Tom Harkin

Senate to take up Supplemental Funding Bill next week that includes vital cancer research funds

June 20, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Continuing his intensive work to provide funds for life-saving biomedical research, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds health and education initiatives, today praised the House of Representatives for approving $150 million in additional funds for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pledged to include and approve the funds on the Senate side.

The House passed the Supplemental Funding Bill late last night that includes the NIH funding; the Senate intends to consider the legislation next week.    » read more »

Iowa Delegation joins Harkin in urging Bush to grant 60-day waiver for state matching funds for emergency protective measures and debris removal

June 17, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) was joined by Iowa’s Congressional Delegation in urging the President to waive for 60 days the percentage of matching funds the state must contribute to qualify for federal disaster assistance concerning emergency protective measures and debris removal. The current White House took similar action to aid Louisiana and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina to lower the in-kind matching requirement for the period immediately following the hurricane.    » read more »

June 17, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) chaired a hearing today to investigate how excessive speculation in the oil market may be contributing to the historic run on oil and gas prices.

The hearing, held jointly before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, probed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) role in regulating the market and what tools and resources the agency needs to ensure it is able to be a robust market watchdog.    » read more »

May 21, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is letting Senate leaders know today of his intent to offer an amendment to the Iraq supplemental spending bill to safely redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq, after which funding for the war would end.

Army National Guard soldier locked in an emotional embrace at homecoming: 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry of the 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division of the Army National Guard in Anoka, MN. After having their tour extended by the troop surge, the "Red Bulls" were the longest serving guard unit, having been in Iraq since late 2005. Photo by Poppyseed Bandits (CC)    » read more »

5/15/2008 -- Statement of NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA):

“We applaud the leadership of Senators Harkin and Chambliss and Representatives Peterson and Goodlatte for their hard work to gain passage of the 2008 Farm Bill. This legislation sharpens the focus of the Rural Utilities Service’s Broadband Loan Program by limiting loans in areas where competition already exists, and targeting loans to areas without widespread access to broadband service. The 2008 Farm Bill represents a strong step in ensuring that government broadband deployment programs give the highest priority to areas that do not yet have access to broadband service.”    » read more »

Members of Senate Labor Panel Question Labor Secretary Chao Today

May 7, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), and Patty Murray (D-WA) today revealed the findings of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report they commissioned which showed that after seven years of providing nearly $300 million in earmarks, the Department of Labor (DoL) did not properly monitor funded activities, to assess whether the grant objectives were being met or properly evaluate them to determine whether the funded activities were effective.    » read more »

Initial observations preview full report due out soon

May 6, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) today helped unveil new findings from the independent Government Accountability Office showing the failure of $5.56 billion in U.S. taxpayer money since 9/11 intended to help defeat al Qaeda (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08735r.pdf).    » read more »

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Calls for Evaluation of Rising Food Prices, Expansion of New Feedstocks

May 5, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should uphold the ethanol standards passed by the energy bill with an expansion of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Earlier today, 23 Senate Republicans urged the agency to halt ethanol production expansion.    » read more »

Renews Call for Employee Free Choice Act

April 2, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) questioned members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and reiterated his support for the Employee Free Choice Act at an investigative Senate hearing he chaired on unfair labor practices in representation elections.

Strikers outside a construction site in Wilsonvile, OR: Photo by Lisa Norwood (CC)    » read more »

GAO Report Reveals Flaws

Washington, D.C. -- March 25, 2008 -- With more than 10,000 schools across the country identified as low-performing under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report written at the request of U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) has found that the Education Department failed to properly oversee one of the most critical sources of NCLBA funding.    » read more »

Budget Amendment Provides Additional Funding for Health Research, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Washington, D.C. -- March 13, 2008 -- Today, U.S. Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, successfully championed through an amendment to the FY09 Budget Resolution. The amendment, soundly passed by a vote of 95-4, increases funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $2.1 billion.    » read more »

Harkin is leading major bipartisan push to boost Iowa's crime & meth prevention funding

February 12, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Late last night, the Senate unanimously approved legislation U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) pushed to ensure that retailers are compliant with Combat Meth Act regulations to curb the spread of methamphetamines in communities.    » read more »

Harkin vows to fix funding cuts to help Iowa receive educational assistance

February 7, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) met with representatives of the Iowa State Education Association to discuss deep cuts to K-12 education funding in President Bush’s proposed budget. Harkin, who leads the Senate committee that funds education initiatives, called the Bush budget a reckless and backward-thinking proposal that would have dire consequences for Iowa’s school children.    » read more »

Harkin vows to fix funding cuts to help Iowa receive educational assistance

February 6, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Late yesterday, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) met with representatives of seven Iowa colleges to discuss deep cuts to higher education funding in President Bush’s proposed budget. Harkin, who leads the Senate committee that funds education initiatives, called the Bush budget an irresponsible, backward-thinking budget that would have dire consequences for Iowa’s educational assistance programs.    » read more »

Bush axes support for job competitiveness, LIHEAP and medical breakthroughs; Harkin vows to restore funding to these critical areas in his committee's domestic funding bill

February 5, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations subcommittee, took President Bush to task for coming out with such an irresponsible, backward-thinking budget for Americans’ priorities at home.    » read more »