TRIBUTES TO HON. TOM HARKIN 

Tom Harkin 

U.S. SENATOR FROM IOWA 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
Tom Harkin 

Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office 


91904.001
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2015

S. DOC. 113–30 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Tom Harkin 

United States Congressman 

1975–1985 

United States Senator 

1985–2015 

÷ 

Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

[ iii ] 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Biography .................................................................................................. v 

Farewell Address ...................................................................................... ix 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee ............................................... 21 

Bennet, Michael F., of Colorado ................................................ 16 

Boxer, Barbara, of California .................................................... 40 

Brown, Sherrod, of Ohio ............................................................ 26 

Carper, Thomas R., of Delaware ............................................... 28 

Casey, Robert P., Jr., of Pennsylvania ..................................... 35 

Coons, Christopher A., of Delaware ......................................... 14 

Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois ................................................... 12, 30 

Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming ................................................... 14 

Franken, Al, of Minnesota ......................................................... 22 

Grassley, Chuck, of Iowa ......................................................... 3, 8, 17 

Harkin, Tom, of Iowa ................................................................. 5, 19 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah ........................................................... 33, 37 

Hirono, Mazie K., of Hawaii ...................................................... 38 

Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma ................................................ 34 

Klobuchar, Amy, of Minnesota .................................................. 23 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 36 

Levin, Carl, of Michigan ............................................................ 17 

Merkley, Jeff, of Oregon ............................................................ 27 

Murphy, Christopher, of Connecticut ....................................... 14, 25 

Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island ...................................................... 11 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada .............................................................. 8 

Sanders, Bernard, of Vermont .................................................. 31 

Shaheen, Jeanne, of New Hampshire ...................................... 37 

Stabenow, Debbie, of Michigan ................................................. 18 

[ v ] 

BIOGRAPHY 

A MODEST BEGINNING

TOM HARKIN was born in Cumming, IA (population 150) 

on November 19, 1939, the son of an Iowa coal miner father 

and a Slovenian immigrant mother. To this day, he still lives 

in the house in Cumming where he was born. 

Growing up in a close-knit family of modest means, TOM

and his five siblings learned early in life the importance of 

hard work and responsibility. During his youth, he worked 

in a variety of jobs—on farms and construction sites, as a paperboy and at a Des Moines bottling plant. 

After graduating from Dowling High School in Des Moines, 

he attended Iowa State University on a Navy ROTC scholarship, earning a degree in government and economics. 

Following graduation, TOM served in the Navy as a jet 

pilot on active duty from 1962 to 1967. Later, he continued 

to fly in the Naval Reserves. He is an active member of 

American Legion Post 562 in Cumming and the Commander 

of the Congressional Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. 

In 1968, TOM married Ruth Raduenz, the daughter of a 

farmer and a school teacher from Minnesota. TOM and Ruth 

have two daughters, Amy and Jenny, and three grandchildren. 

START IN WASHINGTON

TOM went to Washington in 1969 to join the staff of Iowa 

Congressman Neal Smith. As a staff member accompanying 

a congressional delegation to South Vietnam, he independently investigated and photographed the infamous ‘‘tiger 

cage’’ cells at a secret prison on Con Son Island, where prisoners—many of them students—were being tortured and 

kept in inhumane conditions. Despite pressure to suppress 

his findings, TOM made public his photos and eyewitness accounts, which were subsequently published in Life magazine. 

As a result, hundreds of abused prisoners were released. 

In 1972, TOM and Ruth graduated in the same class at 

Catholic University of America Law School in Washington, 

DC. They returned to Iowa and settled in Ames. TOM worked 

with Polk County Legal Aid, assisting low-income Iowans 

[ vi ] 

who could not afford legal help. Ruth won election as Story 

County Attorney, becoming the first female elected to this 

position. 

In 1974, TOM was elected to Congress from Iowa’s Fifth 

Congressional District. His energetic, person-to-person campaign carried the day against an incumbent in a long-standing Republican district. 

In 1984, after serving 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, TOM challenged an incumbent Senator and 

won. Iowans returned him to the Senate in 1990, 1996, and 

again in 2002. In November 2008, TOM made history by becoming the first Iowa Democrat to win a fifth term in the 

U.S. Senate. 

During his first term in Congress, TOM became the first 

Member to create a mobile office, a specially equipped van 

that HARKIN staff members used to bring congressional services to every one of Iowa’s 99 counties each year. 

A COMMITMENT TO THE ISSUES

As a young Senator, TOM was tapped by Senator Ted Kennedy to craft legislation to protect the civil rights of millions 

of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. TOM

knew first hand about the challenges facing people with disabilities from his late brother, Frank, who was deaf from an 

early age. What emerged from that process would later become TOM’s signature legislative achievement—the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

The ADA has become known as the ‘‘Emancipation Proclamation for people with disabilities.’’ The legislation changed 

the landscape of America by requiring buildings and transportation to be wheelchair accessible, and to provide workplace accommodations for people with disabilities. To preserve the intent of the ADA after several court rulings weakened the law, TOM and Senator Orrin Hatch introduced the 

ADA amendments bill to ensure continuing protections from 

discrimination for all Americans with disabilities. It was 

signed into law in September 2008. 

TOM also worked to advance collaborative research in paralysis and to improve quality of life for those living with paralysis, including by creating a clinical trials network to 

measure the effectiveness of rehabilitation therapies. His 

Christopher and Dana Reeve Act, named after the actor and 

his wife, became law in March 2009. 

TOM also led the fight to lift former President Bush’s restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, which shows 

[ vii ] 

great promise for new treatments of conditions like Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries, and juvenile diabetes. On March 

9, 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order 

lifting those restrictions. 

TOM has long believed that in America we have a ‘‘sick 

care’’ system, not a health care system. Rather than treating 

people once they get sick, he believes that we should remove 

the barriers to a healthy lifestyle, reduce chronic disease and 

rein in the high cost of health care, creating a ‘‘wellness society’’ in America. 

He did this in two ways—first as chairman of the Senate 

panel that funds medical research, he led the effort between 

1998 and 2003 (in tandem with Senator Arlen Specter) to 

double funding for research by the National Institutes of 

Health into cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and 

other diseases. 

TOM helped to lead passage of the most significant health 

reform bill in the last 40 years, the Affordable Care Act, and 

authored the law’s many prevention provisions. The ACA expanded insurance coverage for millions of Americans and 

made prevention and wellness a national priority. Among its 

many improvements, the ACA ensures that all Americans 

enjoy full coverage for proven preventive services such as immunizations and cancer screenings with no copayments or 

deductibles. Less than 4 years after the ACA’s passage, more 

than 105 million Americans have already received needed 

preventative benefits without cost sharing thanks to this 

landmark change. 

As the chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee 

that funds education, TOM fought to improve education in 

Iowa and across the country. He worked to reduce class size, 

give students better computer and Internet access, expand 

school counseling and safety programs, and improve teacher 

training. He also led the effort to modernize America’s school 

infrastructure. Each year he secured funding that became 

known as ‘‘Harkin grants’’ to help school districts in Iowa update and repair their facilities. 

TOM’s dedication to agriculture dates back to 1975 when 

he first came to Congress and became a member of the Agriculture Committee. At that time, he had the great privilege 

of serving as chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, where he led efforts to enact the 2002 and 2007 

farm bills. These bills greatly expanded Federal support for 

renewable energy, strengthened the farm income safety net, 

preserved millions of acres of land through agriculture conVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ viii ] 

servation efforts, invested hundreds of millions of dollars in 

small towns through rural development efforts, and ensured 

tens of millions of Americans had access to sufficient and 

healthful food. 

In September 2009, following the death of Senator Ted 

Kennedy, TOM became chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. TOM believed that 

serving in this capacity carried on the legacy of Senator Kennedy, who dedicated his life to ensuring that our economy 

works for all Americans, guaranteeing every child the opportunity to pursue a quality education and, of course, the cause 

of Kennedy’s life: access to quality, affordable health care for 

all Americans. 

[ ix ] 

Farewell to the Senate 

Friday, December 12, 2014 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, almost 2 years ago I announced I was not going to seek a sixth term in the Senate. 

That decision and that announcement didn’t seem all that 

difficult or hard at that time. After all, 2 years was a long 

time off. Since then, I have been busy with hearings, meeting constituents, getting legislation through the HELP Committee, and working on appropriations. 

But now, knowing this will be my final formal speech on 

the floor of the Senate; knowing that in a few days a 

semitruck is going to pull up to the Hart Senate Office 

Building and load hundreds of boxes of my records of 40 

years—30 in the Senate and 10 in the House—and haul all 

of that off to Drake University and the Harkin Institute on 

Public Policy and Civic Engagement in Des Moines, IA; seeing my office at 731 Hart Senate Office Building stripped almost bare and the shelves cleaned; when I will soon cast my 

last vote; when I will no longer be engaged in legislative battle; when I will no longer be summoned by the Senate bells; 

and when I will soon just be No. 1,763 of all of the Senators 

who have ever served in the Senate—now the leaving becomes hard and wrenching and emotional. That is because I 

love the Senate. I love my work here. 

It has been said by a lot of pundits that the Senate is broken. No, it is not. The Senate is not broken. Oh, maybe there 

are a few dents, a couple of scrapes here and there—banged 

up a little bit—but there is still no other place in America 

where one person can do big things—for good or for ill—for 

our people and our Nation. 

I love the people with whom I work. This is a deaf sign. 

‘‘I–L–Y’’ means ‘‘I love you.’’ 

To the Senators, staff, clerks, Congressional Research 

Service, doorkeepers, Cloakroom, police, restaurant employees, and, yes, the pages—and especially to those who labor 

outside the lights, the cameras, and the news stories—who 

make this Senate function on a daily basis, I thank you. 

[ x ] 

I particularly thank my wonderful, dedicated, hardworking staff, both present and past, both personal and committee staff. When I say committee staff, I mean the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, which I have been 

privileged to chair or be ranking member of since 1989; also 

the Committee on Agriculture, on which I have served since 

1985 and which I chaired twice for two farm bills, once in 

2001 and 2002 and the second one in 2007 and 2009; and the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 

which I have chaired since the untimely death of Senator 

Ted Kennedy in 2009. 

I first heard Pat Leahy say this, so I always attribute it 

to him: ‘‘We Senators are just a constitutional impediment to 

the smooth functioning of staff.’’ This is truer than most of 

us would probably like to admit. 

Also in thanking my staff, I don’t just mean those who 

work in Washington. I would never have been reelected four 

times without the hands-on, day in, day out constituent service of my Iowa staff. The casework they have done in helping 

people with problems is every bit as important as any legislative work done in Washington. 

In 2012 our office marked a real milestone—100,000 constituent service cases since 1985. I cannot count the number 

of times Iowans have personally thanked me for something 

my staff has done to help them. 

There is a story out our way that I have heard for a long 

time. If you are driving down a country road and see a turtle—see that image of a turtle—sitting on a fencepost, you 

can be sure of one thing: It didn’t get there by itself. 

I can relate to that turtle. I didn’t get here by myself. My 

staff helped. I thank my staff, both past and present, who so 

strongly supported me when I was right and so diplomatically corrected me when I was wrong and who all labored in 

a shared commitment to provide a hand up, a ladder of opportunity to those who had been dealt a bad hand in the lottery of life. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in 

the Record a list of the names of my current staff so they 

will be forever enshrined in the history of the Senate. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be 

printed in the Record, as follows: 

My personal office staff: Brian Ahlberg, Elizabeth Stein, Lindsay Jones, 

Lilly Hunt, Sonja Hoover, Mandy McClure, Kate Waters, Susannah 

Cernojevich, Jim Whitmire, Richard Vickers, Katharine Jones, Jayme 

[ xi ] 

Wiebold, Joseph Petrzelka, Eric Jones, Elizabeth Messerly, Lauren Scott, 

Mark Halverson, Eldon Boes, Tom Buttry, Michele Reilly Hall, and Richard 

Bender. 

Those staffers serving me in Iowa: Robert Barron, Amy Beller, Alexander 

Lynch, Pamela Ringleb, John Moreland, Jule Reynolds, Omar Padilla, Robert Hamill, Ryan Helling, Kimberly Taylor, Tamara Milton, Tom Larkin, 

Alison Hart, Jessica Gordon, Suellen Flynn, and Sandi O’Brien. 

My LHHS Subcommittee on Appropriations staff: Adrienne Hallett, Kelly 

Brown, Lisa Bernhardt, Mark Laisch, Mike Gentile, Robin Juliano, and Teri 

Curtin. 

Last, my HELP Committee staff: Derek Miller, Lauren McFerran, Molly 

Click, Abraham White, Jenelle Krishnamoorthy, Wade Ackerman, Andi 

Fristedt, Brian Massa, Colin Goldfinch, Caitlin Boon, Mildred Otero, Aissa 

Canchola, Amanda Beaumont, Brit Moller, Leanne Hotek, Libby Masiuk, 

Mario Cardona, Liz Weiss, Michael Kreps, Sarah Cupp, Zachary Schechter 

Steinberg, Kia Hamadanchy, and Lee Perselay. 

