Senate Journal: Page 61: Tuesday, January 9, 2001

  Imagine a world where pharmaceutical drugs are no longer needed to treat
  illness and
  disease because gene therapy has prevented the illness or disease in the
  first place.
  Imagine a world where the effects of weather on crops can be managed by
  applying a
  substance to plants already planted, that will enable the plants to adjust
  to unexpected
  weather patterns.  Iowans do not have to imagine such a world.  We live in
  it-right
  here in Iowa-just ask the folks at Kemin Industries in Des Moines, the Plant
  Science
  Center at Iowa State University or the Biomedical Centers at the University
  of Iowa.

  Iowa's formulae for keeping and attracting the talent of tomorrow requires a
  change
  in economic development philosophy to promote industry clusters of the life
  sciences,
  advanced manufacturing, information solutions, continued investment in
  research and
  development, and additional support for entrepreneurs.

  Let us invite young people to Iowa's exciting future through the use of
  traditional
  economic development tools in new ways to develop the industry clusters of
  life
  sciences for companies like Kemin and Trans Ova, for advanced manufacturers
  like
  Rockwell Collins and Maytag, and information solutions for companies like
  ABC
  Virtual Communications and Diversified Software Industries.  Let us invite
  young
  people to Iowa's exciting future through increased investment in the
  cutting-edge
  research and development taking place at our regents universities.  Let us
  invite young
  people to Iowa's future through increased investment in entrepreneurship
  with a tax
  credit for investors, providing the venture capital for new start-ups.

  Let us begin today to extend the invitation to higher incomes, better
  quality of life,
  and leadership in the new economy.

  The new economy will not help everyone.  The over 100,000 workers in Iowa
  earning the minimum wage likely will not be helped.  A majority of them are
  women,
  and many are raising families.  The purchasing power of the minimum wage
  today is
  much less than it was in 1982.  If we are to restore the purchasing power of
  the
  minimum wage and provide a better chance for women and their children in
  particular,
  we should raise the minimum wage by $1.00 over the next two years.
  Currently, a
  person making minimum wage, working 40 hours a week, makes a little over
  $10,500 a
  year.  With two wage earners at that level, a family of four would still
  qualify for some
  levels of assistance.  Let us restore some measure of dignity for a hard
  day's work.  Let
  us raise the minimum wage so that many Iowans working full time don't need
  assistance, but can have the satisfaction of doing it all on their own.

  My time with you today is limited and does not allow a full discussion of
  all the
  proposals designed to help Iowa move forward.  Rest assured that a continued
  and
  expanded effort at protecting and enhancing our natural resources and
  expanding
  cultural and recreational opportunities remain a priority.  More resources
  for Vision
  Iowa, Enrich Iowa, REAP, Destination Parks, the Clean Water Initiative, and
  private
  land conservation are proposed.  We will persist in our efforts for more
  local control
  over the location of large livestock facilities, and we will support an
  expansion of Iowa's
  successful Bottle Bill called for by an ever-growing grassroots
  environmental effort.

  Jarren Ozburn, Trevor Boldra, and Joel Vasquez.  Who are these Iowans?  They
  were Iowans with compelling, untold, and tragic stories.  They were Iowans
  who never
  experienced the joy of learning something new.  They will not experience the
  joy of
  falling in love, of welcoming new life into the world.  They were children
  in Iowa who,
  along with Shelby Duis and seven more children, died recently as a result of
  child

© 2001 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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