A Conversation with Congressman Katko

U.S.Representative John Katko (R-NY) joined Syracuse University Provost Gretchen Ritter this past April for a discussion reflecting on his legislative record, the polarized political climate and his experience during his eight years in Congress.

He advised the audience of students, alumni, faculty and staff to go into public service for the right reasons.

“Don’t do it for ego,” he told them. “If you’re doing it for ego, find something else. Take on a TV show.”

Katko, an alumnus of the College of Law, was first elected in November 2014 to represent the 24th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes all of Onondaga, Cayuga and Wayne counties and the western portion of Oswego County.

A former federal prosecutor, Katko was one of 10 Republicans who bucked the partisan trend and voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump for “incitement of insurrection” leading into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He and a dozen colleagues from the Republican Governance Group, which he chairs, were among the 13 House Republicans who voted for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

As a token of gratitude for his visit and his record of bipartisan action toward the public good, the Maxwell School presented Katko with a framed copy of the Athenian Oath.