Tom Harkin
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Template:Infobox Senator Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is the junior United States Senator from Iowa. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently serving as the Ranking Minority Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
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Early life
Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa. His father was a coal miner and his mother was a Slovenian immigrant who died when he was 10. Harkin graduated from Iowa State University in 1962 and received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in 1972. He served in the United States Navy from 1962–1967. Harkin was stationed at Atsugi Naval Air Station in Japan, where he ferried damaged aircraft to and from the airbase. He was also stationed for a time at Guantanamo Bay, where he flew missions in support of U-2 planes reconnoitering Cuba.
Harkin was an aide to Democratic Congressman Neal Smith, when he accompanied a congressional delegation that went to South Vietnam in 1970. Harkin published photographs he took during the trip and a detailed account of "tiger cages" at Con Son Island prison in Life Magazine on July 17, 1970. The account exposed shocking, inhuman conditions which prisoners endured.
Career
Harkin was an attorney before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1974, and was reelected in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1982. In 1984, Harkin was elected to the United States Senate from Iowa and was reelected in 1990, 1996 and 2002.
Harkin is best known as an advocate for people with disabilities. In 1990, he wrote and was the chief sponsor of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the nation's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, the sweeping legislation prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, in public services, and in public accommodations. Although critics say the ADA often requires unreasonably broad accommodations for people with disabilities, in 2005 Ability magazine stated that the act "takes its place among the nation's landmark freedom documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
While running for his Senate seat, and again while running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992, Harkin made statements about his military record that implied he had flown combat missions over North Vietnam. After inquiries by Barry Goldwater and The Wall Street Journal, Harkin clarified that he had flown combat air patrols and reconnaissance missions over Cuba, and had flown aircraft into and out of Vietnam, but had never flown missions in Vietnam and had never engaged enemy aircraft in combat.[1]
Senator Harkin is a staunch supporter of Israel. He is a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, which appropriates about $2 billion annually for military financing for Israel. In the Senate, he is the third-largest career recipient of pro-Israel Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions.[2]]
He ran for President in 1992 and won the Iowa caucus, but ultimately lost the Democratic Party nomination to Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas. Harkin was the first Democratic primary contendor to drop-out and throw his support behind Clinton—a favor that led to a close relationship throughout the Clinton presidency.
Senator Harkin’s wife, Ruth, is an attorney. She was one of the first women in the United States to be elected as a prosecutor when, in 1972, she was elected to the office of county attorney of Story County, Iowa. She served as a deputy counsel for the US Department of Agriculture before joining the Washington lobbying firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP in 1983. In 1993, President Bill Clinton named her chairman and chief executive officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ruth Harkin left the government and became United Technologies' senior vice president for international affairs and government relations in April 1997, leading their Washington DC office. In 2002, Mrs. Harkin became a director of ConocoPhillips. In June 2001, the Des Moines Register reported that Senator Harkin "inadvertently omitted" to list $200,000 in Conoco stock owned by Ruth and some $15,000 by daughter Amy on his Senate financial statement. Mrs. Harkin currently sits on the Iowa Board of Regents, the body responsible for overseeing the state's public universities.
Harkin's daughter Amy appeared on the NBC daytime reality series Starting Over from 2003–2004. Although Harkin never appeared on the show, his voice was heard when his daughter spoke to him on the phone.
Harkin is also notable for his nationally televised and controversial eulogy in 2002 of Senator Paul Wellstone, a close ally in the Senate. In the eulogy, Harkin urged the crowd to "stand up for Paul" and talked about "passing on Paul's legacy"—statements that drew loud cheers and were interpreted by some as overt political references and inappropriate for a funeral service. Others argued that the criticism of Harkin and others was invalid or intentionally overblown and was a ploy to generate sympathy for Wellstone's opponent, Norm Coleman, who was also in attendance.
Along with California Senator Barbara Boxer, Tom Harkin is one of only two Senate Democrats to come out in favor of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President George W. Bush.
Books by Tom Harkin
- Harkin, Tom and Thomas, C. E. Five Minutes to Midnight: Why the Nuclear Threat Is Growing Faster Than Ever, Carol Publishing Corporation, 1990. ISBN 1559720425
External links
- Official website
- Congressional biography
- Information from Project Vote Smart
- "Harkin Staff Makes Changes To Wikipedia Bio"
Template:Start box {{USRepSuccessionBox | state=Iowa | district =5 | district_ord = 5th | before=William J. Scherle | after=Jim Ross Lightfoot | years=1975–1985}} {{incumbent U.S. Senator box | state=Iowa | before=Roger W. Jepsen | start=1985 | class=2 | alongside=Charles Grassley}} Template:End box Template:IA-FedRep Template:Current U.S. Senatorsfr:Tom Harkin