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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN CELEBRATION OF BUTLER EAGLE'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY
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HON. MIKE KELLY
of pennsylvania
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate
the 150th anniversary of Butler County's hometown newspaper, the Butler
Eagle.
As a life-long resident of Butler, I am proud to celebrate a special
milestone for our hometown paper. For 150 years, the Butler Eagle has
provided residents of Butler County with national, state, and local
news that we count on.
In the 60s, our family opened the Butler Eagle to see how many yards
Terry Hanratty threw for or how many tackles the Saul brothers had for
a loss on a Friday night. The Eagle, like many local newspapers across
the country, is a big part of the community identity. These
publications provide information that matters to us that larger,
national news outlets do not. They tell us stories about friends and
neighbors and their successes, new marriages, community events, high
school sports, and so much more. We can count on the Eagle and papers
like it across our great country to tell us what is happening close to
home.
National publications cover what one might expect: national politics,
Congress, the president, and foreign affairs. While it is important to
know what's going on in Washington, D.C., our system of government was
designed to give local government a much larger direct impact on the
lives of Americans. When local papers like the Butler Eagle cover
mayors, city councils, county commissioners, and school boards, they
perform a vital service that helps Americans oversee the elected
officials who affect their lives far more personally than those in our
nation's capital.
Think about it. Our local zoning commissioners decide what we can
build on our own land, or what can be built next door to us. City
councils decide how much to invest in our local roads. Reporting on
their decisions is crucial to functioning municipalities. Without local
papers like the Butler Eagle, we would face difficulty assessing the
leadership of our locally elected government officials. We would also
lose a great deal of connectivity with our surroundings. Local papers
provide a knowledge of and bond with our neighbors.
So, as we celebrate the Butler Eagle's 150th anniversary, I thank the
paper for its long record of service to the City and County of Butler,
for informing us about important events in our neighborhoods, and
holding elected officials accountable at all levels of government. We
appreciate the many past and present reporters who take the pulse of
our communities and convey their findings. In doing so, they have
helped shape the identity of Butler and brought us together as a
community.
Best wishes for the next 150 years.
____________________