E2380 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks December 10, 2008 

RECOGNIZING THE HONORABLE 

JON PORTER ON THE OCCASION 

OF HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

HON. JO BONNER 

OF ALABAMA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 

Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today 

to honor the distinguished career of the Honorable JON PORTER for his service to the people of Nevada and the United States House of 

Representatives. Congressman PORTER has 

represented the Third Congressional District of 

the State of Nevada for the past 6 years. 

Born and raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa, JON

attended Briar Cliff College in Sioux City, 

Iowa, majoring in Theology. JON later moved 

to Henderson, Nevada, to begin his professional career as a small business owner with 

the Farmers Insurance Group. JON’s political 

career began with his election to the Boulder 

City City Council in 1983. Immediately following his term on the City Council, JON was 

elected mayor of Boulder City in 1987 and 

went on to serve in the Nevada State Senate. 

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, becoming the first Representative of the newly created Third Congressional District. 

Appointed to the powerful Ways and Means 

Committee at the beginning of the 110th Congress, JON used this post to influence revenue 

legislation affecting the gaming and tourism industries which are the backbone of Nevada’s 

economy. He also worked to shed light on 

travel requirements in order to facilitate easier 

travel to and from the United States in order 

to boost tourism to the Third District. 

Education has also been a priority of JON’s. 

Working with John Walsh, child advocate and 

host of America’s Most Wanted, JON introduced legislation mandating criminal background checks for teachers in States that had 

not previously required them. The House 

passed bill was later enacted as part of the 

larger Adam Walsh Child Protection Act. 

JON is also a founding member of the ‘‘Second Amendments,’’ a bipartisan band of congressional Members that plays for various 

charities in Washington. The band has also 

traveled to Iraq playing for the troops at 

Christmas. 

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join 

me in recognizing a dedicated leader and 

friend to many in this body. I know his family, 

his children, J. Chris and Nicole, as well as his 

many friends and colleagues join me in honoring his accomplishments and extending 

thanks for his service over the years on behalf 

of the State of Nevada and the United States 

of America. 

JON will surely enjoy the well deserved time 

he now has to spend with his family and loved 

ones. I wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors. 

IN RECOGNITION OF AM 560 KWTO 

RADIO’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF 

SERVING SOUTHWEST MISSOURI 

HON. ROY BLUNT OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 

Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 

honor an Ozarks institution—KWTO Radio. 

AM 560 KWTO will celebrate its 75th anniversary of continuous service to Southwest Missouri providing music, news and information. 

On Christmas Day 1933, broadcast pioneer 

Ralph Foster brought KWTO to life with its first 

broadcast from the old Chamber of Commerce 

Building on St. Louis Street in Springfield. 

Foster decided that KWTO’s hallmark would 

be to provide the highest quality news, weather, farm reports and entertainment to its listeners and dubbed the station’s call letters 

‘‘Keep Watching the Ozarks.’’ Adherence to 

that tradition has kept KWTO the region’s 

longest continuously operating radio station. 

75 years is a long time to keep any business going. By hiring great talent in broadcasting and entertainment, Foster amassed an 

amazing group of artists and journalists that 

would become well known and trusted names 

in radio. Floyd Sullivan, Bill Bailey and C.C. 

Williford, who was widely known as one of the 

nation’s best weathermen, filled the region’s 

airwaves from the 1930s. 

Another group of broadcasters were also 

laying the foundation for what would become 

‘‘the Golden Age’’ of entertainment on KWTO 

AM. Slim Wilson, George Earl and Bill Ring 

were the showmen that Foster and associate 

Si Simon used to launch and develop programming that would take a weekly ‘‘hillbilly 

variety’’ program and turned it into one of televisions early sensations. 

