I have proudly earned the endorsement of the following organizations:

AFL-CIO
Central Baltimore County Democratic Club
Riverside Democratic Club
New 7^th Democratic Club
Battle Grove Democratic Club
Sierra Club
Marine Trades Council
City Paper
AFSCME Council 67

Thanks for your support. Stay tuned for more!

Today, I joined with a growing number of my colleagues in Congress in signing a pledge to end the corporate takeover of federal election campaigns. As a long-time supporter of public campaign financing and as an original co-sponsor of the “Fair Elections Now Act,” I believe this pledge is not only what my constituents want, but what our country needs to be a truly representative democracy.

Our elections should be determined by the voters, not by big companies and lobbyists. The “Fight Washington Corruption Pledge” calls for a Constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court “Citizens United” ruling allowing unlimited corporate donations. It calls for passage of the “Fair Elections Now Act,” which I have sponsored in the House of Representatives. It provides public financing for candidates who are supported by many small donors so they can compete with corporate-backed and self-funded candidates. It also calls for significant lobbying reforms.

I ran for office because I want to help people. That’s why I have made constituent service my primary focus. My office has assisted about 300 families struggling to avoid foreclosure and helped 500 veterans access the benefits they are entitled to. I’ve assisted more than 2,200 seniors with Medicare and Social Security issues and, recently, more than 550 Marylanders with employment issues. We work long hours and I have taken my small but dedicated staff of caseworks on the road to reach out to constituents who can’t make it to the office during regular work hours. 

I am proud of my efforts to help Maryland families, especially during these difficult times. They are why I am in office and why I have signed on to this pledge to make our government truly reflective of their values and needs.

There was great news for Maryland this week. Our schools are now eligible for $250 million in federal funds, about half of which will go directly to the school districts to recruit and train high-quality teachers and close achievement gaps among students. The funding was part of the second round of the “Race for the Top” grant competition, which, in turn, was part of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” initiative. I voted in favor of the bill in Congress and wrote a letter in support of our state educators’ application for the grant in May.

 The competition was fiercely competitive. Maryland was one of 35 states and the District of Columbia to submit an application for the competition’s second round and 10 to receive funding. I want to congratulate all of our educators who worked so hard on the application.

I fully support this program. It puts a premium on linking student achievement data to individual teachers and principals and turning around low-performing schools. Maryland had to submit an aggressive plan to turn around chronically low-performing schools, create new student assessments and redesign pay scales so that teacher tenure and compensation is based on academic progress. The program also emphasizes designing new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know how critical I think STEM initiatives are. Maryland is on the receiving end of tens of thousands of high-paying technology-based jobs over the next decade, and we must prepare our students to take advantage of these opportunities. Education is not an expense. It’s an investment. I am excited about this plan for Maryland schools and think it’s the right thing to do to enable our children to compete in the 21^st century job market and help get our economy back on track.

I have always said that securing our borders is the most important thing we can do to address issues with illegal immigration. I was pleased that Congress recently passed legislation to fight ruthless drug cartels and illegal immigration. This legislation is a first step toward fixing our broken immigration system – a system that has recently forced our border states to take matters into their own hands. 

The $600 million border security bill funds about 1,500 new border patrol agents as well as two new unmanned aerial drones to monitor the border. It also includes funding to expand the presence of the U.S. Marshals in Mexico. The bill is paid for by increasing visa fees on foreign companies that bring their workers into the U.S.

I was part of a bipartisan coalition that sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi earlier this year, demanding that House leadership find funding to beef up border security in supplemental appropriations legislation. When it comes to protecting American citizens, we can’t afford to play politics.

My record is clear on immigration. I have supported the fence and introduced my own bill to add 10,000 new border patrol agents. I support targeting employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants at the expense of American workers. I also support the government verification system known as e-Verify and expanding programs to find and deport illegal immigrants in our already over-crowded jails. I believe these are all components of a fix that I look forward to working on in the coming months.

Finally, as a former prosecutor who battled drug trafficking and violent crimes in Baltimore County, I have always supported the needs of local law enforcement. If law enforcement in border states such as Arizona decide they need their own immigration laws to maintain safety and order, I support their right to defend themselves.

Maryland’s Second District probably has more technology jobs headed its way over the next decade than in California’s Silicon Valley with our concentration of government agencies, universities, defense contractors and other technology firms. For example, the region is gaining about 60,000 high-quality, high-paying jobs through the closure of military bases elsewhere in the country and Fort Meade was recently picked to be the home of the new federal Cyber Command, bringing thousands more jobs to our region.

