“When I decided to run for the Maryland House of Delegates, It wasn’t an easy decision. I was only 25 years old and a lot of people told me a youngster like me would never get elected,” said Roy Dyson. However, he did prevail and represented St. Mary’s and Charles counties in the House. Six years later, at the age of 30, he became the first person in a century from St. Mary’s County to be elected to the United States House of Representatives.
Roy was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1991 representing Congressional District 1. Roy was elected 1st president of 1981 Freshman Democrats Class and served on the Armed Services Committee and the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. While serving on the Armed Services Committee, Roy was able to ensure that the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, the Naval Warfare Center in Indian Head, and the Randall Cliffs military facility were safe from closure. Today, these installations provide more than $2 billion to the Southern Maryland Community.
In 1994, Roy was elected to the Maryland State Senate. In the State Senate, Senator Dyson has authored two of the most important pieces of environmental legislation in the history of the state. Roy pushed through a bill that strengthened the landmark Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas law that has been struck down series of Court of Appeals decisions. He has also authored successful legislation to mandate yearly inspections of intrastate hazardous liquid pipelines that will help prevent disastrous oil spills.
In an effort to ensure even more environmental protection, Senator Dyson agreed to serve as an active member of the Maryland Environmental Trust and is Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Chesapeake and Costal Bays Critical Areas.A tireless advocate of education, Roy has time and time again pressed the Board of Public Works in Annapolis for unprecedented school construction funding and has supported smaller class sizes and scholarships for Maryland students wishing to become teachers in Maryland schools.
Also, Senator Dyson worked with his fellow members of the Southern Maryland Delegation to create the highly successful College of Southern Maryland. Though lack of consensus between the three boards of county commissioners in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s threatened to kill the proposed college, Senator Dyson refused to give up and was able to broker a deal with only two weeks left in the 1999 legislative session. Today, College of Southern Maryland is a thriving, progressive, and technologically advanced college that delivers quality higher education programs and services. ~Signing of College of Southern Maryland bill~
Another substantial piece of
legislation that Senator Dyson successfully initiated was a bill to provide
senior citizens prescription drug coverage. The bill established a
prescription drug plan for specified Medicare Plus Choice- eligible
individuals residing in medically under-served counties. Dyson did so after
Congress failed to pass any type of prescription drug plan for the elderly.
"I took it upon myself to help these seniors establish a prescription drug plan after Congress shamefully failed to—after promising to do so—produce a nationwide plan,” said Senator Dyson.
Roy continues to be a passionate advocate for protecting the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. He has consistently fought for education funding at all levels and enthusiastically supported scholarships for teachers and nurses. Roy has never turned away a constituent in time of need and has always had an open-door policy in his “storefront” location offices.
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