Meg Goetz

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Meg Goetz was the first woman to be a Reading clerk of the United States House of Representatives, a face familiar to viewers of C-SPAN, the network which covers House proceedings. A graduate of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, she has degrees in political science and economics. She was chosen Democratic reading clerk by Speaker Tip O'Neill in 1981 and served until 1998 when she retired from the House. The reading clerk reads bills, motions, and other papers before the House and keeps track of 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 clerk calls the roll of members for voting viva voce. She is now director of Congressional relations for the American Indian Higher Education Council, a lobbying group in Washington, D.C.. She was replaced as House reading clerk by Mary Kevin Niland.