Iowa Senator Tom Harkin

Tom Harkin is considered to be one of the most adventurous, hard-working fighters in the US Congress. Many people support him and believe him as Harkin speaks up for people who may be left out or ‘forgot’. Thomas Richard Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa. Harkin is the member of the Democratic Party. At present he is the Ranking Minority Member of the USA Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Senator Tom Harkin has gained his reputation and popularity owing to his personal qualities, his wish to help people and for giving a chance to those who are overlooked to fight for their ideas in Washington: working families, women, disabled people, children, students, and small business owners. In Congress, Tom Harkin has made a good name for himself and now he is a recognized leader in educational, health care and agricultural spheres of life.

Harkin, a noted leader of the Democratic Party, was born in the town of Cumming, Iowa in 1939. His father was a coal miner and his mother was an immigrant from Slovenia. Harkin has attended Iowa State University and got the Juris Doctor degree at The Catholic University in 1972. He has been serving in the US Navy for five years. Harkin was an aide-de-camp in the detachment of Democratic Congressman Neal Smith. The happened in 1970 when he escorted a congressional delegation that went to South Vietnam.

Tom Harkin was a lawyer before holding the post in the US House of Representatives in 1974. Two years later he was reelected several times every tow years since 1976 till 1982. Finally, Tom Harkin was elected to the USA from Iowa in 1984. Since that, Harkin was reelected three times: in 1990, 1996 and 2002. Harkin has won his popularity as a defender of disabled people. Tom Harkin has always been a fighter for equal rights for people with disabilities. These people would lose their rights without help of Tom Harkin. Senator Harkin is a great advantage to the state. People think he is on the right place and he should stay there as long as possible.

In 1990 Harkin becomes the main sponsor of the Act about people with Disabilities. The Act has become the state's first all-round law for disabled people. This Act is signed into law by President George Bush and it forbids the discrimination towards disabled people at workplaces, in public services and elsewhere. However, some people consider that the Act requires too wide accommodations for disabled people. Nevertheless, in 2005 it was stated in a magazine that the act has been written in time and occupies its place among the state's freedom documents, such as: the Declaration of Independence, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Emancipation Proclamation. Tom Harkin is considered to be honest and direct politician who conducts his political ideas very effectively. People say that he is a true democrat and they agree with his policies or actions.

Besides, Harkin is well-known for his controversial panegyric in 2002 of Senator Paul Wellstone. In this panegyric Harkin convinces people to "stand up for Paul" and talks about "passing on Paul's legacy" -- the words that aroused cheers of approval and were understood as open political opinions and unsuitable remarks for a funeral procedure. Other people affirmed that it was not right to criticize Harkin. Tom Harkin and California Senator Barbara Boxer are two Senate Democrats who have been honored to express their negative attitude towards President George W. Bush and to support Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's resolution.