Mr. HARKIN. Most of all, I thank my wife, Ruth, the love 

of my life, my wife of 46 years. You have been my constant 

companion, my soulmate, my strongest supporter, and my 

most honest critic. You have been my joy in happy times and 

my solace when things just didn’t go right. So I am looking 

forward to more adventures, love, and excitement with her 

in the years ahead. 

To our two beautiful, smart, caring, and compassionate 

daughters, Amy and Jenny, I thank you for always being 

there for your dad, for giving me such wondrous joy in being 

a part of your growing up. I am so proud of both of you. 

To my son-in-law Steve and to my grandkids, McQuaid, 

Daisy, and Luke: Look out, because here comes Grandpa! 

There is so much I want to say, but I want to be respectful 

of those who have come to share this moment with me—my 

staff, here and there, my family, friends, and fellow Senators. 

I want to state as briefly as I can why I am here, what 

has propelled me, and what has been my guiding philosophy 

for all these years. 

It has to do with that ladder of opportunity I just mentioned. You see, there is nothing wrong in America with 

being a success. There is nothing wrong with having more 

money, a nicer home, a nicer car, sending your kids to good 

schools, having nice vacations, and a great retirement. That 

is a big part of the American dream. 

But I believe when you make it to the top, and I made it 

to the top, one of the primary responsibilities of our free government is to make sure we leave the ladder down for others 

to climb. Now, mind you, I said a ladder. I didn’t say an escalator. An escalator is a free ride. I don’t believe in that. 

[ xii ] 

If you follow my analogy a little bit more, with a ladder 

you still have to exert energy, effort, and initiative to get up. 

But, in order to do that, there must be rungs on that ladder. 

That is where government comes in, to put some rungs 

there—the bottom rungs—everything from maternal and 

child health care programs, Head Start, the best public 

schools, the best teachers, affordable and accessible college, 

job training. 

Sometimes people fall off that ladder. Sometimes, through 

no fault of their own, they have an illness, they have an accident. That is why we have a safety net, to catch them—programs like disability insurance, workers’ compensation, and 

job retraining programs to get them back up on that ladder 

once again. 

Thirty-five years ago we looked around America and we 

saw millions of people who, no matter how hard they tried, 

could never climb that ladder of success. No matter how 

hard they tried, they could never do it. 

These were our fellow Americans, our brothers and sisters 

with disabilities. So what did government do? We built them 

a ramp and we called it the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Again, we didn’t build a moving walkway, did we? See, 

with a ramp, people still had to show energy and initiative 

to get up. I have often said there is not one dime, not one 

nickel in the Americans with Disabilities Act given to a person with a disability. 

What we did is we broke down the barriers. We opened the 

doors of accessibility and accommodation, and we said to people with disabilities: Now, go on, follow your dreams, and in 

the words of the Army motto, be all you can be. 

I can remember standing on the floor and leading the 

charge on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Once again, 

I felt a lot like that turtle, with a lot of people helping. When 

I think of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I think of people in the Senate such as Senator Lowell Weicker, Senator 

Bob Dole, and Senator Ted Kennedy; in the House, Tony 

Coelho, Steve Bartlett, and Steny Hoyer; and in the executive branch, at the head of it all, President George Herbert 

Walker Bush, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, and 

Boyden Gray. On the outside, there are people like Ed Roberts, Marca Bristo, Bob Kafka, and the indomitable Justin 

Dart. 

Here, the one person who worked his heart out to bring it 

together—it is that staff again I tell you about—is Bobby Silverstein. It would have never happened without him. 

[ xiii ] 

So I believe government must not be just an observant bystander to life. It must be a force for good, for lifting people 

up, for giving hope to the hopeless. 

I have never had an ‘‘I love me’’ wall in the office. What 

I did have were two items by my door when I walk out to 

vote or go to a committee meeting or whatever. One is a 

drawing of a house in which my mother was born and lived 

in until she was 25 years of age when she immigrated to 

America. That little house was in Suha, Yugoslavia, and is 

now Suha, Slovenia. That little house had a dirt floor and no 

running water. That was my mother’s house. 

The second item on my wall is my father’s WPA card. It 

says: Notice to Report for Work on Project, WPA Form 402, 

to Patrick F. Harkin, Cumming, IA. You are asked to report 

for work at once on a project as a laborer for $40.30 per 

month. There is a signature by a supervisor. It is dated 7/ 

19/1939, 4 months to the day before I was born. 

My father was then 53 years old. He had worked most of 

the time in a coal mine in southern Iowa, and was not in the 

best of health. There were no jobs. Life looked pretty bleak. 

Things looked hopeless. Then my father—who only had a 

sixth-grade education—as he told me later got a letter from 

Franklin Roosevelt. He always thought Franklin Roosevelt 

sent this to him personally. He always said, ‘‘I got that letter 

from Franklin Roosevelt, and I got a job.’’ 

That was important for a lot of reasons, not only for the 

money and the dignity of work. It gave my father hope— 

hope that tomorrow would be better than today and that our 

family would stay together. You see, there were five kids and 

a sixth one on the way—me. It gave him hope that his kids 

would have a better future. 

The project he worked on is called Lake Ahquabi. My 

friend Senator Grassley knows about Lake Ahquabi. It is 

right south of Des Moines. It is a State park now, with a 

lake and recreation, and people still use it today. 

Every Federal judge who is sworn in takes an oath to ‘‘do 

equal right to the poor and to the rich.’’ Let me repeat that: 

to ‘‘do equal right to the poor and to the rich.’’ Can we here 

in Congress say we do that, that we provide equal right to 

the poor and the rich alike? Our growing inequality proves 

we do not. Maybe we should be taking that oath. 

There are four overriding issues I hope this Senate will address in this coming session and in the years ahead: 

First, as I mentioned, the growing economic inequality in 

America. It is destructive of lives, it slows our progress as a 

[ xiv ] 

nation, and it will doom broad support for representative 

government. When people at the bottom of the economic ladder feel the government is not helping them and, in fact, 

may be stacked against them, they will cease to vote or they 

will turn to the siren song of extreme elements in our society. History proves this to be true. 

I don’t have a cookie-cutter answer or a solution, but it 

must include more fair tax laws and trade laws, more job 

training and retraining, rebuilding our physical infrastructure, and manufacturing. I believe it must include some 

things seemingly unrelated, such as quality, free, early education for every child in America. 

The answer to closing the inequality gap must include rebuilding labor unions and collective bargaining. If you traced 

the line over the last 40 years of the growing economic inequality in America and also put that over another line 

showing the loss in the number of union workers, they are 

almost identical. I do not believe it is a stretch to say that 

organized labor—unions—built the middle class in America, 

and they are a part of the answer in strengthening and rebuilding our middle class. 

I believe another part of the answer is raising the minimum wage to above the poverty line and indexing it for inflation in the future. 

We need more flextime laws, especially for women in our 

workforce. 

We need to strengthen Social Security—not by cutting, not 

by raising the retirement age, but by strengthening Social 

Security (as in Senator Brown’s bill). 

We need a new retirement system for all workers in America—not another 401(k) but a system in which employers 

and employees contribute and which can only be withdrawn 

as an annuity for life after one retires. I ask you to look at 

what the Netherlands has, that type of retirement system. 

Lack of a reliable retirement is one of the most underreported, unexamined crises on our national horizon, and it 

is a big part of our growing inequality. 

Finally, we must continue to build on the Affordable Care 

Act. The cost and availability of good health care has in the 

past widened that inequality gap, and we are now starting 

to close that element of the inequality. I believe we need to 

add a public option to the exchange as another choice for 

people. We must continue support for prevention and public 

health, moving us more and more from sick care to real 

health care. 

[ xv ] 

I believe that the second overriding issue confronting us is 

the destruction of the family of man’s only home—our planet 

Earth—through the continued use of fossil fuels. We know 

what is happening. The science is irrefutable, the data are 

clear, and the warning signs are flashing in neon bright red: 

Stop what you are doing with fossil fuels. We must shift 

massively and quickly to renewable energy, a new smart 

electric grid, retrofitting our buildings for energy efficiency, 

and moving rapidly to a hydrogen-based energy cycle. 

The third issue I commend to the Senate for further development and changes in existing laws is the underemployment of people with disabilities. As you all know, ensuring 

the equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities 

has been a major part of my work in the Senate for the past 

30 years. 

We have made significant strides forward in changing 

America to fulfill two of the four goals of the Americans with 

Disabilities Act; those two are full participation and equal 

opportunity. We have done all right on those. The other two 

goals—independent living and economic self-sufficiency— 

need more development. 

I ask you all in the next Congress to do two things to advance these two goals of independent living and economic 

self-sufficiency: First, help States implement the Supreme 

Court’s decision in the Olmstead case to more rapidly deinstitutionalize people with disabilities and provide true independent living with support services. This will save money, 

and the lives of people with disabilities will be better and 

more truly independent. Second, we must do more on employment of people with disabilities in competitive integrated 

employment. 

We all get the monthly unemployment figures every 

month. Last month unemployment held steady at 5.8 percent 

officially. My friend Leo Hindery has better calculations to 

show the real rate is probably about twice that figure. Also, 

we know the unemployment rate among African Americans 

is about twice that—11.1 percent. How many of us know, 

though, that the unemployment rate among adult Americans 

with disabilities who can work and want to work is over 60 

percent? Yes, you heard me right, almost two out of every 

three Americans with a disability who want to work and who 

can work cannot find a job. That is a blot on our national 

character. 

Thankfully, some enlightened employers have affirmative 

action plans to hire more people with disabilities. Employers 

[ xvi ] 

are finding many times that these become their best employees; they are more productive, and they are the hardest 

working, most reliable workers. 

I ask you to meet with Greg Wasson, the CEO of 

Walgreens, and Randy Lewis, who was the senior vice president there and is now retired. Walgreens has hired many 

people with disabilities in their distribution centers, and now 

Mr. Wasson has set a goal of 10 percent of all of their store 

employees will be people with disabilities. This needs to be 

emulated by businesses all over America. There are others 

making strides in this area. I will mention a few: Best Buy, 

Lowe’s, Home Depot, IBM, Marriott. These are some of the 

other large companies that are moving forward, hiring people with disabilities. We need to learn from them what we, 

the Federal and, yes, maybe the State government can do to 

help in this area. We also need to implement policies to help 

small businesses employ more people with disabilities. 

I dwell on this perhaps because I feel I haven’t done 

enough on this issue of employment for people with disabilities, and we have to do better. I will say, however, that our 

HELP Committee passed this year and President Obama 

signed into law a new reauthorization of the old Workforce 

Investment Act, now named the Workforce Investment and 

Opportunity Act. In this law there is a new provision I 

worked on with others to get more intervention in high 

school for kids with disabilities to prepare them for the 

workplace through things such as summer jobs, job coaching, 

and internships. However, this is just starting and funding 

is tight, but it will do much for young people with disabilities 

to enter competitive integrated employment. I thank all 

members of the HELP Committee for their support of this 

bill but especially Senator Murray and Senator Isakson for 

taking the lead to get this bill done, along with Senator Enzi, 

Senator Alexander, and me. 

While I am mentioning the HELP Committee, let me 

thank all members of the HELP Committee for a very productive last 2 years, during which we passed 24 bills signed 

into law by the President. These are important bills dealing 

with things such as the ability to track prescription medication from manufacturer to patient, safer compound drugs, 

the Workforce Investment Act that I just mentioned, the 

Child Care and Development Block Grant Newborn Screening Act, and many more. 

I would like to publicly again thank Senator Lamar Alexander for being such a great partner in all these efforts. SenVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ xvii ] 

ator Alexander will be taking the helm of this great committee in the next Congress. Senator Alexander certainly has 

the background to lead this committee, but he also combines 

that background with a keen mind and a good heart, and I 

wish him continued success as the new chairman of the 

HELP Committee. 

The fourth issue I hope future Senates will take care of 

concerns the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With 

Disabilities. I don’t think anything has saddened me more in 

my 30 years here in the Senate than the failure of this body 

to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, or the CRPD, as it is known. It has been ratified 

by 150 nations. It is modeled after our own Americans with 

Disabilities Act. It has broad and deep support throughout 

our country—supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 

the Business Roundtable, veterans groups, every disability 

organization, every former living President, every former Republican leader of this Senate: Senator Dole, Senator Lott, 

Senator Frist. In November we received a letter from the National Association of Evangelicals supporting it. 

I would also point out that Senator Dole has worked his 

heart out on this. If you remember, he was here on the floor 

2 years ago this month, right before we brought it up. I 

thought we had the votes for it. Under our Constitution it 

takes two-thirds, and we failed by six votes. But Bob Dole 

has never given up on this—never. 

Well, I hope the next Senate will take this up and join 

with the rest of the world in helping to make changes globally for people with disabilities. 

