Updates
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Sarbanes Joins Fight to Ensure Fair and Accurate 2020 Census
May 31, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today co-sponsored the Fair and Accurate Census Act, a bill to ensure a full and correct count as the U.S. Census Bureau conducts the 2020 Census amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Sarbanes Statement on the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd
May 31, 2020
The brutal killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd have left me despondent, but also determined. Despondent and deeply angry that America cannot rid itself of the disease of racism and violence, and that police and prosecutors too often inflict pain on communities rather than protecting them. But determined not to let this moment pass without an uncompromising demand for justice on behalf of the victims’ families. I support House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler’s urgent request to the U.S.
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In the News: $8M federal grant to help reduce bottlenecks for Baltimore train commuters
May 28, 2020
$8M federal grant to help reduce bottlenecks for Baltimore train commuters
Ethan McLeod, Baltimore Business JournalA project to increase speeds for Amtrak and MARC trains currently slowed by aging rail infrastructure in Baltimore is getting a boost from an $8 million Federal Railroad Administration grant.
The money, announced Wednesday by the agency, will help to rehabilitate and upgrade a five-mile section of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and allow trains to travel 50% faster, up from 60 mph to 90 mph. The improvements will take place between the north end of West Baltimore Station to Winans at the southern end of Halethorpe station, which serves both MARC and Amtrak trains.
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Sarbanes, Maryland Congressional Delegation Press Governor Hogan to Address COVID-19 Racial Disparities and Expand Testing
May 24, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Maryland Congressional Delegation today urged Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to use race and ethnic data to develop a plan to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color in Maryland.
The Members also asked the Governor to lay out his plans to expand testing throughout Maryland, especially by tapping community-based organizations.
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Sarbanes, Maryland Congressional Delegation Announce $876 Million in Federal Funding to Support WMATA During COVID-19 Crisis
May 23, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Maryland Congressional Delegation today announced $876 million in federal funding for the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA), including $41.1 million for local transit providers in Montgomery and Prince George’s County.
Funding comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
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Sarbanes, Maryland Congressional Delegation Announce More Than $9 Million in COVID-19 Public Housing Relief
May 22, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Maryland Congressional Delegation today announced $9,043,232 in COVID-19 relief for tenant-based housing voucher recipients in Maryland through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Funding comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act, which provided $1.25 billion nationwide for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance to support the Housing Choice Voucher program. This includes:
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In the News: Rep. Sarbanes says Bright testimony ‘adds up to one inescapable conclusion: It didn’t have to be this way.’
May 22, 2020
Rep. Sarbanes says Bright testimony ‘adds up to one inescapable conclusion: It didn’t have to be this way.’
John Wagner, Felicia Sonmez, Kim Bellware, Mark Berman, Adam Taylor, Steven Goff, Kareem Copeland, Michael Brice-Saddler, Teo Armus and Antonia Noori Farzan, The Washington PostRep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) asked Richard Bright when he knew with certainly there was a problem with the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic:
“Tell me about just one specific moment when you had that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach because you were not seeing the response you knew needed to happen,” Sarbanes asked at Thursday’s House subcommittee hearing.
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Sarbanes, Maryland Congressional Delegation Announce $25 Million to Help Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Live Independently
May 19, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Maryland Congressional Delegation today announced $25,212,690 in federal funding to help make home and community-based services more accessible for seniors, individuals with disabilities and people with chronic illnesses.
This new federal funding was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. It will help older Marylanders, people with disabilities and individuals with chronic illnesses to live independently and receive care in their homes, rather than relying on institutional-based services.
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Sarbanes Votes for Bold New Round of COVID-19 Relief for American Families, Small Businesses, Hospitals, Health Care Workers and State and Local Governments
May 19, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today voted to pass the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800), a critical relief package to address the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency and provide desperately needed support for American families, essential workers, small businesses, hospitals, health care providers and state and local governments.
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In the News: Voter guide: John Sarbanes, Congress, District 3
May 18, 2020
Voter guide: John Sarbanes, Congress, District 3
The Baltimore SunWhy are you running for office?
I am running, as always, to serve the needs of my constituents. In this moment, that means being a steady and trusted voice as we navigate the ferocious challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. On the policy front, I will bring my background in the health field – seventeen years representing health care providers in Maryland – to inform our deliberations in Congress on how to address this public health crisis. Along side the full-court press on public health, I will continue my work to strengthen our democracy by ending the influence of big money in politics, protecting the right to vote and ensuring that public officials work for the public interest. To make progress on the most pressing issues we face – including designing a health care system that serves everyone -- we need a government that responds to the many, not the money.
