[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF BASIL M. RUSSO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2000

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Basil M. Russo, 
recently named the `Italian Man of the Year' by The Italian Sons and 
Daughters of America.
  Mr. Russo has been closely involved with the social, cultural and 
political life of Ohio throughout his distinguished career. After 
graduating from Cleveland Marshall College of Law in 1972, Basil Russo 
was a prominent member of Cleveland's City Council, serving as a 
Councilman for eight years between 1972 and 1980. Indeed, in 1978 Basil 
became the Majority Leader of the council, before leaving to take up 
responsibilities as a judge in the Court of Appeals, and then a Common 
Pleas Court judge. Basil's professional life has also included the 
foundation of his own law firm, Basil Russo & Co., L.P.A., which he 
still runs to this day, and the production of a feature film entitled 
Places in 1997.
  As this award acknowledges, Basil Russo has also been a vibrant 
member of the Italian American community at a local and national level. 
He currently serves as the National Vice-President of the Italian Sons 
and Daughters of America, the third largest Italian American fraternal 
organization in the United States. This organization is involved in 
numerous social and political events that range from sponsoring the 
Debutante Ball, to owning and operating a senior citizen housing 
complex. His status in the legal community also means that since 1992 
Basil has served as President of the Justinian Forum; the Italian 
American Bar Association for Cuyahoga County comprising 22 Judges and 
250 attorneys of Italian American descent. It is fitting therefore that 
Basil was also the founding member of the Italian Americans of 
Northeast Ohio, established in 1994. He has also made a significant 
contribution to the religious life of Ohio through his co-chairmanship, 
alongside his wife Patricia, of the Advisory Board of the Department 
for Marriage and Family Ministry of the Diocese of Cleveland between 
1992 and 1995. In fact, Basil still serves as a Lector and Eucharistic 
Minister at Holy Rosemary Parish.
  Basil's talents for film-making and the legal profession have clearly 
been inherited by his four grown-up children. Anthony, Joseph and 
Angela are all studying film-making at university, while Gabrielle is 
studying for a J.D. in law at Basil's alma mater in Cleveland. My best 
wishes go to Mr. Russo and his family, and I would invite my fellow 
Congressmen to join me in commending his outstanding achievements in 
Ohio and beyond.

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