House Journal: Page 1523: Friday, April 12, 2002
man for a lot of reasons, but particularly for the people that have helped me in my
office.
It’s about time to go home. I see Clel was just either itching his foot or reaching for
his boot. I do need to wrap up and I apologize for taking a little time. This is an
awesome place and we forget that too often. When we bring people into this Chamber,
they go "Wow". We come in here every day and we don’t even look at it. This is an
incredible place. You have been honored by your constituents to serve here. A lot of
times, and Dick and Dave can relate to this as well as Christopher, we’re here late at
night in the middle of the summer. We might walk out of here at 11:00 o’clock at night
and nobody’s here. I’ll find myself stopping on the stairwell and looking at this
building. Don’t take it for granted. I’m leaving now, so now I see these things. Take
some time to think about what you’re doing here. Do it every day, every week. Think
about why we’re here. Think about what this building’s about. You have to have some
awe every time you walk into this building, if you want to serve it right. If you want to
serve your people right, you have to have some type of feeling that this is a special
place. You’re not special, although you are, but you’re special because they elected you
to come here. So, please do that.
People have talked to me this week about what my legacy is. I don’t know. All I
know is that the only permanent legacy I have is my picture is going to go up on the
wall. And, as I said the other night, that’s way cool. But, it’s going to be right above
the water fountain. I’m going to be coming back checking for watermarks. I do feel
very, very good about having my picture on the wall. It’s been a privilege to be here.
You know, I’m running for Congress, and by the way, I’m the best guy running. But
I mean this sincerely - if I get elected, I hope to do a good job for all of Iowa, not just the
Fifth District. If I don’t, it’s a win, too, because I’ll be home with my family.
Representative Scherrman said in the first speech that was given this year, that he
was going home to be with his family. I always thought that’s what I would say when I
left. I can’t say that because maybe I won’t be going home to see my family. But if I
happen to lose the primary, and I’m not planning on it, it’ll still be a win because I’ll go
home and be with my family. I figure I win either way on June 4th. I’ll hope for the
best, but I’ll be fine either way it goes.
If I do get elected to Congress, being called Congressman is pretty impressive, but
from the pit of my heart, it will never match being called Mr. Speaker. That is
something that will be with me for forever. Being a Congressman will be fun, but
being Mr. Speaker of the House is something that will always be with me. I thank you
for that. I’ve got a lot of people who gave me quotes that I should say. Becky’s favorite
group is the Doobie Brothers, which I like a lot. Their song, One by One, goes, "So, one
by one, we’re given these moments to live. Just as one by one they’re taken away. So
one by one, I’m taking each day in my stride. And one by one, the memories stay."
There are a lot of memories out of this place in eighteen years. Somebody over in press
row said, "You’ve got to quote Buffet." They said a good one would be Changes in
Latitude, Changes in Attitude. The song goes, "Oh yesterdays are over my shoulder so
I can’t look back for too long. There’s just too much to see waiting in front of me and I
know that I just can’t go wrong." That’s pretty good, but it’s not the one I was going to
use. About a year ago, driving down the road, doing 65, Clel (of course, it was a 45
zone), I was listening to Buffet as I tend to do. I found the one that I’m going to leave
with tonight. Buffet has a song called "He Went to Paris." It’s a pretty good song. It’s
the story of a guy’s life and his trials and tribulations. He’s eighty-eight years old
© 2002 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
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