SYRACUSE -- A ceremonial swearing-in ceremony was held Saturday for Congressman-Elect Dan Maffei as he gets ready to officially take office next week.
Maffei says he wanted to hold a local swearing-in ceremony for his constituents before traveling to Washington next week with other freshmen members of Congress.
Saturday's ceremony was filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance where a couple hundred people gathered to watch Maffei take the oath of office. The official ceremony will be held on Tuesday in the nation's Capitol when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will administer the oath of office to new members of Congress.
Maffei is the first new congressman from the 25th district in 20 years. Congressman James Walsh decided to retire this year after narrowly beating back a challenge from Maffei two years ago.
Maffei says he hopes to hit the ground running in Washington. In fact Maffei told Action News that "what I intend to do is make sure that I'm accessible as possible. I will have town meetings. I will have office hours. You may not be able to get me on the phone on the first call, but you'll be able to talk to me if you have any sort of issue or problem."
