[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 2 (Thursday, January 9, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E86]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO DR. GEORGE D. HARRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 9, 1997

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with sadness to note the death 
of one of my constituents, Dr. George D. Harris. Dr. Harris died 
recently at the age of 51. His early death is a great loss for our 
community.
  Dr. Harris, a resident of the Point Breeze neighborhood in 
Pittsburgh, was the kind of individual upon whom every community 
depends. He spend his entire professional career helping at-risk young 
people meet the challenges encountered in adolescence and young 
adulthood. He believed passionately in the importance of getting a good 
education, and he dedicated his life to inculcating his faith in 
education in the young people of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
  At the time of his death, Dr. Harris was the manager of the Bethesda 
Center, where he worked to promote independence, family stability, and 
child welfare through motivation and education. Prior to that, he was 
executive director of Pittsburgh New Futures, where he worked to reduce 
dropout rates and teen pregnancy rates, and where he worked to help 
young people find jobs. From 1969 until 1988, when he left to join 
Pittsburgh New Futures, he developed and oversaw a program at Duquesne 
University that successfully reduced the dropout rate for Duquesne's 
African-American students. He was also a cofounder of Bell-Harr 
Associates, an educational consulting firm. He earned his doctorate in 
education from the University of Pittsburgh.
  Individuals like George Harris--people who make helping others their 
life's work--are all too rare. Dr. Harris' personal warmth, energy, and 
enthusiasm--as well as his effectiveness--made him rarer still. 
Countless people understood and appreciated his special gifts, and that 
knowledge makes his loss all the more deeply felt.
  Dr. Harris is survived by his wife, Judith Harris, his son, Ebon Lee, 
and his sister, Sheila Ways. I want to express my condolences to them 
on their unexpected loss.

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