FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2009
Contact: Norm Sterzenbach
515-244-7292
STATEMENT OF IDP CHAIRMAN MICHAEL KIERNAN RE: SEN. HARKIN AND H.E.L.P. COMMITTEE
We are obviously thrilled to learn Iowa's own Sen. Tom Harkin is taking
over the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The
new post means an Iowan will play a key role in determining the makeup
of health care reform as it moves toward passage this fall. Sen. Harkin
has long been a fighter for expanded, quality, affordable health care
for every American. He's especially knowledgeable about issues involving
Americans with disabilities, having been the lead sponsor of the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
Sen. Harkin also has been an outspoken supporter of pension reform in his time in the Senate. His qualifications on issues related to America's working men and women are virtually unmatched.
I have no doubt Tom Harkin will take the lessons Iowans have learned from our low-cost, high quality health care environment, and make use of them as he takes over this important leadership position in the United States Senate. It is not lost on Iowa Democrats that he succeeds the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose passing made the appointment necessary. Iowa Democrats are deeply proud of Tom Harkin's record of fighting for the most vulnerable among us, and excited he'll be in a position to do much more.
# # #
