[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S62]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO DON TIBBETTS

 Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Don 
Tibbetts, ``Dean of the New Hampshire State House Press Corps'' who 
recently retired after 24 years of news reporting on national and state 
politics for the Union Leader and the New Hampshire Sunday News.
  Don has witnessed many historical events over his career, from the 
thrill of the first in the nation presidential primary to the comings 
and goings of countless Governors. He has endured seemingly endless 
hearings and press conferences, yet has reported on each of them with 
style, substance, and integrity.
  In a state where people take their politics very seriously, Don was 
able to give the people of New Hampshire their daily diet of important 
facts about the events, votes, meetings, and rulings that impact their 
lives. What is remarkable about Don in this time of editorial 
journalism is the way Don gave his loyal readers the facts in an 
unbiased way and let them make their own judgments.
  In the State House, Don was constantly on the lookout for news, 
churning out several stories each day. His ``Under the State House 
Dome'' column was a must read for anyone who wanted to be informed 
about the latest yet to break news and information about politics in 
New Hampshire.
  Although Don is a lifelong member of the Fourth Estate, which often 
has a skeptical or even adversarial stance toward government officials, 
he always went the extra mile to listen to both sides of the story and 
reflect these views in his stories.
  The only time he did not play it down the middle was when he was on 
the golf course, where he has been known to hit an occasional errant 
shot.
  As someone who Don has covered for many years, I will miss him, and I 
know that his colleagues at the Union Leader and in the press corps 
will miss him too. The real questions is if Don will miss any of us. I 
wish both Don and Jane the best of luck in their future endeavors.
  Those of us in government will greatly miss his reputation as an 
honest broker of the facts, a perceptive historian and judge of people, 
and for helping to keep the job of governing enjoyable.

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