[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 5 (Thursday, January 8, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING WILLIAM ``BILL'' HARRIS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, politicians live in a world of advocates. 
The rich and powerful engage effective people to represent them. Those 
less fortunate strive to keep up in the world of politics. It was 1982 
as I, first-time congressional candidate, received a questionnaire from 
the Children's Defense Fund. My first thought was: Is this for real? 
Helping kids is the right thing to do, but who would make the most 
vulnerable people in America their ``cause''? Enter Bill Harris.
  Bill was born on March 11, 1940, in Saint Paul, MN, to Irving and 
Rosetta Harris. While they moved around frequently in his youth, his 
family eventually settled in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. 
Bill's father Irving was one of the most amazing people I have ever 
met, and anyone who knew him would understand how Bill developed a 
passion for advancing the interests of children. Across the United 
States, Irving invested in charities and institutions that supported 
childhood development. He helped create the Yale Child Study Center at 
Yale University, the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Public 
Policy Studies, which bears his name, and the Erikson Institute for 
Advanced Studies in Child Development. He worked tirelessly for the 
rights of all children and was so proud that Bill ended up working for 
children as well.
  After graduating from Highland Park High School, Bill left the North 
Shore to attend Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where he graduated 
in 1961. He went on to work at Janus Films in New York, where his 
interest in childhood development programs blossomed. In his position 
he had the opportunity to work with Fordham University to create novel 
media programs for underserved youth. In this position, he founded a 
newsgathering team, a radio station, and a newspaper all made for and 
run by children. In bringing new media to impoverished areas, Bill gave 
children more than just a job, he gave them a chance to advocate for 
themselves and their interests. Bill would end up writing his doctoral 
thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on his work, and it 
would continue to leave a deep impression on his life.
  And in his work, Bill received his life's greatest blessing. While 
organizing a film festival at the Lincoln Center, Bill met his wife 
Robie. She had submitted an entry to the festival titled ``Child's Eye 
View,'' which documented her work teaching underserved children. The 
two felt an instant bond over their passion for childhood development, 
and they soon married in 1969. Their relationship flourished for 55 
years, with both advocating for vulnerable children throughout their 
union.
  After Bill completed his doctorate, he reflected on his work with 
children and how he could make more of an impact. At the time, nearly 
every large corporation and labor union in America had an organization 
devoted to fundraising and advancing its priorities in government, 
except for children. Bill set out to change this. He felt that children 
were a public good, whose needs were far greater than what private 
companies or philanthropy alone could protect. Only the government 
possessed the power and responsibility to adequately address the best 
interests of children.
  In 1981, Bill formed Kidspac to raise money to back politicians who 
supported evidence-based policies for children and families. Since its 
inception, Bill and Kidspac remained at the forefront of the major 
childhood welfare reforms of the past 40 years. Bill's efforts led to 
the creation of Early Head Start under the Clinton administration; he 
pushed Congress to change the Child Tax Credit to be fully refundable 
so the poorest families would be able receive its benefits; and he 
helped establish the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative to 
treat the mental health impacts of childhood trauma. In the years 
since, I have been honored to help carry that torch and double the 
funding for this critical program to improve our knowledge and expand 
services for children who are exposed to trauma. Bill was relentless in 
pursuit of his mission to push politicians to advance the best, most 
evidence-based practices that would support children.
  In his work, Bill was not content with only assisting children at 
home. He advocated for international HIV and AIDS relief funding long 
before the establishment of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS 
Relief under the Bush administration. I had the great fortune of 
traveling with Bill to Sub-Saharan Africa to examine the effects of 
international investment in the region, and one memory of our trip 
stands out to me. Shortly after we arrived in Africa, I learned that 
the airline had lost my luggage. When I told Bill, he did not hesitate 
to offer me access to his wardrobe. He was ready to give me the shirt 
off his back. That was the kind of person Bill was.
  Bill never stopped advocating for children, and he did so without an 
ounce of vanity or desire for personal recognition. His passion was 
born out of a true sense of altruism that could not be tainted or 
subdued. Although Bill is no longer with us, his legacy lives on 
through his children David and Ben. David worked together with Bill to 
support the expansion of the Child Tax Credit, and he serves as 
executive director at the Children's Research and Education Institute, 
a nonprofit organization that Bill founded to educate policymakers and 
the public about the policies that best serve children. Ben worked for 
many years as a clinical professor at the Psychological Center at the 
City College of New York, where he provided therapeutic services in the 
same neighborhoods that his father made children's news programs five 
decades prior. Today, he continues to work in clinical psychology. 
Loretta and I send our deepest condolences to David and Ben; their 
wives Emily and Hilary; Bill's sister Virginia Polsky; and Bill's 
grandchildren Ella, Rosie, Sam, and Daisy.
  Bill was an optimist. He believed that there was no limit to what a 
child could achieve if they received the right support from their 
families and their country. With no ego or agenda, Bill gave his life 
to providing children with that support. His work has left a permanent 
mark on America's children, families, and politics. He will be dearly 
missed. Bill Harris was truly one of the good guys.

                          ____________________