The House of Representatives is in session this week now that the August recess is over. Up first on its agenda is action on a budget reconciliation bill intended to permit the passage of the Biden “Human Infrastructure” bill. Congressman Harris is expected to continue his opposition to this and most other Biden administration legislation.
We already know that Andy “Handgun” Harris doesn’t like spending, Joe Biden, all other Democrats, and a host of other things he dismisses as “left-wing.” But what most of us don’t know is what he’s been up to during the August Congressional recess. I checked his official website and other news sources in the hopes of finding reports that he was doing what we all expect our Congressional representatives do—represent us. I came up empty.
Here’s what I found:
On August 24, one of the few days the House was in session in August, Harris cast a vote against the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.” The vote will help Harris maintain his stellar record with the right-wing “Heritage Act for America” group, which offers this description of the legislation Harris opposed:
H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, is yet another blatant effort by liberals to give left-wing activists new powers to undermine the integrity of our election laws. With H.R. 4, liberals will use the power of the federal government to overturn voter ID laws and prevent states from ensuring the integrity of their own elections. Essentially, the proposal hijacks the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by replacing the worthwhile goal of ending racial discrimination with the completely partisan goal of advancing liberal political candidates.
On August 27, Harris joined with fellow Republican Ralph Norman (SC) in introduce a resolution to impeach Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Harris tells us:
The Biden Administration’s handling of Afghanistan has been an unmitigated catastrophe. This preventable tragedy rests solely on the shoulders of President Biden and his Administration, and in particular the Secretary of State. We are the most powerful nation on the planet, and we must make clear to the Taliban that we will stay to get our people out as long as that takes. Secretary Blinken’s complete and utter failure of managing this avoidable catastrophe makes him unfit for leadership, and I hope my colleagues will join me in pushing for his removal.
Harris has called for President Biden to resign as well. I suspect he would have also called for the vice president to resign but may have been reluctant to issue a press release reading, “Harris calls for Harris to resign.”
On August 19, Harris attended the Dorchester County Board of Education Meeting to express his concerns with Critical Race Theory or CRT. According to the Star-Democrat, Harris called CRT a “Marxist Idea that divides the nation.” Harris told the meeting that “instead of teaching young students to be colorblind to others’ race and treating everyone similarly, critical race theory is emphasizing and basing everything on race.” Harris’ bottom line is that CRT “teaches students to hate America because it’s systemically racist.”
Earlier in the month, Harris spoke at a fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, a Republican described by Governor Hogan as a “QAnon conspiracy theorist.” Mr. Cox is a Trump loyalist, a champion of the Second Amendment, and an opponent of CRT. Harris said Cox was “a person who reminds me of myself.”
I don’t doubt Harris’ veracity on this last point. From everything known about Cox, he is out of sync with Maryland values and, in my view, human values.
Unfortunately for those of us on the Eastern Shore, Harris remains favored for reelection. The campaigns of Dave Harden and Heather Mizeur are underway. Either candidate would be a significant improvement over Andy “Handgun” Harris.
Although election day is still over a year away, the retirement of Harris, a man who broke his term limits promise, is long overdue. All should be embarrassed by a representative more loyal to Donald Trump than to his constituents, who opposes voting rights, and who spends more time fighting Critical Race Theory than climate change.
The Spy has done excellent introductory video interviews with both candidates Harden and Mizeur. You can access them by clicking on their names, above.
J.E. Dean of Oxford is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and occasionally goldendoodles.
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