Tom Harkin

I am not trying to fix on the past. I am not advocating that at all. I want efficiencies. But any plan that does not take into account the age and the illness, rural areas, that type of thing, I am sorry, that is not a good plan. Again, I…

I wanted to have the amendment fully read so all Senators and staff watching on their television sets would know exactly what this amendment is all about. The veterans of the United States have earned the right to decent health care and…

I rise as cosponsor of America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership Act of 1996. This bill would establish America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership in northeast Iowa in order to promote the story of agriculture in our Nation's rich…

I supported the health insurance conference agreement. I want to speak a few minutes about some of the very good and some very problematic provisions in this agreement. I want to congratulate Senator Kennedy and Senator Kassebaum and…

In addition to our discussion about title III, I would like to speak about my deep concern regarding the overall cuts in funding for the Public Law 480 Food for Peace Program in recent years. These cuts, combined with higher commodity…

The focus of title III is on structural, policy reforms and activities that directly affect or improve food production and consumption, including nutrition. Helping the poorest, most food-deficient countries address these issues will help…

I share the concerns of the Senator from Vermont regarding the funding level for the title III Food Aid Program adopted in conference. It would have been much better, in my view, to have retained the Senate level of funding for title III…

this amendment would simply continue a small program that provides assistance to help start and expand school breakfast and summer food programs for low-income kids. This is directly related to education. When these kids come in to school…

I still hope the amendment will be accepted after it is looked at. I do want to thank Senator Coats for his help in crafting this amendment and making changes to it. Again, I still hope it will be accepted. As I said, something similar to…

Just a small followup. I do not always agree with the President of the United States. These start-up and expansion grants stand on their own merits, without regard to what is contained in the President's or any other welfare reform…

all I can say is: Remember the $600 toilet seat and the $500 hammers that had taxpayers up in arms during the mid-1980's. Today's subsidized mergers are going to make them look like bargains. That is not my quote. That is a quote of…

Some colleagues have said the contractors are going to sue the Government for breach of contract. I do not know what they are talking about. If a company has a contract with the DOD that specifies that payment must be made from fiscal year…

My amendment simply says, No. 1, we get a report by next spring, the inspector general and OMB and GAO to submit a report to set out just what is happening here and what kind of savings. It says then that no funds appropriated in this bill…

So this practice is clearly an abuse of taxpayers' money. If these companies are compelled to merge for business reasons, why do they need a handout from the taxpayer? If the business deals are good, the mergers will happen anyway and the…

in February, Iowa was featured on the front page of the New York Times--but it wasn't the kind of publicity I want to see our State receive. The article highlighted a problem that is exploding around Iowa--the growing use of the drug…

I would like to address some issues that may be bothering some of my colleagues. I know some representatives of defense contractors have visited with my colleagues. They have told them my amendment will hurt workers because the companies…

I wanted to lend my support to the colloquy between my colleagues Senators Hatch and Kennedy relative to nursing homes and the minimum wage. In their colloquy my colleagues note that nursing homes, many of which, particularly in rural…

Today we get the opportunity to assure that 12 million American workers are provided with a much needed and much deserved raise. The value of the minimum wage is 50 cents less than it was when it was last increased and it's headed for a…

We simply must make reforms here. So, I will pursue this on the DOD appropriations bill and try to put an end to this ill-advised waste of taxpayer money. I look forward to working together with Senator Nunn and other of my colleagues in…

Basically, what this amendment, which passed the House recently by a vote of 353 to 62, would do is begin to ask our allies in Europe to pay a fairer share of the costs for their own defense. The CBO says this amendment would save…

Greenspan's prognosis of the Nation's economic ills in the 1970's did not comport with what happened, the same way in the 1980's. And I submit for the Record an article that appeared in Investors Business Daily called ``Greenspan's Rotten…

But, Mr. President, if you are on the side of working families, and small businesses that have to borrow money to expand, or on the side of manufacturers that need new plants and equipment, or on the side of farmers who need to borrow…

Some have been stated before by Senator Dorgan and Senator Conrad: "We don't see a connection between the numbers out there and what we feel in our business. There is absolutely no inflation. There's no pricing power at all."--John Welch…

So, yes, there is a lot of complicated economic terms, statistics, and charts that we can put up here. Let us not get lost in these complexities. We are talking about simple fundamental things-- real people, families trying to make a…

I want to cover, however, just briefly, for the record, the issue of NAIRU. I said earlier today I was going to get into that, and I want to talk about NAIRU, the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment, and what it is and why it…