Whether he is on Capitol Hill or at home in the 3rd Congressional District he represents, U.S. House of Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Pearl, said he focuses on the needs of others who need a little help along the way.

Harper is running for a fifth term when voters go to the polls on Nov. 8. Mississippi’s Third Congressional District stretches from Wilkinson County in southwest Mississippi to Oktibbeha County and includes the northeast corner of Jackson and the I-20 corridor into east central Mississippi.

Harper is running against Dennis C. Quinn, D-Magnolia, who previously ran for Gov., Veterans Party of America candidate Roger I. Garrard and Reform Party candidate Lajena Sheets. 

In the House, Harper serves on the influential House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he is a member of three subcommittees: Environment and the Economy; Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade; and Energy and Power. He serves as the vice-chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy. Harper was also appointed by the Speaker to sit on three select committees:  the Committee on House Administration; the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, where he serves as vice-chairman; and the Joint Committee on Printing, where he serves as chairman.

Asked about accomplishments, Harper mentioned first starting an internship program for students with intellectual disabilities to work on Capitol Hill. Students are selected from Marion County School District’s Special Needs Program.

“It is a remarkable program that gives these students a great opportunity to learn some skills and develop self confidence,” Harper said. “One of the most significant things about the program is that it changes the hearts of the Congressional staff who may have never been around someone with special needs before.”

Harper said another top accomplishment was the passage of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, which he sponsored. The bill was introduced to the 113th Congress on May 16, 2013 and was signed by President Barack Obama on April 3, 2014. The law eliminated taxpayer financing of political party conventions every four years and reprogrammed savings to provide for a 10-year pediatric research initiative through the Common Fund administered by the National Institutes of Health, and for other purposes.

“We’re continuing to work hard energy issues that are vital to our country,” Harper said.

Harper said there are many issues ahead.

“Obviously, coming up we need to come up with a way to make sure we balance the budget and reduce the deficit,” Harper said. “That is a serious challenge for this next Congress. We have to realize we can’t continue to spend money we don’t have. The problem we have is about two-thirds of federal spending is mandatory or entitlements.”

Harper said the military needs beefing up.

“We have to prioritize our spending. We need to make sure we strengthen out military defense,” Harper said. “Obviously, we have infrastructure issues with highways and bridges we have to address. Also, we have water and sewer issues as we’ve seen coming out of Flint and Jackson, Miss., to a certain extent. We have serious issues with Zika (virus) and how to address that and how we deal with prevention and treatment of Zika this next year.”

Harper said he is running simply to make sure the state is well represented.

“Serving as Congressman is the greatest honor I’ve ever had to serve the folks in Mississippi and I want to stay in the fight to make sure our state is has good representation,” Harper said.

Several attempts to contact Quinn were unsuccessful.