[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 396] [From the U.S. 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. ____________________