Meg Goetz was the first woman to be appointed as a Reading clerk of the United States House of Representatives, a face familiar to viewers of

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

, the network which covers House proceedings.Wednesday Journal - U.S. House
''

Washington Journal The ''Washington Journal'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN television network in the format of a political call-in and interview program. The program features elected officials, government administrators, and journalists as gue ...

'' (1995 interview with Ms. Goetz, starting at 1:40 of program, says she was appointed to position in 1982, and works two hour shifts on the floor at a time, trading off with her GOP counterpart, and directly reports to the

Clerk of the House The clerk, chief clerk, secretary, or secretary general (British English: ; American English: ) of a legislative chamber is the senior administrative officer responsible for ensuring that its business runs smoothly. This may encompass keeping ...

) A graduate of

Chestnut Hill College Chestnut Hill College is a private Catholic college in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The college was founded in 1924 as a women's college by the Sisters of St. Joseph. It was originally named Mount S ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, she has degrees in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. She was appointed Democratic reading clerk by Speaker

Tip O'Neill Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, the third-l ...

in 1982 and served until 1998 when she retired from the House. The reading clerks prepare the official version of all House-passed legislation and maintain all official papers on behalf of the House of Representatives relative to legislation. They report to the House membership all bills, motions, amendments, and all official communications. They also serve as House liaisons to the U.S. Senate, formally transmit all official actions taken by the House, and prepare the official records of all changes to legislation made on the floor. During the vote for Speaker at the beginning of each Congress, or when the electronic voting system fails, the reading clerk calls the roll of House membership. Ms. Goetz is currently the Vice President for Advocacy for the

American Indian Higher Education Consortium These organizations for post-secondary education have a common purpose and mission for advocacy in numerous areas of both institutional management and the general public interest. The organizations have specific purpose for issues from faculty uni ...

, an advocacy group in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

AIHEC Staff Listing
, aihec.org, Retrieved May 20, 2011 She was replaced as House reading clerk for the Democrats by Mary Kevin Niland who was appointed by then Minority Leader Richard Gephardt.

External links

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Reading Clerks of the United States House of Representatives Chestnut Hill College alumni {{US-gov-bio-stub