I came to Congress—the House—in 1974 as one of the Watergate babies. But with my retirement and the retirement 

in the House of Congressman George Miller and Congressman Henry Waxman, we are the last of the so-called Watergate babies, with two exceptions. Among all of the Democrats 

elected in that landslide year of 1974, there were a few Republicans, and one is left—my senior colleague from the 

State of Iowa, Senator Chuck Grassley. 

I have the greatest respect for and friendship with Chuck. 

Several weeks ago, here on the floor, he said some very gracious things about me, and I thank him for that. I especially 

appreciated his observation that even though he and I are 

like night and day when it comes to political views, there is 

no light between us when it comes to Iowa. We have collaborated on so many important initiatives for the people of 

Iowa, and I think we made a heck of a good tag team on beVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ xviii ] 

half of our State. So, again, I salute and thank my friend 

and colleague of nearly 40 years, Chuck Grassley. Carry on, 

Chuck. 

The other exception I mentioned is again my lifelong dear 

friend, Rick Nolan, who was in the 1974 class who voluntarily left Congress after three terms, returned to the House 

in 2012, and was recently reelected. 

So 40 years later, this Watergate baby has grown up, gray. 

I came to the Senate 30 years ago as a proud progressive, 

determined to get things done. As I depart the Senate, I can 

say in good conscience that I have remained true to my progressiveness. 

I have worked faithfully to leave behind a more vibrant 

Iowa, a more just and inclusive America, and a stronger ladder and ramp of opportunity for the disadvantaged in our 

communities. 

You might say that my career in Congress is the story of 

a poor kid from Cumming, IA—population 150—trying his 

best to pay it forward, saying thank you for the opportunities 

I was given by leaving that ladder and ramp of opportunity 

stronger for those who follow. 

If I have accomplished this in any small way—if any 

Americans are able to lead better lives because of my work, 

I leave office a satisfied person. 

So I am retiring from the Senate, but I am not retiring 

from the fight. I will never retire from the fight to ensure 

equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and 

economic self-sufficiency for every disabled person in America. I will never retire from the fight to give a hand up and 

hope to those who have experienced disadvantage and adversity. I will never retire from the fight to make this a land 

of social and economic justice for all Americans. 

Let me close with a single word from American Sign Language. 

On July 13, 1990, I stood here and gave an entire speech 

in sign language. It confused Senator Kerry who was sitting 

in the Chair. He didn’t know what to do. The recording 

clerks didn’t know what to do, either. But then I had to give 

it verbally. Well, I didn’t want to do that today. 

But there is one sign I want to leave with you. It says 

something powerful. One of the most beautiful signs in 

American Sign Language. Might I teach it to you? 

Take your hands and put them together like this, put your 

fingers together, put your hands together like that. You kind 

[ xix ] 

of close them, and it looks like an A when you do that. Now 

move it in a circle in front of your body. 

That is it, pages, you have got it. 

This is the sign for America. 

Think about it. All of us interconnected, bound together in 

a single circle of inclusion—no one left out. This is the ideal 

America toward which we must always aspire. 

With that, Mr. President, for the last time, I yield the 

floor. 

(Applause, Senators rising.) 

TRIBUTES 

TO 

TOM HARKIN 

[ 3 ] 

Proceedings in the Senate 

WEDNESDAY, November 19, 2014 

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate 

the 75th birthday of my friend and longtime colleague from 

our home State of Iowa, Senator TOM HARKIN. 

As the Presiding Officer knows, Senator HARKIN will be retiring from public office in a few weeks. At the end of the 

113th Congress, Senator HARKIN will then close a chapter on 

public service that spans more than a half century, including 

four decades in Congress. He served 27 years in the U.S. 

Navy and U.S. Naval Reserves, 10 years in the House of 

Representatives, and 30 years here in the U.S. Senate. 

Now, I think anybody looking at that would say that is a 

remarkable and distinguished record of public service. After 

40 years of representing Iowans in Congress, my friend TOM

soon will leave behind the Halls of the U.S. Capitol. He also 

will leave behind a legacy of fiery floor speeches, passionately delivered on behalf of individuals with disabilities, also 

for Iowa farmers, also for the elderly, also for child laborers, 

and for many causes that he championed such as early childhood education, nutrition and wellness, conservation, renewable energy and the environment, and probably lots of others. But those are things everybody knows that he has 

worked hard on. 

Throughout the years TOM and I have served side by side 

in Washington for the good of our home State. For three 

terms we worked together in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was here in the Senate our shared commitment to 

give rural America a voice at the policymaking table was 

sown, and for many years we worked together on the Senate 

Agriculture Committee, looking out for the millions of Americans who choose to work and earn a living in rural America. 

We worked together to advocate for rural infrastructure and 

investment, access to health care, housing, technology, and 

transportation. 

For the last three decades we have served alongside one 

another in this distinguished body, the U.S. Senate, an instiVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ 4 ] 

tution that both of us hold near and dear to our hearts. Although some of our silver-tongued critics over the years may 

have ascribed TOM’s views as those of a bleeding-heart liberal or mine mischaracterized as that of a coldhearted conservative, we both, TOM and I, know that our hearts have always been in the right place. 

Neither of us was born with a silver spoon in our mouths 

and we learned early on to appreciate the work ethic of our 

parents and grandparents. Each of us raised our families 

with the hopes that our children and grandchildren would 

achieve the promise of America’s prosperity and grow up to 

enjoy the pursuits of happiness. 

As Iowa’s U.S. Senators, we have worked to keep alive the 

dream of hard-working Iowan families. 

Now of course it is true that we have vastly different views 

on the government’s influence on America’s ladder of opportunity. However, we do wholeheartedly agree it is an honor 

and a privilege to serve the people of our State. For some 

reason our respective reelections every 6 years have actually 

confounded political observers. Many couldn’t seem to square 

the notion that Iowans would continue to elect two U.S. Senators from opposite sides of the political spectrum for the 

last three decades. 

So to explain—or perhaps I don’t have to because it is 

widely understood—Iowans are not casual political observers. Our electorate takes pride in retail politicking and it is 

first in the Nation’s political caucuses. We certainly have 

given Iowan voters a night-and-day choice between these two 

U.S. Senators. So while we may not see eye to eye on politics 

and ideology, we do see eye to eye when it comes to working 

for Iowa’s best interests. Although our voting records may reflect night-and-day positions on some public policy, you 

wouldn’t see the light of day between us when we worked together on matters that are of most importance to Iowans, including but not limited to natural disasters such as the tremendous floods of 1993 and 2008, Iowa farmers and agriculture, notably recovering from the farm crisis. Renewable 

energy and rural infrastructure have been our mutual interest. We have also enjoyed welcoming economic development 

leaders and constituents to the Nation’s Capital. 

Between the famous Siouxland steak dinner in Washington and the HARKIN steak fry in Indianola, there is no 

doubt TOM will miss staking out Iowans to discuss politics 

and policy. However, I have no doubt my home State colleague will continue to champion the causes for which he has 

[ 5 ] 

devoted a lifetime of service. In fact, I have read in news 

media about his retirement of what he intends to pursue, 

and so I have no doubt he is going to pursue out of the Senate what he has pursued in the Senate. 

To his credit, my colleague’s legacy reflects the priorities 

he set out to achieve decades ago, to make a difference for 

those on the downside of advantage. 

My wife Barbara and this Senator extend our warmest 

wishes to TOM and his wife Ruth, and of course to the entire 

Harkin family, as he starts life’s next chapter. I see my colleague on the floor, so I can look at him. 

As you start life’s next chapter, may you enjoy the blessings of hearth and home, health and happiness. Although 

TOM is retiring from public office, I am confident he is not 

retiring from serving the public interest. From one constituent to another, I thank you for your lifetime of public 

service and I wish you good luck and Godspeed. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa. 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, first let me thank my friend 

and colleague for his lifetime characteristic which is being 

very gracious and very generous in his remarks. 

Chuck Grassley and I have served together since 1974. I 

like to tell people that in 1974, there was a big wave of 

Democrats who came in. They called us the Watergate babies. We won a lot of elections. In fact in Iowa that year they 

elected a Democratic U.S. Senator and every House seat—I 

think there were six at that time—six House seats all went 

Democratic except one, and that was the seat that Chuck 

Grassley won that year, bucking the trend—the tide—in 

1974. 

So it is kind of a funny thing, Chuck—I speak to my friend 

across the aisle here—that a lot of times people, this year, 

have said, ‘‘All you Watergate babies are gone now, you and 

Max Baucus, and Chris Dodd, and on the House side George 

Miller and Henry Waxman. So this is the last of the Watergate babies.’’ 

I said, ‘‘No, there is one left.’’ 

‘‘Well, who is that,’’ they say. 

I say, ‘‘It is a Republican.’’ 

‘‘A Republican? Who is that?’’ 

I say, ‘‘My colleague from Iowa, Chuck Grassley, is the last 

man standing from that class of 1974.’’ 

[ 6 ] 

Again, it is a tribute to Senator Grassley that through all 

these years he has won the hearts and minds of the people 

of Iowa, been elected and reelected. Of course he came to the 

Senate before I did. He came in 1981 and I came in 1984. 

So I like to think we at least share in common bucking the 

trend a little bit—the tide—because in 1984 someone said, 

‘‘HARKIN ought to run for the Senate in 1984 because there 

will be a big Democratic landslide,’’ and so I ran. The tide 

was just the opposite. There was a Reagan landslide here. 

But I was fortunate enough to win the election. So I think 

the two of us share the bucking of the tide, so to speak, getting into office when we ran. But it has been a great association all these years. 

As I stand here today on my 75th birthday, I think I have 

two kinds of emotions. One, I wonder where the heck did all 

the years go and how did they go by so fast. Sometimes I 

say, gosh, I wish I could turn the clock back and do it all 

again. The other emotion is the Irish side of me. The Irish 

have a saying that any time you are on this side of the grass 

is a good day. So I am sure happy that I made it this far. 

I again want to say that since the time we took our oath 

of office on January 4, 1975, we have served together both 

in the House and in the Senate. A lot of the time we were 

on the same committee, the Agriculture Committee, working 

on a lot of different agriculture bills. I remember back in the 

1980s working on the credit bill at that time when so many 

farmers were underwater. As the Senator said, it has been 

a great honor and a privilege to represent the people of Iowa. 

We belong to different parties, we have different philosophies of government, but I like to think we share a commonsense Iowa way of looking at the world. We are not monolithic out in Iowa. We are not all one philosophy. Sometimes 

I find very conservative friends of mine and I may have a 

liberal view of one thing and I find liberals and I may have 

a more conservative view of something else. So the people of 

Iowa, as my friend has said, think a lot about these things, 

and they take these things into consideration. 

I say to my friend, I value his friendship and his counsel 

through all these years, even though, again, as my friend 

said, we approach things maybe from a different philosophical standpoint. That is fine. But we have never let a 

disagreement on philosophy ever be the last word between 

us or the final word. It is always, well, that is that. What 

is next? The one thing I really appreciate that my friend said 

is that when it comes to Iowa, you don’t find any daylight 

[ 7 ] 

when it comes to a disaster on what we can do for Iowa and 

Iowans. We have had a wonderful relationship through all 

these years and it is one that I have cherished very much. 

I heard my friend, in making some notes, say that sometimes they say he is a coldhearted conservative and I am a 

bleeding-heart liberal. I am going to set the record straight. 

He is not a coldhearted conservative, he is a caring conservative. He cares deeply about people. He cares deeply about 

the people of Iowa, too. I hope I am not a bleeding-heart liberal. I hope I am a liberal who believes in individual responsibility. 

My friend has been a very caring conservative through all 

these years. I think together we have achieved important 

things for our State: economic development, rural development, agriculture, energy, all these things we worked together on for Iowa. I am proud of the fact that in Iowa right 

now 25 percent of our energy comes from wind energy in 

Iowa. We produce the blades and turbines and everything in 

Iowa and all the jobs there. That is something we have 

worked together on through all these years. 

People have asked me why I am leaving the Senate. Well, 

it was my decision. At the time—almost 2 years ago—I said, 

I love the Senate. This is a wonderful institution. Yes, we hit 

a few bumps in the road once in a while, but that is to be 

expected in a legislative process that represents 300 million 

people in this country. But working together you form friendships and alliances. 

I have often said that as a progressive, I want to go this 

far this fast and the conservatives want to go this far this 

slow, but by working together, you can make progress. You 

can make progress, and that is what I think both Senator 

Grassley and I have worked on together. We try to make 

progress, especially for the people of Iowa. 

I thank the Senator for his kind words. I know we are not 

supposed to say this on the Senate floor; we are always supposed to speak in the third person. But I never wanted to follow all of the rules anyway. So I wish to speak directly and 

say: Thank you very much, Chuck Grassley, for your friendship, your counsel, and for working together through all 

these years. I will miss that relationship—working on the 

Senate floor. 

I will be in Iowa. I will be working with the Harkin Institute at Drake University. I will be spending a lot of time on 

the disability policies and advancing the cause of people with 

disabilities in some way, shape or form. 

