House Journal: Page 1520: Friday, April 12, 2002
can relate to this, it is just so hard to think about it. Had I known I was going to go on
this ride of my life, which it truly has been for eighteen years, I would’ve taken some
notes as Bill Witt did. It would’ve been better because you just can’t pull them down
out of the air.
And so, I’m not going to do that because I want to talk about some people. I was
going through some papers, some clippings, in the garage at our home the other day,
and I had forgotten that in 1987, I froze Regents tuitions in the State of Iowa. I had
forgotten I had offered an amendment and you Democrats voted for it - and we froze
tuition at the Regents for seven days until Speaker Avenson took you back there and
convinced you that was a bad thing to do. So, I had forgotten those things. And there
are just so many stories like that, but my favorite story, the one that I’ll tell you that is
very brief, is when I used to sit there where Taylor the Elder is sitting, when I was on
Education Appropriations. I was gone one day and Mary Rhoads was my clerk those
first eight years, a wonderful person. I came back and she said Sue Lerdal is looking
for you. I said, "OK, what did she want?" And Mary said, "I don’t know. She just
walked up and said ‘where’s the little guy?’" So, I thank Sue for that.
There are thousands of memories here. We are a family. That’s kind of a trite
thing to say, but we have shared many things over the years. Good and bad. Magic
and tragic. We’re a family. When I think back on the people that I’ve served with that
we’ve lost, and I don’t have all the names, but you’re saddened when you think of
people like Jack Beaman, Horace Daggett, Clay Spear, Phil Brammer, Tom Miller,
Louis Muhlbauer, and more, that you’ve had the privilege to serve with and who are no
longer with us. It’s a sad thing. We do greive together when we have to as a family.
Becky Dolecheck, Pat Murphy’s sister, Chuck Gipp’s mom and Russ Teig. You know,
we talk about being a family, but the neat thing is, we don’t just say it. We really
believe that. When we need it, when people in this Chamber need it, we’re all here for
each other. And it’s very, very important. So, we are a family. We share the bad times
and we share the good times. And there’s a lot of happiness here, too - the birth of my
two children Evan and Harriet, with my wife. I look around the room - Bill Dix, Frank
Chiodo, Bob Brunkhorst, Chris Rants, numerous children that have been born while
we’re here. And numerous grandchildren - I’m looking at the Klemmes. I always enjoy
the big children, so you get a lot of candy. I know Representative Petersen has her son
here tonight.
We’ve been happy and astounded that Brad Hansen and Chuck Larson found
women that would marry them, which really does prove that often-stated mantra that
you hear: looks don’t really matter. We were overjoyed that Dave Millage found a
beautiful and charming woman to marry him, which, for a good Catholic like me,
proves that there are Iowans that are eligible for canonization and sainthood. As some
of you know, I met and married my wife, Valerie, while I was here. She worked for the
Democratic Party. I met Val here, we had children here, and as you reflect back, I
spent 18 years here. From age 32 to 49, I spent my middle age here and it’s been a
great ride. I want to thank Val for being here tonight. I want to thank her for the
sacrifices she’s made. She has made a lot of sacrifices and I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t
believe it: I wouldn’t be as successful as I have been if she wouldn’t have been by my
side. And my success mostly has come since we’ve been married. So, I do want to
thank her and my family for the sacrifices they’ve made. And I want to thank you for
the sacrifices that you make. We don’t get enough credit for that, and you know that.
We all make sacrifices to serve here because we really want to serve the public and
© 2002 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments about this site or page?
hjourn@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.
Last update: Tue Apr 23 11:50:00 CDT 2002
URL: /DOCS/GA/79GA/Session.2/HJournal/01500/01520.html
jhf