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Sarbanes, Baltimore Congressional Delegation Announce More Than $162,000 for COVID-19 Research at Johns Hopkins University
May 18, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Baltimore Congressional Delegation today announced $162,283 in federal funding for Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to conduct research into the replication process of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
This research will advance efforts to design effective therapies while guarding against the possibility of drug resistance through viral mutation. The funding was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
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In the News: Rep. Sarbanes proposes help amid coronavirus crisis
May 17, 2020
Rep. Sarbanes proposes help amid coronavirus crisis
Jason Newton, WBAL-TV (NBC)Our economy has taken a historic hit because of the coronavirus crisis, and leaders are working to keep Americans safe and help them get back on their feet. Maryland U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, District 3, shares what he has proposed in Congress.
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Sarbanes, Maryland Congressional Delegation Announce $205 Million to Expand Statewide Testing Capacity
May 17, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Maryland Congressional Delegation today announced $205,723,600 to increase Maryland’s COVID-19 testing capacity.
Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was authorized through the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. This new federal funding follows a recent announcement of nearly $7 million to help Maryland’s Community Health Centers increase COVID-19 testing.
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Maryland Congressional Delegation Announces $4.1 Million in COVID-19 Relief for State Fishing Industry
May 16, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and the Maryland Congressional Delegation today announced $4,125,118 for Maryland’s fishing industry through the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
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Sarbanes, Baltimore Congressional Delegation Announce $4.2 Million to Reduce Crime and Improve Public Safety in Baltimore City
May 16, 2020
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today joined U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, along with Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger and Kweisi Mfume (all D-Md.), to announce $4,258,843 in new federal funding to reduce crime and improve public safety in Baltimore City.
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Sarbanes, Blumenthal, Warren, Coons, Jayapal, Unveil Coronavirus Oversight and Recovery Ethics (CORE) Act
May 16, 2020
Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) today introduced a discussion draft of the Coronavirus Oversight and Recovery Ethics Act (CORE Act), a bill to ensure stronger oversight, accountability and transparency in the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Sarbanes Leads Bicameral Push Urging Bay States, D.C. to Uphold Chesapeake Bay Environmental Protections as EPA Abandons Enforcement
May 15, 2020
Today, Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force Co-Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led 15 Members of Congress in urging Bay Watershed Governors Larry Hogan (R-Md.), Tom Wolf (D-Penn.), John Carney (D-Del.), Ralph Northam (D-Va.) and Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), along with Mayor Muriel Bowser (D-D.C.), to maintain rigorous environmental standards to reduce pollution and protect the health of the Chesapeake Bay, despite the Trump Administration’s decision to relax enforcement of these standards.
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In the News: Rick Bright and the Pandemic Path Not Taken
May 15, 2020
Rick Bright and the Pandemic Path Not Taken
Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New YorkerMany Americans are replaying, in their minds, the steps they have taken and the choices they have made with regard to the coronavirus crisis, but perhaps few with such tragic force as Rick Bright, who testified in a House hearing on Thursday. Bright, who in April was transferred from his position as the head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, had caused a “commotion,” as one colleague put it, by urging more action at pandemic-planning meetings as far back as January and February. At the hearing, Representative John Sarbanes, a Democrat of Maryland, who had a pewter-gray mask around his neck—the members lowered their masks when speaking or, in some cases, when seated—asked Bright to return to that period. “I am sure that there are specific conversations, e-mails, moments in time that you remember like they happened yesterday,” Sarbanes said. Could he recall any particularly haunting ones that had caused a “sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach?”
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In the News: ‘Lives Were Lost’ as Warnings Went Unheeded, Whistle-Blower Tells House
May 14, 2020
Lives Were Lost’ as Warnings Went Unheeded, Whistle-Blower Tells House
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York TimesThe whistle-blower who was ousted as the head of a federal medical research agency charged on Thursday that top Trump administration officials failed to heed his early warnings to stock up on masks and other supplies to combat the coronavirus, and that Americans died as a result.... Democrats painted Dr. Bright as a prescient man of courage. “It all adds up to one inescapable conclusion: It didn’t have to be this way,” said Representative John Sarbanes, Democrat of Maryland. “Things are upside down. In you we have someone who made the right call in the early days, who has been removed from your position, when so many people who made the wrong call still have their jobs.”
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In the News: Republicans and Democrats barrel toward collision on voting by mail
May 13, 2020
Republicans and Democrats barrel toward collision on voting by mail
Zach Montellaro, POLITICOAmericans want to be able to vote by mail in November — but Democratic proposals to require it appear to be going nowhere fast in Congress.... Democrats argue that the public widely supports their proposals — and that the election security grant funding mechanism included in the HEROES Act is of critical importance. “On balance, [voters] think voting by mail is a good idea, and that we ought to expand that opportunity. They also, based on preference or access or other factors, want to make sure that there’s going to be some meaningful in-person voting opportunities,” said Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), who helped shepherd H.R. 1 through the House last year. Sarbanes and other Democrats also said all forms of voting need to be available in November. Those include "expanded vote by mail, significant early voting opportunities, and then safe in-person voting opportunities on Election Day," he said. "We need all three of those things.”