Lawmakers Fry, Moore, Bacon sponsor bill honoring pork producers

A resolution honoring Iowa's pork producers passed amid chuckles Thursday as it was read in by state representatives Joel Fry, Tom Moore and Rob Bacon.

The "Fry Moore Bacon" bill was the brainchild of Bacon, a Republican from Slater who is known around the Capitol for his puns. He said the bill is intended to address a serious issue, but he couldn't resist the opportunity for a little levity by adding his colleagues Fry, R-Osceola, and Moore, R-Griswold, to its list of sponsors.

"What I have discovered is we have a variety, a plethora of personalities down here," Bacon said. "I had one guy came up to me and he said, 'I wish I had your sense of humor.' And I wish I was more of a deeper thinker who could see around the corner like this guy could. That’s why this thing works down here. It's because everybody’s got a different personality."

The resolution recognizes the Iowa Pork Congress, the largest winter swine trade show in the United States, as well as the pork industry as major economic drivers in the state. Iowa is the country's leading pork producer, and the resolution highlights a recent report that shows the industry creates an estimated $36.7 billion in total economic output.

It was adopted with unanimous support in the House, briefly uniting both Democrats and Republicans around a shared idea: support the state's economy, and fry more bacon.