[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4788]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING MR. LEVI LEE SMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 27, 2007

  Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today in tribute to the 
late Mr. Levi ``Lee'' Smith who served his central New York community 
in a number of unique ways.
  He founded the Onondaga Citizens League, OCL, which promotes civic 
education and involvement in public affairs. Organized in 1978, the OCL 
has offered the community studies on local government consolidation, 
voter participation, area health services, the quality of local arts, 
and community housing assessments among others.
  Lee's Institute for Retired Professionals offers local retirees the 
opportunity to remain intellectually active in community affairs after 
retirement.
  Perhaps most notable is Lee's work to found the Thursday Morning 
Roundtable, TMR, 41 years ago. The organization is a public service 
speaker series that was created to provide an environment where people 
who were interested in political and civic issues could discuss their 
ideas and opinions. Lee's foresight in founding TMR as a forum for 
thoughtful study and exchange laid the groundwork for other civic 
involvement initiatives in our community, like FOCUS Greater Syracuse 
and Syracuse University's Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today, TNT.
  Mr. Lee Smith passed on February 6 of this year at the age of 88, and 
his life will be celebrated at a memorial service on February 18. Lee's 
commitment and dedication to serving the community and educating others 
has been, and will continue to be, an important asset to our community. 
I thank his wife Alice and the entire Smith family for sharing Lee with 
our community all these years.

                          ____________________