Recognizing Jack White's Induction to the Rhode Island Television Radio Hall of Fame

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the posthumous induction of Jack White to the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of Fame.

Residents of Rhode Island and Massachusetts came to rely on Jack's reporting in the Newport Daily News, the Providence Journal, WBZ TV in Boston, the Cape Cod Times, and finally during his time as Chief Investigative Reporter at WPRI TV in Providence.

A native of Pawtucket, Jack was a hard-hitting investigative journalist who never wavered on his principles. During the Watergate scandal, it was Jack's story in the Providence Journal that brought President Nixon's underpayment of federal income tax into national focus and caused the President to respond to a question from Jack's editor with the now infamous five-word phrase: ''I am not a crook.'' That reporting won Jack White a Pulitzer Prize in 1974, cost President Nixon hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and spurred the practice of Presidents releasing their income tax returns for public inspection. True to his convictions as a journalist, Jack never divulged his source for the Nixon story and even delayed the story by twelve days to stand with striking reporters at the Providence Journal.

After leaving Providence for WBZ in Boston, it was a reporting job at the Cape Cod Times that brought the White family to West Barnstable, and Jack's commitment to his family that kept them on Cape Cod as he commuted back and forth to Providence during his decades at WPRI. His work at WPRI was marked by numerous major investigative stories, multiple Emmy Awards, and earned him the honorary title of ``Dean of Rhode Island Journalism.''

Sadly, Jack left us suddenly on October 12. 2005, at age 63, leaving behind his wife Beth, daughter Elizabeth, sons John, Patrick, and Timothy, and their families. Jack's son, Tim, followed his father into journalism and can be seen on televisions across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts each week hosting the same ``Newsmakers'' program that Jack hosted during his time at WPRI.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of Fame in celebrating the journalistic accomplishments of Jack White, and I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Jack's posthumous induction into the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of Fame and the impact that his reporting has had on Southern New England and our nation.

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