[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14076-14077]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRATULATING FOSTERS DAILY DEMOCRAT ON 130 YEARS OF SERVICE TO NEW 
                          HAMPSHIRE'S SEACOAST

 Mr. GREGG. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
proud New Hampshire institution celebrating an important milestone this 
year. For 130 years, Fosters Daily Democrat, a now daily newspaper 
serving the people of the city of Dover and New Hampshire's seacoast 
region, has provided exceptional coverage of local and State news. 
Since its founding by Joshua L. Foster, the paper has remained under 
the ownership and direction of the Foster family and is the only daily 
newspaper in our Nation displaying a family name in its banner.
  In order to understand the significance of the milestone Fosters is 
celebrating this month, it is important to recognize just how much news 
the publishers, editors and reporters have witnessed and brought to the 
Dover area since June of 1863. The 1860 census lists a little over 
8,500 Dover residents. Today the city is proud to have nearly 27,000 
residents. During its first decade, Fosters witnessed a time of 
tremendous production and growth in the Cocheco Print Works and Pacific 
Mills, two the most important employers in town. The Mills, which 
harnessed the power of the Cocheco River, produced some of the finest 
cotton products in the nation and employed 1,200 workers. The Print 
Works was churning out in excess of 65 million yards of printed cottons 
a year to an increasingly global market.
  In addition to reporting on the area's growth and prosperity, Fosters 
also brought one of the worst disasters in the history of the city to 
its readers--the great flood of March 1896. As any New Hampshire 
resident knows, tremendous amounts of rain in the early spring aided by 
melting snow from the previous winter, causes flooding. This was 
certainly true on March 1 and 2 that year when the city lost three 
bridges, numerous businesses, and incurred tens of thousands of dollars 
in economic hardship to a deluge that caused raging currents and swept 
large chunks of ice into the middle of town. Fosters was on hand to 
cover it all.
  When President Theodore Roosevelt visited Dover in 1902, Fosters was 
there. When 545 residents of Dover served in World War I, Fosters 
brought their stories to New Hampshire, and again in World War II when 
2230 Dover residents fought to defend our Nation. And in 1973, when 
Dover, the oldest continuous settlement in New Hampshire, and seventh 
oldest city in the United States, marked its 350th birthday, Fosters 
Daily Democrat marked 100 years of publishing. Since the middle of the 
20th century it has followed countless Presidential candidates trudging 
through our State in the cold and snow. Fosters Daily Democrat has been 
there every step of the way to make sure its readers stay informed and 
in touch with issues that concern them.
  In addition to its coverage of events in and around the Dover area, 
the paper also brings its readers coverage of national and world 
events, including the war on terror. In a recent editorial, March 29, 
Fosters cautioned its readers to be wary of folks ``who seek mightily 
to undermine the American way of life and their intent to perpetrate 
atrocities against innocent people either directly or by aiding and 
abetting those who would carry out such deeds.'' Today, the paper holds 
true to the words of its original editor, Joshua Foster, who in the 
first editorial published in June 1873 pledged that, ``Whatever may 
tend to benefit this people and enhance their prosperity, will receive 
our warm and enthusiastic support.''
  For 130 years, five generations of the Foster family, currently led 
by Bob and Terri Foster, have brought news from Dover City Hall, the 
New Hampshire Statehouse and locations around

[[Page 14077]]

the globe to the front porches of New Hampshire's seacoast. On this 
special anniversary I sincerely congratulate them on the tremendous job 
they continue to do, thank them for the important public service they 
perform, and wish them the best of luck in the future.

                          ____________________