[ 8 ] 

I ask that my friend come and speak—and perhaps lead a 

discussion at some time—at the institute at Drake University. I would be honored if my friend would do that sometime 

down the road. I know my friend will be well received, and 

I think the young people at Drake need to hear the conservative side of the story as well as the liberal side of the story. 

They need to have that kind of input. 

I know in the future my friend and his wonderful wife 

Barbara, a great and wonderful person, and Ruth and I will 

maintain friendships and our connections as we move into 

the future. If there is any way we can work together for the 

benefit of Iowans, just let me know, and I will be glad to be 

the Senator’s lieutenant in the field out there in Iowa sometime. 

I thank my friend so much for so many years of counsel 

and friendship and working together. Thank you, Chuck. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. GRASSLEY. I thank my colleague for his kind remarks and for being here and for serving the people of Iowa. 

TUESDAY, December 9, 2014 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘‘I 

want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always 

plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a 

flower would grow.’’ 

Today I stand for just a few minutes to honor a man by 

the name of TOM HARKIN. Throughout his time in the Senate 

he has planted many flowers—so many we can’t count them 

all. TOM HARKIN’s legacy of fighting for all Americans, particularly those who are disadvantaged, will never be forgotten. In fact, no one in the history of this institution has done 

more for people who have a physical disadvantage, an emotional disadvantage, a mental disadvantage, and disadvantages generally, than TOM HARKIN. 

TOM’s life wasn’t easy. His father was a miner. His mother, a Slovenian immigrant, died when TOM was 10 years old. 

He and his family pushed forward, living in a house without 

hot water or a furnace. 

Not one to use his difficult upbringing as an excuse, TOM

HARKIN pushed himself very hard. He attended Iowa State 

University. He came there on a Navy ROTC scholarship. 

[ 9 ] 

Upon graduation, he enlisted in the Navy and became an Active Duty pilot—a naval pilot. 

I have such admiration for naval pilots, for all pilots, really, but thinking of landing on an aircraft carrier out in the 

middle of the ocean, that postage stamp size you have to try 

to find and land out there is something Navy pilots do, and 

TOM HARKIN did this. 

In 1974 he was elected to represent Iowa’s Fifth Congressional District, a seat he held for 10 years. When he came 

to the Senate in 1984, TOM, similar to President Lincoln before him, encountered many thistles. 

He was especially motivated to help millions of Americans 

with disabilities, as I have already said. Here is what TOM

HARKIN said once: 

I heard stories from individuals who had to crawl on their hands and 

knees to go up a flight of stairs, who couldn’t ride a bus because there 

wasn’t a lift or couldn’t cross a street in a wheelchair because there were 

no curb cuts. Millions of Americans were denied access to their own communities and to the American dream. 

TOM did a lot to make sure people did have the ability to 

dream. What did he do? He encountered the injustice faced 

by millions of disabled Americans and responded by authoring the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

People don’t realize now what those disabled people had to 

go through. There was a big dispute here in the Senate and 

in the House as to whether Members of Congress should vote 

for this. It created a lot of issues for businesses. A former 

Member of the House of Representatives, James Bilbray of 

Nevada, was getting a lot of pressure not to vote for this, but 

he voted for this, and here is why he voted for it: 

Just like TOM HARKIN saw this long before many of us did, 

James Bilbray had a friend whose daughter was confined to 

a wheelchair. This man wanted to visit Congressman Bilbray 

and his family here in Washington, DC. What an ordeal it 

was. They couldn’t find a place with a hotel room. They had 

trouble getting airline reservations. It was extremely difficult. So Jimmy Bilbray said, ‘‘That is enough for me. I am 

voting for this.’’ 

This landmark legislation that was pushed by TOM HARKIN has helped to move areas of employment, public services, 

transportation, and telecommunications for people with disabilities. TOM HARKIN’s work to protect the disadvantaged 

hasn’t been just reactive, it has been preventative. 

TOM has lost four siblings to cancer. In response to that 

heartbreak, what has he done? Senator HARKIN fought to 

[ 10 ] 

double the funding for groundbreaking medical research at 

the National Institutes of Health. He had a partner in this 

for many years, Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania. They 

worked together as members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education. Some will remember that this was an unbelievable thing he did to force us to 

spend more money on medical research. But in hindsight, 

what a blessing this was for America and for Members of the 

Senate who voted for this. It was good for us, and it was 

good for the country. It was good for our constituents. With 

the extra money NIH got, they have engaged in a landmark 

effort to cure cancer, heart disease, and a myriad of other 

diseases. 

We have a long way to go. Funding hasn’t been adequate 

the last 6 years. The only boost we got in NIH funding was 

in the stimulus, the first few months of the Obama administration where we got additional money. That was done as a 

result of the work by TOM HARKIN and Arlen Specter, and 

that money now is not there. We need to do more for the National Institutes of Health. 

TOM HARKIN has been tireless. He worked to triple the 

funding for the Centers for Disease Control. In fact, in 

Obamacare he is the one who was responsible for the prevention title in that bill. 

He has spent his career coming to the defense of the defenseless. A longtime defender of human rights, TOM has 

worked to fight child labor, both domestically and abroad. 

His tireless efforts gave him the U.S. Labor Department’s 

Award for the Elimination of Child Labor. 

I have spent much of my Senate life on the Senate floor. 

I can remember when I would look and see one of his staff 

come to the floor, and I thought: Oh, no. I knew we were in 

for some trouble. His name was Richard Bender. I really 

have such admiration for Senator HARKIN’s staff, but it was 

epitomized when Richard Bender walked in this door because I knew HARKIN was going to do something we had not 

planned. Sometimes it took a lot longer to get things done 

because of Bender and HARKIN, but in the end it was always 

better for our country. 

So after a lifetime of service, TOM will finally be able to 

spend his post-Senate time in another direction, still involved in a form of public service. I have such great admiration for Ruth, whom I know extremely well. I don’t know 

Amy and Jenny, his daughters, but I do know they are going 

[ 11 ] 

to be able to spend a little more time with their dad and her 

husband. 

On a side note, TOM HARKIN is one of the few Senators 

who has been to my home in Searchlight. I was there one 

day, and I got a call. He said, ‘‘Are you going to be home?’’ 

‘‘Yes.’’ 

‘‘Do you mind if we drop by?’’ 

‘‘No, I don’t mind if you drop by.’’ 

So within an hour he was at my home in Searchlight. 

So as TOM HARKIN closes a chapter of service to the American people, I salute him on a job very well done. He has become the longest serving Democratic Senator in Iowa’s history, and he will be greatly missed. 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes to salute my colleagues who are departing the Senate 

at the end of this year with the conclusion of the 113th Congress: Mark Begich of Alaska, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, 

Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, 

TOM HARKIN of Iowa, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Carl 

Levin of Michigan, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jay Rockefeller 

of West Virginia, Mark Udall of Colorado, and John Walsh 

of Montana. 

They have all worked hard, ceaselessly giving their energy 

and considerable time and service to their constituents, to 

their home States and to our country. I want to thank them 

for their service and for their kindness to me over many 

years in so many cases. In particular, I want to say a few 

words about these colleagues. . . . 

TOM HARKIN has been a great friend, a longtime advocate 

for students, for workers, for individuals with disabilities. As 

chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

Committee, he has worked to end the logjam and pass reauthorizations of our childcare programs and the workforce investment system, and he recently worked with me to pass a 

bipartisan bill I helped author to ensure consumers have access to the safest, most effective sunscreens available. 

He has been a steadfast advocate for increasing our investment in medical research at the NIH. An extraordinary Senator, we have so much to thank him for on behalf of every 

American. His legacy is going to be so profound. It is hard 

to pick one. But his efforts, along with Arlen Specter’s, to 

double NIH funding was a landmark in terms of not only 

successful investment in programs that matter to Americans 

[ 12 ] 

and the world but bipartisan efforts to lead the country forward. . . . 

Along with all of my other colleagues who are leaving us 

at the conclusion of the 113th Congress, let me thank them 

for their service, their dedication to improving the lives of 

Americans, and on a very personal level for their friendship. 

I wish them all well. 

WEDNESDAY, December 10, 2014 

Mr. DURBIN. I have some tributes here for my colleagues 

who are retiring, leaving the Senate. It is a lengthy list of 

tributes. 

To Senator TOM HARKIN, neighboring State of Iowa, whom 

I worked with over many years on so many important topics, 

I want to salute him for his service. The highlights of his 

service include the Americans with Disabilities Act and, of 

course, the Affordable Care Act. His work on education and 

medical research is legendary. There was a time when TOM

HARKIN and Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania at 

that time, set out to double the medical research budget at 

the National Institutes of Health and they did it. Lives have 

been saved, people have been spared suffering because they 

had the political determination and courage to achieve it. I 

am going to miss TOM HARKIN. 

I have served in Congress for a number of years and I 

have heard an awful lot of speeches. One of the most powerful speeches I ever witnessed in this Senate was delivered by 

TOM HARKIN in 1990. He gave his speech without uttering 

a single word. He delivered it entirely in American Sign Language—a language he knows from years of communicating 

with his brother Frank, who was deaf. In that historic 

speech in sign language—a first for this body—TOM HARKIN

was urging the U.S. Senate to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The ADA is one of the great civil rights laws of the 20th 

century. It is often called the ‘‘Emancipation Proclamation 

for Americans with disabilities.’’ It is a landmark achievement in America’s ongoing efforts to create a more perfect 

union. No one worked harder for its passage than the senior 

Senator from Iowa, TOM HARKIN. He is often and rightly referred to as ‘‘the father of the ADA.’’ 

That speech in 1990 was unique in its use of sign language. In another way, however, it was like nearly every 

[ 13 ] 

speech TOM HARKIN has given because he was speaking for 

people whose voices too often are not heard in Congress. 

In his 40 years in Congress, TOM HARKIN has been a passionate, often fiery and relentless voice for good people who 

have often been dealt a bad hand by life. He has been a 

champion for men like his father, a coal miner with black 

lung disease, and others who desperately need health care. 

He has been a champion for people with disabilities—in 

America and around the world. He has been a champion of 

children in foreign lands who are trapped in the worst forms 

of forced labor. 

TOM HARKIN has been a champion of working men and 

women in this country—and of their constitutionally protected right to organize and bargain for decent pay and safe 

working conditions. 

TOM HARKIN has been a leader in safeguarding Medicare 

and Social Security, and moving people from welfare to work. 

The senior Senator from Iowa and I were both very lucky. 

We are first-generation Americans. Senator HARKIN’s mother 

came to this country from Slovenia; my mother came from 

Lithuania. 

He knows from his own family’s experience the love and 

gratitude that so many immigrants feel for the freedoms and 

opportunities America has given them and their children. So 

he has fought for immigration laws that protect America’s 

security at the same time they honor our heritage as a nation of immigrants. 

I want him to know that we will continue our efforts to 

pass such laws until we succeed—just as we will continue to 

push for adoption by this Senate of the Convention on the 

Rights of Persons with Disabilities until we pass that important treaty. 

As are so many others, TOM HARKIN was inspired to public 

service by the example of President John Kennedy. After 

working his way through college, Senator HARKIN spent 5 

years as a Navy pilot in the 1960s. He had applied to become 

a pilot for a commercial airline when he received a more 

compelling offer. In 1969, an Iowa Congressman invited TOM

HARKIN to join his Washington, DC, staff. He said yes. He 

also used his GI bill benefits to earn a law degree from 

Catholic University. 

TOM went back home to Iowa—and then he returned to 

Washington in 1974, not as a staffer, but as a Member of the 

House of Representatives. A decade later, Iowa voters elected 

him to the U.S. Senate. In 1990 he became the first DemoVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ 14 ] 

crat ever to be reelected to the U.S. Senate by Iowa voters. 

They must have thought that was a good idea because they 

reelected him three more times after that. 

Today, 40 years after his first election, TOM HARKIN is 

grayer and wiser. But he has never forgotten where he came 

from. He is a proud Midwestern progressive who has never 

forgotten the hope and dignity that smart, compassionate 

government gave his family when they needed it. He has 

never tired of working to make sure that other families have 

the same chances his family had. 

I wish TOM and Ruth, their daughters, and grandchildren 

all the best. 

TOM HARKIN leaves a legacy of achievement and compassion. I will miss his presence in this Senate but he and Ruth 

will always be a part of our Senate family. 

Mr. COONS. . . . As I close, I would also like to thank those 

of our colleagues who will be leaving the Senate after the 

New Year. 

It is an incredible privilege to work in this Chamber and 

to represent the people. Every day I am awed by the dedication and talent of many of my colleagues, public servants 

who come to work to fight for their States and their government. 

To those who are ending their service in the Senate, know 

that I value your friendship and partnership. It has been an 

honor to work with you, and I thank you for all you have 

done for our Nation. 

Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I add my congratulations to 

Senator Chambliss. It is strange, coming here in the last 2 

years and getting to serve only 2 years with giants in the 

Senate like Saxby, like TOM HARKIN, and like Senator Rockefeller, whose legacies will live on. . . . 

