The Public Record
Tom Harkin is a former U.S. Senator from Iowa who served from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Harkin was known for his advocacy on disability rights and health care reform. He played a significant role in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and was a strong proponent of mental health services and education initiatives. Throughout his tenure, Harkin focused on issues affecting working families and rural communities in Iowa.
We are blaming these kids. Title I: Do my colleagues know how much each kid gets from title I? Somewhere between $400 and $600 a year. Go to the best schools in America in high-income areas where they have nice houses and high incomes. Do…
Now we are going to accept $78 million in administrative costs, which we know we can't do? I know I have some people on this side of the aisle who want to come over and offer amendments that will cut administrative costs. I just ask my…
I find it interesting, my friend from New Hampshire making this argument. Four years ago, when the Senator from Texas offered a gun amendment on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, I didn't hear a peep from my friend from New…
While I support improving impact aid around the country, we are getting to the point where we accepted a $10 million cut in administrative costs, and we accepted some more before that, did we not?
Yes. I think all of us are committed on this side. I don't speak for the Senator from Pennsylvania. But in my conversations with him, I understand that he is committed to replacing the social services block grant. Clearly, we cannot live…
It is the Republican side that is running the floor that schedules the bills, not the Democrats. My friend from New Hampshire just said he would be willing to have seven amendments on either side.
Oh, relevant amendments. See, there you go. The last ESEA bill we had up was 4 years ago. We had amendments offered on the Republican side that were not relevant. We didn't say anything. We debated them. We debated them and we voted on…
I must say, when I turned over the gavel to Senator Specter in 1995, there was not even a bump in the road. We always worked together on this. When he took over as chairman, we continued our strong support for NIH and our strong support…
Community health centers are really the last sort of backstop for so many people in this country who don't have health insurance--44 million people in America don't have health insurance. Mainly, these are the ones who, right now, for…
I feel constrained also to talk about the problems we have with high gasoline prices in the Midwest. It occurred to me there are all kinds of rumors going around about why this is happening: There is a broken pipeline; there is a shortage…
Again, it was my understanding that it was former Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole who first committed the Department to issue an ergonomic standard to protect workers on carpal tunnel syndrome and MSDs, as they are called. It has been…
I am pleased that the Labor-HHS bill has reached the floor relatively early this year. In the past few years, we have been sort of on the caboose end of the train. It is an extremely important bill. It addresses many issues that are vital…
Would the Senator tell us under which Secretary of Labor and how long ago this proposed ergonomics rule was promulgated? How many years of study have we put in on it?
in my State of Iowa, Sioux City, seniors regularly take bus trips to Mexico to get their drugs. Drugs that cost $68 in Sioux City are $7 in Mexico. Seniors in Waterloo, IA, are being bussed to Canada to buy their drugs. Seniors in Cedar…
I wanted to briefly discuss two important provisions regarding child soldiers and methamphetamine lab cleanup that are included in this supplemental spending package in the Foreign Operations bill before us. Over the years, Iowa and many…
I say to anyone who is watching this debate, get on your computer, get on the Internet and dial up www.gulfstream.com. Dial up gulfstream.com and take a look at the Gulfstream V and Gulfstream III, I say to my constituents, or anyone who…
That is if we lease them rather than buying. So we are compounding it, adding insult to injury. The taxpayers are getting socked for airplanes the military doesn't really need, and then they are leasing them, which means we are paying even…
Why? Why 5,000 miles? That is the threshold. The objective is the ``Aircraft shall be able to fly no-wind range of 5,000 nautical miles carrying a full passenger and crew complement, plus their baggage.'' Why? We do not know why, but that…
Frankly, I say to the Senator from California, if we have to swallow this, they ought to at least buy the airplanes, not lease them. The taxpayers are going to get stung, big time, for leasing these aircraft, but it looks as if it is less…
Let me just finish this. The GAO found there is no justification for how many times a day airports are connected. There is no criterion for why some airports are key airports and others are not. There is no consideration of how large…
What happened to the six airplanes last year that we fought against? Have they started leasing those airplanes yet?
I am proposing a very simple amendment. All it says is the Department of Defense thoroughly test its trailers and the trucks that pull them before they spend more money to modify them or to buy new ones. I understand there is a rule XVI…
Mr. President, I express my support for the conference report to the Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 which we conferenced yesterday. I thank Senator Lugar, our chairman, for his hard work and persistence, as I said, over a couple…
I thank the Senator. Read the language of the Lott amendment. "The right of each law-abiding United States citizen." No age limit; 10-year-old kids or 14-year-old kids can own any amount of guns they want. "For any legitimate purpose…
first of all, I take a back seat to no one in being a legitimate hunter. I hunt every year. I have hunted since I have been a kid. I will take on anyone over there in trap shooting. That is not what this is about. It is not about…
Politicians like Tom Harkin
