[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E73-E74]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF JAMES ROBERTS OF ANDREWS, TX

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LARRY COMBEST

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 3, 1998

  Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life and 
achievements of James Roberts of Andrews, Texas.
  James Roberts was a very important reason that the county and 
community of Andrews lived up to its self-proclaimed truism, ``A 
Community of Quality.'' James embodied every bit of that quality as the 
local boy who grew up to take an active, important part in his 
community. After graduation from Andrews High School, he completed his 
education after serving this country in the U.S. Army in World War II 
and bravely surviving a year's time in a German prisoner-of-war camp. 
He returned home to Andrews and married Marie Holman on April 18, 1946. 
He had attended Texas Tech in Lubbock, and in 1950, earned his college 
degree from Baylor University.
  James became the owner and editor of the Andrews County News. His 
writing spoke with the strong, common sense voice and views of the vast 
West Texas and Eastern New Mexico region through several newspapers 
under the Roberts Publishing banner. The family paper, founded by his 
parents during the Great Depression, carried James' own ``Drifting 
Sands'' column of homespun humor and down-to-earth basics of daily life 
and politics, James Roberts' own course in life was anything but 
drifting. James was an important and thoughtful local leader, one of 
the community's strongest boosters.
  As the president of the Andrews Industrial Foundation, he attracted 
Fortune 500 businesses to Andrews, to diversify an economy once 
dependent on financial fluctuations in the domestic oil industry. James 
Roberts was also a leader among newspaper editors and publishers 
throughout the state, serving as president of the Texas Press 
Association and the West Texas Press Association. With strong community 
ties, a member of the First Baptist Church, two terms as president of 
the Andrews Chamber of Commerce, and the 12-year presidency of the 
Permian Basin Railroad Company, it is no surprise that James had earned 
early recognition as Andrews' Outstanding Citizen.
  Just a few days before Christmas, James Roberts passed from this 
life--a life of community service for the betterment of his neighbors. 
Mr. Speaker, I believe that Andrews,

[[Page E74]]

Texas will always be that community of quality, with credit due to the 
quality of its people--people like James Roberts.

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