Tom Harkin

I must at the outset admit that due to the press of business around here, and I am not on that committee that formulated this bill, I had not really looked at the bankruptcy portions of it in depth. A lot of people I admire and have…

I rise to, first of all, support enthusiastically the Trade and Development Act of 2000 known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act. I thank Chairman Roth, Senator Moynihan, and the staffs for their hard work to retain the amendment I…

I must say this debate on class size sort of reminds me of the movie ``Ground Hog Day.'' We keep having this debate over and over and over again, even though we know what the reality is. We have already had 2 years of funding, and 1 year…

the issue before us really is whether or not we are going to change gears on education. The Republican bill changes gears in reverse. It puts us in reverse. The Democratic alternative offered by Senator Daschle puts us in a forward gear…

It should not depend on the roll of the dice of where you were born as to what kind of school you attend.

It raises in my mind this question, again, of why that is. Why is it? I ask the Senator, where is it in the Constitution of the United States that public education in America is to be funded by property taxes? Why is this so? I asked a…

What is at the essence of our problem is the big disparity, as Jonathan Kozol has pointed out time and time again, between those who happen to be born and live in a wealthy area and those who are born and live in a poor area.

as we enter the 21st century, the American people have their eyes firmly focused on the future, and they know education is the key to that future. This morning's USA Today newspaper reported that of all the issues the American people care…

However, the real issue in the case before the Supreme Court and in the legislation before Congress is not about banning late term abortions. The real issue is about a systematic effort to overturn Roe V. Wade and to criminalize all…

7 years ago we ended a failed economic policy of trickle down economics. It brought ballooning deficits, a quadrupling of the national debt, high interest rates, and low growth. But we made some tough decisions and tough votes. We changed…

I thank the Senator. He is absolutely right. The nondiscretionary budget we have to work with is $7 billion below a freeze. It is not a 14-percent increase. As the Senator knows, we took some of that BA last year and put it into this year…

This has to do with pension plans. All too often when the pension plans are changed, older workers who have been there a long time see nothing added to their pensions; younger workers see their pensions grow. This is age discrimination…

because of increasing enrollments and aging buildings, local and State expenditures for school construction have increased dramatically by 39 percent in the last several years. However, this increase has not been enough to address the…

I do speak strongly in favor of the underlying Robb amendment of which I am a cosponsor. Senator Robb has it right when he tries to invest in rebuilding and modernizing our public schools. States and local communities are struggling right…

this is a unique moment in our history. We are at the dawn of a new century. And the United States is in a period of unprecedented economic prosperity. We have the lowest unemployment rate in decades, the number of families on welfare has…

I am proud the U.S. is the world leader in the advancement of technology, providing businesses and consumers faster and better ways to work and to communicate. But even though we have made great progress in technology, much of rural and…

the Senate is going to take an important and long overdue step to stop penalizing older workers in our Nation-- eliminating the Social Security earnings penalty. This is a change I have advocated for many years. So I am very pleased we are…

I am very pleased with the provisions of the conference report concerning slots that provide for a two-step process for the elimination of airline slots, landing and take off rights at O'Hare, Kennedy, and LaGuardia Airports. Senator…

Today we will be introducing the Public School Repair and Renovation Act. This legislation will authorize $1.3 billion in grants and no interest loans to enable school districts to make urgent repairs at our nation's public schools. The…

We have to get away from thinking that agriculture is some sort of a minor entity out there, some kind of a sidebar issue. Agriculture is still, if I am not mistaken, something like 20 percent of our gross national product. I think we are…

I want to talk on the issue of agriculture and rural America, and the administration's proposal announced by Secretary Glickman yesterday for improving the farm safety net. At the outset, I am pleased that the administration has recognized…

There is a good proposal in there on the bioenergy. But when you get to the heart of it, and what we are going to do to get away from this mindset of the Government supplying the income to the farmers--that is the heart of what the problem…

It is exactly what we are talking about. I point out that in the administration's proposal for their farm support this year, they will use a 5-year average of gross income--gross income. Look, what about the increased price of fuel…

But maybe this debate does show some fundamental differences. For example, we are for openness. We believe the Federal Reserve ought to meet in the open, that it shouldn't meet in private. We believe transcripts ought to be made available…

I give the Indonesians credit. The article says that this new government commission ``. . . named six top generals--including Gen. Wiranto . . . and General Anwar for possible criminal prosecution'' and that the ``militia'' with their…