Senate Update
August 10, 2009:The Senate will convene at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 10 for a pro forma session only. Following the pro forma session, the Senate will adjourn under the provisions of H. Con. Res. 172, the adjournment resolution, until 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8.
On Tuesday, September 8, the Senate will convene at 2:00 p.m. and will be in a period of morning business until 4:30 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1023, the Travel Promotion Act.
Senator Harkin will be traveling around Iowa during the August recess. This map shows the stops he will be making. You may also want to view a detailed listing of these stops.
August 14, 2009
Mason City Town Hall
by Senator Tom Harkin
This morning I held a town hall meeting on health care at Northern Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. I have visited NIACC before, but was impressed at how well maintained the campus and facilities are – tributes to the staff, faculty and the students who go there. I was met by Dr. Debra Derr, President of NIACC, and members of their board. We started the morning in the nursing lab, where students are taught how to care for patients. Jenna Winters, a NIACC nursing student, described for us her decision to enter the health care field and the challenges she will face upon graduation.
We then moved next door to a larger room to hold a town hall on health reform. We had a lively discussion, and some people asked excellent questions. One young man asked about the impact reform would have on the insurance industry in Iowa, and one person described his experiences with health care in Australia. It was a good meeting, and I am proud that Iowans are choosing to take part in this discussion as we move towards a fix for our broken system.
After the meeting I headed back to Des Moines, where I held office hours in my office and met with constituents. It was a good day, filled with information and discussion. I want to thank the people at NIACC for all of their help, Jenna Winters for sharing her experiences with me, and all the Iowans who came out today to make their voices heard.
August 13, 2009
Iowa State Fair and Mason City
Today I took my annual trip to the Iowa State Fair and visited with some of my favorite people. I started in the Agriculture Building, where I saw the Butter Cow and a commemorative exhibit of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo landing on the Moon. The Agriculture Building was full of interesting exhibits, and even early in the morning on the first day of the Fair, it was filled with people.
August 12, 2009
Building Iowa’s Health and Economic Infrastructure
One of the best feelings in the world is coming back to Iowa to see a new Community Health Center where last year, we just broke ground on the facility. That was my feeling in Storm Lake today, where I kicked off my day at the United Community Health Center.
August 11, 2009
Building Iowa’s Medical Workforce
Day Four of my August trip brought me to Scott Community College in Bettendorf to tour the nursing lab and then talk with approximately 200 Iowans about the need for health reform. If there’s one thing we know about health reform, it’s that our mission will not be complete unless we have the workforce necessary to put these new improvements in place.
August 10, 2009
Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City
The start of National Community Health Center Week today gave me a perfect opportunity to come back to Iowa and visit our community health centers, and to talk with people about the health reform effort underway in Washington. I kicked off the week at the Peoples Community Health Center in Waterloo and was amazed at the size of this facility and the great services it offers for the insured, underinsured and, as patient Jennifer Schmidt described, those who were once uninsured, but received such great care, that they kept coming back even after they obtained insurance!
August 9, 2009
Day 2 – Building Iowa’s Economic Future
Today I met Labor Secretary Hilda Solis at the Ottumwa Industrial Airport for the groundbreaking of the new Job Corps Center. The Center, which is scheduled to open in 2011, will partner with Indian Hills Community College to provide academic and vocational training to economically disadvantaged youths. It is only the second facility of its kind in Iowa, and comes at a critical time with the economy shedding another 247,000 jobs nationwide in July.
August 8, 2009
Kicking off the ’Building Iowa’s Future’ Tour in Des Moines
I kicked off my August “Building Iowa’s Future” tour today at Des Moines Primary Health Care, Inc., a community health center in Des Moines. I was joined by Ted Boesen, Executive Director of Iowa/Nebraska Primary Health Care, by Kelly Huntsman, Executive Director, and by over 150 Iowans to talk about how health reform. One thing was clear from the start: Iowans are eager to hear how the choices being proposed in Washington will impact their families.
August 3, 2009
In Senate Floor Speech, Harkin Describes Iowans’ Struggles with Health Care; Cost-Savings from Prevention and Wellness
On Monday evening, Senator Harkin joined members of the Senate Health, Education, Labors and Pension (HELP) Committee to discuss the benefits of The Affordable Health Choices Act for all Americans. Harkin touted the prevention and wellness elements of the bill, which will reduce incidents of chronic disease and rein in the high costs of health care in America. He took to the Senate floor as his staff completed a state-wide listening tour of all 99 counties to hear Iowans concerns about health care.
July 23, 2009
Prevention Reforms Will Save Lives and Money
As you know, I am excited about the very robust wellness and prevention provisions in the health reform bill that we passed in the Senate health committee last week – The Affordable Health Choices Act. No question, these provisions are going to save lives and save money. And that’s why I am very disappointed – and, frankly, disturbed – by the Congressional Budget Office’s refusal to acknowledge these savings.
July 15, 2009
In Historic Vote, Senate Health Committee Approves The Affordable Health Choices Act
The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is a senior member, today passed The Affordable Health Choices Act, landmark legislation that will reduce health costs, protect individuals’ choice in doctors and plans, and assure quality and affordable health care for all Americans. The bipartisan bill includes more than 160 Republican amendments accepted during the month-long mark-up, one of the longest in Congressional history.
July 9, 2009
Health Reform Moves Forward in Washington with a Public Option
The Senate health committee continues to make steady progress in marking up comprehensive health reform legislation. We have already produced a very robust Prevention and Public Health title, which I took the lead in drafting. And, yesterday, we began marking up the Coverage title.
