[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10097-10098]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     NEVADA'S PULITZER PRIZE WINNER

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is not every day we get to read good news 
in the newspaper, and it is certainly not common of late to read good 
news about newspapers. Today is one of those rare days. A newspaper in 
the State of Nevada--the Las Vegas Sun--has won the Pulitzer Prize 
because of a courageous young journalist named Alexandra Berzon. I 
spoke to her yesterday. This was basically this young woman's first 
reporting job. She is so excited, as she should be.
  I am very happy and proud the Pulitzer is coming to Nevada. This is 
only the second time in Nevada's history it has received this most 
prestigious award in journalism and the first time in more than three 
decades. But I am especially proud because the Sun has been recognized 
for public service reporting that uncovered lax safety standards and 
led to actual policy changes that are saving lives.
  The famous Las Vegas strip recently saw a $32 billion building boom. 
But something else was going up along with the hotels and casinos--the 
unnecessary deaths of construction workers. Twelve workers died in a 
little over 17 months. Berzon's careful reporting led to important 
safety improvements, and not one worker has died since these changes 
took effect. I applaud Alexandra Berzon, her editors, and everyone at 
the Las Vegas Sun, which has a storied history of solid investigative 
journalism.
  This newspaper started on a string many years ago--in the 1950s--by a 
man by the name of Hank Greenspun. He was a crusading newspaperman. He 
was the first person in the entire country to take on Senator McCarthy 
and the awful things he was doing to America and about America. He took 
him on personally on one of McCarthy's visits to Las Vegas.
  He also did something else which was very courageous. Nevada had a 
very powerful Senator. His name was Pat McCarran. He was noted for his 
use of power, and Hank Greenspun, of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, took 
after him big time. McCarran asked all the strip hotels to no longer 
advertise in that newspaper, and they followed the demand of Senator 
McCarran. A lawsuit was filed. We only had one Federal judge, and that 
one Federal judge--even though he had been appointed by McCarran in an 
antitrust action, which is not a jury trial--ruled in favor of the Sun. 
He won that lawsuit.
  He took on McCarthy, he took on McCarran, and that was only the 
beginning of this great newspaper and the things it has done, and now 
they have won a Pulitzer. Hank Greenspun must be smiling from heaven.
  Someone who is a modern-day icon of this newspaper was a man who 
taught me in high school. Fortuitously, he and I, unexpectedly, were 
elected, independently, Governor and Lieutenant Governor at the same 
time. He served 8

[[Page 10098]]

years. His name was Mike O'Callaghan, Governor of the State, and a very 
popular person. He could have gone on to make huge amounts of money in 
other places. He decided not to do that. I was a lawyer. I drew up this 
big contract where he would go to work for Hank Greenspun running his 
newspapers. I met with him, handed him the contract, and he said: We 
don't sign contracts; we shake hands. So they shook hands, and that was 
the beginning of a relationship that is historic in Nevada. My dear 
friend Mike O'Callaghan died in church; he went to mass every morning, 
and died as a young man in church, where I am sure his good thoughts 
are still coming forward.
  With Hank and Mike, I am sure, as I have indicated about Hank, they 
are looking down from this place we call heaven at this wonderful time 
for this newspaper.
  The kind of reporting Alexandra Berzon did is a model for reporters 
everywhere to follow. Of the 21 Pulitzer Prizes, only one--the Public 
Service Award--the one that the Las Vegas Sun was awarded--doesn't come 
with a cash prize. All the others come with a $10,000 cash prize but 
not this one. It comes with a medal. But this medal is going to mean 
much more to Alexandra than any dollar amount would. It is a reminder 
that journalism, in its most fundamental role--as a disinterested 
watchdog for our communities and our citizens, our country--benefits 
all of us.

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