Tom Harkin

During the deliberations over the fiscal year 1999 Defense Authorization bill, I offered an amendment to increase spending for our nation's veterans medical needs. The amendment, offered on June 25th and numbered as 2982 would have allowed…

There is a plague sweeping across our Nation. It is ruining an untold number of lives, claiming countless numbers of our children. It is in our streets as well as our classrooms. Drugs have become more abundant. But there is a new drug…

This provision is not unconstitutional and does not interfere with the Constitution, and it does not interfere with the exercise of any fourth amendment right a Government contractor might have. The provision makes it possible for the…

I thank the chairman. I know of his great interest in this area. And I know of his great support for our law enforcement agencies to crack down on the methamphetamine labs. I know your chairman is having the same experience out in his…

Again, you might ask, well, why should they have to look for this? Why should procurement officers have to be concerned about this? Under 48 CFR 9.406-2, ``Causes for Debarment,'' there is a whole list of things that they should look for…

The Thompson amendment, which is the pending amendment, seeks to strike from the bill a provision that was incorporated at the committee level--subcommittee level and committee level--by unanimous consent. I don't know of any votes that…

I believe that the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), a state run and owned communications network, as well as similarly situated entities, should be able to fully participate in the E-rate program. If the ICN is denied that opportunity by…

I believe that the voucher and certificate 811 program would be more beneficial to those with significant disabilities if non-profit organizations with significant experience providing such services would be fully engaged, working with…

I just point out again that these outbreaks are growing with rapidity and showing up in the oddest of places. For example, last month, dozens of children got sick--again, with this E. coli 0157H7--in Atlanta after swimming in a public…

The reason it is is because if we put an assessment, I say to the Senator from Kentucky--if we put an assessment on the tobacco companies to pay into this, that assessment they can deduct from their taxes. They deduct it from their taxes…

I want to try to clear it up, if I can, and say to my colleague from Kentucky that we do not reopen the tobacco program.

I sympathize with the majority leader and minority leader on the issue of moving ahead with the legislation. There are some very important issues here on agriculture. We have a crisis looming for our farmers, ranchers, and our rural…

It simply says that the laws we have that make it illegal to sell tobacco products to kids should be adequately enforced. To do that, the amendment I have just sent to the desk provides full funding for the ongoing anti teen smoking…

I acknowledge the doubts the Chairman has about the accuracy of the WIC budget request. Also, as the Chairman knows, I share his strong support for the School Lunch Program and for supplying commodities to it. I do have a letter from…

I wonder how many consumers know that only 2 percent of all the produce they eat that comes from outside this country is ever inspected--2 percent. The rest of it, who knows what is on that stuff when it comes to this country. The…

As my colleague, the distinguished Chairman of the Subcommittee may know, I have been advised that the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA) authorized a new streamlined pre-market notification system for food…

You are right about E. coli. I counted up in June of this year, this last month, and we had six E. coli outbreaks of food poisoning in this country, of a strain of E. coli that didn't exist 20 years ago. It wasn't there. And now it is…

I respond again to the Senator from Kentucky that there are other assessments and user fees in this bill. So why should the tobacco companies be exempt from an assessment? There are, I point out, a number of other assessments on industry…

This amendment doesn't start anything new. It takes an existing program at the FDA and expends the money. That is what an appropriations bill does. We are not legislating on an appropriations bill. There is no legislation here, I say to my…

What it is about is whether this Senate wants to effectively fund an ongoing program to enforce the rules that keep kids from illegally buying cigarettes. That is all it is. We voted on this last September. Seventy Senators voted for…

The amendment that I just offered would restore $66 million for the President's Food Safety Initiative, the funding of which I believe should be a national priority. I understand the constraints faced here on this subcommittee on spending…

I want to inquire of the chairman--obviously it is well within his right to move to table--why can't we have an up-or-down vote?

The 1996 farm bill is not the Ten Commandments. It was not written in stone for all time. We have a crisis impending on us in agriculture. The bottom is falling out. Prices are going down every day. Are we so stuck in our ways here, are we…

World grain reserves right now, as a percentage of consumption, are at historically low levels. I believe the American people would be appalled to learn that our Government holds virtually no food in reserve to help us out if we ever have…

So we hear the old refrain, get the Government out of agriculture; give the farmers more freedom. That is what this amendment does. If that is what you like, this amendment gives the farmers more freedom. I just ask my colleagues, what…