Recognizing Mr. James Lesley Walters

Floor Speech

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Mr. ADERHOLT. I would like to recognize the retirement of someone who has spent his career bringing news and information to thousands of people.

Mr. James Lesley (Les) Walters was born to James and Lottie Walters in April of 1956 in Andalusia, Alabama. He was the valedictorian of his 1974 graduating class at Red Level High School. After high school, Waters went on to attend college at Troy state University. Upon graduation in 1978, he was named the Hall School of Journalism and Communication's Outstanding Graduate of the Year.

In 1979, the Itawamba County Times in Fulton, Mississippi hired Walters as a news writer. Later that same year, he accepted a job in Hamilton, Alabama at a brand newspaper called the Hamilton Progress.

In 1987, Walters left the Hamilton Progress for the position of managing editor of the Journal Record newspaper, also in Hamilton. He has held this position for the past 32 years.

During his more than three decades at the Journal Record, his leadership has helped steer the paper and the community during much change, progress and even tragedy. From the completion of interstate 1- 22 through Marion County, the 2011 tornado outbreak that left several dozen people in the county dead, to the 2016 Hamilton office shootings, Walters has been there to help the paper and his staff write the first draft of Marion County history.

As an editor, Walters has been a vocal advocate of Alabama's open records and open meetings act and has kept county and municipal governments accountable to adhere by them. Walters also cultivated a higher standard of journalism in Marion County. Under his leadership, the paper moved from submission-based coverage to having reporters prioritize county commission meetings and city and town council meetings, bringing local news and issues to print for the public's awareness.

Walters has received numerous media awards from the Alabama Press Association, including his most-prized award, the APA Feature Story of the Year, which he was honored with for his article ``Dr. Charlie Pyle's Hamilton Hillbillies Semi-Pro Baseball Team.''

Walters has also been named Kiwanis Citizen of the Year and has served as the Hamilton CJ's president, where he was a longtime member and helped organize numerous fund raisers, such as wrestling nights and air shows at the Marion County Rankin-Fite Airport.

Walters married his wife of 39 years, Sheri Gilliland, on July 19, 1980. They have two sons: Sloan, 34, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Sloan and his wife Erin have two sons, Thad, 5, Crosby, 2, and another child expected in February 2020; his youngest son, Chance, 33, lives in Birmingham. The Walters family are members of the First Baptist Church of Hamilton, where Les Walters has taught Sunday school for youth and college-aged adults. He also serves on the church's publicity committee.

As a member of Congress, representing Marion County and northwest Alabama, I want to acknowledge and honor Mr. Walters and his years of service to his community, his state and our First Amendment. I wish Les Walters all the best in his well-earned retirement.

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