State Rep. John Damoose on Tuesday said farewell to the Michigan House of Representatives, emphasizing the civility and goodwill he has seen in the Legislature and expressing optimism for the future.

The first-term representative was elected to the Michigan Senate last month and will commence a four-year term representing the 37th Senate District in January.

“So I leave the House of Representatives inspired, and more committed than ever to helping rebuild a sense of grace and civility in our political discourse and in the public arena,” said Damoose, R-Harbor Springs. “This is truly the call of our day. Whether we are in these chambers, or engaged on social media, or interacting in our restaurants, stores, and other businesses, let us together reject the forces that would fill us with anger, rage, and disrespect. And instead, let us embrace those timeless principles from the book of Galatians of ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’”

During his two years of service in the House, Damoose has worked to further countless bills with members on both sides of the aisle. He has fought for legislation to benefit Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, including one initiative designed to protect the Mackinac Bridge and another to protect local airports. He is majority vice chair of the House Communications and Technology Committee, and he has also served on the Education; Regulatory Reform; and Rules and Competitiveness committees.

Damoose’s full farewell remarks can be viewed here and read below:

“Mr. Speaker, as the 101st legislative session comes to a close, I want to thank you, and all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the honor and privilege of serving with you these past years. In so many ways, my brief time in the Michigan House of Representatives has served to rekindle my hope for our country’s future.

“If one were to gather all of their information, as many of us do, from scattered internet sources or the wide range of media that too often reduces political activity to sport, they would naturally end up with a very cynical view of our system and the people working within it. Throughout the course of my life in the private sector, I too was becoming jaded and began to believe some of those caricatures — that those who serve do so chiefly out of self-interest, that they are looking for ways to line their pockets and extend their own political futures. I was wrong.

“What I have seen instead — again, from colleagues on both sides of the political divide — is a group of people who, by and large, just really want to do a good job; people who want to represent their constituents well; people who actually do want to make the world a better place.

“We certainly have different ideas on how to govern, but more often than not, if we can look at those divisions a little differently and be respectful and treat others as we would like to be treated, then those divisions can actually make us better. In this sense, our different ideas could lead to something like what we see in Proverbs, chapter 27: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’

“So I leave the House of Representatives inspired, and more committed than ever to helping rebuild a sense of grace and civility in our political discourse and in the public arena. This is truly the call of our day. Whether we are in these chambers, or engaged on social media, or interacting in our restaurants, stores and other businesses, let us together reject the forces that would fill us with anger, rage, and disrespect. And instead, let us embrace those timeless principles from the book of Galatians of ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’

“So may God bless you, may He bless every member in this Chamber, and may God bless the great state of Michigan.”

###