[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN CELEBRATION OF BUTLER EAGLE'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE KELLY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 3, 2020

  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate 
the 150th anniversary of Butler County's hometown newspaper, the Butler 
Eagle.
  As a life-long resident of Butler, I am proud to celebrate a special 
milestone for our hometown paper. For 150 years, the Butler Eagle has 
provided residents of Butler County with national, state, and local 
news that we count on.
  In the 60s, our family opened the Butler Eagle to see how many yards 
Terry Hanratty threw for or how many tackles the Saul brothers had for 
a loss on a Friday night. The Eagle, like many local newspapers across 
the country, is a big part of the community identity. These 
publications provide information that matters to us that larger, 
national news outlets do not. They tell us stories about friends and 
neighbors and their successes, new marriages, community events, high 
school sports, and so much more. We can count on the Eagle and papers 
like it across our great country to tell us what is happening close to 
home.
  National publications cover what one might expect: national politics, 
Congress, the president, and foreign affairs. While it is important to 
know what's going on in Washington, D.C., our system of government was 
designed to give local government a much larger direct impact on the 
lives of Americans. When local papers like the Butler Eagle cover 
mayors, city councils, county commissioners, and school boards, they 
perform a vital service that helps Americans oversee the elected 
officials who affect their lives far more personally than those in our 
nation's capital.
  Think about it. Our local zoning commissioners decide what we can 
build on our own land, or what can be built next door to us. City 
councils decide how much to invest in our local roads. Reporting on 
their decisions is crucial to functioning municipalities. Without local 
papers like the Butler Eagle, we would face difficulty assessing the 
leadership of our locally elected government officials. We would also 
lose a great deal of connectivity with our surroundings. Local papers 
provide a knowledge of and bond with our neighbors.
  So, as we celebrate the Butler Eagle's 150th anniversary, I thank the 
paper for its long record of service to the City and County of Butler, 
for informing us about important events in our neighborhoods, and 
holding elected officials accountable at all levels of government. We 
appreciate the many past and present reporters who take the pulse of 
our communities and convey their findings. In doing so, they have 
helped shape the identity of Butler and brought us together as a 
community.
  Best wishes for the next 150 years.

                          ____________________