Senate Journal: Page 104: Friday, January 13, 1995

    resist the modern day temptation to follow blind paths? Of course we
    can. Of course we will. But we must take a clear-eyed view of who we are
    and where we are and dare to dream of what we can be.

         Who are we? We are first and foremost good people. We believe that
    certain values are good and right: hard work, honesty, a belief in God,
    and a commitment to public service. We were all taught these values and
    they bubble forth in all of us like a spring on a hillside. We may not
    have known it as kids, but those things that our parents and teachers
    instilled in us are the heart and soul of what it means to be an Iowan.

         We are a people with a deep faith in the value of a good education.
    We learned early that fortunes can be lost with the shift of the wind.
    But, as my mother would tell me over and over, They can never take an
    education away from you. We know that the education of our children is
    the ticket to our future and from the one-room township schoolhouse to
    the fiber optic network, we have never doubted our faith in education.

         We are good stewards of the land; with reverence for the natural
    resources from which grows our productivity. Whether we live in city or
    country, apartment or farmhouse, we are not far from the land. We
    understand its bounty is our bounty -- its loss our loss. Our values are
    grounded in the deep black earth that covers this state.

         We are a people committed to quality. From John Deere to Maytag;
    Winnebago to Pella Corporation, people all over the world know that Iowa
    means quality and Iowa products are the best on the market. The
    productivity and skill of our workers in Iowa gets the job done right,
    the first time.

         Iowa is a state of neighbors and families and small communities. It
    is a place where we bring over food for the neighbor who is sick;
    harvest the crops for the family whos suffered a tragedy; cheer on the
    high school basketball team every Friday night. In Iowa, we are still
    connected to each other in bonds of friendship, compassion, and
    civility.

         In short, Iowans are good people, with good values rooted in the
    land, a deep faith in education, and a commitment to quality. Iowans are
    good neighbors, devoted family members, and active citizens of small
    communities. That is who we are.

         Where are we? In Iowa, we are in the center of things. Smack dab in
    the center of North America -- in the center of our nation. That
    placement makes us aware and affected by the world around us. We know
    that what happens in Russia impacts us in Moscow, Iowa. We know that
    free and open trade means bread on the table of our farm families. We
    know that our lives and our fortunes are swayed by trends and pressures
    outside of us and over which we have little control.

         Economically, we are strong, with our bins busting, our coffers
    full, and more people working than ever before in our history. With the
    world poised to open its borders to trade, Iowa stands to reap untold

Iowa General Assembly

Index: Senate Journal (76th General Assembly: Session 1)

© 1995 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

Comments? sjourn@legis.iowa.gov.

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