House Journal: Page 12: Monday, January 13, 1997

In accordance with the foregoing motion, the Chief Clerk cast
the votes of all the members of the House of Representatives for
the Honorable Harold G. Van Maanen as Speaker pro tempore of the
House of Representatives of the Seventy-seventh General
Assembly.  The Honorable Harold G. Van Maanen of Marion County,
having received all of the votes cast for the office of Speaker
pro tempore of the House of Representatives of the
Seventy-seventh General Assembly, was declared duly elected to
that office.
Garman of Story moved that a committee of two be appointed to
escort the Speaker pro tempore to the chair.
The motion prevailed and the following committee was appointed:
Garman of Story and Connors of Polk.
Representative Van Maanen was escorted to the Speaker's station
and, being duly sworn, offered the following remarks:
Thank you for those kind remarks. You said them better than I
ever could have. Thank you. I think we're off to a good start
when you consider that I had two people of Irish descent escort
a Dutchman to the Speaker's station.
First of all, I want to welcome back all the incumbents who won
re-election. Congratulations. And I want to extend a special
welcome to the new members who are joining us as this family in
the Iowa legislature. And it is a family. I want to extend to
you as I've done in the past, a warm welcome, welcoming you to
the process, a process that we all love, and I also want to
extend to you the courtesy that if I can be of any help to any
of you at any time, please don't hesitate to talk to me. Because
perhaps I can learn more than what I can teach you. And I really
mean that sincerely. I'll also say to the new members that
during your orientation, if you were not informed that if you
have a special event in your life during session, you are
admonished to furnish cookies to the whole body. And if by
chance you should become a mother, father, or a grandparent,
then you must provide a pound of chocolate for every pound they
weigh. Just so you understand and get the record straight on
that part of it.
I'm not going to talk about issues. In fact, the Speaker took a
lot of my comments, and so I don't want to repeat myself. But I
do want to let you know that as your Speaker pro tempore I'm
assuming that I will be presiding occasionally. And while I am
presiding I want you to know that I will continue the policy
that I've had the last four years in trying to be as fair and as
honest as I can with procedures, motions, amendments, etc. I
hope to do that as I've done in the past regardless of party
affiliation. I have a keen respect for the philosophical
differences that we have in this body. That's why we are a
diverse body. That's what makes the Iowa legislature so great.
But by the same token, I kind of frown on debate that is
strictly for political gain for one party or the other. So I
just want to say that I would like to extend the olive leaf this
morning, but I've been around here long enough to know that
after the olive leaf is extended, before the week is over it's
pretty well withered. Nevertheless, I do want to extend to the
members of the minority party that we welcome their input and
that we all need to work together for the good of the state of
Iowa and the great people who live here. So with that, I look
forward to this session. It is a privilege and an honor to be
elected as your Speaker pro tempore, and I just want to say God
bless each and every one of you and your families while you're
here this session. Thank you so much.

Iowa General Assembly

Index: House Journal (77th General Assembly: Session 1)

© 1997 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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