House Journal: Page 17: Monday, January 13, 2003
REMARKS BY MINORITY LEADER
Myers of Johnson addressed the House as follows:
Good morning. I want to begin by calling your attention to the remarkable
restoration work that has been accomplished in this Chamber since we were here last.
This room has always been beautiful, but today its elegance is almost overwhelming. I
want to compliment the legislators, staff, architects and workers who have directed
this restoration and thank you on behalf of the generations of Iowans who will enjoy
the fruits of your labors.
I also want to thank the members of the Democratic caucus for the opportunity to
serve again as your leader and for the support you have shown me the past two years.
It is has been an honor to hold this position.
And I want to welcome the 39 members of the House who were not in this Chamber
last year, although six of you have served in the Legislature before. To the three
former representatives who are once again serving in the House, welcome back. And to
the three former senators who are now serving in the House, congratulations on seeing
the light.
I have a few words of advice to the new members - reach out to your neighbors,
Republicans and Democrats, and get to know them as people, not legislators. You will
find you have more in common - jobs, kids, sports, hobbies - than you can imagine. And
when you know your neighbor on a personal level, and you converse and share with
them, it makes working together so much easier. I look forward to working with
Majority Leader Gipp and Speaker Rants to give all the members more opportunities to
get to know each other better.
We had another long and hard election season and Iowans have made their
decisions in each of the one hundred districts. So it is time now to turn away from the
partisanship of the campaigns and focus on governing this state.
If the campaign showed us one thing, it is that Democrats and Republicans have
both promised to act on some fundamental issues. I believe we should set the stage for
a cooperative and bipartisan session by acting on these shared priorities within the
first month.
These include re-establishing our class size reduction program in the lower
elementary grades; taking the next step in improving teacher compensation so that we
ensure quality schools for Iowa kids; reversing the cuts to property tax credits for
seniors, the disabled and veterans; creating a public-private partnership to help Iowa
businesses take commercial advantage of research at our state universities; and
stabilizing the increasingly dangerous situation in our prison system.
These issues are part of a larger agenda that Democrats believe is important to the
future of Iowa. We believe this Legislature should concentrate its efforts in three
major areas:
Managing and balancing the state budget.
Improving the economic security of Iowans today.
© 2003 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
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