55 Years Ago in Iowa, submitted by Don Calkins, June 2022

LOPSIDED VOTE

DES MOINES (AP) — After a suggestion that a House amendment to a Senate bill might let Cassius Clay solemnize marriages in Iowa, the Senate refused by a lopsided voice vote Friday to go along with the House change.

The bill originally was passed by a 51-0 Senate vote to allow a member of the local spiritual assembly of a Bahá’í congregation to perform marriages. The sect, which has an estimated 130 members in Iowa, has no licensed ordained clergy. Iowa law now provides a “minister of the gospel” perform the ceremony.

The House amended the measure to allow a marriage to be solemnized by a person chosen for the purpose “by any recognized religious society, association or community. When the bill returned for Senate action on the House amendment its sponsor. Sen. Lucas De« Koster, R-Hull, said he had little enthusiasm for the broader version.

“Do you think people Cassius Clay could solemnize marriages?” asked Sen. Ebne Lange, R-Sioux City. . ”

“Yes, I do,” DeKoster replied. “I think we would have to recognize the Muslim religion.”

“Do you think that’s good?’ I asked Lange.

“As I told you, I am not enthusiastic about it,” DeKosteř replied.

With that, the Senate shouted down the amendment and the bill goes back to the House, which may recede or insist and force it to a conference committee.

[Council Bluffs Daily_Nonpareil 1967-05-06 p6]