Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, this week, my district is losing one of its very best agricultural reporters to retirement. Bill Jackson will be leaving the Greeley Tribune, and in his place will be a big hole in coverage of agricultural issues in the Fourth Congressional District of Colorado.

He spent his entire childhood and early years in Fort Morgan but ultimately moved to my hometown of Yuma, Colorado, where he graduated high school. He served in the Navy, and after that he went to Arizona and Sterling before joining the Greeley Tribune in 1977, where he has spent the last many years.

In 2004, Bill was inducted into the Colorado Agricultural Hall of Fame. Mike Peters, one of Bill's colleagues at the Greeley Tribune, wrote a speech about Bill for his retirement, and it was so funny that I would like to share some of those excerpts with you today.

You know you're Bill Jackson if you go to cover a water meeting and you know what the heck they're talking about.

You know you're Bill Jackson if, when someone mentions Charlie or Dick Monfort, instead of talking Rockies baseball, you tell them how you changed their diapers when they were little.

You know you're Bill Jackson if you know every single farmer, rancher, milker, ditch rider, beet picker, cowboy, cowgirl, and rainmaker in Weld County.

You know you're Bill Jackson if the term ``NISP'' not only makes sense, but it also makes your heart race.

You know you're Bill Jackson if you know the path of a snowflake from the point it falls from the sky onto the mountain, it goes into a river and then a reservoir and down a river until it reaches your water cup.

We're going to miss Bill Jackson. I thank him for his service to Colorado and to Colorado agriculture.

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