House Journal: Page 1812: Wednesday, April 28, 1999

	The motion prevailed and the following committee was appointed: 

Larson of Linn and Bukta of Clinton.
Representative Sukup was escorted to the Speaker's station and, 
being duly sworn, offered the following remarks:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker Siegrist, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House.
I appreciate the opportunity to serve as your Speaker pro tempore. We all know the 
last few days of a session can be wild, hectic and unpredictable. Especially if you're on 
a conference committee on gambling with Representative Chiodo. I wasn't going to take 
anything for granted today.
We in the legislature do have a unique timing, this Seventy-eighth General 
Assembly - to close out the 20th century and set the course for the 21st, apparently 
without Y2K liability protection, but I think we will survive just fine. The Iowa House 
has the chance to seize the opportunity to develop the framework for Iowa to move into 
the next century.
Iowa has great resources - agriculture; we can be the bread basket of the world. 
Education excellence - our constituents demand it. My wife, Vicki, teaches in our local 
high school. We want our three children - one in middle school, two in high school, to 
be prepared just as all parents and grandparents want their children prepared to 
proceed on to college or on to their careers they choose in life. The children and my 
wife, Vicki, were unable to come down. We strengthened those truancy laws so I was a 
little concerned about that. But my parents, Eugene and Mary Sukup, were able to join 
us today. I appreciate them because as we know education starts at home with the 
parents.
The other great resources that we have across the state are that we must have a 
competitive business climate - that we maintain and attract the good jobs and keep 
them here in Iowa. And at the same time allow those workers to be able to keep more 
in their pocketbooks. And the greatest that we do have is Iowa's workforce. We have 
that hard work ethic, and that's the resource that we have to keep developing in this 
state. That's what makes Iowa above all others across the country. I believe the 
legislature does exemplify that hard work ethic, also. Maybe not in the last two days of 
the session but during the rest of it. I believe the institution of the Iowa House has its 
proudest moments when we can challenge each other, question, debate and then pass 
effective legislation to enhance all Iowans' lives. This can be done in a decorum where 
we give a firm handshake or a pat on the back. Maybe not as firm as the Senate's but a 
good firm pat on the back after a healthy, long debate.
With Speaker Siegrist's leadership, the work of Majority Leader Rants, Minority 
Leader Schrader, and all House members, I look forward in completing a successful 
Seventy-eighth General Assembly where good policy will benefit all Iowans. Thank you 
Mr. Speaker and Colleagues.

© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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