Today, I come to the Senate floor to congratulate a legend in the broadcasting business.
Ron Steele is a long-time journalist from my hometown TV station, KWWL, in Waterloo, Iowa.
Tomorrow will be his last day behind the anchor desk, after more than 50 years bringing news, weather and sports to Iowans.
Over the years, he’s interviewed newsmakers from around the world and across our state, spanning U.S. presidents, Nobel laureates, Olympic medalists and hometown athletes.
Iowa families in the Cedar Valley look forward to his weekly coverage of “Friday Night Heroes.”
He also launched a public affairs program – called The Steele Report – where he interviewed more than 400 people, including this U.S. Senator.
As an avid news consumer, I hold Ron’s work in high regard.
He’s received recognition for his outstanding work, including the prestigious “Jack Shelley Award” from the Iowa Broadcast News Association, as well as multiple Emmy Awards.
Ron didn’t let grass grow underneath his feet behind the anchor’s desk.
He leveraged his platform to become an invaluable civic leader across Cedar Valley, bringing particular focus to special needs kids.
Ron’s program called, “Iowa’s Child,” has helped 200 children find their forever families.
And, like my work in the United States Senate on foster care, what I hear from foster care kids is they’re [shuttled] from one family to another, over the course of a year, [they said], “I’d like to have a mom and a dad, and a home.”
That’s what Ron was helping these 200 children find.
His leadership also was instrumental in raising enough money for the Five Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo.
I don’t expect people in Washington to know about the Sullivan Brothers, but they’re the five brothers that were on the same destroyer in 1942, during World War II, and it sunk and they all lost their lives. There are some trees planted out here on the Capitol Complex in their memory – five Japanese trees.
From one small town kid to another, I appreciate Ron’s commitment to our community and to the people of Iowa.
He will certainly be missed behind the news desk.
Barbara and I wish the entire Steele family the very best in the years ahead.
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