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, it is hard to believe how quickly 

this session of Congress has come to an end. Before that 

final gavel brings it to a close, however, it is good to have 

this time to express our appreciation for the service of those 

Members who will be retiring at the end of the year. They 

all have a lot to be proud of—from their first speech here on 

the floor to their representation of their State over the years. 

Those words cannot help but bring to mind TOM HARKIN. 

I have had a chance to come to know him and work with him 

as the chairman of the Health Committee. I have been very 

impressed with his dedication to his work and his determinaVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ 15 ] 

tion to make a difference for the people who voted to hire 

him on for the job—and all Americans in all of the States. 

I think one of the reasons why we were able to work together has to do with his Wyoming background. TOM spent 

some of the best years of his life in Rock Springs and I cannot help but think that his time there made a big difference 

in his life. 

TOM has quite a remarkable record of service to the people 

of Iowa and it is clear they feel the same about him. They 

have sent him back to the Senate to serve as their representative for five terms in the House and five terms in the Senate. During his service in the Senate I appreciated having 

the opportunity to work with him as the ranking member of 

the committee. In addition, the leadership he has provided 

the committee as chairman has enabled him to take an active role on issues that will have an impact on his home 

State and the rest of the country for many years to come. 

If I were to name just a few of the issues on which TOM

has made a difference I would begin with his work on behalf 

of those living with disabilities that resulted in the passage 

of the Americans with Disabilities Act. TOM’s groundbreaking legislation was written to help ensure all Americans would have an opportunity to lead more fulfilling and 

productive lives. In the days to come, his work on this issue 

will continue to provide the support that will help those living with disabilities to work toward their goals in life—and 

achieve them. 

I also wanted to point out his work with our education system. TOM understands the importance of a good education 

and the difference it makes in young lives—today and tomorrow. Thanks to his hard work and determination students of 

all ages have a new appreciation for the fact that an education consists of more than just a few years in a classroom—it is a lifelong adventure, a journey that never ends 

because there is always something new to learn, some new 

skill that will make someone a more valuable member of the 

workforce. 

I am sure he has heard it before but it is pretty clear that 

TOM HARKIN is Iowa, through and through. He has devoted 

so many years of his life to the people of his State and they 

are greatly appreciative of his efforts—and the results he has 

been able to achieve. 

Now, as TOM has made clear, it is time for someone else 

to step up to the plate and continue the work he has begun 

on so many issues. There is no question that you will be a 

[ 16 ] 

difficult act to follow. For all those years TOM’s heart and 

soul has been in Iowa while his mind and his focus has been 

in the Nation’s Capital, working to make Iowa a better place 

to live. 

Now TOM’s remarkable career in the House and the Senate 

has come to a close and this chapter of his great adventure 

of serving the people of Iowa here in Congress has concluded. 

While we did not always agree on the best way to get things 

done we always agreed that we needed to focus on what we 

could do to have the greatest impact on the lives of Americans all across the country. Fortunately, I think we succeeded in many ways and TOM will be remembered for those 

positive results—and so many more. 

One last TOM HARKIN memory has to do with his popcorn 

tradition. I know I am not the only one who hopes it will 

continue. I do not think a single visitor to your office or that 

section of the building will ever forget the wonderful aroma 

your Iowa popcorn sent all around the area. For visitors from 

back home it must have been a touch that made them feel 

right at home. It was just more proof that you never lost 

sight of the people back home and they loved you for that. 

Thank you, TOM HARKIN, for all you have brought to the 

House and the Senate over the years. You have made it clear 

what the people of Iowa expect from their government and 

what you were working so hard to achieve for them. Thank 

you for your service, thank you for your dedication to making 

our Nation a better place to live and most of all, thank you 

for your friendship. You have not only been a witness to the 

history of your State and our country, you have helped to 

write each chapter over the years. In the days to come your 

achievements will continue to inspire the next generation of 

our leaders who will want to do what you have done. I am 

sure they can count on you for your insights, suggestions, 

and advice. Diana joins in sending our best wishes to you. 

ORDER FOR PRINTING OF SENATE DOCUMENT 

Mr. BENNET. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes 

to retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and 

that Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December 23, 2014. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

[ 17 ] 

FRIDAY, December 12, 2014 

Mr. LEVIN. I know that Senator HARKIN is waiting to 

speak. Senator HARKIN is truly one of the greatest Senators 

I have ever served with and Senator HARKIN is one of the 

greatest people I have ever known. He, Ruth, Barb, and I 

have spent quality time, which is not always true for many 

of us in the Senate to have that opportunity. . . . 

I am going to join my family now. I know TOM will forgive 

me for not listening, but I will be reading what you say. You, 

Ruth, Barb, and I will have some more quality time together—perhaps not as much fun as being in the Senate, but 

we will make the best of it. 

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, my colleagues are waiting 

to speak to honor Senator HARKIN. I am not going to take 

the amount of time I did on his birthday. I want to tell my 

colleagues that what I said on his birthday, on November 19, 

I probably should have waited and said today. 

I want to speak about our working relationship, and I 

want Senator HARKIN to know that I have enjoyed my working relationship with him, together working for Iowa. I compliment him on the many accomplishments he has made. I 

consider him a friend. As he goes back to Iowa, we will maintain that friendship, I am sure. 

I would ask my colleagues if they would think about looking at what I said before on his birthday, because I am not 

going to repeat that here. But I think we ought to recognize 

that Senator HARKIN worked hard up to his last day in the 

U.S. Senate, because one of his works over the last 25 years 

was on inhumane labor issues around the world, and he 

traveled to Oslo very recently to honor a person who received 

the Nobel Peace Prize for that crusade, as well as all the 

good work that Senator HARKIN has done on it. Probably 

that person received the award because of Senator HARKIN

so long suggesting that the individual deserved that attention. 

I am going to be very brief today, since my prior remarks 

outlined our friendship and his record in some detail. It is 

in the Congressional Record for posterity. 

Senator HARKIN and I have been a duo from our home 

State of Iowa for a long period of time. His voice is familiar. 

So is his point of view, so is his work ethic for the people of 

Iowa. 

He has been a champion for individuals with disability, for 

the elderly, for early childhood education, nutrition, and 

[ 18 ] 

wellness; for conservation, renewable energy, and the environment. We could go on and on about his passion for these 

causes, and many others. 

Senator HARKIN’s legislative accomplishments are numerous. He leaves a lasting body of work that improves the quality of life for people who don’t always have a high profile in 

the Halls of Congress. 

One of Senator HARKIN’s greatest legacies is his ability to 

translate his drive and passion into legislative accomplishments. As the saying goes: He doesn’t just talk the talk, he 

walks the walk. 

Senator TOM HARKIN lives and breathes the causes important to him, and the United States and Americans have a 

better quality of life because of it. 

It will be a new era when the Senate doesn’t see him rising to speak in his characteristic fiery delivery. It may not 

have been so fiery today, but he did speak with emotion 

about the things he believes in. 

I am grateful for his friendship and his long service to the 

people of Iowa and the Nation. While I will miss him around 

the Capitol, I am confident I will see him at home in Iowa. 

Senator HARKIN is not one to turn off his enthusiasm for important issues, and I feel sure—and he has already told us 

today—he will continue his contribution to public service 

wherever and whenever the spirit moves him. We know by 

his statement today it is already moving him. He has plans 

for the future to continue these crusades. 

With that in mind, I will say so long rather than goodbye. 

Thank you. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan. 

Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I start by saying that as 

Senator HARKIN was so eloquently speaking today, it reminded me of a story of those going by the casket of President Roosevelt. 

A reporter stopped someone and said, ‘‘Did you know 

President Roosevelt?’’ 

And he said, ‘‘No, but he knew me.’’ 

There are people across this country—people with disabilities, workers, folks trying hard to get up that ladder—who 

want to know there are rungs on it, or want to be able to 

stay in the middle class, who may not be able to say they 

know Senator TOM HARKIN personally, but he knows them. 

[ 19 ] 

We are so grateful, and I am personally grateful, for your 

friendship and your leadership and mentorship. 

I want to speak for a moment as chair of the Agriculture, 

Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, where I had to follow the 

tough act of Senator TOM HARKIN writing the previous two 

farm bills. 

He has shaped agriculture and food and nutrition policy in 

the House and Senate for 40 years, having a tremendous impact, more than we can even imagine, in terms of not only 

advocating for Iowa farmers—and I knew every day what 

Iowa needed; that is for sure—and having both Senator HARKIN and Senator Grassley on the committee gave the one-two 

punch for Iowa. But I have to remind all of my colleagues 

that Senator HARKIN really is the father of modern conservation, of protecting our water and our soil and our air, our 

wildlife habitat, our forests. 

Senator HARKIN is the father of modern conservation. He 

wrote the conservation stewardship program that he created 

in 2002 and expanded on in 2008, and we protected it in the 

last farm bill. 

Mr. HARKIN. Thank you. 

Ms. STABENOW. And he gave new strength to the farm 

safety net for all of our growers. He has been at the forefront 

of an energy future that he talked about today, driven by renewable energy and moving forward to get us to cleaner 

sources of energy. That creates jobs, as I know has happened 

in Iowa because of his leadership. So we thank you. 

There are so many things—the fresh fruit and vegetable 

program in schools where children in low-income schools 

have an opportunity to eat an apple rather than something 

out of the vending machine that isn’t good for them, the opportunities for children to have healthier choices. Senator 

HARKIN has led over and over again. I can go over every part 

of our agriculture and food policy improvements that have 

been made that have been led by Senator TOM HARKIN, and 

we are so grateful. 

Senator TOM HARKIN has been a personal mentor for me. 

In the toughest times of getting this last farm bill done, Senator HARKIN gave me words of advice and wisdom—and 

many times encouragement—and for that I am very grateful, 

and have learned so much. 

I want to thank Senator HARKIN for being a hero for generations of people with disabilities, including people in my 

own family, who have had doors opened because of what he 

[ 20 ] 

has done. The Americans with Disabilities Act revolutionized 

the possibilities and the opportunities for people. It is about 

opportunity; it is not about giving people something for free, 

but opening doors which they still have to walk through. 

Senator HARKIN has done that in a way that will be with us 

forever, when we look at building structures and opportunities in workplaces for people who want to work but just need 

a little different kind of opportunity and now have that 

available. 

It was clear when Senator HARKIN spoke about his family 

how it shaped his sensibilities and passions. I remember his 

speaking about growing up in a two-bedroom house in 

Cumming, IA, that he shared with his parents and five siblings. That is pretty challenging. Growing up with his brother Frank who was born deaf gave him an understanding of 

the obstacles to those with disabilities and a commitment 

came from his heart and soul about making life better—and 

he has. You have. 

I recall also when he talked about his father losing his 40- 

acre farm, and the New Deal giving him a chance to support 

you and to support your family despite the fact that he had 

a sixth grade education. He had the opportunity to move 

ahead and work hard because somebody out there, who 

didn’t know his name, gave him an opportunity to do so, 

which is what is our job to do. 

I know Senator HARKIN’s crusades to protect workers on 

the job was influenced by witnessing his father struggle with 

black lung disease, looking at him as a coal miner and what 

he went through. 

I believe Senator HARKIN is the definition of a self-made 

man. He grew up taking advantage of opportunities as well 

as enduring the challenges and the circumstances of his life, 

transforming and using that experience to create better opportunities for everyone across the country. 

He is a patriot, having served in the Navy. He gained his 

education through the GI bill and understands that is an important part of creating opportunity and giving back to people who serve for us and lay their lives on the line for us. 

I know you are totally committed in your heart and soul 

to education starting at birth right on through for the rest 

of our lives. 

So I want to thank you, finally, for your leadership on the 

HELP Committee, your hard work and your passion in 

health care, your support working with me on mental health 

care, your efforts on education, your efforts in pensions— 

[ 21 ] 

which, by the way, are promises we need to keep. All of the 

things you have done through the HELP Committee are 

things that will last for a long time to come. 

I know in Iowa, thanks to you, there are eight times more 

community health centers than there were 25 years ago— 

wow—so somebody can see a doctor and they can take their 

children to a doctor, which will live on in their lives. 

I want to thank you for being someone who knows how to 

make laws, somebody who wants to solve problems, who in 

his heart and soul is passionately, lovingly concerned about 

our country. I know that you and Ruth and your daughters 

and your grandchildren will have many more opportunities 

to enjoy each other’s lives but know there are people in this 

country who are enjoying opportunities because of you, and 

we salute you. 

Thank you, Mr. President. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee. 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Senator HARKIN’s legacy is he stands 

as a champion of Americans with disabilities. It will be a 

long time before there is a greater champion of Americans 

with disabilities in this body and I salute him for that. 

I salute him also for his leadership and style of leadership. 

