MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2007 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Little, Albritton, Butler, Carmichael, Chassaniol, Clarke, Dawkins, Dearing, Fillingane, Frazier, Gollott, Gordon, Harden, Jackson (15th), Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Jordan, King, Lee (35th), Mettetal, Moffatt, Robertson, Thomas, Tollison, Walley, Walls, White, Williamson

Senate Resolution 13

(As Adopted by Senate)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING CNN CORRESPONDENT KATHLEEN KOCH FOR HER EXCEPTIONAL COVERAGE OF THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA ON THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST AND WELCOMING HER TO THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.

     WHEREAS, Kathleen Koch is a Mississippi higher education success story.  She is a CNN General Assignment Correspondent based in Washington, D.C., specializing in aviation reporting at the Pentagon and the White House; and

     WHEREAS, Kathleen is the keynote speaker at the HEADWAE (Higher Education Appreciation Day-Working for Academic Excellence) annual event held on Tuesday, February 20, 2007; and

     WHEREAS, in 2005 and 2006, Kathleen Koch provided moving reports from the Gulf Coast during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Her reports were featured in CNN Presents:  Saving My Town -- The Fight for Bay Saint Louis, a special that looked at the progress of Koch's hometown in Mississippi six months after Katrina.  These reports were meaningful because Kathleen is a native of the Gulf Coast and her knowledge and love of the Coast were evident; and

     WHEREAS, Kathleen is a former student at Our Lady Academy in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, and in 2006 was chosen as the honoree of the Academy's 2006 gala fund-raiser for her exceptional continuing coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; and

     WHEREAS, Koch began her career, hired before graduating college, as a reporter and weekend anchor for WLOX-TV13 in Biloxi.  Koch was a Rotary Foundation International Graduate Scholar at the University of Dijon in Dijon, France.  She studied Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she was one of only 40 freshmen accepted into the university's honors program; and

     WHEREAS, in 2004, Koch traveled the country covering the campaign of President George Bush, before being deployed south to Florida to report on the deadly series of hurricanes lashing that state.  In 2003, she was part of CNN's around-the-clock coverage from the Pentagon on the buildup to and the launch of the Iraq War.  A year earlier, Koch was one of the primary correspondents covering the Washington, D.C.-area sniper attacks.  In 2001, she was part of CNN's Emmy award-winning coverage of the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Two months later, Koch was lead correspondent on CNN's coverage of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York; and

     WHEREAS, before joining CNN, Koch was a general assignment reporter covering Washington, D.C. for multiple news organizations.  She was also a consumer and medical reporter for the Group W Newsfeed Network and a weekend reporter at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.  She was an anchor and State Department Correspondent for "America Today," the U.S. Information Agency's two-hour daily international news broadcast to Europe; and

     WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize the unique contributions of this former Mississippian who has helped introduce the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the people of America and to keep Mississippi in the national focus:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend CNN Washington D.C. Bureau Correspondent and USM graduate Kathleen Koch for her exceptional coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and welcome her to the State of Mississippi as keynote speaker for the annual HEADWAE (Higher Education Appreciation Day-Working for Academic Excellence) event in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday, February 20, 2007.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Kathleen Koch and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.