However, we have to have the workforce in place to benefit from these technical jobs. Unfortunately, the United States is falling behind on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. According to the National Science Foundation, China awarded more than 440,000 degrees in engineering last year compared to only 65,000 here in the United States.  In many technical fields, more than half the degrees are awarded to students who are in the United States on temporary visas. 

Speaking locally, we need to make sure our best and brightest students here in Maryland stay here in Maryland. The top 10 percent of students leave Maryland after high school. We need to figure out why and strategize ways to retain them and build the workforce we need.

I am working hard to make sure we are building the right education programs to meet these needs.  We need to develop innovative teaching methods, beginning in kindergarten, to get kids interested in math and science.  By the time they finish middle school, students should already have many of the skills that form the basis of the math and science they will learn in high school. 

Anne Arundel County is on the cutting edge. The Ft. Meade Alliance is working on a STEM incubator program with Anne Arundel County, which would allow kids to develop an aptitude for technology in an after-schools program. We laid the groundwork several years ago for preparing our students from Harford County for the technical jobs that will be available to them by establishing the Aberdeen Math & Science Academy and the Joppatowne Homeland Security program.

We need to expand these efforts nationally. I have an idea for a regional – and I hope, eventually, national – STEM initiative that will launch near Ft. Meade. There are a lot of great business opportunities headed our way, and we need to really roll up our sleeves and focus on how we can provide students with the best education possible to prepare them for it. This will continue to be a top priority of mine in Congress.

Earlier this week, the House reconvened to consider the “Education, Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act.” I know there was a lot of misinformation out there about this bill, but the bottom line is that this legislation provides state aid that will create and save nearly 320,000 jobs for teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses. About 2,500 of those jobs are here in Maryland. More than half of these jobs will be in the private sector.

In this tough economy, creating and preserving jobs is my number one priority. This bill does that and will be completely paid for by closing tax loopholes that encourage big corporations from sending jobs overseas and cutting spending elsewhere. In the long-term, it could even reduce the federal deficit.

Earlier this year, 42 governors (from both sides of the aisle) wrote to Congress asking for this help. States are hurting. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2010, states cut spending by nearly 11 percent. Failure to pass this bill would force states to lay off more workers, cut more services and even raise taxes to balance their budgets. This would further slow our economy.

Last month, I urged Senate leaders to follow the House’s lead and pass a desperately-needed extension of unemployment benefits for jobless Marylanders. Economists agree that extending this emergency aid is the most immediate and cost-effective thing Congress can do to stimulate the economy. In fact, research shows that every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generate more than $1.60 in new economic growth because nearly all of it is spent – and spent quickly – on basic necessities. Previous extensions have contributed $1.3 billion to Maryland’s economy.

The economy is still improving, but millions of Americans are still searching for work. Aside from legislation, I will continue to do everything I can to help Maryland rebound from this recession. My office recently held a seminar for small business owners and entrepreneurs on how they can grow even during these tough times. We’ve also had several successful job fairs, and more are planned in the future. To check out local job fairs in the Baltimore area and for information on government job opportunities, please visit the new jobs page on my official Congressional website.

Believe it or not, the 2010 elections are just months away. I am proud to announce that I am seeking re-election so that I can continue making real change on issues critical to Maryland’s Second District and our nation.

In Congress, I sit on the Intelligence Committee and the Appropriations Committee. As an Appropriator, I have worked hard to ensure that Maryland gets its fair share of our hard-earned tax dollars. This has been particularly true as we prepare for a major influx of jobs headed our way as they are shifted to Fort Meade and Aberdeen from other military bases closing elsewhere in the country. With my help, Fort Meade was also selected to be the home of the new federal Cyber Command, bringing even more high-quality, high-paying jobs to our region. I have worked hard to make sure we have the infrastructure necessary to support these new jobs while protecting the quality of life for existing residences. We’ve upgraded our roads, improved mass transit options, expanded schools and hospitals and increased support for first responders. My number one priority will continue to be the creation and preservation of jobs.

On the Intelligence Committee, I oversee the nation’s intelligence gathering agencies like the CIA, FBI and NSA, which is located in my district. I’ve traveled to nearly 50 countries, including terrorism hot spots like Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, to meet with our troops and intelligence agents on the frontlines to make sure they have what they need to protect the warfighter. I chair an important subcommittee known as Technical and Tactical, which oversees space exploration, satellites and the technical aspects of the next major threat to our nation: cybersecurity. These areas are not only critical to our national security, but represent economic potential for our region, which is home to many federal agencies and defense contractors. I am proud to be leading the effort on both sides.

I encourage you to check out my new website, http://www.dutchforcongress.com, where you will find many ways to get involved in my campaign if you’d like.  I will use the site and this blog to keep you posted on campaign and legislative news while letting you know why I want to continue my service to the residents of Maryland’s 2^nd District.