[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8186]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO BOB HOWELL, LONGTIME WSFA TV NEWS ANCHOR

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 1, 2012

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the outstanding 
contributions of one of South Alabama's most distinguished and trusted 
broadcast journalists, Mr. Bob Howell. As of today, June 1, 2012, Bob 
Howell officially retires from WSFA TV 12 in Montgomery where he 
anchored the evening news for more than three decades.
  A native of Geneva, Alabama, Bob Howell first set foot on his 
lifelong career path in broadcasting while still a high school student. 
After taking the mic at WGEA radio in his hometown, he traveled east to 
Dothan, Alabama to deliver the news at WTVY TV 4 for five years. In 
1976, Bob moved to Alabama's capital city to take the helm of the 
region's largest television news operation, WSFA TV, where he anchored 
the weekday 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.
  As WSFA's press release announcing Bob's retirement aptly observed, 
``He has had the job of delivering the day's news to thousands of 
viewers with a calm, trusted, steady and caring approach through 
difficult, challenging and happy times.''
  Over the years, he has anchored more than 10,000 live newscasts in 
addition to serving as the Managing Editor of WSFA's news department. 
His three decade career at WSFA witnessed his live reporting of 
gubernatorial inaugurations, most of the State's historic events of the 
last thirty years, as well as foreign assignments covering stories in 
Britain, France, Germany, and Kuwait.
  In addition to his anchoring role, Bob also produced award-winning 
documentaries, hosted WSFA's ``Newsmakers'' program, ``Alabama 
Illustrated,'' ``Inside Alabama's Legislature,'' and co-hosted the 
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and the Children's Miracle Network 
fundraisers. He also hosted the regular news feature, ``Exploring 
Alabama with Bob Howell.''
  Despite his busy schedule covering and delivering breaking news to 
thousands of South Alabama residents, including Clarke, Monroe and 
Escambia counties in my congressional district, Bob also returned his 
knowledge and expertise to college journalism students as an instructor 
at Troy University's Hall School of Journalism for more than 20 years.
  As Bob officially begins his retirement from WSFA and broadcasting, 
he has made it clear that he will not be giving up work. He is already 
busy making plans for his next career for which he promises he still 
has a lot to offer.
  On behalf of the people of South Alabama, and as someone who grew up 
watching Bob deliver the evening news, I thank Bob for his dedication 
and professionalism and wish him and his wife and family all the best 
in their future endeavors.

                          ____________________