[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 15] [Senate] [Pages 20067-20068] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]IN REMEMBRANCE OF KENNETH N. HARRIS, SR. Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today with a heavy heart to remember Kenneth N. Harris, Sr., of Baltimore City. Ken Harris was a Baltimore City councilman, community activist, and champion of safe and family friendly neighborhoods. He loved his family, was so proud of his children, and he was my good friend. [[Page 20068]] Ken grew up in west Baltimore's Sandtown and Park Heights neighborhoods, where the strict guidance of a single mother and afternoons at the YMCA gave him the self-assurance and direction he needed to succeed in an environment where so many others struggled to survive. He graduated from Dunbar High School and worked four jobs to put himself through Morgan State University. After graduation, Ken went to work for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland and began his professional life in the corporate world, including Comcast Cable. For many, professional achievement and financial security are enough. But not for Ken. Concerned about his children's school and his neighborhood, Ken soon became a community leader serving as president of the Leith Walk Elementary School PTA and the Glen Oaks Community Improvement Association. Encouraged by his ability to make a positive change, Ken ran for office and was elected to two terms in the Baltimore City Council, representing the 4th District, an elected office he would, no doubt, continue to hold today had he not decided to run for president of the city council. While in the city council, Ken championed the rights of his neighbors. He sponsored legislation to stop landlords from throwing tenants' belongings out on the street--saving many tenants from homelessness and cleaning up the streets. He pushed for remedial programs in the public schools, such as the Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center, to encourage students to stay in school. He took the police to task for not having enough real community policing but too many reckless warrants, arrests. Last month, when the new Hilton Hotel opened in downtown Baltimore, it was remembered that it was Ken Harris who insisted that if the city was going to financially ensure the development of the hotel, the city and the developer also had to ensure financial support for college students and afterschool recreational opportunities for schoolchildren. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Ken's family, his wife Annette, his daughter Nicol, and his son Kenneth, Jr., for sharing her husband and their father with our city and the State of Maryland. His life, which ended all too soon, made a difference in the lives of many others, and his contributions will not be forgotten. Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. BAUCUS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that morning business be concluded. ____________________