[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 67 (Monday, April 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2129-S2130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING JOHN DiSTASO

 Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I rise today to join Granite 
Staters in mourning the loss of John DiStaso, whose tenacious, in-
depth, and effective political reporting reflected--and was a tribute 
to--New Hampshire's independent, skeptical, and engaged political 
culture.
  John got his start in our State as a correspondent for the New 
Hampshire Union Leader. Beginning as a staff reporter in 1980, John 
rose to spend many years as the senior political reporter at the Union 
Leader, becoming an expert on the most pressing issues facing New 
Hampshire and the political campaigns that help define the Granite 
State and the Nation. Ending his tenure at the Union Leader in 2014, 
John later took his talents to WMUR, where he helped lead the station's 
political coverage.
  For any of us who were the subject of his reporting, it was always 
clear that

[[Page S2130]]

John loved what he did and deeply believed in the importance of 
journalism to our democracy. He asked tough questions, he chased 
scoops, and he brought a Granite State lens to everything he wrote. 
Politics wasn't a game to him, and he took seriously his role of 
bringing political news directly to the voters.
  John is perhaps best known for setting the standard for first in the 
Nation primary coverage, chronicling our primary for decades. First and 
foremost, Granite Staters turned to him to get everything that they 
needed to know as they grilled candidates at townhalls, and made their 
choices at the ballot box. And John was surely on speed dial for 
countless national political reporters who relied on him for his 
insights and analysis on our unique and historic primary, because no 
one knew the first in the Nation primary better than John.
  Day in and day out, John tirelessly reported the news, ensuring that 
Granite Staters always knew the latest, not only on elections but also 
on critical issues facing our State, like the substance misuse 
epidemic. No story was too big or too small for John. Throughout his 
40-year career in the Granite State, he interviewed four sitting 
Presidents, as well as countless New Hampshire elected officials and 
national leaders.
  The impact of this coverage extended far beyond the page or the 
screen. Granite Staters are some of the most informed and engaged 
voters in the country, and that is in no small part due to John's deep 
commitment to sharing New Hampshire political news directly with the 
people. His passion for reporting helped fuel the Granite State 
practice of deeply engaged citizen participation in democracy.
  John's love of journalism, his understanding of its importance to 
nurturing and protecting, our democracy, and his commitment to getting 
it right reflect the very best of New Hampshire--even if he was a 
Yankees fan. He will be missed.

                          ____________________