[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 12, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S1997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO SHANNON HARPS

 Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would like to express my sorrow 
regarding the tragic death of one of Washington's finest young 
environmental advocates Shannon Harps on December 31, 2007. She was 
killed by an unknown assailant as she was returning to her Capitol Hill 
apartment in Seattle from the grocery store. Shannon's death is a 
tremendous loss to our community and the many issues to which she 
devoted her life. I join with Shannon's family, friends, and colleagues 
in the Sierra Club in mourning the loss of this wonderful person and 
fine community organizer. Though her life was cut short, she was able 
to make a large impact on the quality of the Northwest environment.
  Shannon came from her home State of Ohio to Seattle, WA, in February 
2004 to join the staff of the northwest office of the Sierra Club. This 
move joined two of Shannon's strongest desires to work to protect our 
environment and to live in the Northwest where she could more 
vigorously pursue her strong love for the outdoors.
  Shannon had a wonderful sense of humor and a style of working with 
people that immediately put them at ease and made it easy for them to 
join her in protecting our environment and quality of life. Shannon 
particularly enjoyed working with high school and college students to 
help them develop their interests and talents in working to create a 
better world. While Shannon's work was directly focused on protecting 
our environment, from wilderness to global warming, her values were 
deeply embedded in a strong sense of fairness and justice for all 
people.
  In the 4 years that Shannon lived in Washington State she helped to 
protect some of our finest lands. Shannon worked with Sierra Club 
volunteers and staff from the many groups to help move the Wild Sky 
Wilderness proposal through the various steps of its arduous journey 
through the congressional process. She spent countless hours on the 
phone, in meetings, and on the trail helping to bring people together 
to advocate for protection of these spectacular wild lands. Shannon 
believed that people were better advocates if they had firsthand 
knowledge of the places they were advocating for. As part of this 
belief she led countless hikes into some of Washington's wildest lands.
  Shannon's was a natural leader in the State of Washington and worked 
with colleagues around the country to help thwart the various efforts 
to open up America's Arctic Coastal Plain to oil and gas drilling. She 
was a lead organizer in the successful effort in 2006 to pass the 
renewable energy portfolio standard for Washington State. And, in the 
recent 2 years, much of her work focused on building relationships with 
local officials and creating public support so they would endorse the 
mayor's Climate Protection Agreement.
  In her all-too-short life, she made contributions that benefited our 
community, State, and the world. She lived her life as an example of 
living lightly on the planet and engaged the people and world around 
her with grace, humor, kindness, and respect. Everyone who worked with 
her admired her style, tenacity, and sense of purpose, along with her 
sparkling smile and laugh.
  Shannon loved living and working in the Northwest. She reveled in the 
outdoors and nothing made her happier than to participate in a 
competitive run, or hike our high mountain trails. Her death is a loss 
for us all. But her spirit still resides with all of those with whom 
she worked and walked the trails, and those who continue the struggle 
to protect our lands and environment and create a more just and fair 
world for us all.

                          ____________________