Andy Harris

We are all accustomed to hypocritical politicians but state Sen. Andy Harris's comment about the proposed Ground Zero mosque ".....that does not mean you should practice your religion without a sense of respect for others" - truly takes the cake. Over the years Mr. Harris devoted a great deal of energy in Annapolis to trying to legislate the imposition of his religious beliefs, particularly his opposition to reproductive rights, on all of the rest of us. Vote Kratovil. Monica Brandes, Towson

A study suggesting that the sophistication of congressional floor speeches has declined by a full grade level since 2005 ranks Reps. Chris Van Hollen and John Sarbanes as the most eloquent -- or verbose, depending on perspective -- members of Maryland's delegation to Washington. Van Hollen's speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives have been delivered at a 12.6 grade level during the course of his five terms, according to a Sunlight Foundation report released Monday.

Rep. Andy Harris' off-handed insults aimed at President Obama in the Sun story "Illegal migrants hope for reprieve" (Nov. 19) reveal his blatant contempt for the president of the United States. Unfortunately, they say more about Mr. Harris' lack of respect for the nation's highest office than about immigration or about President Obama. Regardless of anyone's opinions on immigration, Mr. Harris' quoted remark that "If the president doesn't like the current law, he should have come back early from his vacation in the tropics and worked with Congress to change it, not doing yet another unconstitutional end run around our immigration law," was gratuitously nasty, false and ridiculous.

Updated with comments from Harris and Bartlett. In a rare intra-delegation, across-the-aisle nudge, Sen.Barbara A. Mikulskion Tuesday called on the state's two Republican lawmakers in Washington to support a Senate version of an overhaul of theU.S. Postal Servicethat would save a pair of mail sorting facilities that just happen to be located in the lawmakers' districts. The move instantly put Republican Reps. Andy Harris and Roscoe Bartlett on defense, forcing them to either support the bipartisan Senate version of the postal legislation -- which is not popular with Republican House leaders -- or acknowledge that the Postal Service must be allowed to trim costs and close plants, even if the cuts are made in their own districts.

Rep.-elect Andy Harris perhaps thought in his recent private orientation session that it is important to ask the right questions (why must he wait a month for his new health coverage to start?). I personally resent the clever rush of Washington reporters to report on the irony of the question asked given the fact that it was not asked at a public event. Nevertheless, on behalf of those of us who are accustomed to the intricacies of COBRA and economy-strapped employers - who try every trick in the book to delay the costs associated with health benefits, I can only hope that Dr. Harris takes his experience as a call to action.

Frankly, I was shocked that Andy Harris was elected to Congress, and I suspect that he was financed by some very powerful corporations. I am in his Congressional district now and am in his former Senatorial district. I happened to catch his "act" at Senate hearings two years ago and was appalled at his arrogant and disrespectful behavior to those in attendance including Department of Natural Resources personnel, three of his constituents and his peers. He is now just showing his true colors — a man driven by a powerful ego. With that and his miserable environmental record, we are in big trouble in the 1st District.

Last November, the American people sent a clear message to Washington: Government cannot solve all of our problems, and in order to get the economy moving again we must head in a new direction. I am humbled that the citizens of the 1st Congressional District overwhelmingly selected me to join 95 other new members on Capitol Hill to right the ship on jobs, to fix the deficit and to hold President Barack Obama accountable on the expansion of government. On our very first day, we adopted new House rules for the 112th Congress.

Some may remember Republican U.S House candidate Andy Harris' fliers excoriating his Democratic opponent, Rep. Frank Kratovil, for voting to fund research into fruit fly and ant life processes. Well, the other day the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to two doctors for discovering we have two immune systems - a basic system that reacts immediately and another one that learns to protect us against new viruses. And it all came out of research using fruit flies and ants. Yet Congressman Harris is a physician who claims to support life.

A study suggesting that the sophistication of congressional floor speeches has declined by a full grade level since 2005 ranks Reps. Chris Van Hollen and John Sarbanes as the most eloquent -- or verbose, depending on perspective -- members of Maryland's delegation to Washington. Van Hollen's speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives have been delivered at a 12.6 grade level during the course of his five terms, according to a Sunlight Foundation report released Monday.