KWTO’s Korn’s-A-Krackin’, which began airing during World War II and continued into the 

1960s, was picked up nationally by the Mutual 

Broadcast System. In July 1954, KWTO became part of American broadcast history when 

the KWTO Barn Dance program was revamped for the brand new medium and 

named The Ozarks Jubilee. This live program 

broadcast from Springfield was an early TV hit 

(1955 to 1960 on ABC). 

KWTO, which also produced the Ozarks 

Country Jubilee, and its television cousin used 

local artists like Wilson, Red Foley, Mother 

Maybelle Carter and the Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Porter Waggoner, Les Paul, Brenda 

Lee and a guitar player named Chet Atkins. 

These were staff musicians hired to perform 

live on KWTO from the 1930s through 1950s 

well before they established iconic careers in 

country music that led many to Country Music 

Hall of Fame and/or the Grand Ole Opry decades later. 

Other notables broadcasting for KWTO at 

the start of their careers: 

Charles McCord, from the nationally syndicated Don Imus Show, and whose grandmother, May Kennedy McCord, was also a 

KWTO broadcaster during the 40s and 50s. 

Jim Bohannon, now nationally syndicated 

and a member of the Radio Broadcaster Hall 

of Fame, was a news reporter at KWTO. 

Les Garvin, creator of MTV. 

While not originating his program from 

KWTO, Ralph Foster’s close friend Paul Harvey frequently broadcasted live from the 

KWTO studio. 

More contemporary alums from KWTO now 

hold important positions in business, education 

and broadcasting including Greene County 

Clerk Richard Struckhoff, President of the St. 

Johns Foundation Mike Peters, and Vice 

President of University Advancement at Missouri State University Brent Dunn, just to 

name a few. 

KWTO has long provided vital information to 

its family of listeners on local and world 

events. It’s where Ozarkers learned on a cold 

December morning about the attack on Pearl 

Harbor and heard President Roosevelt’s response a day later. KWTO was also the 

source for news of the surrender of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. Its broadcasters 

reported the shocking news of President Roosevelt’s death as well as the elation of President Harry Truman’s surprise win in 1948. 

KWTO was home to the Lone Ranger and 

many other radio favorites for generations. 

KWTO’s commitment to community involvement has also been an integral part of its mission to enhance the quality of life for its listeners. There was ‘‘free ride day’’ that started 

as a charity event cosponsored with the Salvation Army at the Ozark Empire Fair and the 

hugely successful KWTO Christmas Parties 

held at the Shrine Mosque that drew crowds 

so large some people had to be turned away. 

Local news has always been a critical part 

of KWTO’s commitment to the region. Reporting on a wide range of social, political, law enforcement, and events that marked and 

shaped the area was a mainstay of everyday 

programming. In more recent years, the 

KWTO microphones have been opened to the 

public for talk show programming that gives 

voice to a range of opinions. 

This Christmas Day AM 560 KWTO Radio 

will celebrate its 75th year of operations and 

its continuing dedication to serving the Ozarks. 

I wish KWTO and its current owner Kenneth 

Myer continued success and many more years 

of ‘‘Keep Watching the Ozarks.’’ 

f 

RECOGNIZING THE HONORABLE 

MARILYN MUSGRAVE ON THE 

OCCASION OF HER RETIREMENT 

FROM THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

HON. JO BONNER OF ALABAMA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 

Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today 

to honor the distinguished career of the Honorable MARILYN MUSGRAVE for her service to 

the people of Colorado and the United States 

House of Representatives. Congresswoman 

MUSGRAVE has represented the Fourth Congressional District of the State of Colorado for 

the past six years. 

Born and raised in Weld County, Colorado, 

MARILYN cleaned houses and waited tables to 

earn a degree from Colorado State University. 

She married her high school sweetheart, 

Steve, during college and taught school for 

several years before deciding to stay home to 

raise their four children. MARILYN and her husband have owned and operated a farm equipment business in Eastern Colorado for over 20 

years. 

In 1990, MARILYN won her first election to 

the Morgan County School Board. Two years