As a resident of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, I am deeply troubled by U.S. Rep. Andy Harris’s allegiance to President Donald Trump and his illegal agenda. Instead of standing up for the people he was elected to serve, Harris defends Trump’s authoritarian power grabs, breathtaking corruption and hostility to ordinary Americans (“Harris splits with Moore over FEMA aid as Congress weighs in on Bay plan and AGs defend James,” Sept. 13).
Meanwhile, our communities face a health care crisis. Shore Regional Health has cut services in Chestertown and Dorchester County, forcing families to travel more than an hour for maternity or emergency care. Easton’s Memorial Hospital has closed its obstetrics unit, leaving expectant mothers scrambling for options. Veterans on the Shore face an even graver crisis: With no full-service VA hospital in the region, they travel hours or endure dangerous delays for basic care. Rural Marylanders deserve a representative who fights for health care — not one who works to destroy it.
At the same time, Harris is silent as Trump guts the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and strips protections from the Chesapeake Bay — the crown jewel of our Shore and lifeblood of our economy. He has abandoned watermen, left to compete against tariff-free crabmeat from abroad — unless you’re one of a handful of catfish operations that have collected over $10 million in subsidies since 2020.
Priced out of health care, stripped of safety nets and represented by a phony budget hawk who backs Trump’s tax law — legislation projected by the Congressional Budget Office to add more than $3 trillion to the deficit — how are working people supposed to live? Or does Harris want us gutted?
— Erin R. Flanagan, Ewell