One, Rogers waited three-and-a-half years to give his maiden
speech; two, Rogers spoke lovingly of his recently deceased mother; three,
Rogers was advocating for a good bill he’s sponsoring that would increase penalties
on anyone convicted of trying to get someone else to commit a felony.
An attorney, Rogers is obviously no show-off or camera
hog. On the contrary, he seems
remarkably secure and low-key for someone of his ilk. Rogers was first elected in the fall of 2012
and re-elected two years later. Yet he
waited til the second year of his second term was almost half over before
formally addressing his colleagues from the House rostrum on June 22. Most politicians get this over with in their
rookie years.
Lyndon Johnson famously divided legislators into two
categories: show horses and workhorses.
This Rogers has to be a workhorse
Thanks to the State House News Service, we have a pretty
good transcript of Rogers’s speech, which went as follows:
“I rise in strong support of this bill (An Act to Properly Punish the Solicitation of Felony Crimes), which
I introduced. Given that this is the
first time I’ve addressed my colleagues, I want to offer some thanks. First, I want to thank my constituents: I
never take for granted your support. Mr.
Speaker (Robert DeLeo), I’d like to thank you for your guidance and
leadership. Louis Brandeis said the
states are laboratories of our democracy.
If that was true when he first said it, it has never been truer than
right now. With our federal government
gridlocked, the states have had to sept into the void and provide
leadership. Under you, Mr. Speaker, that’s
exactly what we have done. We have had
tremendous leadership.
“I also want to thank my family. My campaign in 2012 was largely a family
affair. I also want to acknowledge my
mom. Many of you know I recently lost my
mom, and I want to thank you all for offering your kindness during this
time. She grew up on a tiny farm in
Iowa; they lost everything in the Great Depression. My father came back from World War Two and
started a family. I lost my father when
I was 12 and my mom stepped up tremendously.
My mom loved this place, Mr. Speaker.
I remember calling you to ask if she could sit next to me when I was
sworn in, and before I even put the phone down, work came back that you would
set up a chair for her. My mom loved the
stories of this place.
“When I was running, a guy asked me what I was going to do
about Putin. I thought President Obama
had joined me at my event or something.
I told him that I was running for the state legislature, not a federal
office. He said, ‘You aren’t even in
office yet and you’re already making excuses.’
So I told him, ‘If I’m elected, I’ll sit down with Vladimir Putin and
tell him a thing or two.’ The guy said,
‘Well, you’ve got my vote!’
“I come from Cambridge and 12 of the bills I introduced this
session had to do with lightening the foot of our criminal justice system. I think we’ve gone too far with things like
mandatory minimums and mass incarceration.
The district attorney came to me and said a guy went to an undercover
cop to have his wife killed. But, because
the cop did not have the intent to kill (since he was a police officer), the
guy could only be charged with solicitation and not conspiracy. This bill fixes a major shortcoming in our
system and I’m proud to support it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
One of the better rituals of the legislature revolves around
the importance of a legislator’s maiden speech.
The presiding officer always gives the rep or senator in this situation
a special introduction. All members remain quietly and attentively in their
seats while the speech is being delivered, which rarely happens otherwise. And at the end, there’s loud applause and
every member quickly lines up to shake the maiden orator’s hand and offer
effusive congratulations. Legislators always
remember the time they gave their maiden speeches and can easily recall what
they spoke about on those occasions.
Beyond the above (unfamiliar to him) pleasures of the
spotlight, Rep. Rogers got to enjoy the thrill of having his maiden speech lead
immediately to a unanimous 153-0 vote to enact An Act to Properly Punish the Solicitation
of Felony Crimes, now numbered House Bill 4005. The bill has been sent to the Senate, where
it would seem, by virtue of having no apparent, serious opposition in or
outside the State House, to have a good chance of passage before the
legislature must end all formal sessions on July 31.
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