[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 19060-19061]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING LOUISVILLE'S MAYOR JERRY ABRAMSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, there was a time, and it wasn't too long 
ago, that the gorgeous waterfront park in my hometown of Louisville, 
Kentucky, was a junkyard. It was a time, just 25 years ago, that if you 
found yourself in our now thriving downtown after dark, you were most 
likely either working late or lost. This was a time, believe it or not, 
that Louisville Slugger was in Indiana.
  You can't make this stuff up.
  No, these days, it's hard to picture Louisville before 1985, hard to 
believe how much has changed in the last quarter century, hard to 
imagine Louisville without Mayor Jerry Abramson. Yet on January 3, 
2011, that's exactly what we'll be when we say goodbye, with gratitude, 
to the man for whom the title ``Mayor for Life'' proved just a little 
too optimistic.
  Don't get me wrong, with our diverse and storied neighborhoods, along 
with our hardworking community-oriented families, the Derby City--
hometown of the Louisville Lip, Muhammad Ali--has long been a source of 
pride. Still, few could have dreamed that it could be the world-class 
21st century city it has become.
  Mayor Jerry dared not only to dream, he led the charge that made that 
dream reality. In five terms as mayor, Jerry was a driving force in 
expanding and modernizing our airport and transforming Louisville into 
an international shipping hub by luring UPS and 23,000 jobs to our 
community. His team's investments in our community have encouraged some 
of our Nation's largest companies--Ford, GE, Humana--to invest as well, 
creating thousands more quality jobs for our residents. But during his 
tenure, Louisville has also become a city of entrepreneurship, the 
Possibility City, a vibrant, attractive place for startups to grow into 
thriving businesses.
  The once antagonistic relationship between the River City and the 
rest of Kentucky now is limited to sporting events, under his 
stewardship. In all other facets, a partnership has grown, from 
Pikeville to Paducah, in which Jerry's Louisville works with Frankfort 
and 119 other counties for the betterment of the entire Commonwealth of 
Kentucky.
  But what will truly be the legacy of Mayor Jerry? How about a 
revitalized downtown, which has been transformed into a vibrant and 
modern destination while remarkably retaining its historic character 
and preserving its architectural treasures; or in our park system, 
which has grown and flourished like never before, earning us the 
distinction, city of parks. It could be his commitment to Louisville's 
low-income families. After all, in the last 15 years, his 
administration has revolutionized the Federal HOPE VI program with two 
of the most successful housing projects in the Nation. Maybe his legacy 
will be Metro Safe, which has improved public safety in our 
neighborhoods, or his Operation Brightside initiative that has made 
those neighborhoods cleaner and greener, or the Hometown movement that 
has enhanced our community's health.
  I think you see where I am going with this. With more 
accomplishments, victories, and advances for our entire community than 
I have time to rattle off today, Jerry Abramson's legacy is Louisville. 
I am far from the only one who thinks so.
  Jerry has been named Local Public Official of the Year by Governing 
Magazine, Kentucky's best civic leader a record five times, and one of 
the best and most dynamic mayors in the country. But if you know Jerry 
like I do, you know these aren't the accolades that matter to Jerry. He 
cares about the ones that named Louisville the Most Livable City in 
America, a top city for young people, one of the country's best places 
to retire, one of the Nation's safest cities, one of the best cities to 
do business in--the list goes on.
  His pride in and passion for Louisville has been contagious and has 
inspired generations of leaders who have worked with him to create 
great things for our community and who will continue to carry the torch 
after he has passed it on. That pride can be seen everywhere today. We 
display it on T-shirts and bumper stickers in any number of different 
ways, from the fleur-de-lis to proud displays of our area code, from 
efforts to Keep Louisville Weird to T-shirts that conflate Jerry and

[[Page 19061]]

Elvis, which is definitely weird. You can see it in the way we support 
our local businesses, local restaurants, and local artists, in the way 
we take care of our neighborhoods and watch out for our neighborhoods. 
And we do it all because we know we live in the best city in the world, 
and we want to keep it that way.
  So after more than two decades, our Mayor for Life opts for early 
retirement--in title alone, mind you. If you think Jerry's service to 
this community was just a job, you've got another thing coming. As he 
moves on to the next stage of his career of service, City Hall will 
miss his leadership, his tenacity, and his passion for Louisville; but 
we will forever benefit from his legacy. After all, it's hard to miss.
  To Mayor Abramson and his incredible, devoted staff, I join all of 
metro Louisville in thanking you for your service. The measure of your 
work and your sacrifice is that you have unquestionably left Louisville 
a better place than when you found it, and I am grateful that your work 
is not yet done for our city, our Commonwealth, and our Nation.

                          ____________________