Tom Harkin

July 12, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement today regarding the Bush Administration’s release of a report stating that the Iraqi government has failed to meet any key political and economic benchmarks:    » read more »

July 12, 2007 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) have filed an amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill requiring President Bush to close the Department of Defense detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within one year.

The amendment is co-sponsored by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Dick Durbin (D-IL).    » read more »

July 9, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, at a Capitol Hill press conference announcing the introduction of the Healthy Workforce Act of 2007, the American Medical Association (AMA) called for improved employee health through workplace wellness programs that promote health education and healthy lifestyles.

"Workplace wellness programs are a great way to educate and motivate Americans to live longer, healthier lives," said AMA President Ron Davis, MD.    » read more »

Legislation would assure troops have time to physically and mentally recuperate before being re-deployed to a combat zone

July 9, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today co-sponsored an amendment to establish minimum time periods of rest between deployments for members of the Armed Forces for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. This new policy, a significant part of a new Iraq strategy being pushed by Senate Democrats, will be offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.    » read more »

Broad coalition endorses bill that would bring wellness into the workplace

July 9, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) appeared today with business leaders, medical professionals and public health officials to introduce new legislation he is co-sponsoring with Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) that will encourage businesses to implement workplace wellness programs that produce results.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a press conference in Des Moines today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) congratulated Iowa law enforcement officials for advancing the fight against meth by completing a statewide lockup of anhydrous ammonia tanks. All 99 Iowa counties have now been provided with tank locks. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Harkin secured virtually all of the funding for the tank locking effort through the Community Oriented Policing Services Meth Hot Spots program.    » read more »

July 2, 2007 -- “We have known for a long time that this Administration has contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law, but today’s action by the President to intervene to save a high-ranking member of his Administration – who was found by a jury to have broken the law and obstructed justice, on behalf of the Vice President – is a new low.

It shows that this President believes there is one set of rules for his friends, and another set for everyone else.    » read more »

June 29, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear two cases on whether Guantanamo Bay detainees can challenge their imprisonment in federal court.    » read more »

June 29, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, today issued the following statement on the acreage report released this morning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The survey estimates that 92.9 million acres of corn have been planted nationally this spring.    » read more »

June 28, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that an import alert had been placed on catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel from China. The farmed seafood products were contaminated with drugs such as malachite green that are banned from use in the production of farm-raised seafood in the United States. On Tuesday China announced that it had recently closed 180 food production plants and that inspectors had uncovered more than 23,000 food safety violations.    » read more »

June 28, 2007 -- “America is a nation of immigrants, but we are a nation that believes in controlled immigration. Since the beginning of the debate on how to fix our broken immigration system, I have emphasized three core concerns: strengthening our borders, holding employers accountable if they hire illegal immigrants, and dealing with the 12 million undocumented immigrants in a way that is practical and fair to American workers and taxpayers.    » read more »

Bill would protect pensions for rank and file workers, ensure employers keep their promises

June 28, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced legislation today to protect Americans’ pensions and ensure workers receive the retirement benefits they are entitled to. The Restoring Pension Promises to Workers Act of 2007 would restore basic fairness to America’s pension system by forcing corporations that provide lavish executive pension arrangements to also provide a guaranteed, defined benefit plan for the rest of their employees.    » read more »

June 26, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that he has helped secure funding for scientific research at Iowa universities in the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill. The Senate and the House of Representatives must pass this bill before it becomes law.    » read more »