# Forest Harness

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{{Short description|American politician}}

{{more citations needed|date=September 2013}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Forest Harness
|image        = ForestHarness.jpg
|state        = [Indiana](/source/Indiana)
|district     = {{ushr|IN|5|5th}}
|term_start   = January 3, 1939
|term_end     = January 3, 1949
|predecessor  = [Glenn Griswold](/source/Glenn_Griswold)
|successor    = [John R. Walsh](/source/John_R._Walsh)
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1895|6|24}}
|birth_place  = [Kokomo, Indiana](/source/Kokomo%2C_Indiana)
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1974|7|29|1895|6|24}}
|death_place  = [Sarasota, Florida](/source/Sarasota%2C_Florida)
|party        = [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States))
|resting_place = Crown Point Cemetery 
}}
'''Forest Arthur Harness''' (June 24, 1895 – July 29, 1974) was an American lawyer, [World War I](/source/World_War_I) veteran, and politician who served five terms as a [U.S. representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Indiana](/source/Indiana) from 1939 to 1949.

==Biography==
Born in [Kokomo, Indiana](/source/Kokomo%2C_Indiana), Harness attended public schools and graduated in 1917 from the law department of [Georgetown University](/source/Georgetown_University), [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) where he was a member of the [Delta Chi](/source/Delta_Chi) fraternity.

===Military career ===
He served overseas during [World War I](/source/World_War_I) as a first lieutenant, Three Hundred and Nineteenth Infantry from 1917 to 1919, for which he was awarded the [Purple Heart](/source/Purple_Heart). He served as captain in the Infantry Reserve, [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army) from 1920 to 1949.

===Legal career ===
He was admitted to the [District of Columbia](/source/District_of_Columbia) bar in 1917, as well as to the Indiana bar in 1919, and commenced practice in [Kokomo, Indiana](/source/Kokomo%2C_Indiana). He was serving as [prosecuting attorney](/source/prosecuting_attorney) of [Howard County, Indiana](/source/Howard_County%2C_Indiana) from 1920 to 1924, and as special assistant to the [Attorney General of the United States](/source/Attorney_General_of_the_United_States) from 1931 to 1935, when he resigned to resume private practice.

==Congress ==
Harness was elected as a [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) to the [Seventy-sixth](/source/76th_United_States_Congress) and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1949).

In September 1944, Harness claimed on the House floor that the Australian government warned Washington (prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor) that a Japanese aircraft carrier was bound for Hawaii and that this information was withheld from the commanders at Pearl Harbor. [Rumors of this sort](/source/Pearl_Harbor_advance-knowledge_conspiracy_theory) had been around for a while, but Harness's charges put them in the public record.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2000/12/who_lost_pearl_harbor.html |title=Who Lost Pearl Harbor? |first=David |last=Greenberg |date=7 December 2000|publisher=Slate magazine }}</ref>

He served as chairman of the Select Committee on the [Federal Communications Commission](/source/Federal_Communications_Commission) ([Eightieth](/source/80th_United_States_Congress) Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1948 to the [Eighty-first](/source/81st_United_States_Congress) Congress, at which point he resumed the practice of law.

==Later career and death==
He served as [Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate](/source/Sergeant_at_Arms_of_the_United_States_Senate) from January 3, 1953, to January 3, 1955. He retired in 1960 and resided in [Sarasota, Florida](/source/Sarasota%2C_Florida), where he died. He is [entombed](/source/entombment) in the mausoleum at Crown Point Cemetery, [Kokomo, Indiana](/source/Kokomo%2C_Indiana).

==References==
<references />
{{CongBio|H000217}} Retrieved on 2008-01-24

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box |state=Indiana|district=5 |before=[Glenn Griswold](/source/Glenn_Griswold) |after=[John R. Walsh](/source/John_R._Walsh)|years=1939 - 1949}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate](/source/Sergeant_at_Arms_of_the_United_States_Senate)|before=Joseph C. Duke|after=Joseph C. Duke|years=1953 - 1955}}
{{end}}

{{IndianaUSRepresentatives}}
{{Bioguide}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harness, Forest Arthur}}
Category:1895 births
Category:1974 deaths
Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Category:Sergeants at Arms of the United States Senate
Category:United States Army officers
Category:United States Army personnel of World War I
Category:People from Kokomo, Indiana
Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Indiana
Category:20th-century United States representatives

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Forest Harness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Harness) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Harness?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.