I had the privilege of the last 2 years being ranking member 

of the HELP Committee. Senator Kennedy used to say that 

we have 30 percent of the jurisdiction of the Senate, and it 

seems like it sometimes. If you know our committee, down 

one row is the murderers’ row of liberals or progressives who 

are of the Democratic persuasion; and down the other side 

is a pretty good row of conservatives of the Republican persuasion—12 on this side, 10 on this side. So we have plenty 

of differences of opinions and we don’t hesitate to express 

them. Yet during these 2 years, Senator HARKIN and his 

leadership style have found a way for there to be 24 pieces 

of legislation, signed by the President of the United States, 

many of them very significant, some of which took several 

years to do, whether it was the compounding pharmacy, 

which was so important in our State, the tragedy of meningitis from unsterile products; whether it was the track-andtrace legislation or the changes in workforce development 

that gave more discretion to Governors and the citizens in 

their communities. His style of leadership permitted that to 

happen and I am grateful to him for that. I would suggest 

to the Senate as we look forward to a time when the Senate 

might be more functional and more productive that one way 

[ 22 ] 

to earn the respect of the people of this country for this body, 

which is supposed to be the one authentic piece of genius of 

the American political system, is to look at the way the 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has operated over the last 3 years under the leadership of Senator 

HARKIN. I salute him for his service and I thank him for 

that. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. 

Mr. FRANKEN. I rise to talk about Senator HARKIN. As 

the soon-to-be chairman of the HELP Committee, Senator 

Alexander is right about the HELP Committee, it is an important committee. Sometimes I say it is not that important 

unless you care about your health, your kids’ health, your 

parents’ health, your kids’ education or your education, if 

you want to work sometime in your life, and you plan to retire. Other than that, it is not very important. 

But I want to talk a little bit about TOM HARKIN, not as 

a Senator but as a staffer. We have seen today when the 

Senators give their final speeches, they talk about their staff. 

TOM came in 1969 as a staffer for Neal Smith from Iowa. 

The staffers, as much as we treasure our staffers, they love 

this work for their Member and they love working in this institution, and they love working in Congress—at that point 

he was in the House. So at this point he is, I believe, 29 or 

30 years old. This was during the Vietnam war, and there 

was something called Vietnamization. President Nixon asked 

a congressional delegation to go to Vietnam to look at how 

Vietnamization was working and what was going on. While 

TOM HARKIN was there as a staffer, a couple of Congressmen 

were told about some conditions on an island called Con Son 

where there were prisoners that the South Vietnamese Government was abusing very badly. The Congressmen requisitioned a plane to go to Con Son, about 100 miles off the 

coast of the mainland of Vietnam, and I believe the supervisor of the group who was there to talk about the Vietnam 

prison system said this was sort of like a Boy Scout recreational camp—that is exactly what he said. 

So when they landed there, TOM took a couple staffers and 

Members, got a map from someone who had told him about 

this secret prison, and found it, where there were people 

being horribly abused. TOM took pictures. TOM was told to 

turn over the film. TOM didn’t turn over the film. TOM was 

then told that his employment in the Congress depended on 

him turning over that film—a 30-year-old staffer at the beVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ 23 ] 

ginning of what most staffers hope is a career. That film 

showed up in Life magazine and had a profound effect, and 

TOM’s career was over. 

That takes a lot of guts. That takes courage. That takes 

the courage of your convictions, and that is what I have seen 

in TOM HARKIN. I learned about this when Franni and I 

went with Ruth and TOM on a codel to Vietnam. I just spoke 

about Carl Levin and talked about a codel with him, and I 

talked about this codel with TOM. I have got to go on more 

codels, I just figured out. 

This is what I observed, because this was the chairman of 

the HELP Committee, and I got to watch that courage and 

that courage of his convictions, as well as what Lamar talked 

about, working well across party lines. 

I hold the seat that Paul Wellstone formerly held. I would 

say that TOM was Paul’s best friend. TOM every once in a 

while talks about his brother and the experiences behind 

TOM’s signature achievement, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Paul Wellstone led on mental health and mental 

health parity, and that was because of his brother. That is 

the legacy I want to carry on. I have not had Paul here to 

be a role model, but I have had TOM HARKIN, and it has been 

a privilege. 

I thank the Senator. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, we are going to continue with the Minnesota theme, and I think Senator HARKIN knows that our two States, Minnesota and Iowa, share 

more than just a border. We share a lot of people with relatives on either side of the border. I cannot tell you how 

many of my friends have their roots in Iowa and how many 

people in Iowa have their kids in Minnesota. 

We also share citizens who have a strong sense of involvement. We have some of the highest voter turnouts in the 

country. We both have notorious caucus systems where people like to turn out and make their views known, and our 

States have produced politicians such as TOM HARKIN and 

Hubert Humphrey, who came up through that tradition and 

understand that you are there to represent the people of 

your State because when you go home, they actually come up 

to you in grocery stores, on the street, call you by your first 

name, and understand that you are there to represent them. 

We also share farming and we share this enormous belief 

in science. We actually share Norman Borlaug. There is a 

[ 24 ] 

new statue—the Presiding Officer must go see it—of Norman 

Borlaug in Statutory Hall. He was born in Iowa and studied 

in Iowa, but also studied at the University of Minnesota. He 

created the Green Revolution, which has helped so many impoverished people in countries all over the world by reducing 

hunger. 

TOM HARKIN has followed in that tradition. He believes in 

science, believes in investing in agriculture research, and believes in investing in NIH. 

The other thing about TOM and me that I knew no other 

Senator would address is our Slovenian heritage. When TOM

leaves—and I see Senator Brown is here—and with the 

former Senator from Ohio, Senator Voinovich, no longer 

here, I will remain, I think, as the only Slovenian Senator 

here. I am hoping someone will come forward and tell me 

they have Slovenian blood. For a while 3 percent of the U.S. 

Senate had roots in Slovenia, which is very interesting given 

how infinitesimal the population of the country is compared 

to the rest of the world. 

TOM loves his Slovenian roots. Like TOM, my ancestors 

came from Slovenia to America to work in the mines. It is 

a big part of our lives and what we believe in. 

One time TOM came to my Minnesota Morning Breakfast 

and saw that every Thursday I serve potica to my constituents, and that is unique to Slovenians. It is a rolled dough 

with either apples or walnuts in it. My grandma used to 

make it. She would literally borrow card tables and roll the 

dough throughout her entire kitchen. 

I found a number of places on the Iron Range of northern 

Minnesota, where my dad grew up, that make this potica, 

and we bring it in. 

TOM came and tried it and decided that for Christmas he 

would send a potica to every Member of the Senate for 

Christmas. He called my office and said they don’t make it 

in Iowa. I said, ‘‘Let me give you the name of a baker on the 

Iron Range.’’ He personally called this woman and said, 

‘‘This is TOM HARKIN. I am the Senator from Iowa. I am calling to order 100 poticas from you, 1 for every Member of the 

Senate for Christmas.’’ In very gruff Slovenian fashion, she 

said, ‘‘I am sorry, it is Christmas, and we are booked. We do 

not have the poticas to send to Washington, DC.’’ Then he 

said, ‘‘I don’t know if you know who I am. I chair the Agriculture and Forestry Committee—big forestry area—of the 

Senate.’’ And she said, ‘‘I know exactly who you are, but we 

do not have the poticas to send to Washington.’’ 

[ 25 ] 

So at that moment, he called me. I gave him the names 

of a number of other bakers, he found one, and every Senator got a potica for Christmas. 

The last thing I will say about TOM that we share in common—we both represent States that believe in helping people who are the most vulnerable. He did that with his support for small farmers with the farm bill, and he did that in 

his support for the disability community. 

I was at the House this week talking about the ABLE Act 

with some of the Members, and to a tee, every Republican 

brought up—because TOM could not be there—TOM’s work on 

the ABLE Act. They knew we would not have the bill that 

Senator Casey worked on without TOM HARKIN, and, as you 

know, this is just the next step for the disability community. 

It will allow parents and grandparents and friends and 

neighbors to set up funds so that if they are not there when 

this young person grows up, there will be money set aside 

for them. 

TOM HARKIN was Paul Wellstone’s best friend in the Senate. Paul would say, ‘‘Politics is about improving people’s 

lives.’’ That is what TOM has done every day in the Senate. 

Thank you, TOM. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut. 

Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, in January of last year, I 

walked onto the Senate floor for the second time in my life. 

The first time that I got to be on the Senate floor was in 

1995 when I was an intern for my Senator, Chris Dodd. Back 

then it was a little bit easier for interns to come here, and 

he brought me down to the Senate floor one afternoon. 

I knew what I wanted to do. I had a small handful of people I wanted to meet. I don’t know if I ever told this to TOM, 

but I wanted to meet TOM HARKIN, and I got to do that. 

Twenty years ago he was a giant in the Senate. The one 

point I wish to make is this—I had the chance to serve with 

TOM on the HELP Committee and I have seen his legislative 

ability and the respect he commands here, but I have only 

known him for 2 years. 

Anyway, the point I want to make is that the effect he has 

had on the legislative process stands as an achievement in 

and of itself. I would argue that I am one of tens of thousands of public servants who decided to go into this line of 

work, decided to care about the kind of things I care about 

because I watched TOM HARKIN on television growing up. 

[ 26 ] 

I came from a family that was nonpolitical. My parents 

were both registered Republicans. There is no genetic reason 

why I do this other than seeing people like TOM fight on behalf of the disabled and the disenfranchised and the dispossessed. He gave me the idea that there was some worth to 

being in this line of work. If you grew up after Vietnam, you 

were taught this was crooked or not worth being a part of, 

and then there was a handful of people like TOM HARKIN

who told you it was worth being a part of. 

The legacy that Senator HARKIN will have—whether it is 

the farm bill, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the 

Workforce and Investment Act, that is all you need to leave 

this place fulfilled. But to think there are tens of thousands 

of people who, like me, are doing this kind of work and trying to keep up the legacy you are going to leave is something 

to be proud of as well. I feel lucky to be a Member of this 

body in part because I got to meet TOM HARKIN 20 years ago, 

I was able to follow his lead, and I was able to be inspired 

by him. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio. 

Mr. BROWN. TOM HARKIN is my hero. TOM HARKIN has 

never shied away from a fight when it comes to workers 

rights not only for Iowa but for workers all across the country and workers around the world. 

He has come to many of us repeatedly and said, ‘‘Don’t forget what our obligation is to the community of men and 

women around the world who labor with their hands, who 

fight challenges every day, who are abused in the workplace, 

who are abused as children in the workplace.’’ TOM HARKIN

has been the single strongest voice for as long as I can remember for those workers. 

TOM comes from a right-to-work State. It is not always 

easy to stand up for labor unions and organized labor. We 

have a press and media in this country which is consistently 

antilabor. 

We have a political class in this country at every opportunity that tries to undermine organized labor and undermine the rights of human beings to organize and bargain collectively, and TOM recognized that is one of most important 

rights that human beings have. 

TOM HARKIN, being from a right-to-work State, knows he 

will face a difficult election darn near every 6 years. One of 

the little-noted historical facts about TOM HARKIN—and I 

[ 27 ] 

have not heard anyone else mention—is that Senator HARKIN has defeated more incumbent Members of Congress than 

any elected official in U.S. history, and that is not because 

of the luck of the draw or some lottery in Des Moines or 

Iowa City or Davenport. It is because TOM HARKIN doesn’t 

shy away from his strong beliefs in the rights of humanity— 

organizing and collective bargaining rights. When you are 

willing to stand up day after day—not just in quiet groups 

in the Democratic caucus—on this floor and you are willing 

to stand up in Dubuque and the more conservative parts of 

southwest Iowa and argue for labor rights, you are saying to 

the other side: Bring them on. Bring on big money, bring on 

antilabor forces. He expected to have tough elections, and 

that is why TOM HARKIN is my hero and always will be. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon. 

Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I too rise to share a few 

comments about my friend TOM HARKIN who has contributed 

so much to this fight and to put rungs on the ladder so ordinary people across America have a fair shot to thrive. 

When I first came out here as an intern in 1976, you were 

already over on the House side—no, not yet. It was about 

1974, and I was working away, so I didn’t get to meet you 

then. But there were a series of speeches by Senators when 

I was an intern here on the Senate side, and one of them 

was by Hubert Humphrey. 

Hubert Humphrey was well known for saying that a society should be judged by how they treat those in the dawn of 

their lives, children, the twilight of their lives, seniors, and 

those who are in the shadow, the sick and disabled. When 

I think of that vision, I see TOM HARKIN. I see TOM HARKIN

fighting for children who are oppressively working around 

the world under unacceptable circumstances. TOM HARKIN

carries out the fight for those children and for children’s 

health care. 

I have seen him fight for our seniors, and just this week 

he was speaking passionately about the obligations we have 

to honor the retirement strategy so people can serve their 

senior years in dignity. He fights for those who are disabled, 

which we have heard about so much today. 

I thank TOM HARKIN for taking his years on this planet 

and dedicating them to this battle for those in the dawn of 

their life, for those in the twilight of their life, and for those 

in the shadows. No one has done a better job. 

