Bill Text: VA SJR371 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Commending Hoda Kotb.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed) 2025-02-14 - Laid on Speaker's table [SJR371 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2025-SJR371-Introduced.html
2025 SESSION
INTRODUCED
25100583D
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 371
Offered February 12, 2025
Commending Hoda Kotb.
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Patron—Surovell
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WHEREAS, Hoda Kotb, an award-winning journalist who was a familiar face to countless Americans as a co-host and contributor to several news and entertainment programs on NBC News, retired as one of the main co-anchors of the network's flagship morning show, Today, in 2025; and
WHEREAS, born in Oklahoma to Egyptian immigrants, Hoda Kotb spent a large portion of her youth in Northern Virginia and attended Fort Hunt Elementary School, Stephen C. Foster Intermediate School, and Fort Hunt High School; and
WHEREAS, Hoda Kotb continued her education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and received a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism; she later returned to her alma mater as a keynote speaker in 2008 and served a three-year term on the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors beginning in 2010; and
WHEREAS, Hoda Kotb began her career with a CBS affiliate station in Mississippi, then worked at CBS and ABC affiliates in Illinois, Florida, and Louisiana before joining NBC News as a national correspondent and a contributing anchor for Dateline in 1998; and
WHEREAS, in 2007, Hoda Kotb became the original host of the Today show's fourth-hour weekday morning broadcast; the following year, she was joined by Kathie Lee Gifford as co-host, an iconic pairing that defined mid-morning television in the United States for more than a decade; and
WHEREAS, during their long tenure as co-hosts of the Today show's fourth hour, Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford were household names throughout the nation, well known for their effortless chemistry and hilarious on-screen antics; and
WHEREAS, after Kathie Lee Gifford's retirement, Hoda Kotb continued her co-hosting duties with Jenna Bush Hager, further demonstrating her range and flexibility as an anchor and maintaining the program's reputation as a staple of mid-morning television; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, Hoda Kotb was selected as an interim co-anchor of the Today show's morning news broadcast; she and Savannah Guthrie were subsequently named the full-time co-anchors in 2018, becoming the first female anchor duo to ever lead the program and overseeing a jump in ratings during their tenure; and
WHEREAS, Hoda Kotb has also been an outspoken advocate and inspirational supporter for breast cancer survivors, earning high praise for her candor and humility by allowing the Today show to follow her own battle with breast cancer; and
WHEREAS, when Hoda Kotb announced that she would retire as a Today show anchor in January 2025, it marked the end of an era for NBC News; she presided over many years of success for the show, which won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Morning Program in 2010, 2011, and 2012; and
WHEREAS, among numerous other awards and accolades, Hoda Kotb has received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host, the Edward R. Murrow Award, multiple Gracie Awards, the Headliner Award, the Peabody Award, the Webby Award for Online Film & Video, and the Matrix Award; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Hoda Kotb, a former Alexandria resident and nationally renowned journalist, on the occasion of her retirement as one of the main co-anchors of the Today show on NBC News; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Hoda Kotb as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her legacy of contributions to journalism and commitment to excellence in television news programming.
