Politics can be as unpredictable as the weather. And a recent vote by the Eastern Shore’s Congressman, Andy Harris, proves that point. Though Harris represents an agricultural region and chairs the ag subcommittee on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, the legislator recently voted against a federal program that protects the American food supply from the import of unapproved animal and plant materials.
As the previous Congress neared its end in late December, Harris voted No on Senate Bill 759. This measure laid the groundwork for funding of the school that trains dogs, mostly beagles, to sniff out pests and diseases on wild and agricultural items coming into the country. Because the hound has been the favorite canine worker in the program, it has been nicknamed the Beagle Brigade.
Although Harris voted No, the bill passed the House and is now law. The USDA training center for detector dogs, located near Atlanta, can rely on funding beyond user-paid fees that rise and fall erratically with the economy, as was the previous practice. In recent slumps, an association of American pork producers provided resources, according to Congressional testimony. That situation struck observers as a potential conflict of interest.
Despite strong partisanship in Congress in recent years, the beagle measure passed unanimously in the Senate and even enjoyed bi-partisan sponsorship there. No dollar figure was included nor yet forecast by the Congressional Budget Office; the bill simply said the school for detector dogs would be “permanent.” Of the 11 senators who endorsed the bill in the Senate, five were Republicans – Ernst and Grassly of Iowa, Ricketts of Nebraska, Crapi of Idaho and the new vice president of the U.S., J. D. Vance of Ohio. It was introduced by Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia.
The bill also passed easily with both parties onboard in the House (381 for, 20 opposed). Harris was one of the 20 No votes. Three messages given to Harris staff in Washington and an email, all seeking his reason for opposition, got no response over a span of a week..
Public perception of the program has been generally positive. Beagles and beagle-mixes are preferred, the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) asserts, because of ”their keen sense of smell, non-threatening size, …., and gentle disposition with the public.” The agency says it finds all animals for the brigade at shelters.
Over the course of the program’s 40 years, a total of 150,000 interceptions of illicit items have “prevent(ed) the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal disease from entering the U.S.” (CBP post entitled Agriculture Dogs.)
The actual inspections have been performed by agents of the CBP since 2003. They take place at border crossings, preclearance locations, and international passenger airports, where returning Americans are shocked to learn the pressed flowers they innocently collected and the smoked sausage in their carry-on pose threats and are not allowed. Inspections of commercial volumes of fruits and vegetables are conducted at air cargo terminals, ports, and warehouses. Even mail facilities that see heavy international business will receive visits.
From its beginnings with one dog at the Los Angeles airport in 1984, then under Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (often called Aphis for short, which still runs the training school), the Beagle Brigade has grown to about 180 teams of dog and handler, CBP reports. Though no specific mention of the program was found in reviewing Harris sources, the website andyharris.com had the following on its second page on January 22, 2025:
“It’s been my honor to represent all of you and to stand up for your needs in Washington – needs like fighting invasive species in our waterways and on our crops, but also fighting for lower prescription prices and keeping the FDA and CDC accountable.”
Linda G. Weimer
Kent County
Bob Kopec says
Harris is usually on the wrong side of what is right.
Jim Bachman says
It is how he was raised.
Charles Barranco says
Why does Handgun Harris always vote against bills that would benefit the American public, including his own constituents.
Recently a bill was introduced to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision. (WEP), which was enacted in 1983. The purpose of the bill was to limit the amount of benefits, paid out to federal employees and others with private pensions who also contributed to Social Security. However they could not receive their full benefit because of this provision.
Another provision to the Bill denied any and all benefits to a widower or widow, whose spouse had worked and contributed to Social Security, but had a private pension. The spouse earned full benefits under Social. The spouse was not eligible if he/she was a federal employee, and were covered under a private pension.
Representative Harris voted against removing the provision to benefit the other spouse who was not covered under Social Securit.
I don’t get it. Why would he vote against something that would benefit his constituents? The people affected should have been given those benefits long ago. The spouses paid into Social Security, but were denied benefits to their spouses.
It’s not “unjust enrichment”, since premiums were paid into Social Security that would entitle spouses under normal circumstances.
Joe Biden signed the bill and made it retroactive for one year. And rightly so, it was unjust from the beginning.
The question is, why does representative Harris continuously vote against the interest of his constituents as well as the rest of the country?
It’s apparent he considers Party over the best interest of people who vote for him.
James Wilson says
Maybe Harris wanted the dogs to carry guns and that feature was not in the bill. Wake up Easter Shore. The poor man has problems and needs to be replaced.
Eric Ploeg says
Its really sounds like a noble cause but with no price tag? No hint as to what we can expect to pay? I sure hope you persist in determining the reasons for Andy Harris’s NO vote. Call me crazy but with Harris’s exposure to agriculture, the outdoors and canines, could there be something in the fine print that’s not being shared.
David Lloyd says
Harris is a disaster for those of us on the Eastern Shore and in the State of Maryland. He is an idiot!!
Blair B Potter says
Thank you for this update.
Jim Franke says
Gee, I wonder why his fellow GOP State Senators nicknamed him Dr. No. You can count on this hypocrite to be consistent. He is a leader in the racist, homophobic cult controlling our government.
Deirdre LaMotte says
….and a huge part of our fascist government now. It is Harris, whose father was a Nazi, who has
made many trips to Hungry to learn the kleptocratic way of governing.
Wilson Dean says
As evidenced by its bipartisan Congressional sponsors, this is a program that has strong support across the United States in agricultural states. The fact that Harris neither supported it, nor could even bother to explain why he did not, simply highlights his role as totally useless to the Eastern Shore.
Bettye Maki says
The big question is, why do Andy Harris’ constituents keep voting for this non-caring, person again and again. After each election I again find his win unbelievable.
Janice Gnospelius says
I always ask myself the same question!
Janice gnospelius says
I have frequently asked myself this same question
Deirdre LaMotte says
Because he has an R after his name. The only thing worse for these people than a Democrat is
having their Confederate and Don’t Tred on Me flags taken away.
Jane Phelan says
Bob Kopec nailed it. Harris is the worst representative our First District has ever had. We MUST vote him out of office!
Stephen Schwarz says
Harris has fallen in with the MAGA Cult. Unless he gets direction from Commandant Trump, he does not know what to do. He, therefore, needs to make up his own mind meaning he makes the wrong decision.
So… He is wrong with MAGA and he is wrong on his own and yet, he continues to get elected.
I have never been afraid of the future of America. I have been since the presidential election of 2016.
James Siegman says
Mr. Harris regularly acts against the interests of his constituents. He has voted against actions that are designed to reduce the impacts of climate change. What I find most disturbing about Mr. Harris’s positions is that he is a climate change denier in a district that includes Dorchester County. Projections (unfortunately, I cannot recall where this study came from) suggest that as much as 50% of Dorchester County will be underwater due to sea level rise as soon as 2050. That was projected a number of years ago and is now merely 25 years away. Now, I gather that Mr. Harris is a physician and would expect that a man of such education would understand science or at least not be so quick to dismiss well founded scientific study but it seems clear that he has an agenda and likely is being funded by the industries that might be a bit less profitable if climate science had a part in future legislation.
In light of the fact that half of a county in his district is flooding, I think that the citizens of Mr. Harris’ district might want to have him answer some pointed questions about his positions. I have been to a public forum with Mr. Harris in 2017….and he flooded the zone with fluff about his accomplishments and such and left VERY little time to actually hear from the constituents present.