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.
But here is the catch. The tobacco industry was successful in pulling the teeth from this provision. Synar has no teeth because there are no hard targets. It is discretionary whether any State will lose its block grant. That is why SAMHSA…
Again, Mr. President, both letters make it clear that the tobacco settlement does not obviate the need for the FDA funding that we provide in our amendment and that providing the funding would not interfere with the settlement. In closing…
So the Senator is right on the mark. As long as you ID them, you better make sure they don't get the alcohol, too. So I thank the Senator from West Virginia for helping us take the blinders off to see this has broader implications than…
I just wanted to thank the Senator from West Virginia for his addition to this amendment. The Senator from West Virginia, as I mentioned earlier, is the leading voice in this Chamber about the dangers of alcohol and alcohol addiction…
I understand that that is, indeed, what the FDA initiative is for, is to provide funds to the States to implement it and to carry it out.
the Government of Pakistan is pursuing dramatic economic reforms, including liberalization, privatization, and deregulation in order to transition its economy into a fully market-oriented system. Once OPIC support is reinstated, the United…
a number of prominent United States business leaders have asked the State Department to resume OPIC support for investment in Pakistan so that American business interests are promoted in that region. In no other country in South Asia is…
Let me read further from Secretary Cohen's letter. I want to get this last paragraph in. Secretary Cohen said: Opponents of your legislation will claim that Pakistan's performance with regard to proliferation should not be "rewarded" by…
I appreciate my chairman's comments on this. I know that the law was changed last year; Commerce put these provisions in there. Let me respond by saying that I think the GAO report points out that these are ephemeral, at best. It does say…
in this morning's paper, researchers were able to identify a gene that plays a role in Parkinson's disease. We need more funds for biomedical research. What this amendment says, on behalf of Senators D'Amato, Specter, Mack, and myself, is…
Congress makes the following findings: (1) Nearly 4 of 5 peer reviewed research projects deemed worthy of funding by the National Institutes of Health are not funded. (2) Less than 3 percent of the nearly one trillion dollars our Nation…
The pending legislation provides $3 billion to establish a Welfare-To-Work Program and specifies the activities for which the funding may be used. The list of allowable activities does not allow assistance for education or training…
The Welfare-To-Work Program provides formula grants to States and requires States to develop a formula for distribution of the funds within the State in consultation with sub-State areas. However, it is not clear what types of entities are…
Over the past several years I have met with a number of welfare recipients, caseworkers and others to discuss the issue of welfare reform in the State of Iowa. The discussions have also included a number of individuals who have…
As I understand, what the Senator is saying is that right now under the food stamp rolls, if there is a person in the household who is incarcerated, that you just want to ensure that the changes are made to reflect that there is one less…
It just seems that when I hear this debate about this provision and I hear proponents of this provision talk, it is as if everybody in America is like us. Everybody in America is not like us. They do not have the kind of health care…
I will not even take 2 minutes. I listened to the impassioned argument of my friend from Pennsylvania. I just had two observations. No. 1, along the lines of what Senator Lautenberg said, No. 1, what retirement income will a Senator have…
I want to echo what the Senator from Massachusetts just said. If anything, this provision is the ultimate anti-blue-collar provision that I have ever seen on the Senate floor. This strikes right at the heart of the Americans we ought to be…
I just hope we can sort of think outside the box, as I said earlier, of looking at this and get this money into research. We have to do it, get more money into medical research. I mean, they are starving out there. And the young people who…
for many years, I have been working hard to identify and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare Program. Starting in 1990, when I took over as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds and has jurisdiction over the…
Mr. President, let me continue for a little bit to talk some more about the aspects of this treaty and why it is so important that we ratify it this year. Again, to recap, 34 years ago today, on June 10, 1963, President Kennedy made a…
Today, I am introducing, on behalf of myself, Senators Hutchinson, Reid, Bryan, and Rockefeller, the Social Security Consumer Protection Act. This is a simple, commonsense legislation that will arm consumers with the information they need…
Even yet today, to maintain this nuclear stockpile, the United States spends roughly $30 billion a year. That is just about three times the amount that we are spending on all medical research at the National Institutes of Health, to find…
I ask if the Senator from Texas would amend his statement in the Record and provide us with a table. If the Senator from Texas says we can quadruple spending for NIH, please tell us how. Please put in the Record for all to see what the…
there is no issue of greater importance to our country than the education of our citizens. The budget before us calls for modest new investments in education over the next 5 years by increasing resources for education and training…
Politicians like Tom Harkin
