Senate Journal: Page 39: Tuesday, January 11, 2000

  We need to avoid losing Iowans, particularly young Iowans, to untimely
  deaths.  It
  is tragic that children are being killed in firearm accidents.  New
  educational programs
  for gun owners will prevent children's access to firearms.  Our sheriffs and
  the
  Department of Public Safety will be working together on this effort.  We
  also need to
  ensure that if handguns do get into the hands of children they not lead to
  accidental
  deaths.  Handguns sold by dealers in Iowa, in the future, should be required
  to have
  safety locks.  We have no hesitation requiring safety caps on aspirin
  bottles-why not
  safety locks on handguns?

  Will safe communities and a focus on worthwhile programs for children lead
  to
  more Iowans, younger Iowans, and better-paid Iowans?  Let me tell you the
  story of
  Deirdre Cleary and her husband Marcos, who moved to Des Moines six months
  ago
  from New York City.

  Deirdre's Iowa connection was from middle school.  She attended middle
  school in
  Nevada, and then moved to California.  She's lived in New York City the past
  13 years,
  although her grandparents still live near Iowa Falls.

  Last summer, she came to the reception for former Iowans which the Human
  Resource Consortium, the Department of Economic Development, and our office
  held in
  New York City.  This was the event that we thought would draw perhaps 200
  former
  Iowans.  More than 800 showed up.  When Dierdre attended the reception and
  talked
  with state officials, she decided to come home.  She and her husband Marcos
  had been
  wanting to own a house in a good neighborhood where they could have one
  thing: a safe
  back yard.  They wanted that back yard for their two sons, Kristofer, age
  seven, and
  Jacob, age 15 months.

  They moved in August.  Dierdre found a job in her field, social work, at
  Mainstream
  Living, as a supported living coordinator for persons with mental
  disabilities.  Marcos,
  who was born and raised in Brooklyn, also found a job quickly.  They are
  renting a
  home, and hope to purchase their own home-with a back yard-soon.

  Quality of safe homes, schools, and communities is Iowa's promise to Deirdre
  and
  her family.  Welcome back to Iowa, Deirdre.  And welcome home to Iowa,
  Kristofer.

  During this past year, I have been energized by meeting with young Iowans
  and
  seeing their hope and enthusiasm for the future.  More than we realize, they
  do listen
  to us and watch what we do.  As I visited schools across our state, I said
  the pledge of
  allegiance more than once.

  Now you know that when you say the pledge, you do a few things.  You stand a
  little straighter and a little taller.  You place your hand over your
  heart-a symbol that
  you are repeating those words in all honesty.  And you look at the American
  flag.

  The words of the pledge stay with you a lifetime, particularly the last
  phrase, which
  is perhaps its most powerful and visionary.  When our forefathers wrote
  "...with liberty
  and justice for all," it was our collective guarantee of safety.

  They did not write:  "...with liberty and justice for all those who share my
  religious
  beliefs."

  They did not write:  "...with liberty and justice for all those who share my
  skin
  color."

© 2000 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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