europe immediately after World War II, Dr. Andy Harris was as a physician at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, a medical officer in the Naval Reserve, and a state senator before coming to Congress.
Born in Brooklyn in 1957, he studied medicine at Hopkins, where he continued to practice as an anesthesiologist for nearly three decades. Andy specialized in obstetric anesthesiology.
In 1988, Andy answered a recruitment call to fill a critical need for anesthesiologists in the Naval Reserve during the Reagan administration. He went on to establish and command The Johns Hopkins Medical Naval Reserve Unit. In 1990, his unit was called up to active duty in order to assist with Operation Desert Shield (and later Operation Desert Storm) at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Harris attained the rank of Commander (O-5) before leaving the Reserves after seventeen years.
As a veteran, I fully understand the commitment and sacrifice each serviceman and servicewoman makes for our great nation. Our veterans are heroes and deserve our respect and gratitude. However, for many veterans coming home, it is a difficult and painful transition – especially dealing with the VA bureaucracy.
We must keep our promise to those who answered our nation's call by ensuring they have access to the highest quality health care. The VA must be held accountable for failures in the Veterans Health Administration, which must be reformed to improve wait times and quality of care. Regardless of when they served, I believe that every soldier, sailor, Marine, and airman always receive our utmost attention. We need to keep our promise to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as our POWs and MIAs.
America depends on our farms for food, clothing, and thousands of jobs. They are small family businesses that make up the economic and cultural backbone of Maryland's First Congressional District. As a Senator in the Maryland General Assembly, I helped promote and protect Maryland agriculture and poultry. I continue to do the same in the halls of Congress.
Farmers must be protected from unnecessary and harmful federal regulations that could hurt their ability to grow and create jobs. The estate tax must be eliminated because families should be able to pass farms down to the next generation without penalty. Private property rights have to be upheld – farmers should not be subjected to harmful land use laws that devalue their property and make it more difficult to do business.
The primary duty of our government is to protect the American people from all enemies, foreign and domestic. In the era of global terrorism and nuclear weaponry, strengthening our military and intelligence communities is the key to ensuring our nation's safety. As a veteran, I value the hard work and sacrifices our servicemen and women make to protect our country, but I also understand that the use of military force is not something that should be taken lightly.
The safety of Americans should be our government's top priority, and as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I believe Congress is obligated to provide our military with all of the tools they need to protect the American people.
We should not be satisfied with the historically low economic growth rate of the past decade. After years of soaring unemployment rates, runaway government spending, and a regulatory environment that is hostile to job creators, our economy is finally starting to recover. This recovery has been made possible by Congress working with President Trump to repeal burdensome regulations placed on employers by the previous administration. Government spending and regulation will not lead us to prosperity – only a vibrant private sector will.
Reforming the U.S. tax code is another key component to building economic momentum and growing our workforce. The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and this tax rate is driving American companies to send their manufacturing and customer service jobs abroad. Lowering the corporate tax rate will keep large businesses from sending jobs overseas, and a simpler tax code would allow small businesses to save money and grow.
Every child should have access to a quality education, whether they are educated in a public school, private school, or at home. The best way to provide children with quality education is to have local governments determine the best curricula for their students, not through federal micromanagement. Education is not a "one size fits all" issue, and that has been the federal government's approach for too long. Education serves to prepare our students for the 21st century job market – but the job market on the Eastern Shore is different from the job market in Baltimore City, and public schools should have the freedom to tailor their curricula to the specific and unique needs of their communities.
Unfortunately, despite huge investments, not every public school is equal. Children should not be subjected to a poor-quality education because of their home address, which is why I am a strong proponent of school choice. Charter schools in Maryland have empowered parents to seek out a better education for their children, and voucher programs would enable low-income families to enroll their students in private schools if the local public school system is failing them.
Growing up, I was taught that you should always try to leave a place better than the way you found it – and that's my philosophy when it comes to the environment. The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure that must be preserved for future generations to enjoy. My kids swim in it, our family catches crabs and rockfish out of it, and its economic impact on the Maryland's First Congressional District is immeasurable.
