Ranking Member's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Leaders from the Senate and House committees overseeing health policy today announced that they have reached an agreement on legislation to help ensure the safety of compounded drugs and our nation’s pharmaceutical supply chain. This legislation, the Drug Quality and Security Act, reflects a bipartisan, bicameral...

Congressional Republicans propose to reduce the deficit by – increasing deficits?  WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the debate over funding of the government continues, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to make a strong defense...

Iowa’s Marketplace Will Offer Residents an Average of 39 Qualified Health Plan Choices WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today released the following statement in response to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) showing that Iowa’s soon-to-open health insurance marketplace,...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “In the late 1970s, a group of researchers began to examine reports of patient deaths and injuries caused by anesthesia.  They found wide variation in quality, and a disturbing incidence of medical errors, leading to 6,000 deaths or serious injuries annually.  ABC’s “20/20” news program...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today applauded news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s second 2013 "Tips From Former Smokers" campaign, which produced more than 150,000 additional calls to a central tobacco quitline and generated almost 2.8 million additional visitors to the campaign website....

*As Prepared for Delivery* “Today’s hearing marks the kick-off of the reauthorization process of the Higher Education Act here in the Senate. The Committee will hold a series of twelve hearings over the coming months to analyze the many aspects of our higher education system and how it can be improved. These hearings will range from a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement after the Committee voted to pass the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013 (CCDBG), a bill that will expand access to and improve the quality of child care for the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor finalized a critical rule to ensure fair wages for workers providing in-home care and support to seniors and people with disabilities. The...

Will seek input from higher education community, including students, parents, and faculty WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) today announced their intention to hold a series of hearings on reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today to mark World Sepsis Day and to announce that the HELP Committee will convene on September 24th at 10:00 a.m. to discuss efforts to reduce healthcare-associated infections,...

1.6 Million Smokers Have Attempted to Quit Smoking; More Than 200,000 Americans Quit Smoking Successfully WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today hailed an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the “Tips From a Former Smoker” (“Tips”) 2012 national ad campaign led an...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Ed Markey (D-MA) warned against the dangers of electronic cigarettes after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released new data showing that use of these products has more than doubled among middle and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement in response to Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement that the Administration will implement a new rule to promote employment for individuals with disabilities.  The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement welcoming an OSHA proposed rule aimed at protecting workers from exposure to crystalline silica.  Exposure kills hundreds of workers and sickens thousands more each...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rulemaking to transition away from the so-called “2 percent rule.”  “The U.S. Department of...

‘The decision about where to attend college is one of the biggest choices students and their families face...I agree with President Obama that we must provide greater transparency to help them through the process' WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after President Barack Obama delivered...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today regarding the anti-bullying guidance issued today by the U.S. Department of Education for schools around the country. “As schools once again open their doors for students...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today in response to a new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP).  The report showed that providing universal access to hybrid retirement plans - like Harkin’s USA...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned health care professionals against using sterile products supplied by Specialty Compounding in Cedar Park, Texas because bacterial infections have been potentially associated with contaminated calcium gluconate infusions produced by the company.  According to the...

“NewsHour” Segment Also Features Ricardo Thornton, Who Was Warehoused—Until His Early Twenties—in an Institution for Individuals with Disabilities; Thornton Testified Before the HELP Committee in 2012 WASHINGTON, D.C.—In case you missed it, PBS’ NewsHour program last night reported on an investigation issued by...