[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 171 (Tuesday, October 29, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING MR. JAMES LESLEY WALTERS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 29, 2019

  Mr. ADERHOLT. I would like to recognize the retirement of someone who 
has spent his career bringing news and information to thousands of 
people.
  Mr. James Lesley (Les) Walters was born to James and Lottie Walters 
in April of 1956 in Andalusia, Alabama. He was the valedictorian of his 
1974 graduating class at Red Level High School. After high school, 
Waters went on to attend college at Troy state University. Upon 
graduation in 1978, he was named the Hall School of Journalism and 
Communication's Outstanding Graduate of the Year.
  In 1979, the Itawamba County Times in Fulton, Mississippi hired 
Walters as a news writer. Later that same year, he accepted a job in 
Hamilton, Alabama at a brand newspaper called the Hamilton Progress.
  In 1987, Walters left the Hamilton Progress for the position of 
managing editor of the Journal Record newspaper, also in Hamilton. He 
has held this position for the past 32 years.
  During his more than three decades at the Journal Record, his 
leadership has helped steer the paper and the community during much 
change, progress and even tragedy. From the completion of interstate 1-
22 through Marion County, the 2011 tornado outbreak that left several 
dozen people in the county dead, to the 2016 Hamilton office shootings, 
Walters has been there to help the paper and his staff write the first 
draft of Marion County history.
  As an editor, Walters has been a vocal advocate of Alabama's open 
records and open meetings act and has kept county and municipal 
governments accountable to adhere by them. Walters also cultivated a 
higher standard of journalism in Marion County. Under his leadership, 
the paper moved from submission-based coverage to having reporters 
prioritize county commission meetings and city and town council 
meetings, bringing local news and issues to print for the public's 
awareness.
  Walters has received numerous media awards from the Alabama Press 
Association, including his most-prized award, the APA Feature Story of 
the Year, which he was honored with for his article ``Dr. Charlie 
Pyle's Hamilton Hillbillies Semi-Pro Baseball Team.''
  Walters has also been named Kiwanis Citizen of the Year and has 
served as the Hamilton CJ's president, where he was a longtime member 
and helped organize numerous fund raisers, such as wrestling nights and 
air shows at the Marion County Rankin-Fite Airport.
  Walters married his wife of 39 years, Sheri Gilliland, on July 19, 
1980. They have two sons: Sloan, 34, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Sloan and 
his wife Erin have two sons, Thad, 5, Crosby, 2, and another child 
expected in February 2020; his youngest son, Chance, 33, lives in 
Birmingham. The Walters family are members of the First Baptist Church 
of Hamilton, where Les Walters has taught Sunday school for youth and 
college-aged adults. He also serves on the church's publicity 
committee.
  As a member of Congress, representing Marion County and northwest 
Alabama, I want to acknowledge and honor Mr. Walters and his years of 
service to his community, his state and our First Amendment. I wish Les 
Walters all the best in his well-earned retirement.

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