Brad Ashford: “Thank you, Mr. Costa. I am privileged to have the opportunity to speak today. Mr. Speaker, you mentioned, just briefly…”

“Thank you, Mr. Costa. I am privileged to have the opportunity to speak today. Mr. Speaker, you mentioned, just briefly, the concept of ``Profiles of Courage.'' John Kennedy, in writing that book, wrote about a great Nebraskan, George Norris. George Norris was a Senator from Nebraska, and prior to that time, he served in this House. In 1908, he led a bipartisan effort in the House to change the rules of the House in order to make the House more transparent and more accountable to the American people. {time} 1700 In that regard, in John Kennedy's book he wrote about Congressman Norris, and then, subsequently, Senator Norris. In the 1930s, Senator Norris, who had worked to create the Tennessee Valley Authority, worked across the aisle with FDR--he was a Republican--to pass the Rural Electrification Act that electrified the country. He did so working across the aisle. And in the 1930s--and 1934, specifically--he reached out to the people of Nebraska and said to them: We can do better. We can have a more transparent government. We can have a bipartisan, nonpartisan government that will address the tough issues of Nebraska in the Depression of the 1930s. And he recommended to the voters: Look, let's do this. Let's have a unicameral, nonpartisan legislature. And the lobbyists and the special interests said: George, you should go back to Washington. This isn't going to work in Nebraska.…”