[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17817]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING SENATOR STEVEN C. PANAGIOTAKOS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NIKI TSONGAS

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 2010

  Ms. TSONGAS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Senator Steven C. 
Panagiotakos from the Fifth District of Massachusetts for his exemplary 
service to the citizens of the City of Lowell and the towns of 
Tyngsboro, Westford, Groton, Dunstable and Pepperell as a Massachusetts 
State Representative and Senator.
  Senator Panagiotakos was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate in 
1996. Prior to that Senator Panagiotakos served two terms in the 
Massachusetts House of Representatives and two terms as a member of the 
Lowell School Committee. Rising through the ranks to become Chairman of 
the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Senator Panagiotakos was 
charged with the oversight to develop and guide the Commonwealth's 
budget through one of the worst fiscal crises since the Great 
Depression.
  Senator Panagiotakos has exhibited a lifelong commitment to the City 
of Lowell and the communities he represents. Known for his leadership 
style of compromise with Democrats and Republicans, he was able to help 
secure funding for local projects such as the Hamilton Canal District, 
the Emerging Technology Center at the University of Massachusetts 
Lowell, the redevelopment of the Lawrence Mills and the Julian D. 
Steele public housing project.
  Senator Panagiotakos and his wife, Christine, along with their two 
daughters, Giana and Alexandria, live in the Highlands neighborhood in 
Lowell, just two streets over from his childhood home. As Senator 
Panagiotakos said it best, ``The thing that made me the most proud was 
not being called `Senator' or `Mr. Chairman,' but when they said `Steve 
Panagiotakos, from Lowell.'''
  Upon his retirement, I wish to thank him for his friendship, 
recognize him for his unyielding leadership in the Massachusetts 
Senate, and congratulate him for his distinguished career.

                          ____________________