House Journal: Page 964: Wednesday, April 2, 1997

President Kramer presented Representative Ron Corbett, Speaker
of the House, who welcomed the Pioneer Lawmakers on behalf of
the House of Representatives.
President Kramer presented the Honorable John P. Kibbie, member
of the Senate who responded to the welcome.
The Honorable John P. Kibbie announced the 1997 class of
legislators who were eligible to become members of the Pioneer
Lawmakers.
Honorary members of the 1997 class were the following lobbyists:
Bob Boyken, John Lewis, Bill Smith and F. Richard Thornton.
The Honorable John P. Kibbie presented James P. Flansburg,
Retired Des Moines Register Columnist, who addressed the joint
convention as follows:
I first walked into these chambers in search of a news story
about 40 years ago.
What I remember best was a speech in the Senate. An old family
friend, a senator from the Cedar County town of Clarence, Earl
Elijah, was talking about a bill rewriting the probate code. The
bill was six inches thick, an impenetrable forest of paper for
most people, and that grand old man hefted it above his head and
gave his speech. "I just hope you lawyers know what you're
doing," he said and sat down.
I guess they did. The bill passed and remains the basic law yet
today. Some members here might not approve of this standard but
I use it yet. The bill must have been a good one when you
consider the absence of scandal, great lawsuits and public
indignation.
I've thought of old Earl Elijah - I think his family and my
family settled in Cedar County about the same time in the late
1840s - dozens of times as I've tried to make sense of this
place and the way it has changed through my career as a
reporter, editor and opinion columnist.
His speech hinted at the bonds of trust that ran this place,
held it together, then. The continued existence of the committee
system still implies that you concentrate your efforts on this
endeavor and I'll concentrate on that one - but from what I've
seen and read, anyone who believes in a bond of trust today is
begging for disappointment.
Sometimes nowadays I get the impression that everyone is trying
to put something over on everyone else, with no consideration
for what it might do to the commonwealth as a whole.
For the players, those little games can provide moments of fun.
But for those of us who don't have the time or inclination or
ability to keep track of it all and still have to live with the
haphazard public policy that might result, it's bewildering.
What stopped first, I wonder: The honor and respect that we
almost automatically paid to a state legislator? Or the
behavior, the demeanor, that commanded that honor and respect?
Do I have a cure? An antidote? A reform? Lord, no. I'm having
enough trouble just describing the condition.

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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