[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21408]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRATULATIONS TO GENE OWENS ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT FROM 
                          THE MOBILE REGISTER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 5, 2003

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to recognize and 
salute my friend, Gene Owens, on the occasion of his retirement from 
``active duty'' with the Mobile Register, Alabama's oldest newspaper.
  For 9 years, Gene has provided consistent, quality reporting to 
readers along the Gulf Coast and throughout Alabama, first as the 
paper's political editor and in recent years, as the Register's popular 
metro columnist.
  Prior to moving to Alabama, Gene worked at newspapers in other areas 
of the country, devoting much of that time to reporting jobs in the 
Commonwealth of Virginia. Upon moving to the Gulf Coast in 1994, Gene 
became a familiar face to those of us in public service during his 
stint as the Register's political editor. In so doing, he shared with 
the people of south Alabama the talents and personal integrity upon 
which he built his reputation as a journalist.
  Elected officials, community representatives and concerned citizens 
alike could always rely on Gene to provide the best possible coverage 
of issues facing us in Alabama as well as topics of national interest. 
From covering local political debates to national party conventions, 
Gene could always be counted on to give you the complete story on the 
major issues of the day. While his readers--and those he reported on--
did not always agree with him, we could always be assured there would 
be equal and fair treatment in his columns and stories, a statement 
which can not always be said about all journalists.
  In recent years, Gene moved to cover more local issues, and his 
columns on more human interest stories won him an entirely new 
following. His humorous and often folksy manner of sharing local tales, 
from topics as diverse as an annual Texas State Fire Ant Festival to a 
discussion on the finer points of the southern ``take'' on the English 
language, could always be counted upon to inform, entertain and bring a 
smile to the faces of all his readers.
  His readers, colleagues and fans never hesitated to share their 
opinions on and about Gene and his pontifications. Of all the comments 
the paper received during the past 9 years, the one that perhaps best 
sums up Gene's career and the public's feeling toward him was left on 
the Register's open comment line, ``Sound Off,'' and was recently 
reprinted in a tribute column about Gene. Someone called in to say, ``I 
hope God continues to watch over Gene Owens. The world is so in need of 
the humor and wisdom that he so richly shares with us all.''
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing Gene 
Owens for his tremendous contributions to both the world of journalism 
and to his friends and neighbors along Alabama's Gulf Coast. Gene is 
indeed a genuine Alabama treasure who has freely shared both his wisdom 
and humor with all of us, and for nearly a decade I have been proud to 
call him my friend.
  Along with his many friends and followers throughout South Alabama, 
``Pal Joey'' wishes to extend to Gene Owens and his lovely wife, ``Miss 
Peggy,'' all the best in the months and years ahead.

                          ____________________