Harley Orrin Staggers
Harley Orrin Staggers Sr. (August 3, 1907 – August 20, 1991) was an American politician from West Virginia. He served as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives for West Virginia’s 2nd district from 1949 to 1981, a total of 16 terms. From 1966 to 1981, he chaired the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (now called Energy and Commerce), the longest tenure as its chair in the committee’s history.
Staggers was a strong supporter of the railroad industry and helped pass the Staggers Rail Act in 1980, which deregulated railroads and allowed them to set prices and contracts more freely.
Born in Keyser, West Virginia, he graduated from Emory and Henry College in 1931 and did graduate work at Duke University. He served as sheriff of Mineral County from 1937 to 1941 and was a navigator in the U.S. Naval Air Corps during World War II. He was first elected to Congress in 1948 and served until 1981.
He did not sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto and voted for Civil Rights Acts in 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, as well as the 24th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Staggers died in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1991. His son Harley O. Staggers Jr. also served in Congress (1983–1993). His daughter Peggy Staggers has been active in West Virginia politics.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:33 (CET).