ANDY HARRIS & ROSCOE BARTLETT GET A PRESS RELEASE // MD LOSES $542,000
Maryland Juice was trolling through Rep. Andy Harris' website recently, and I noticed an alarming press release. It appears that the 1st Congressional District's Tea Party member is bragging that last week he succeeded in cutting over half a million dollars from the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There's just one problem with that: NOAA is headquartered in Montgomery County, Maryland. In fact, just last December, the Montgomery County Council spent $12 million to keep NOAA in Silver Spring.
Mr. Harris was so keen to show his contempt for federal employees and the environment that he slashed money from our local economy. The computer programmers and government contractors that would've seen an additional $542,000 in economic activity will now likely see that money go elsewhere. Strangely, embattled Rep. Roscoe Bartlett voted for his Maryland GOP colleague's bill, at the same time that he is struggling to appeal to Montgomery County voters. Andy Harris' press release even brags that this was one of the few budget cuts to actually pass this month (ie: he singled out Montgomery County!):
The Washington Post recently reported on the impact of Roscoe Bartlett and Andy Harris' tragic decision (excerpt below):
Read Rep. Andy Harris bragging about cutting economic activity in Maryland below:
Washington, DC — Yesterday, the House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Andy Harris that saves hard-working taxpayers $542,000. The amendment removes a 56% increase in funding required in the President’s budget for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate website. The amendment would maintain level funding for the program. This was one of only three successful amendments to the appropriations bill now before the House that reduces spending.
“In these tough fiscal times, I believe that all government agencies have to live within their means like our hard-working American families,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “I don’t know of many Maryland families who have received a 56% increase in their incomes this year during the longest sustained period of high unemployment in our country’s history – and it’s not fair for a government agency to do so either. I will continue to serve as a watchdog against excessive government spending for the hard-working taxpayers who are entitled to know that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.”
Rep. Harris’ amendment was one of only three included in the 2013 budget for Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies.
Congressional Record 5/8/12 - Rep. Andy Harris Cuts $542K from NOAA
Maryland Juice was trolling through Rep. Andy Harris' website recently, and I noticed an alarming press release. It appears that the 1st Congressional District's Tea Party member is bragging that last week he succeeded in cutting over half a million dollars from the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There's just one problem with that: NOAA is headquartered in Montgomery County, Maryland. In fact, just last December, the Montgomery County Council spent $12 million to keep NOAA in Silver Spring.
Mr. Harris was so keen to show his contempt for federal employees and the environment that he slashed money from our local economy. The computer programmers and government contractors that would've seen an additional $542,000 in economic activity will now likely see that money go elsewhere. Strangely, embattled Rep. Roscoe Bartlett voted for his Maryland GOP colleague's bill, at the same time that he is struggling to appeal to Montgomery County voters. Andy Harris' press release even brags that this was one of the few budget cuts to actually pass this month (ie: he singled out Montgomery County!):
REP. ANDY HARRIS: This was one of only three successful amendments to the appropriations bill now before the House that reduces spending.The website for Downtown Silver Spring discusses the impact of NOAA on the local community:
NOAA's Silver Spring Metro Center campus houses offices for all of the agency's line offices, staff offices and program groups, including the NOAA National Weather Service, NOAA's National Ocean Service, NOAA Fisheries - National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA Satellites and Information, NOAA Research, NOAA Office of Program Planning and Integration, and NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. Situated in downtown Silver Spring, the four-building complex is home to 80 percent of the agency's Washington-area employees.
The Washington Post recently reported on the impact of Roscoe Bartlett and Andy Harris' tragic decision (excerpt below):
WASHINGTON POST: Of a possible $1.4 billion dollars in proposed spending cuts in the Departments of Commerce and Justice for 2013, the U.S. House Representatives voted to approve none of them. None of them except a piddly $542,000 for a NOAA climate website. The amendment was approved 219-189 Tuesday evening TheHill.com reported.
The NOAA “climate website” is Climate.gov - a portal to NOAA’s climate information.
The website - currently in a prototype stage - provides a rich set of climate information, tools, and data resources. With a little investment, it has the potential to provide tremendous benefits to decision makers. One wonders, then, why the 56 percent funding increase for this website proposed by the President was the low-hanging fruit snipped off the vine.
Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD), serving eastern Maryland, who offered the amendment, justified it as an effort to save taxpayers money.
“I don’t know of many Maryland families who have received a 56% increase in their incomes this year during the longest sustained period of high unemployment in our country’s history – and it’s not fair for a government agency to do so either,” Harris said in a press release.
But couldn’t the website provide a substantial return on the relatively trivial investment?
In 2011, the U.S. experienced 14 separate billion dollar weather disasters with more than $60 billion in damages.
One of the primary motivations for the website is to provide resources to state and local decisionmakers to assist them in making their communities more resilient to extreme weather/climate events....
Read Rep. Andy Harris bragging about cutting economic activity in Maryland below:
PRESS RELEASE
REP. ANDY HARRIS SAVES HARD-WORKING
TAXPAYERS OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS
REP. ANDY HARRIS SAVES HARD-WORKING
TAXPAYERS OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS
Washington, DC — Yesterday, the House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Andy Harris that saves hard-working taxpayers $542,000. The amendment removes a 56% increase in funding required in the President’s budget for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate website. The amendment would maintain level funding for the program. This was one of only three successful amendments to the appropriations bill now before the House that reduces spending.
“In these tough fiscal times, I believe that all government agencies have to live within their means like our hard-working American families,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “I don’t know of many Maryland families who have received a 56% increase in their incomes this year during the longest sustained period of high unemployment in our country’s history – and it’s not fair for a government agency to do so either. I will continue to serve as a watchdog against excessive government spending for the hard-working taxpayers who are entitled to know that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.”
Rep. Harris’ amendment was one of only three included in the 2013 budget for Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies.
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Read the official Congressional Record for 5/8/2012 below. You can see Rep. Andy Harris' ridiculous justification for singling out Montgomery County's NOAA budget for cuts (see center column, middle of the page). Mr. Harris found a single article on the NOAA website that he thought didn't sound like science, and he tried to use it to discredit the ENTIRE website. What an idiot. Folks, this is YOUR representative!
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