[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 8, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S7252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO NEAL BOORTZ

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise for just a minute to talk about a 
gentleman who resides in my State, a man I have known for 40 years, and 
a man I, never in a million years, thought I would stand on the floor 
of the Senate and brag about. But today I did something I have never 
done. I voted on the Internet in relation to the National Radio Hall of 
Fame nominees for 2009 for a gentleman by the name of Neal Boortz.
  Neal Boortz is a daytime talk show host in the city of Atlanta. He 
started in radio with Ring Radio in 1969, a little old 1,000-watt 
station in Brookhaven, GA. Now he is one of the leading talk show hosts 
in terms of audience in the United States of America.
  He is syndicated on 230 different stations, has an audience of 5 
million people, and calls himself the High Priest of the Church of the 
Painful Truth. I have to rise and tell you as a politician who has been 
both the victim and the beneficiary of any number of Neal's diatribes, 
he is exactly that. He is a man of the painful truth. He can find the 
facts on any issue. He can get to the core of the issue, and he can 
move communities to do good things and do the right thing.
  I was delighted to hear that the National Radio Foundation has 
nominated him for this award, and I want to say today I voted for him 
because I sincerely hope he gets the recognition for three reasons: One 
is, while he is not always right, he is seldom in doubt. His passion 
for what he believes rubs off, and I think that is important.
  Secondly, he loves to be challenged. Unlike so many you hear on the 
radio who want you to believe it is their way or the highway, he loves 
to share his own ideas. He has published three books. The first one, 
``The Terrible Truth About Liberals,'' is on its sixth publishing. 
``The FairTax Book,'' which he cowrote with a Georgia Congressman, John 
Linder, has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for a long 
period of time.
  Right now, his most recent book--and that is, ``Somebody's Got to Say 
It,'' which he oftentimes does--is in its second printing and No. 2 on 
the New York Times Best Seller list.
  But the best part of Neal Boortz is not the thousands he has 
influenced in over 40 years on the radio, his humor and his passion. It 
is not his longevity. It is the fact that he always gives back to his 
community and his State.
  Just one shining example is his wife Donna, who, by the way, prides 
herself in saying she has never listened to 1 minute of Neal's radio 
show. But Neal donated the proceeds of his book sales to Donna for the 
establishment of a foundation, which she uses that money to help those 
less fortunate, those in need, and those on the cusp of doing great 
things who need a little encouragement and a little capitalization.
  So as all of us have our opinions from time to time about talk radio 
or journalism or commentaries or those who may sometimes accuse us and 
sometimes praise us as politicians, I am delighted to stand on the 
floor of the Senate and praise a man from my State who for 40 years has 
given the best he has, who has fought for what he believed in but 
accepted being challenged, and who always tried to say and do the right 
thing for America and the right thing for our community.
  It is my sincere hope when the voting ends on October 1, that 
millions of Americans will have gone to the poll on the Internet, 
radiohof.org, and cast their vote for Neal Boortz.
  Mr. President, I yield back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

                          ____________________