January 24, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 15 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO VERNON ODOM

 MR. CASEY. Mr. President, I wish to commend Vernon Odom, a 
highly regarded television news anchor for 6ABC--WPVI--in Philadelphia. 
Vernon Odom retired in December 2018 after more than 40 years of 
bringing breaking news into the living rooms of Philadelphia area 
residents.
  Odom was born in Atlanta, GA, and grew up in Akron, OH. His father, 
Vernon Odom, Sr., was a social worker and his mother, Sadie Harvey 
Odom, a scientist. Odom was raised with a passion for journalism, as 
his maternal grandfather was the second African American to publish a 
daily newspaper. Odom's great-grandfather, B.T. Harvey, Sr., launched 
the Nation's second African-American-owned newspaper, the ``Columbus 
Messenger.'' Odom's sister, Maida, is also a journalist and served as a 
veteran reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, Odom began 
his reporting career with the civil rights movement, including the 
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Odom completed his 
postgraduate studies in broadcast journalism at Columbia University in 
New York.
  Since his arrival in Philadelphia, coinciding with the celebration of 
America's Bicentennial, Odom has covered some of the biggest stories of 
a generation and neighborhood milestones throughout every section of 
Philadelphia and the suburbs.
  Odom also had the opportunity to travel the globe, bringing news 
stories from Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe to Philadelphia 
area residents. Notably, Vernon Odom covered the release of Nelson 
Mandela from prison as well as the first free election in South Africa 
in 1994. More recently, he was live as Pope Francis visited 
Philadelphia for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, as well as for the 
2016 Democratic National Convention.
  Odom is passionate about politics and he memorably reported live from 
the Ballroom of the Lackawanna Hilton in downtown Scranton when my 
father, Bob Casey, Sr., was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 
November 1986.
  In 2004, Odom was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers 
Hall of Fame and, in 2018, was honored as the Broadcast Pioneers of 
Philadelphia Person of the Year.
  I wish to express gratitude to Vernon Odom for more than four decades 
of dedication to broadcast journalism and to 6ABC. I wish him well in 
his retirement.

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