[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E914-E915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING JACK WHITE'S INDUCTION TO THE RHODE ISLAND TELEVISION & 
                           RADIO HALL OF FAME

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM R. KEATING

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2023

  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the posthumous 
induction of Jack White to the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of 
Fame.
  Residents of Rhode Island and Massachusetts came to rely on Jack's 
reporting in the Newport Daily News, the Providence Journal, WBZ TV in 
Boston, the Cape Cod Times, and finally during his time as Chief 
Investigative Reporter at WPRI TV in Providence.
  A native of Pawtucket, Jack was a hard-hitting investigative 
journalist who never wavered on his principles. During the Watergate 
scandal, it was Jack's story in the Providence Journal that brought 
President Nixon's underpayment of federal income tax into national 
focus and caused the President to respond to a question from Jack's 
editor with the now infamous five-word phrase: ''I am not a crook.'' 
That reporting won Jack White a Pulitzer Prize in 1974, cost President 
Nixon hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and spurred the 
practice of Presidents releasing their income tax returns for public 
inspection. True to his convictions as a journalist, Jack never 
divulged his source for the Nixon story and even delayed the story by 
twelve days to stand with striking reporters at the Providence Journal.
  After leaving Providence for WBZ in Boston, it was a reporting job at 
the Cape Cod Times that brought the White family to West Barnstable, 
and Jack's commitment to his family that kept them on Cape Cod as he 
commuted back and forth to Providence during his decades at WPRI. His 
work at WPRI was marked by numerous major investigative stories, 
multiple Emmy Awards, and earned him the honorary title of ``Dean of 
Rhode Island Journalism.''
  Sadly, Jack left us suddenly on October 12. 2005, at age 63, leaving 
behind his wife Beth, daughter Elizabeth, sons John, Patrick, and 
Timothy, and their families. Jack's son, Tim, followed his father into 
journalism and can be seen on televisions across Rhode Island and 
Southeastern Massachusetts each week hosting the same ``Newsmakers'' 
program that Jack hosted during his time at WPRI.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join the Rhode Island Television & Radio 
Hall of Fame in celebrating the journalistic accomplishments of Jack 
White, and I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Jack's 
posthumous induction into the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of 
Fame and the impact that his reporting has had on Southern New England 
and our nation.

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