COOK TO MAKE HISTORY THIS WEEK

JEFFERSON CITY -- Bekki Cook of Cape Girardeau will claim a place in Missouri history when she bangs the gavel to convene the 88th session of the Missouri House of Representatives Wednesday.

As secretary of state, Cook is required to preside over the opening of the Missouri House until members are sworn in and a temporary speaker elected.

Cook's piece of history will come by virtue of the fact that she will be the first woman to preside over the opening of the House.

Appointed secretary of state by Gov. Mel Carnahan on Dec. 16, Cook is the second woman to hold the office.

The first, Judith Moriarty, was elected in 1992, but was not sworn in until five days after the 1993 session of the legislature began. The outgoing secretary of state, Roy Blunt, called the House to order in 1993, as he had done the three previous sessions.

Doug Burnett, chief clerk of the House, said Cook's responsibilities will take about 20 minutes.

From the huge dais at the front of the House chambers, Cook will bang the gavel calling the House to order. There will be a prayer by the House chaplain, a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and, by tradition, the secretary of state will offer brief remarks to the 163 representatives.

For most of the House members, it will be their first opportunity to see Cook, who was appointed after the 1994 House impeached Moriarty and the Missouri Supreme Court ousted her from office.

The only introduction she will have is a message on the electronic voting board in the two front corners of the House proclaiming "Secretary of State Rebecca Cook presiding."

For Cook, Wednesday's event will be her most visible action since taking office. As presiding officer of the House, Cook will introduce Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Covington, who will administer the oath of office to all members.

Covington, the first woman to serve on the state's high court, also will claim a piece of state history when she swears in House members. Previous judges who have sworn them in all have been men.

After members are sworn in, Cook will ask for nominations for temporary speaker. In recent years, that post has gone to the senior member of the House, Rep. Gene Copeland, D-New Madrid. He will be chosen again Wednesday.

Once elected, Copeland, 62, who was first elected in 1960, will be escorted to the front, where Cook will pass the gavel to her fellow Southeast Missourian.

Burnett met with Cook Thursday to review details for Wednesday's opening.

"We chatted about the details, and she is ready to handle the job," Burnett said.

Cook said she has not given much thought to her becoming the first woman to call the House into session. She said she has been more concerned with preparing brief remarks to House members.

Most of what whe will do follows a distinct, traditional process. "I think it will be a very unusual day," said Cook.

"It has all been so overwhelming," she said of her appointment. "I can't begin to express it. It has been quite an emotional event. The whole experience is sort of like a new dawn.

"I am slowly beginning to realize that I am really doing this, and that this is my responsibility and my opportunity."

Cook is not the first woman to call a legislative body into session in Missouri. That distinction went to Harriet Woods, who in 1987 as lieutenant governor presided over the opening of the Missouri Senate.