Watermen, oystermen, crabbers, farmers, hunters, restaurants, and the tourism industry depend on a healthy, clean Chesapeake Bay for their livelihood. I am committed to commonsense, multi-state solutions that protect the Bay and its precious waterways. In order to make meaningful progress, we need to make sure that all of the stakeholders have a seat at the table, and that everyone has a voice in repairing our beautiful estuary. If we don't receive "buy-in" from all active partners, we can never achieve the goal of a robust environment that our children will be able to appreciate. This does mean that other upstream states whose waters flow into the Bay must also do their part, and the federal government is a logical choice to make sure that happens.
As a physician, I am keenly aware of the challenges that all Americans face when it comes to health care. The previous president's health care law only made things worse – the cost of insurance has gone up along with healthcare costs, while the quality of care and choice of providers has gone down, especially for our seniors.
I believe people with preexisting medical conditions should retain access to insurance. However, real reforms are necessary to make quality health care coverage more affordable and accessible. Tort reform will do away with frivolous lawsuits and reduce health care costs for everyone. Everyone should be able to purchase insurance across state lines – competition always provides the best possible product at the lowest possible price. And finally, we must preserve and strengthen the doctor-patient relationship. Physicians, not government bureaucrats, should provide guidance on medical decisions that affect you and your family.
As the child of immigrants, I recognize that legal immigrants have always been important to America. However, porous borders and inefficient bureaucrats enable undocumented aliens to enter our country illegally and even legal temporary visa holders to overstay their visas. Illegal immigration undermines the American workforce and creates real national security risks for the United States.
Securing our border is the first step to ending illegal immigration into the United States, and can be accomplished through increasing and empowering our border patrol, using advanced technology, and building physical barriers where necessary. Maintaining a secure border also requires better tracking of immigrants' visas to cut down on the number of visa overstays.
As a physician and Member of Congress, many of my constituents have contacted me with concerns about COVID-19, more commonly referred to as the Coronavirus. More information can be found below on the government wide response.
On April 23, 2020, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 266 the Payroll Protection Program Increase and Health Care Enhancement Act. This legislative package was crafted to further support small businesses and the healthcare sector. Below are the bill’s major provisions, as well as an update on direct stimulus payments:
Small Business Loans: H.R. 266 adds another $310 billion worth of funding for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program after its funding was depleted in mid-April. $60 million of this funding will be set aside for small lenders in an effort to serve businesses in underbanked communities. More information on this program can be found in the following link:
H.R. 266 provides another $50 billion for SBA’s disaster loan programs and another $10 billion for the Emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) grant program. This bill also expands access to the EIDL program to small farms. More information on EIDL loans be found in the link below:
Hospitals and Test Funding: H.R. 266 provides $75 billion worth of funding for the Department of Health and Human Services' Public Health Social Services Emergency Fund. These funds will be used to help hospitals and healthcare facilities treat coronavirus patients. H.R. 266 also provides $25 billion in funding for coronavirus testing and testing research. These funds will be split between the states and the federal government to help develop and produce more coronavirus tests.
Update on Individual Rebate Payments:
As you may know, the CARES Act included a provision for individual rebate payments to those who qualify. For most Americans, including Social Security recipients, no action on their part will be required to receive a payment since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will use their 2019 tax filing, or their 2018 tax filing if they haven’t filed for 2019, to determine their eligibility. More information on eligibility can be found in the link below:
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment-frequently-asked-questions#elig
If an individual has provided direct deposit information to the IRS, their payment will be deposited automatically. If not, the IRS will mail a check to the address used on their last tax return. Direct deposit payments have already started, and they are projected to be completed by the end of April. It is predicted that mailed rebate checks will be sent throughout the month of May. It is important to note that these payments will not be taxed.
If you have not filed your 2018 or 2019 taxes, the best way to ensure you receive a recovery rebate is to file a 2019 tax return. This can be accomplished for free, online, using the IRS Free File program (https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free). The IRS has announced that Social Security beneficiaries, who are not typically required to file tax returns, will not need to file an abbreviated tax return in order to receive a payment. The IRS is also working on a web-based portal where taxpayers can update their direct deposit information and check the status of their rebate. More information on this can be found in the following link: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment.
Additionally, more detailed information on travel advisories, state level actions, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, assistance to small businesses, unemployment assistance, and restrictions on foreign entry, can be found at the links below: