Tom Harkin: “Well, again, people in Illinois are not that much different than the people in Iowa. I hear the same things you hear.…”

“Well, again, people in Illinois are not that much different than the people in Iowa. I hear the same things you hear. People are frightened. They are not frightened of Saddam Hussein. They are not even frightened by Osama bin Laden. They believe we will have the power and the wherewithal to protect our citizens, maybe not with absolute certainty but with enough that they will feel comfortable in their homes and businesses and in their travel. What they are frightened about is their kids' education. They are frightened about not being able to pay the next health care bill because they don't have adequate health insurance. They are concerned about whether or not there is going to be a viable Medicare system for their parents, and whether their parents will truly get any prescription drug help at all. There is some confusion right now. People were promised a prescription drug benefit. It passed the Congress last year. The President signed it. Now we are finding out that it is not going to help them that much and that most of the money is going to the pharmaceutical companies. That is what I find. People in Iowa are afraid that we are headed in the wrong direction. I sense this kind of mood among people, that they know it is not right.”