[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN CLAUDE HARRIS

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, it is with great sadness and a tremendous 
sense of loss that I rise today to announce the untimely death of 
former Alabama Congressman Claude Harris. He died yesterday after a 
battle with lung cancer.
  My State has lost one of its greatest public servants and I have lost 
a close and personal friend. Claude Harris was a superb Congressman and 
an outstanding U.S. attorney. His service to Alabama as a circuit judge 
was extraordinary.
  Claude was one of those rare individuals who at all times displayed 
the highest degree of integrity, industry, and intelligence. But 
perhaps his greatest attribute was the down-to-earth spirit that 
allowed him to always stay close to the people he served.
  Although his tenure in Congress was relatively brief, Claude Harris 
emerged as one of the most hardworking and dedicated Members I have 
ever seen. He was a principled leader who always saw that the interests 
of his diverse district came first. He was highly driven to serve and 
had a sincere desire to serve, setting a new standard by which those 
who follow him are measured.
  Claude Harris, Jr., was born in Bessemer, AL, attended the University 
of Alabama, and became assistant district attorney for Tuscaloosa 
County at the young age of 25. He later served as a circuit judge and 
was presiding judge of Alabama's Sixth Circuit for 1980-83. He was a 
practicing attorney from 1985 through 1987, when he began his first 
term in Congress. When he died, he was serving as the U.S. attorney for 
the Northern District of Alabama. He was also a colonel in the Alabama 
Army National Guard, of which he was an active member beginning in 
1967.
  Congressman Claude Harris retired in January 1993, after serving in 
the House of Representatives for 6 years. During his three terms, he 
accomplished a great deal for his district and the Nation's veterans, 
who knew Congressman Harris as a true friend. As an outspoken member of 
the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and the third ranking Democrat on 
its Hospitals and Health Care Subcommittee, his work was instrumental 
in preserving the funding and enhancing the quality of veterans' health 
care facilities nationwide. He also served on the House Energy and 
Commerce Committee.
  Because of these years of outstanding public service, my colleague 
Senator Shelby and I introduced a bill in August to have a new building 
at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Center in Claude's former district named in 
his honor. This will be a fitting tribute to a great man, leader, and 
friend who will be sorely missed by those of us fortunate enough to 
have known him. I extend my sincerest condolences to his wife and their 
entire family in the wake of this painful loss.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of an article from the Birmingham 
Post-Herald on the death of Claude Harris be printed in the Record 
immediately following my remarks. This article describes the traits 
which made Claude the special kind of public servant that he was for so 
many years.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                      Claude Harris Dies at Age 54

                          (By Deborah Solomon)

       It was January 1987 and a huge snowstorm had paralyzed 
     Washington; offices in town were closed and the city had come 
     to a standstill.
       But Bessemer native Claude Harris, then a Democratic 
     congressman from Tuscaloosa, fought his way to his Capitol 
     Hill office and spent the day answering telephones and 
     attending to duties usually performed by those who had been 
     stranded by the weather.
       It was this fierce commitment to his job that separated 
     Harris from other politicians and branded him as unique, 
     according to friends and colleagues who knew him.
       Harris, a U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of 
     Alabama, died early yesterday of lung cancer. He was 54.
       After nearly three decades in government at the local, 
     state and federal levels, the Tuscaloosa Democrat is 
     remembered by those who knew him as a model politician, 
     someone who cared not about his own interests, but about 
     serving others.
       ``He never changed the type of person that he was,'' said 
     Walter Braswell, who climbed up the political ladder 
     alongside Harris. ``As he achieved higher office and became 
     more widely know, he remained the same friendly, genuine 
     person he had always been.''
       Braswell, who is currently deputy U.S. attorney, will serve 
     as interim U.S. attorney until a successor is named by 
     President Clinton and U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby and Howell 
     Heflin, both Alabama Democrats.
       Harris, a former prosecutor and judge, died at his sister's 
     home in Birmingham, where he had been receiving care for 
     several weeks. He had undergone a series of treatments for 
     cancer at University Hospital.
       His funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Forest 
     Lake Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa.
       Harris was appointed U.S. attorney in Birmingham by 
     President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in late 1993.
       Braswell said Harris was so committed to his job that he 
     continued to work until he was finally too weak. ``Last week 
     he was in the office because he felt that he was getting paid 
     to do a job and so long as he was physically able, he would 
     continue to work.''
       Acquaintances said Harris was an honest and amiable man who 
     never took his political accomplishments for granted.
       Former U.S. Rep. Ben Erdreich, D-Birmingham, who met Harris 
     shortly before he was elected to Congress, said in a time of 
     increased cynicism among voters, Harris managed to reinstill 
     faith in politics.
       ``Claude Harris exemplified what is good about America and 
     what is right about America,'' Erdreich said. ``He brought 
     what I believe to be the best to public service. He was a 
     unique person; there are not many I've seen of such good 
     character.''

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