It was high praise from one former politician to another.
"They are wrong who think that politics is like an ocean voyage or a military campaign, something to be done with some particular end in view, something which leaves off as soon as the end is reached.
"It is not a public chore, to be got over with. It is a way of life. It is the life of a domesticated political and social creature who is born with a love for public life, with a desire for honor, with a feeling for his fellow..."
"What better describes Herb Harris," asked former State Senator Joe Gartlan.
Surrounded by family, colleagues and friends, former US Congressman Herb Harris sat on the dais in the parking lot of the newly completed Engleside Post Office last Saturday during dedication ceremonies honoring him with the naming of the post office after him.
Harris listened as Gartlan, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Kate Hanley, Congressman Jim Moran (D-8), and Dan Scandling, Chief of Staff for Congressman Frank Wolf, lauded his life and times.
HAILING FROM Missouri, Harris served seven years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and was Vice-Chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. While on the Fairfax Board, Harris helped create business incentives, form the continued Route 1 revitalization, paved the way for the building of the Mt. Vernon Hospital off Parkers Lane, saw two new libraries built in the Mt. Vernon district, added two new recreation centers, and had a stop light installed at the intersection of Rt. 1 and Sherwood Hall Lane.
Elected to Congress in 1974, Harris served three terms as representative of the 8th District. Under his watch the Stark-Harris bill was passed. The bill provided $1.9 billion in funding for the 103-mile Metro subway rail system. Harris also saw passage of bills expanding the Manassas National Battlefield Park, establishing the Quantico National Veterans Cemetery, protection of the Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge and the restoration of citizenship to Civil War General Robert E. Lee.