[ 28 ] 

I also wish to thank TOM for the recent battles I have had 

a chance to be a part of—the fight to end discrimination in 

the workplace for our LGBT community, which you shepherded through your committee and got to the floor for the 

first time in which this bill has been enforced since 1996, 

and proceeded to pass by a 2 to 1 bipartisan majority because of that firm foundation laid out in the committee. 

I wish to thank you for your minimum wage bill and for 

saying to America: Here is a vision: No one who works full 

time should live in poverty. That is absolutely right. We 

didn’t win the battle over minimum wage, but we advanced 

the conversation—you advanced the conversation. I thank 

you for doing so, and for carrying out battle after battle, and 

in so many cases, succeeding. In those cases when the circumstances weren’t yet all lined up, you continued the fight, 

carried the voice so we would find that moment in the future 

when we could secure a victory for ordinary working people, 

for those who are disabled, for our children, and for our seniors. 

I thank you for your service in the Senate. Well done. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware. 

Mr. CARPER. The Senator from Oregon has thanked TOM

for his service in the Senate. I wish to thank him for his 

service before he was in the Senate when he and I were 

kids—well, not exactly—but when we served in the U.S. 

services. We spent some time in airplanes—not in the same 

airplane, but roughly at the same time. A lot of times people 

come up to me and thank me for my service in the Navy— 

and I am sure they do that with you—and I tell them that 

I loved it. I loved the men and women I served with, I loved 

the missions, and it was an honor to do that. I wanted to 

start off by thanking you for that, and to say that is one of 

the bonds which has drawn us together as friends right from 

the start. 

The Senator from Oregon mentioned your strong effort to 

raise the minimum wage, which ultimately was not successful. I want to mention a couple of issues I have had the privilege of working on with you that I think have been very successful. There is a battle that needs to continue to be fought, 

and I plan to continue to do that, and my hope is that you 

and others will do it too. 

As veterans, I know how important the GI bill was for me 

and for you as well. I think we got about $250 a month on 

the GI bill, and I was happy to have every dime of it. I 

[ 29 ] 

moved from California to the University of Delaware when 

I got out of the Navy, got an MBA, and I still flew for the 

Navy and the Reserves, and it was a huge help for me. 

The folks who get the GI bill today come back from Afghanistan and Iraq or wherever, and if they have served for 

3 years they get the GI bill, as you know, and that means 

they get full tuition. If they go to the University of Iowa, 

Delaware State, Iowa State, they get free tuition. They get 

free books, fees, tutoring. In my State they get a $1,500-amonth housing allowance. That is the GI bill today. 

There are a bunch of colleges around the country that— 

just as they did when my dad came back from World War 

II or when my Uncle Ed came back from the Korean war, 

others have come back from Vietnam and so forth—there are 

scam artists involved with postsecondary training schools, 

sometimes colleges, and they see the GI with that benefit, 

and they see it as if it were a dollar sign on their back, and 

they want to go after the dollar sign and separate the value 

from the benefit. 

The Senator from Iowa has worked on this so hard, trying 

to make sure—there are plenty of for-profit postsecondary 

schools and such that do a good job, and there are some that 

don’t. Nobody has been as active in trying to make sure that 

we clean this up as you have been, my friend, and my friend 

from Illinois, Dick Durbin, and I am pleased to be the 

wingman on this. I promise that Senator Durbin and I aren’t 

going away. The folks who do this job right, the for-profits 

that are doing a good job by veterans and taxpayers, we salute them; and those who do not, we are going after them. 

So I thank you and your staff for standing up for veterans 

consistently. 

The other thing I wanted to mention is that many people 

are having lunch right now across the eastern part of our 

country, maybe getting ready, over in Iowa, to have some 

lunch. If people go into a chain restaurant where there are 

15 or more restaurants in that chain across the country—I 

think it is 15 or 20—they look at the menu to order, and 

right there they see the calories. If they want more information about the fats, trans fats, the amount of sodium in the 

food—all kinds of information—they get it. 

We are a nation where obesity is a huge problem, a huge 

cost driver in health care. I thank the Senator for leading 

the charge on menu labeling, which is the reality in our 

country, and you should feel good about that. I feel very good 

about that. 

[ 30 ] 

It has been a blessing knowing you and serving with you, 

TOM. There is an old saying: Flattery won’t hurt you if you 

don’t inhale. You are having a lot of flattery thrown at you 

here today, so don’t breathe too deeply and you should be 

OK. 

We thank and salute you and your wife Ruth and your 

family. In the Navy, when people have done a really good 

job, we say words like ‘‘bravo zulu,’’ and I say bravo zulu to 

you. When people are ready to weigh anchor and sail off into 

the sunrise, we say things like ‘‘fair winds and following 

seas,’’ and I say that to you as well. God bless you. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois. 

Mr. DURBIN. I will speak briefly because I put a statement in the Record, but I just want to say, TOM, that next 

to the State of Illinois, I spend more time campaigning in 

your State of Iowa than any other State. Obviously the Presidential caucus brought me over there, and I have come to 

know your home State of Iowa and to appreciate that even 

though there is an extraordinary Iowa-Illinois democratic organization, it is a tough State and there are elections that 

are hotly contested. 

I recall that when I was running for the Senate in 1996, 

you called into our headquarters and spoke to my campaign 

manager, who said, ‘‘How is it going, Senator HARKIN?’’ 

You said, ‘‘I am besieged.’’ 

It was a tough campaign, but you survived it and many 

others. I think it is because of two things: No. 1 is your dogged determination, and No. 2 is your commitment to values 

that you have never given up on. 

I think there is an authenticity to TOM HARKIN that has 

saved him in tough years. People who disagreed with you respected you because you stood up for what you believed in. 

Some of the ideals you and I believe in may not be as fashionable politically as they once were. There was once a time 

when I worked for a man named Paul Douglas who called 

himself in the Senate ‘‘a good liberal.’’ You don’t hear that 

word much anymore, do you? But the fact is, there are moments in our Nation’s history and in the lives of ordinary 

people—the American family—when our government needs 

to step in and help—and you have done it. You have done 

it so many times. I won’t repeat all that has been said, but 

whether you were fighting for working families, fighting for 

the poor, fighting for the disabled, fighting to make sure 

every family had peace of mind when it came to food safety— 

[ 31 ] 

I am not sure that has been mentioned, but the Senator from 

Iowa worked on that, and I thank him for that leadership 

and inspiration. 

Finally, let me say I have been happy to team up with you 

on this issue involving for-profit schools. 

I will tell my colleagues that the Senator’s hearings set a 

standard in terms of asking the right questions and hard 

questions of an industry that by and large exploits young 

people and their families, sinking these kids deep in debt at 

the expense of American taxpayers and doing it many times 

with the promise of nothing but a worthless diploma when 

it is all over. 

I know, because I have tried, that the industry—the forprofit colleges have friends in high places in Washington, 

DC. I can promise you this: As long as I can do it physically, 

I will continue to wage this battle in your name and in your 

memory because of all your leadership in this area. 

Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being a neighbor. And thank you for really standing up for the right 

causes over the course of your public service. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont. 

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I am going to be brief. The 

truth is that the Senator we are honoring right now, TOM

HARKIN, will go down in history as one of the great Senators 

of this particular period in American history. Not many Senators, if any, have a list of enormous accomplishments anywhere close to what Senator HARKIN has accomplished. 

I would like to tell my colleagues a little story. It turns out 

that coincidentally, really, I have traveled with Senator HARKIN to a number of places around the world as part of congressional delegations. Like most congressional delegations, 

we meet with the leadership of the country, the President 

and so forth. But what was interesting in traveling with Senator HARKIN is wherever you go, he gets honored by ordinary 

people in those countries. 

We went to Vietnam a number of years ago. Many people 

will not remember, but the truth is that one of the very first 

people ever to expose the terrible prison conditions that the 

South Vietnam Government had established was TOM HARKIN. So we go there and we meet people who had been imprisoned in tiger cages, and they said, ‘‘Senator HARKIN, 

thank you very much for exposing those conditions and improving our lives.’’ 

There was a very emotional response. 

[ 32 ] 

Then I went with him to Ghana, and it turns out that in 

Ghana and in countries in Africa, TOM HARKIN had been a 

leader in fighting against child labor. There were kids 8 or 

9 years of age who should be in school who were out picking 

crops. And TOM HARKIN, working with people all over the 

world, had a real impact on getting those kids into school. 

We went to a school, a beautiful school which is partially 

funded by the U.S. Government. We have bright kids who 

are in school, and they were so proud of the assistance we 

had given them, where they were in school and not working 

in fields. 

Then we went to Chile. We met with the President of 

Chile, all the dignitaries of Chile. Who knew this? We went 

to Chile, and TOM HARKIN got an award from the government. 

In the very dark days of the Pinochet government, when 

the democratically elected President of Chile, Salvador 

Allende, was overthrown in a violent coup by Pinochet— 

with, unfortunately, the assistance of the U.S. Government— 

and people were rounded up and put into prison camps and 

tortured and killed, TOM HARKIN went knocking on the door 

to one of the prison camps. Pretty crazy, but that is what he 

did. He was met with soldiers with guns. But he exposed 

that particular prison camp and played a role in facilitating 

the ending of some of the more barbaric actions of the 

Pinochet government. 

Those are three trips I made with him. That is about all. 

I am sure he has gone on other trips. That is a pretty good 

record, internationally. 

Then, back home, in terms of disability issues, I can remember and others can remember that 30, 40, 50 years ago, 

families had kids born with disabilities, and often those kids 

were institutionalized; they were hidden; they were an embarrassment to the family. Something bad happened; there 

was a child with a disability—Down syndrome, whatever it 

may be. Think about the revolution that has taken place, the 

mainstreaming of those kids. I know in Vermont and all over 

this country, kids with disabilities who are sitting in classrooms right now, loved and respected by their fellow students, educating their fellow students, making them more 

human, more compassionate. I think many of us have been 

to high school graduations where people with disabilities get 

their diploma and people stand up and applaud those kids. 

There has been a transformation of the culture in terms of 

how we deal with people with disabilities through the AmeriVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:10 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 091900 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE14\91904.TXT KAYNE
[ 33 ] 

cans with Disabilities Act. That didn’t happen by accident. 

TOM HARKIN wasn’t the only person who did it, but he 

helped lead the effort here in the U.S. Congress to say that 

people with disabilities are part of the human community 

and we are going to treat them with the dignity they deserve. 

Then we have all the other issues that people have talked 

about. Probably nobody in the Congress has been a stronger 

fighter for working people and organized labor than TOM

HARKIN. 

I think people come here, regardless of political persuasion, to try to make a difference and do what they think is 

right. We disagree about what is right, but I think when we 

look at the list of accomplishments and the enormously hard 

work that has gone into those accomplishments, this man, 

TOM HARKIN, will go down as one of the great Senators of 

our period. 

TOM, thank you so much for all you have done. 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I wish to recognize a dear 

friend, Senator TOM HARKIN. Senator HARKIN will be retiring 

at the end of the month, but his influence will be felt long 

after he leaves this Chamber. I speak for all of my colleagues 

when I say he will be sorely missed. 

I consider myself lucky to have worked with TOM, and 

even luckier to call him a friend. TOM has devoted his life 

to public service. 

Like any good statesman, TOM is humble about his 

achievements. Humility is a trait so often lacking in accomplished men, but TOM is an exception. The allure and glamour of beltway life never held sway over TOM, and his years 

spent in the Nation’s Capital have only shown that he is an 

Iowa man through and through. 

The only thing that runs deeper than TOM’s Iowa roots is 

the corn that grows there. TOM still lives in the very same 

house in the very same town where he was born—Cumming, 

IA, population: 383—a far cry from this bustling metropolis. 

His family still keeps a farm in Cumming, and I am sure he 

looks forward to spending many peaceful days there in his 

retirement. 

TOM grew up in a family of modest means. His father was 

a coal miner and his mother a Slovenian immigrant who 

passed away when TOM was just 10 years old. From an early 

age, TOM developed his signature work ethic by taking various odd jobs on farms, at construction sites, and even in a 

bottling plant. 

[ 34 ] 

TOM’s service to our Nation began long before he came to 

Congress. He attended Iowa State University on a Navy 

ROTC scholarship and served as an Active Duty Navy pilot 

for 5 years after graduation. Even after his full-time military 

service, he continued to serve as a pilot in the Naval Reserve. TOM is a man who always has and always will put our 

country first. Even though he and I often disagreed on matters of policy, I always knew that TOM had the best interests 

of our Nation and those of his constituents in mind. 

TOM and I first became good friends when I joined him in 

sponsoring the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1989. At 

the time, TOM was a first-term Senator approaching reelection, and to support the ADA was politically risky. But true 

to form, TOM bucked political expediency to champion a law 

that the late Senator Ted Kennedy would describe as the 

‘‘emancipation proclamation’’ for those with disabilities. Although the ADA faced serious opposition, passing this legislation was personal for TOM, whose brother, Frank, grew up 

deaf, and whose nephew was quadriplegic. In the lives of 

these loved ones, TOM saw how lack of opportunities for persons with disabilities could make their lives all the more 

challenging. 

