Tom Harkin

It is imperative to the public health that these regulations be finalized and strengthened.

I certainly favor the goals of this legislation. The Senator will remember we passed a childcare bill that included many of the same background check provisions for childcare employees. Those provisions were negotiated between Democrats…

we appreciate the work Senator Harkin, Senator Murray and others did to make sure the needs of MSHS children were addressed.

But more importantly, I am the person you pay later. I am the person you pay later if you do not invest in early childhood education.

Without such Federal support I fear our progress, despite the valiant effort of cash-strapped States, will be far too slow to achieve the improvement in scale we need.

today the Senate is voting to confirm Terrell McSweeny's nomination to an open seat on the Federal Trade Commission. This vote is long overdue as the FTC has lacked a full complement of Commissioners for more than a year. The confirmation…

I hope the stories and the experiences I have shared will be instructive as the committee considers legislation, like the Strong Start for America's Children Act.

But failing to invest in children when they are very young means a higher cost to society, and business, down the road.

We are faced here, as we in business occasionally are, with a transformational investment opportunity.

I believe the Federal Government has a crucial role to play in jump starting effort and funding at the State and local levels to scale programs that work.

I hope that we can continue on with that budget, rather than the budget set forth by the Budget Committee in the House, which would cut nondefense discretionary spending by $43 billion, or 9 percent, in fiscal year 2016.

I have been a strong supporter of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs' (ILAB) efforts to protect labor rights and combat the worst forms of child labor around the world.

You mentioned that the budget provides for $14 million to identify and combat misclassification.

I would encourage you, Mr. Secretary, and your staff, to reach out to an organization called Farm Safety for Just Kids.

I see the time has come to recess for the caucuses, but I just wish to say that today is another important day. Today is the 150th anniversary of the date that Abraham Lincoln signed the law authorizing the institution we now know as…

today is Equal Pay Day. I mentioned that to someone earlier and they said: What does that mean? What that means is an American woman working full time in America today--I am talking about an average American woman working full time…

I ask unanimous consent that Paul Osadebe and Emily Schwartz, interns with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of today's session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without…

I encourage you to really pursue this.

I have advocated for a long time just get rid of the darn thing, get it over with, and move on.

I just say, have your people look at that, because they have a lot of good background information on this.

I wish to announce that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will to meet on April 10, 2014, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Expanding Access to Quality…

I wish to announce that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will to meet on April 9, 2014, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Addressing Primary Care Access…

I just say, have your people look at that, because they have a lot of good background information on this.

Are you working with the National Institute on Aging? Is there any connectivity between the BRAIN Initiative and Alzheimer's research?

We hope to have something together shortly on this.