[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 7 (Thursday, January 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E33]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IN RECOGNITION OF NICHOLAS J. PIRRO ON HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 17, 2008

  Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today with great pride 
to honor someone who is a good friend and for whom I hold great 
respect--Mr. Nicholas J. Pirro. For two decades Nick has served as 
Onondaga County Executive, and it has been a great honor to work with 
him for so many years.
  Nick began his career in county government in 1965, when he was 
elected to the Onondaga County Board of Supervisors, the precursor to 
today's Onondaga County Legislature. He would eventually be elected as 
the Legislature's chairman. In 1987, Nick was elected to the first of 
five terms as Onondaga County Executive, an office he would hold for 20 
years.
  When Nick took office in 1987, he was confronted with a number of 
challenging tasks. Onondaga County had a failing trash disposal system 
and jails that were so severely overcrowded that the U.S. Justice 
Department filed a remediation order. The county was also faced with 
the tremendous task of cleaning up Onondaga Lake after a Federal clean-
up order was issued. Convention business was stagnant due to the lack 
of appropriate facilities and the future of Syracuse's Triple-A 
baseball franchise was in jeopardy because of an insufficient stadium. 
In addition, Onondaga County tax payers were feeling the heavy burden 
of high Medicaid costs.
  Today, as Nick steps down as County Executive, Onondaga County has a 
state-of-the-art trash disposal system and a new county justice center, 
which opened in 1995. A local, State, and federally-shared $535-million 
clean up of Onondaga Lake has been ongoing for the past 10 years. The 
OnCenter was opened in 1992 to increase the success of convention 
business and a convention center hotel will begin construction soon. 
The Syracuse Chiefs have a state-of-the-art baseball stadium that was 
built in 1997. Skyrocketing Medicaid costs have been curbed by 
instituting a State-wide price cap that Nick was instrumental in 
obtaining due to his lobbying of State lawmakers for change.
  Onondaga County in 1987 is vastly different from Onondaga County in 
2007, and a large reason for that is because of the efforts of Nick 
Pirro. For 20 years Nick has been the face of Onondaga County and has 
been committed to doing what was right for the people he so faithfully 
served.
  I thank Nick for his 42 years of serving Onondaga County and 
recognize his wife Patti and his children Nicholas III and Jessica for 
sharing him with us for so many years. While Nick is retiring, I know 
he will continue to be a fixture in the community and an advocate for 
the people of Onondaga County. I congratulate Nick on a job well done 
and wish him the best in a well-deserved retirement. We will miss him.

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