[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2032-E2033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NELSON MARTINEZ DEPARTS KOAT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
an outstanding New Mexican, journalist and entertainer, Nelson 
Martinez. He will be leaving KOAT-TV, where he has worked for nearly 
two decades, to pursue other professional opportunities in early 
December.
  Born in Chimay[oacute] and raised in northern New Mexico, Mr. 
Martinez has enjoyed a multi-faceted career of more than 35 years in 
the broadcast business, as a radio disc jockey, worldwide videotape 
editor, reporter and news anchor. New Mexicans are always so proud to 
see one of their own scale grand heights, as he has.

[[Page E2033]]

  His announcing skills began in New Mexico in 1964 with a Spanish 
radio show on Espa[ntilde]ola's KDCE Radio, when he was a Los Alamos 
High School Senior. He later worked for KABQ Radio in Albuquerque, and 
KVSF in Santa Fe, before serving in the U.S. Navy between 1967 and 
1969. In Cleveland, Ohio, he earned a First-Class Federal 
Communications Commission License in Engineering. In 1971, he joined 
Cleveland's local NBC affiliate, WKYC, where he grew in experience for 
six years.
  In 1977, NBC Network News employed him for three years from the Latin 
American News Bureau based in Miami. In Florida, he covered assignments 
to India, Belgium, Teheran, as well as throughout Latin American 
countries, including Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba, Peru, 
Columbia and many more.
  During his seven years with NBC, Mr. Martinez also worked in the San 
Francisco and Boston NBC bureaus covering news events from the Pacific 
Northwest to Canada.
  Mr. Martinez returned to New Mexico in 1985. He began working for the 
local ABC affiliate, KOAT-TV, as a reporter and weekday morning news 
anchor. In 1987, Mr. Martinez left for a weekend news anchor position 
with ABC affiliate WTNB-TV in New Haven, Connecticut. One year later he 
returned to New Mexico to become one of the principal weekday anchors 
on KOAT-TV. The rest, as they say, is history.
  Throughout his years with the station, Mr. Martinez has helped 
Channel 7 build on its reputation as a station for credible and 
informative journalism. He insisted on the highest standards for the 
station. I know that he has also taken many younger reporters at the 
station under his wing and mentored them. He has offered advice and 
criticism to these KOAT. I know how much his colleagues and thousands 
of loyal KOAT viewers who invited him into their home daily will miss 
him.
  On a personal note, I was touched by the emotion that Mr. Martinez 
displayed during the devastating Cerro Grande fire in 2000. He watched 
with disbelief as his old stomping grounds, filled with rich memories, 
burned to the ground. Trees turned to ash and homes vanished in the 
blink of an eye. He even wrote a beautiful poem about the travesty that 
comforted many of my constituents that had to endure the blaze.
  What makes Mr. Martinez unique as a television journalist is the 
entertainment career he has managed to shepherd on the side. He is the 
singer on six mariachi CDs he has completed, and has appeared in some 
movies. He also served as host on a recent documentary exploring 
churches and missions throughout the nation. He also intends to work on 
a book about his memories of growing up in Chimay[oacute] that will 
offer advice for young people at the crossroads of life. As he told a 
reporter in July, ``I thought, when I was growing up, that I was poor. 
As I look back, I choke up to think how rich I really was.''
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in wishing Nelson and 
his family luck in all their future endeavors. His contributions to New 
Mexico cannot be understated and I am pleased to have been able to 
honor him here today. While Nelson and his lovely wife, Gina, embark on 
a new chapter in their life, I want them to know that New Mexico is and 
always will be their home. Nelson, thank you for your service and 
professionalism to New Mexico.

                          ____________________