Tom Harkin: “I take to the floor right now to talk about my good friend, the former Governor of Iowa and our soon to be Secretary of…”

“I take to the floor right now to talk about my good friend, the former Governor of Iowa and our soon to be Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. Before I do, I would be remiss if I did not at this time talk about what it was like to be at the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. This is my ninth inauguration. My first was Jimmy Carter when I was a freshman Congressman in 1977 and then two Reagans, Bush, two Clintons, two more Bushes. And so this is my ninth. I can tell you, I have never seen anything such as this. To be out there today, I mean this is once in history that something such as this happens. ... Not only does this say a great deal about Barack Obama, but it says a great deal about America and how far we have come. Someone asked me what I thought earlier about his speech. I thought three things: uplifting, sobering, and challenging. I think that is what we want from a President.”