[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13694]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        TRIBUTE TO BOBBIE FOUST

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Roberta Foust, or ``Bobbie'' as she is known to her many friends and 
readers. With her recent retirement from The Paducah Sun, Bobbie 
completes a distinguished career as a journalist.
  Her byline has long been a familiar one to news readers in the 
western part of Kentucky. She worked for The Calvert News in Calvert 
City in the 1960's. In 1972, she began working as a reporter and 
photographer for The Tribune Courier in Marshall County, in the heart 
of Kentucky's Western Lakes region. After 5 years, she moved to the 
rival Marshall County Messenger, where she was responsible for all news 
content, layout, and design. She returned to The Tribune Courier in a 
similar capacity in 1979. In 1988, she became the editor of the weekly 
Herald Ledger in Eddyville, a position she held until the local 
ownership sold the paper in 1991.
  Bobbie then joined the largest newspaper in far Western Kentucky, The 
Paducah Sun, a daily with a circulation of 31,000. With the Sun, Bobbie 
served as a general assignment reporter. In this position, she worked 
in Marshall, Lyon, and other lakes-area counties. Besides the usual 
broad assortment of news she covered in her day-to-day duties, Bobbie 
covered certain continuing stories, and developed an in-depth knowledge 
in these areas that was widely recognized. Among these were the Land 
Between the Lakes and the role of the Tennessee Valley Authority in LBL 
and Western Kentucky. During this time, Bobbie earned broad respect in 
the region she covered, as well as at TVA headquarters in Knoxville and 
Washington.
  I have not only been a regular reader of Bobbie's, but have often 
been covered in her stories. Over the years, I have had the opportunity 
to get to know her first-hand, and feel that I am in a uniquely 
qualified position to comment upon her journalistic legacy. Bobbie has 
earned a reputation of persistence, thoroughness, and objectivity--the 
three lodestars of her profession. Always firm in getting the story for 
her readers, she was unflappably cordial in personal demeanor in the 
performance of her duties.
  Bobbie's retirement plans include the possibility of taking some 
college course work, and hopefully, the role of occasional contributor 
to The Paducah Sun. Along with Bobbie's husband, Ray, and children, 
Donna, Terrie, Jackie, and Dennis, I wish Bobbie an enjoyable and 
productive retirement. I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing 
the career of this outstanding Kentuckian.

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