Frank M. Kratovil Jr., Democrat Andy Harris, Republican Richard James Davis, Libertarian

On March 23, people across the nation rallied to protest show the rule forcing religious institutions to provide employee health care insurance covering contraceptives, sterilization and abortifacient drugs. In Baltimore, Rep. Andy Harris and former ambassador Alan Keyes spoke to a crowd of several hundred people, and I attended a rally in Ellicott City where I estimated about 150 people were present. There were two other rallies in Maryland. Yet The Sun gave these gatherings no coverage at all. Why not?

Rep. Andy Harris' off-handed insults aimed at President Obama in the Sun story "Illegal migrants hope for reprieve" (Nov. 19) reveal his blatant contempt for the president of the United States. Unfortunately, they say more about Mr. Harris' lack of respect for the nation's highest office than about immigration or about President Obama. Regardless of anyone's opinions on immigration, Mr. Harris' quoted remark that "If the president doesn't like the current law, he should have come back early from his vacation in the tropics and worked with Congress to change it, not doing yet another unconstitutional end run around our immigration law," was gratuitously nasty, false and ridiculous.

Some may remember Republican U.S House candidate Andy Harris' fliers excoriating his Democratic opponent, Rep. Frank Kratovil, for voting to fund research into fruit fly and ant life processes. Well, the other day the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to two doctors for discovering we have two immune systems - a basic system that reacts immediately and another one that learns to protect us against new viruses. And it all came out of research using fruit flies and ants. Yet Congressman Harris is a physician who claims to support life.

With last-minute support from Maryland's Republicans, the House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill Friday to raise the nation's debt ceiling, but the high-stakes hunt for a bipartisan plan that could pass both chambers of Congress was set to continue into the weekend. With just days remaining before Tuesday's deadline to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit, the deficit-reduction plan championed by House Speaker John Boehner advanced with only Republican votes — and was quickly rebuffed by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The recent headline about Andy Harris and the Clean Water Act quickly caught my eye ("No defender of the bay," July 18). It has been quite clear since Mr. Harris first entered politics the liberal gang at The Sun has set out to destroy him. Strangely, when you arrive at the gates to heaven, "the ends justified the means," isn't likely to impress St. Peter. At no point do you say it, but may I infer you imply that unlike the federal government, the state governments have no interest in clean water?

Water has a tendency to flow downhill. This has been known for quite some time - to the point one might have assumed word had penetrated the hallowed halls of the U.S. House of Representatives by now. Alas, it appears not. Last Wednesday, the House voted, 239-184, to rewrite the Clean Water Act to limit federal authority and give the states the final word on interpreting and enforcing water pollution laws. Even more stupefying, one of those voting for this misguided effort represents a district with perhaps the most to gain from stringent enforcement of the Clean Water Act - Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland's 1 s t Congressional District.

The attack ad that Frank Kratovil is running against Andy Harris is exactly that — an attack. Mr. Kratovil claims Mr. Harris wants to raise the sales tax by 23 percent. Not only is that untrue, it does not even make sense. Andy Harris has a proven record of fiscal conservatism. He promised to never raise taxes while in the state Senate, and he stuck to his word. It only took two days after the primary for Mr. Kratovil to start spreading lies about Andy Harris. Mr. Kratovil is obviously scared of losing his job, and the only way he knows to defend himself is by playing crooked political games.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the veteran Democrat, tells me that some of the 87 Republican freshmen in the House of Representatives fear they may face 2012 primary challengers "even more conservative than they are. " That's why they're pushing for more cuts in spending on social and environmental programs, Mr. Cummings said. Meanwhile, Maryland's contribution to the GOP freshman class, Andy Harris, tells Nicole Gaudiano of Gannett's Washington bureau that he's considering joining the Tea Party Caucus, led by the amazing Michele "The founding fathers fought tirelessly to end slavery" Bachmann.

Does Congressman Andy Harris (District 1) really want to hear from all of his constituents? Apparently not, based on my experience with his most recent virtual town meeting held the morning of March 23. To participate in this town meeting, one had to receive a robocall invitation. I thought it was odd that I, as a registered Democrat, received this invitation half-way through the meeting and too late to have my question answered. At the end of the meeting, participants were invited to leave their names and email addresses in order to ask the questions that were not heard on the call.