Journal of the House of Representatives of the Regular Session of the Seventy-Sixth Legislature of the State of Texas, Volume 1 Page: 12
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76th LEGISLATURE- REGULAR SESSION
This tough job needs one tough leader.
So today, even though we come from different towns, different political
parties, different cultures, and different religions, we come together in support
of Pete Laney.
That is why it is my distinct honor to second the nomination of the
Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney as Speaker of the Texas House of
Representatives.
The secretary of state recognized the Honorable Craig Eiland of
Galveston County, who seconded the nomination of the Honorable James E.
"Pete" Laney, speaking as follows:
As I was trying to think of a way to express what makes Pete Laney so
special, especially to the new members and our fellow Texans, the first
thought was to share one of our first conversations, which let me know that
he focuses on what's important. It also demonstrates how he communicates
with us sometimes. As a brand new freshman member, I went to talk to the
speaker about what I thought was an important problem. He asked me
questions that he already knew the answers to. Our conversation went like
this:
"Eiland, you're from Galveston, right?"
Yes, sir.
"Ya'll got any trees down there?"
Yes, sir.
"Shade trees?"
Palm trees, shade trees, all kinds of trees.
"Ya'll got water down there?"
We're surrounded by water; not always crystal clear, but plenty of water.
"Is it wet? Can you drink it? Can you water crops with it?"
Yes, sir. Most of it.
"Do ya'll have pretty sunsets like we do?"
Bragging, I said, "I can watch the sunrise over the gulf and watch the
sunset over the bay, except for when the trees block it."
"How's the education?"
Pretty good. One of my schools, Friendswood, has been the academic
state champs for the last three years. We have two fine community colleges,
UTMB, A&M Galveston, UHCL up the road a piece. The only unfortunate
thing is that we don't have Texas Tech in the area.
"Do you have any hospitals close?"
We have one of the finest medical centers in the country, UTMB, and a
Columbia hospital, and if you're more than 20 minutes or so away, they'll
send a helicopter.
"How are the jobs?"
Petro-chemical plants, NASA, tourism, maritime, UTMB; there are
opportunities if you're looking.
"How's the football?"
Six teams usually go pretty far in playoffs, and La Marque is in the state
championship game every year.12
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Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Journal of the House of Representatives of the Regular Session of the Seventy-Sixth Legislature of the State of Texas, Volume 1, legislative document, 1999; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth97442/m1/16/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.