[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 92 (Friday, June 24, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN TRIBUTE TO JOE HOWRY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2011

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in tribute to Joe Howry, who is 
retiring as Editor and Vice President of the Ventura County Star at 
month's end.
  In my more than 30 years of public life, I have met a lot of 
journalists. It is fair to say that not all have gained my respect. But 
there is no journalist for whom I have more respect than Joe Howry.
  Joe and I don't agree on everything. In fact, it's probably safe to 
say that we have many philosophical differences. But of all the 
journalists I have encountered over the decades, no one is more 
ethical, more objective or more professional than Joe Howry. He looks 
you straight in the eye, gives you a straight answer and tells you what 
he believes whether you like it or not. You know who he is and where he 
stands.
  Joe's objectivity has led to a remarkable fact for an American 
newspaper. He has been with the Ventura County Star for more than 18 
years and has been its Editor for the past seven years. During his 
tenure as Editor, to the best of my knowledge, at no time has he 
allowed an opinion to masquerade as news on the front page.
  But Joe Howry's most important trait is that when Joe Howry gives you 
his word, Joe Howry gives you his bond. You walk away knowing it's 
stronger than the locks on Fort Knox.
  Joe leaves The Star at a precarious time for the news media. It 
greatly concerns me that an important source of news and information 
is--if not disappearing--then greatly diminishing as Americans turn to 
Facebook, Twitter and blogs for their news.
  I may be old-fashioned, but I like to pick up a newspaper and read it 
cover to cover, looking at where a story is placed to gauge the 
significance the editors place on an event. Except for a few stories 
that are highlighted on newspaper websites, such significance is mostly 
lost in the online world.
  Joe Howry's voice will be greatly missed during this period of 
change.
  My hope is that Joe, his wife, Andrea, and their children, Sarah, Joe 
Jr. and Lee, will continue to call Ventura County home--when Joe isn't 
fishing in Idaho, of course.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in thanking Joe Howry for 
his ethics, objectivity and professionalism and for being an example of 
what a journalist can and should be. I know they further join me in 
wishing him a long and healthy retirement surrounded by the love of his 
family and friends.

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