[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PAYING TRIBUTE TO CRAIG HARRIS

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                           HON. JON C. PORTER

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 19, 2006

  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Craig Harris for his 
outstanding efforts as a taxicab driver safety advocate. Craig passed 
away on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at the age of 56.
  Craig had been a Las Vegas resident for 28 years and a taxi driver 
for Yellow-Checker-Star Transportation since 1979. Having been 
assaulted and robbed twice by passengers, Craig fully understood the 
dangers of driving a taxi. A long-time advocate of taxi driver safety, 
Craig was one of the first to test still cameras in taxis as a 
deterrent against attacks on drivers. According to his long-time boss 
and Yellow-Checker-Star's director of operations, Bill Shranko, Craig's 
work led to camera installation in each of the company's cabs. Since 
then, Shranko says there has been at least a sixty percent decrease in 
attacks on drivers. Craig's hard work and advocacy has produced 
impressive results for driver safety.
  In addition to driving a cab forty hours a week and his efforts to 
promote driver safety, Craig also found time to represent local drivers 
as a steward for the Industrial Technical Professional Employees Union, 
helping fired drivers to regain their jobs and making sure that drivers 
have access to important benefits, including health insurance. He led a 
campaign to raise thousands of dollars to aid the family of a colleague 
who was killed while on duty as a cab driver, and always offered to 
help colleagues and their families when in need.
  Born in Los Angeles on October 14, 1949, Craig graduated from Shasta 
College in Northern California. He worked on newspapers in California 
and Oklahoma before moving to Las Vegas in 1978 and beginning work on 
the Trip Sheet magazine for cab drivers in the 1980s. He served as 
managing editor of the magazine and often wrote articles dealing with 
driver safety and furthering the fair treatment of drivers. His work 
helped turn the six-page newspaper of the '80s into the 48-page 
magazine of today, which reaches over 7,000 monthly readers.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Craig Harris for his outstanding 
service and representation of the taxi drivers of Las Vegas. His 
tireless efforts to help drivers and their families and his hard work 
as a driver, journalist, and advocate have greatly contributed to the 
safety of the profession, and he will be greatly missed.

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