[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING ALVIN BENN, RECIPIENT OF THE ALABAMA PRESS ASSOCIATION 
                       LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 15, 2012

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of Alabama's 
best known and most respected journalists, Mr. Alvin Benn, who this 
week is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the 
Alabama Press Association.
  Perhaps there's a measure of irony in the fact that the man who has 
become synonymous with both covering and capturing Alabama history and 
culture, in a way that only a Southern native could, actually hails 
from the North. Al Benn was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the 
heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country on April 25, 1940.
  After graduating from Manheim Township High School in 1958, he 
enlisted in the Marine Corps where he served his country for six years. 
He was stationed at Cherry Point, NC with the Second Marine Air Wing 
and at Okinawa, Japan, where he worked for the Armed Forces Radio and 
Television Service. After returning stateside, he completed military 
journalism school at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and briefly 
attended East Carolina College while at Cherry Point.
  His long journey chronicling the history of our region began as a 
newly minted correspondent for United Press International covering the 
burgeoning Civil Rights movement. As he details in his 2006 book, 
``Reporter: Covering Civil Rights . . . and Wrongs in Dixie,'' Al Benn 
not only interviewed the major leaders of both sides of this historic 
struggle--including Dr. Martin Luther King and Governor George C. 
Wallace--but he used his fearless quest of news to take him to some of 
the most unsettling venues to get the unvarnished true story.
  After two and a half years as UPI's Birmingham bureau chief, Al Benn 
took on the roles of writer, photographer, editor and publisher at 
newspapers in Alabama, including the Selma Times-Journal and the 
Montgomery Advertiser. He also crossed over the state line to work at 
the Natchez Democrat where he and his news staff were nominated for a 
Pulitzer Prize. Although he officially retired in 2003, Al Benn 
continues to write his widely read column, ``Al Benn's Alabama'', for 
the Montgomery Advertiser.
  In commenting about his life's work, Al Benn once observed: 
``Journalistic integrity cannot be duplicated. That's all reporters 
really have. We never make much money. What we can leave behind is a 
good name in our chosen profession. I hope I've done just that. There 
are those who will disagree but I've tried to be as fair as I could 
be.''
  I have never known a more professional, articulate and even-handed 
reporter than Al Benn. On behalf of the people of Alabama, I offer my 
congratulations to Al, and I wish him and his wife, Sharon, and their 
family a future full of happiness.

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