Congressman Andy Harris, who represents Maryland’s 1st district in the U.S. Congress and serves as Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, joined other House Republican leaders in urging Senate Democrats to take action to reopen the federal government.
Harris appeared alongside Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Representative Chip Roy of Texas to address the ongoing government shutdown. He criticized Senate Democrats for their handling of negotiations.
“The reason that the government remains shut down is becoming crystal clear to Americans: it’s because Senate Democrats have chosen to pander to their radical base instead of doing their jobs for the American people,” Harris said.
He added, “Senate Democrats have had the opportunity to vote 11 times for the House-passed bill that pays our troops, pays our law enforcement, and pays our air traffic controllers—and would immediately reopen the government.”
Harris also addressed policy disagreements between Republicans and Democrats. “Let’s also be honest about what the Democrats are really fighting for. They want to eliminate work requirements for able-bodied adults on welfare who could work but choose not to. And they’re defending hundreds of billions of dollars in continued corporate welfare for big, profitable health insurance companies that have already made a fortune off Obamacare—with the ‘Biden Bonuses’ Democrats scheduled to expire at the end of this year.”
He concluded by saying, “House Republicans have already done their job. The only thing standing between America and a reopened government is a handful of Senate Democrats too afraid of their activist base to do the right thing.”
Andy Harris has served in Congress since 2011 after replacing Frank Kratovil as representative for Maryland’s 1st district. Before his time in Congress, he served in both chambers of Maryland’s state legislature from 1999 through 2011. Harris was born in New York City in 1957 and currently resides in Cambridge. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1977.
For more information or media inquiries, contact Anna Adamian at Anna.A@mail.house.gov.
