Harris Speaks To The Faithful

Fans continue to support Katherine Harris, despite the candidate's lack of party support and her low poll ratings.

''Agua? Could we have some agua?'' the woman asked, in the banquet room of a restaurant in Hialeah, before Katherine Harris arrived to stump.

Two years of high school Spanish will take you further than you think and soon the waitress brought some, along with milk in mugs and a pitcher of coffee.

''This is café con leche,'' the woman explained to her companions. ``It's Cuban coffee. Isn't it so good?''

They were three Anglos in a roomful of Hispanics. They were college students: Jessica Benton and Holly Curro from Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's Baptist institution in Virginia, and Angela Cheatham from Johnson and Wales, the non-denominational culinary arts and business school in North Miami.

They wore jeans and Harris-for-Senate T-shirts. They'd driven down from Fort Lauderdale and this seemed to be their first experience with the Hialeah street grid. ''The numbers go up and down, and the avenues turn into roads -- it's like, where are we?'' Holly said.

This was their second rally. Their first was last week in West Palm Beach, where they handed out bumper stickers and campaign literature and possibly won over hearts and minds. No fewer than three people approached them afterwards to say they'd decided to vote for Harris. ''We were like, yes!'' Jessica said.

Their candidate has, it must be said, some baggage. People say mean things about her mascara and her purging of voter rolls in the 2000 presidential election. They say she lags 30 percentage points behind the incumbent, Democrat Bill Nelson, in polls. They say she should save everyone the embarrassment and just quit. They say a lot of things.

''So many people, when they finally get to hear a person, they change their minds,'' Jessica said. ``And the press, you know, changes things.''

This made for some awkwardness but fortunately the stumping soon began: first a Hummer-load of aides pulled up, then the candidate herself, in the back seat of a gray Chevrolet.

''She always looks so beautiful,'' said one Sy Bonem, who said he was an ex-professional baseball player and a big Harris fan. ``She's a real beautiful woman.''

She was not an unattractive woman. She wore a blue jacket and creme skirt and matching heels and a huge smile.

She took the stage with Congressmen Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart and Guillermo Maldonado, a Kendall evangelist who says he was told by several prophets and God himself that his congregation will one day comprise 10 percent of Miami's population.

Harris mentioned marriage taxes and death taxes, which Bill Nelson apparently loves, and traditional values, which he apparently despises. She mentioned her intention to abolish federal income taxes and the Internal Revenue Service, which drew polite applause.

Before a crowd that was almost entirely composed of immigrants -- college students and Sy excepted -- she did not mention, as she did in Orange Park in June, that ''our bleeding wound is our borders,'' which was probably wise.

She finished and started shaking hands, working her way to the back of the room where the college students were.

The candidate shook more hands and an aide checked her teeth for lipstick. And when it was time for her to give interviews for the television cameras, the college students were there, nodding solemnly to everything she said.

Promoting Opportunity through Security
With her swearing in on January 7, 2003, as U.S. Representative for the 13th District of Florida, Katherine Harris opened the newest chapter in her distinguished career of public service to her native state. With key appointments to the House Financial Services Committee, the Homeland Security Committee and the International Relations Committee, Rep. Harris is continuing her work on behalf of Florida with a strong focus on economic and national security issues. The diligence and determination she has shown in Washington is no surprise to the Floridians who elected her Florida state senator, as well as to a term as Florida’s 23rd and last elected secretary of state. Rep. Harris helped shepherd Florida toward its future as an international leader in economic and foreign affairs, while serving as steward over its past through advocacy on behalf of the state’s libraries, historic preservation and the arts.

Acting upon her commitment to expand quality, affordable housing opportunities for low income Americans, Rep. Harris became a member of the Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. One of her first bills was the American Dream Downpayment Act, an innovative plan to help tens of thousands of low-income families and individuals to achieve the American dream of homeownership. Signed into law by President Bush in December 2003, this program will provide a means for Americans to build not only wealth, but also a brighter future for their families.

As a member of the International Relations Committee, Rep. Harris’ commitment to trade and national security issues is unparalleled. From Colombian narco-terrorism to comprehensive reform of foreign aid funding, Rep. Harris has brought a new vision to foreign relations. The first bill Rep. Harris co-sponsored in Congress demonstrated her concern for the men and women who provide and protect our cherished freedoms. Mindful of representing a district with one of the largest veterans populations, she sought the repeal of a century-old federal law that forces military retirees with service-connected disabilities to forgo a portion of their retirement benefits in order to continue receiving their disability compensation.

Dedicated to serving the veterans in life and death, Rep. Harris’ unwillingness to take “no” for an answer led to the construction of a much-needed new national cemetery in the Sarasota region. In recognition of her achievements during her first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Harris has received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of Enterprise award, the Military Order of the World Wars’ Silver Patrick Henry Medallion for patriotic achievement, and the Jewish & Family Service of Sarasota-Manatee, Inc.’s Philanthropy Award. Rep. Harris has also been named to the Southern Economic Development Council’s Honor Roll of Legislative Achievement in Economic Development.

During her term in the Florida state senate, Rep. Harris passed over one hundred bills, including an economic development package that helped fuel Florida’s dramatic rise from 42nd place to 1st place in the nation as a state to start a new business or grow an existing business; a significant increase in teacher salaries; and stiffened penalties for white collar crime and for crimes committed against the elderly. Cognizant of the tremendous economic benefits trade could bring to Floridians, Rep. Harris laid the strong foundation for Florida’s preeminent campaign to win the Permanent Secretariat for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), as well as working toward the unification of the Gulf region through the enhancement of investment, trade and tourism and cultural exchanges.

Rather than taking cover in the aftermath of the 2000 election controversy, Rep. Harris took the lead in the push for comprehensive election reform. In 2001, she testified before the U.S. House Administration Committee and proposed legislation that became the blueprint for Florida’s nationally acclaimed Election Reform Act. In 2002, as the reform movement waned in many states, she successfully proposed and achieved passage of historic civil rights legislation in Florida that forcefully addresses the exclusion of persons with disabilities from full and equal participation in the electoral process.

A former IBM marketing executive and vice president of a commercial real estate firm, Rep. Harris earned a Master’s Degree from Harvard University with a specialization in international trade and negotiations, and a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Agnes Scott College. She studied abroad at the University of Madrid and at L’Abri outside Geneva, Switzerland. Her commitment to public service has earned Rep. Harris numerous awards, including the Mel Fisher Award for International Trade Advocacy; the Florida Economic Development Council Legislator of the Year Award; the Florida United Business Association Outstanding Legislator Award; the Florida Arts Advocacy Award, the Sarasota Humanitarian of the Year Award and the Sarasota Statesman of the Year Award. Rep. Harris was born in Key West, Florida. She resides in Sarasota with her husband, Anders Ebbeson, and his 21-year-old daughter, Louise.

Washington, Jul 28 - Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL) today voted for passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, legislation aimed at creating safeguards to strengthen and improve pension plans by using commonsense and fundamental reforms.

“Men and women who have worked hard their whole lives should not have to face the loss of their retirement security because of outdated laws and regulations,” said Harris. “This legislation will protect the retirement nest egg of these workers and retirees while preserving the competitiveness of U.S. companies.”

In addition, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 will:

Ø Ensure employers properly and adequately fund their worker pension plans;

Ø Protect taxpayers from costly bailouts of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation;

Ø Require companies to provide more information to workers about the status of their pension plans; and

Ø Make commonsense modifications to defined contribution laws to encourage greater personal savings for retirement and other needs.

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