Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank Senator Harkin. Before I was in the Senate, for several years in the House I watched from afar the work Senator Harkin did. No one, and I mean no one--we hear a lot of accolades here; not always as genuine, perhaps, as they should be, but this one absolutely is--no one has worked as hard or as effectively as Senator Harkin has on issues affecting people with disabilities. It is personal for him, but Senator Harkin has taken up what was a personal issue for him growing up, about his brother and now about his nephew, and the impact it has had on him and the impact it has had on America is terrific and is unmatched. I know Senator Kennedy, about whom we still think so often, was a major driver of this and other civil rights issues. But I would say Senator Harkin has been second to none, advocating for his brother, for his nephew, but for Iowans and Ohioans and Californians and North Dakotans--all over this country, New Yorkers--everyone, those Americans with disabilities who typically make less money or are less likely to be employed because of discrimination and because of biases that we all probably too often too much hold. Senator Harkin has always risen above that and challenged people to do the right thing on this civil rights issue and on so many other civil rights issues. For that I am grateful, as a protege, to Tom Harkin, as a mentor and well beyond that.…”