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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.
the letter points out that we are making progress, that we are discovering new things. Now is not the time to revisit this issue. This issue has been settled and I believe we ought to leave it alone. As we have said, the studies have shown…
I want to concur with what the chairman just said about this amendment. Obviously, all of us are very concerned about the lack of, shall we say, appropriate funding levels for research into the causes and interventions and cures of…
I rise--and I am sure this is no surprise to anyone--in opposition to the amendment offered by my friend from Arizona. Again, I would concur with what my distinguished chairman said. About half I agree with; half I do not agree with in…
It would gut the whole program. To answer the Senator's question, we always come in for emergency funds. But here is what happens. When you don't fund the LIHEAP Program enough, what happens is family--let's face it; the average family…
Senator Cochran said that only a few States are getting FDA funding right now. That is the point. Six States right now are receiving FDA enforcement money, and only 10 States are expected to receive such money in fiscal 1997, because FDA…
Keep in mind the $34 million FDA needs is just a drop in the bucket compared to the $50 billion in annual smoking-related medical costs in our Nation. As I close, I want to bring the discussion back to the central issue. That is, whether…
I thank my chairman for his leadership on this plan and for outlining in great detail the various aspects of the bill that he just covered, in our efforts to craft a truly bipartisan bill to bring to the floor of the Senate. Mr. President…
During previous consideration of the appropriations bill on agriculture I offered an amendment, along with Senator Chafee and others to protect America's kids and crack down on illegal tobacco sales. We would do it by providing full…
Mr. President it is my great pleasure to offer this sense of the Senate to recognize and commend John H.R. Berg for 50 years of service to the U.S. Government on behalf of myself and Senator Warner. Mr. Berg's employment with the U.S…
I respond to the Senator this way, and we had this discussion earlier. The Synar regulation of SAMHSA is not an enforcement program. FDA is. SAMHSA provides no incentives for retailers to stop illegal sales to kids. Through its tobacco…
If I might respond, that $4.9 million only covers 10 States. We want to cover 50 States. Thus the need for the $34 million.
No, because the States will contract with FDA to help carry out the FDA rule. But there is no mandate that the States have to enforce the FDA rule. We are seeking, with this amount of money, $34 million, a way of implementing the rule…
As I understand it, what the Senator is suggesting is that this money is to help the Federal Government meet its obligations of ensuring that we do not mandate States to do things which we do not fund.
The $4.9 million is what is expected to be spent this year for the first step in this initiative, this FDA initiative to cut down on tobacco sales to minors under the age of 18. The $4.9 million is the first step in that process.
A State could conceivably lose its block grant but there are no hard targets that hold the states accountable to enforce laws that cut teenage smoking.
Kids all over America walking into gas stations, small retail outlets, not being asked to show an ID, buying cigarettes and getting hooked, getting hooked on tobacco. That is what is not fair. That is what this amendment seeks to prevent…
The amendment that Senator Chafee and I offered is on an assessment that was passed by the Agriculture Committee in 1990, not the Ways and Means Committee. The Ways and Means Committee never had any jurisdiction over this. I am somewhat…
If I may respond again to the Senator, I think there is a bit of confusion here. It is my understanding that the FDA rule does not impose a mandate on States. It imposes an obligation on retailers who sell tobacco or tobacco products not…
again, let's be clear what we are talking about when we are talking about SAMHSA. SAMHSA and the States can pass a law and they can deal with retailers. But there are no hard targets in SAMHSA to say: Here is what you have to do or you…
But there are no teeth saying if you don't meet the requirements of law that you lose their block grants. There are no teeth in it.
I am told that figure is $34 million. And that is what they are requesting. They are requesting $34 million to expand it from 10 States to 50 States.
SAMHSA does in fact provide that States should or must enforce this and reduce smoking by passing laws that would do that, to take action to do that. However, there are absolutely no teeth at all in this SAMHSA provision because, if States…
The teeth have been pulled out of SAMHSA. But nonetheless, I say to the Senator from Kentucky, that SAMHSA applies to the States. The States do their thing. What the FDA initiative goes to are the retailers. The FDA rule goes directly to…
Overall, I believe it is an excellent bill and one I wholeheartedly support. However, there is in this bill, I believe, a glaring shortfall relating to the level of funding provided for the Food and Drug Administration's enforcement and…
as the letter from Secretary Shalala makes clear, the full $34 million is needed to carry out the minimum age and photo ID rules. She states: Without these funds, FDA will not have the credible national enforcement program required to…
Politicians like Tom Harkin