My friendship with TOM was forged in the battles we 

fought to move the ADA through both Chambers of Congress. I will never forget the day the Senate passed the bill 

in 1989. After the vote, TOM and I left the floor and walked 

into the anteroom, where there were hundreds of persons 

with disabilities in wheelchairs, on crutches, and with various other disabilities waiting to receive us. Overcome with 

emotion, both of us broke down and cried. It was a moment 

I will never forget. 

I am not exaggerating when I say that TOM’s work on this 

hallmark legislation will have resounding effects for generations to come. Because of the ADA, millions of Americans 

with disabilities can now pursue the American dream. 

Throughout his Senate career, TOM has always been there 

to help those who could not help themselves. His work has 

affected the lives of millions. Senator HARKIN deserves not 

only our recognition, but also our gratitude. I want to wish 

him, his wife Ruth, and their family all the best. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma. 

Mr. INHOFE. Before the Senator from Iowa leaves, let me 

make one comment. I look at him and all of those who are 

saying nice things about the Senator from Iowa—and I am 

[ 35 ] 

from Iowa, so I can say this. My colleagues need to remember that even conservatives can love TOM HARKIN. I think it 

is important for people to understand that. 

I have to say that I have been to I think at least 10 of the 

airshows, and spending 90 percent of my time—my wife and 

his wife, the four of us together, because we are both pilots— 

sitting around and lying about airplanes, we got real close to 

each other. 

I can say the same thing about my good friend Senator 

Sanders, and I have said this on the floor before: The two of 

you are two of my favorite in-the-heart liberals because you 

are not ashamed of it. You stand up—exactly what the Senator from Vermont just said. The things that I have seen you 

do, you have a big heart. You have your own philosophy. You 

are not a demagogue. You live your philosophy. 

So I just want you to know there are a lot of Republicans 

who love Senator HARKIN just as much as the liberals do. All 

right. Thank you. 

Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I wanted to speak about 

my colleague TOM HARKIN who will be retiring at the end of 

this Congress. I commend him for his 40 years of service in 

Congress for the people of Iowa. 

Senator Hubert Humphrey once said that the moral test of 

government should be how it treats those in the dawn of life, 

our children; those in the twilight of life, our older citizens; 

and those in the shadows of life, people with disabilities, 

among others. TOM HARKIN’s work in the House and Senate 

has been a testament to what Senator Humphrey said. Senator HARKIN has never hesitated to stand up and fight for 

those without power. He is also proud of the legacy of the 

Great Society under President Lyndon Johnson and never 

shies away from reminding us of the work that was done 

then, or how much more we still have to do. 

When it comes to protecting and championing people with 

disabilities, there is no equal to TOM HARKIN. He helped 

write the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, of 1990 and 

the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. These bills did for people 

with disabilities what the civil rights acts of the 1950s and 

1960s did for African Americans. He authored the Television 

Decoder Circuitry Act to create universal closed captioning 

and he expanded services for children with disabilities under 

the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, IDEA. 

Under the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act, he enhanced employment opportunities for young people with disabilities and under the Affordable Care Act he created the 

[ 36 ] 

Community First Choice Option to give States that offer 

services to people with disabilities outside of nursing homes 

extra Federal funding. 

Senator HARKIN pushed the issue of prevention and the 

health and wellness of Americans long before those issues 

became national themes. Senator HARKIN wrote the prevention title in the Affordable Care Act and introduced the first 

bill that allowed the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, to 

regulate tobacco. He is also the reason the word ‘‘Prevention’’ 

is included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s name. Child labor is another area where TOM was 

ahead of the curve. The Clinton administration’s executive 

order, ‘‘Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by 

Forced and Indentured Child Labor,’’ was backed by Senator 

HARKIN and he helped obtain the adoption and Senate ratification of United Nations Convention 182, a treaty that called 

for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor. 

On a personal note, I want to express my appreciation to 

Chairman HARKIN and his staff on the HELP Committee for 

their help in getting three bills I introduced this Congress 

passed into law—the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act, the Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act, and the Traumatic Brain Injury 

Reauthorization Act. Without the efforts of Chairman HARKIN and his team, these bills would not have moved forward. 

The late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, once said 

that ‘‘Politics is not just about power and money games, politics can be about the improvement of people’s lives, about 

lessening human suffering in our world and bringing about 

more peace and more justice.’’ TOM HARKIN is a living example of those words. Our Nation and our world are better 

today because of his life of service. 

MONDAY, December 15, 2014 

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, Senator TOM HARKIN and 

I came to Washington in the same year—TOM, to the House 

of Representatives, and I, to the Senate. For nearly 40 years, 

he has represented Iowans with the even temper and strong 

commitment that has become a hallmark of his tenure. 

Senator HARKIN has been a leading defender of rights for 

persons with disabilities, anchored by the landmark law he 

authored, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Inspired by 

the challenges faced by his own deaf brother, TOM HARKIN

[ 37 ] 

led a crusade to enact this historic legislation, ensuring that 

individuals living with disabilities could not be discriminated 

against because of those disabilities. The ongoing effort to 

protect and support Americans—and people around the 

world—living with disabilities, has become a cornerstone of 

Senator HARKIN’s career. 

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, HELP, Senator HARKIN has 

helped create a new model of health care, one focused on prevention and health rather than reaction and sickness. He 

was one of the leaders in crafting the Affordable Care Act, 

giving millions of Americans better access to health care. He 

has continually fought for the missions of and the funding 

for the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes 

of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. 

I have worked with Senator HARKIN on a number of matters, from international human rights to critical funding for 

breast cancer research. Senator HARKIN and I have worked 

together in our shared commitment to America’s farmers and 

farming, an industry that is so critical to both our States. 

Together we have worked to increase conservation funding, 

promote water quality, and protect the environment while 

supporting our family farmers. 

TOM HARKIN is a lifelong Iowan. He and his wife Ruth 

have given decades in public service representing the people 

of Iowa. I want to congratulate him on an accomplished career and wish him, Ruth, their wonderful children and 

grandchildren all the very best. 

TUESDAY, December 16, 2014 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, as we wind down the final 

days of the 113th Congress, it is a good time both to reflect 

on the past and to look toward the future. I have been very 

moved as I listened to the farewell speeches of our departing 

Senators, and I wish I had time to pay tribute to each one 

of them. They have all been wonderful colleagues, and I enjoyed working with and getting to know every one of them. 

I wish them all the very best in all their future endeavors. 

They will most certainly be missed. . . . 

Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I wish to recognize Senator TOM HARKIN and his 30 years of Senate service. 

[ 38 ] 

When Senator HARKIN retires at the end of this year, he 

will also step down from his chairmanship of the Senate 

Committee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, a 

post from which he has advocated progressive policies aimed 

at increasing opportunity for all Americans. 

One of Senator HARKIN’s greatest legislative achievements 

is the Americans with Disabilities Act, legislation that he 

fought for on behalf of millions of disabled Americans. The 

ADA is truly a landmark law in this country, and Senator 

HARKIN’s decades of work on this issue will never be forgotten. 

Senator HARKIN also has a strong legacy as a champion for 

human rights, which began even before his election to public 

office while he was still a staffer on Capitol Hill. Invited to 

travel with a congressional delegation to Vietnam in summer 

1970, Senator HARKIN arranged for the group to visit the 

Con Son Prison in order to investigate allegations of human 

rights abuses by the South Vietnamese Government. At the 

prison, the delegation strayed from the official tour and 

found abused prisoners held in so-called ‘‘tiger cages,’’ which 

Senator HARKIN documented extensively with a camera. In 

defiance of some of the delegation members, Senator HARKIN

courageously handed over the pictures to Life magazine in 

order to better educate the American public about U.S. involvement in Vietnam. 

I have been fortunate to witness first hand Senator HARKIN’s passion for U.S. leadership in human rights during our 

service together on the Senate Appropriations Committee, 

where he has brought heightened attention to the scourge of 

child labor and exploitation. I know this is one particular 

issue on which Senator HARKIN feels his work has just 

begun, and I look forward to hearing of his continued efforts 

on behalf of vulnerable children around the world. 

On a more personal note, I will miss competing with Senator HARKIN’s office for the most staff participants in the Everybody Wins! DC Reading Mentorship Program, a great 

cause in which Senator HARKIN has been involved in for the 

last 16 years. 

I join my colleagues in thanking Senator HARKIN for his 

dedicated service in the Senate and wish him all the best in 

retirement. 

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize the accomplishments of the distinguished Senator from Iowa, TOM

HARKIN, who is retiring this year. 

[ 39 ] 

Senator HARKIN has served in the House and Senate for 

nearly 40 years. During those 40 years he has been a consistent and inspirational voice for the idea that America 

should be a place where everyone can succeed. 

TOM’s life experiences shaped who he fought for and why. 

His mother died when he was 10. His father never got beyond the sixth grade and suffered from black lung disease. 

He grew up in a tiny town in Iowa. He saw what the New 

Deal, Social Security, and Medicare did for his family and he 

saw government as a force that could lift people up and give 

them hope. 

Last week, during his farewell remarks to this body, he 

said something that the progressives among us should take 

to heart. He said: 

I believe government must not be just an observant bystander to life. It 

must be a force for good, for lifting people up, for giving hope to the hopeless. 

Under TOM HARKIN’s watch, government certainly has not 

been a bystander. 

One of his proudest accomplishments was gaining passage 

of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. TOM stood 

with people with disabilities, one of the largest minorities in 

the United States, to enact historic legislation that changed 

the lives of millions of people. I was proud to cosponsor and 

support the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Amendments 

Act, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. 

His commitment to creating and expanding opportunities for 

those with disabilities is a hallmark of his career. 

Senator HARKIN will also be remembered for his tireless 

leadership as the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions Committee. As chairman he worked to 

promote health care and education, fairness for workers, 

equal rights, and, above all, the American dream. He worked 

to fund those priorities for years on the Appropriations Committee. 

These are some of TOM’s signature issues. But equally important has been his work fighting injustice and human 

rights violations across the globe. 

As a young congressional staffer he traveled to Vietnam 

and uncovered torture on Con Son Island, off of Vietnam. 

There people were being held in ‘‘tiger cages’’—5 foot by 9 

foot cells dug into the ground where three to five people were 

held captive. 

[ 40 ] 

While he lost his staff job over the pictures he took, he 

shed light on atrocities that too many others had either ignored or covered up. 

TOM’s values and the results he has been able to achieve 

have made him a powerful moral and progressive voice for 

decades. Some of us were drawn to TOM during his Presidential run in 1992. I was. As a Hawaii State legislator, I 

supported the Senator from Iowa long before I ever had the 

privilege of serving with him in the Senate. In fact, when his 

bid for the Presidency ended, some of us continued to support him, making buttons with a slogan I coined: ‘‘HARKIN

for the Heck of It!’’ 

TOM HARKIN has done much to help build the ladders of 

opportunity that he so firmly believes is a big part of what 

government should do. His work inspires us to continue 

pushing to see that every individual in our country has an 

opportunity to improve his or her life for the better. 

Last week in his farewell remarks, TOM noted that while 

he is retiring from the Senate, he is not retiring from ‘‘the 

fight.’’ He also gave those of us who are still here a list of 

unfinished business to continue the fight. 

First, we have to do more to address income inequality and 

restack the deck so that working people have confidence that 

their government works on their behalf. Second, we have to 

work on addressing climate change. Third, we have to do 

more to give employment opportunities to the disabled, and 

finally, we have to pass the U.N. Convention on the Rights 

of Persons with Disabilities. 

These are all big fights. But it speaks to TOM’s passion for 

public service and improving access to opportunity that in 

his farewell remarks, he would give us a list of unfinished 

business. 

I will miss him in the Senate. I am confident that TOM

HARKIN will be a prominent voice in American society for 

years to come. 

Aloha TOM, a hui hou, or ‘‘until we meet again.’’ 

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to celebrate and thank 

the 13 outgoing Senators who have worked tirelessly to represent their home States in the Senate: Senator Mark 

Begich, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Senator Tom Coburn, 

Senator Kay Hagan, Senator TOM HARKIN, Senator Mike 

Johanns, Senator Tim Johnson, Senator Mary Landrieu, 

Senator Carl Levin, Senator Mark Pryor, Senator Jay Rockefeller, Senator Mark Udall, and Senator John Walsh. 

[ 41 ] 

I have worked side by side with these men and women for 

years—some for decades—and witnessed first hand their extraordinary commitment to public service and to the people 

they so proudly represent. 

Even when we didn’t see eye to eye on every issue, I always deeply respected and admired their service to our Nation and their dedication to fight for what they believe in. 

It has been a privilege to serve alongside each and every 

one of these extraordinary colleagues. I will miss their leadership and their friendship, and I wish them all the best as 

they embark on the next chapter. 

Æ