Tribute to Senator Tom Harkin

Floor Speech

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate the 75th birthday of my friend and longtime colleague from our home State of Iowa, Senator Tom Harkin.

As the Presiding Officer knows, Senator Harkin will be retiring from public office in a few weeks. At the end of the 113th Congress, Senator Harkin will then close a chapter on public service that spans more than a half century, including four decades in Congress. He also served 27 years in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserves, 10 years in the House of Representatives, and 30 years here in the U.S. Senate.

Now, I think anybody looking at that would say that is a remarkable and distinguished record of public service. After 40 years of representing Iowans in Congress, my friend Tom soon will leave behind the Halls of the U.S. Capitol. He also will leave behind a legacy of fiery floor speeches, passionately delivered on behalf of individuals with disabilities, also for Iowa farmers, also for the elderly, also for child laborers, and for many causes that he championed such as early childhood education, nutrition and wellness, conservation, renewable energy and the environment, and probably lots of others. But those are things everybody knows that he has worked hard on.

Throughout the years Tom and I have served side-by-side in Washington for the good of our home State. For three terms we worked together in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was here in the Senate our shared commitment to give rural America a voice at the policymaking table was sown, and for many years we worked together on the Senate agriculture committee, looking out for the millions of Americans who choose to work and earn a living in rural America. We worked together to advocate for rural infrastructure and investment, access to health care, housing, technology, and transportation.

For the last three decades we have served alongside one another in this distinguished body, the U.S. Senate, an institution that both of us hold near and dear to our hearts. Although some of our silver-tongued critics over the years may have ascribed Tom's views as those of a bleeding-heart liberal or mine mischaracterized as that of a cold-hearted conservative, we both, Tom and I, know that our hearts have always been in the right place.

Neither of us was born with a silver spoon in our mouth and we learned early on to appreciate the work ethic of our parents and grandparents. Each of us raised our families with the hopes that our children and grandchildren would achieve the promise of America's prosperity and grow up to enjoy the pursuits of happiness.

As Iowa's U.S. Senators, we have worked to keep alive the dream of hard-working Iowan families.

Now of course it is true that we have vastly different views on the government's influence on America's ladder of opportunity. However, we do wholeheartedly agree it is an honor and a privilege to serve the people of our State. For some reason our respective reelections every 6 years have actually confounded political observers. Many couldn't seem to square the notion that Iowans would continue to elect two U.S. Senators from opposite sides of the political spectrum for the last three decades.

So to explain--or perhaps I don't have to because it is widely understood--Iowans are not casual political observers. Our electorate takes pride in retail politicking and it is first in the Nation's political caucuses. We certainly have given Iowan voters a night-and-day choice between these two U.S. Senators. So while we may not see eye-to-eye on politics and ideology, we do see eye-to-eye when it comes to working for Iowa's best interests. Although our voting records may reflect night-and-day positions on some public policy, you wouldn't see the light of day between us when we worked together on matters that are of most importance to Iowans, including but not limited to natural disasters such as the tremendous floods of 1993 and 2008, Iowa farmers and agriculture, notably recovering from the farm crisis. Renewable energy and rural infrastructure have been our mutual interest. We have also enjoyed welcoming economic development leaders and constituents to the Nation's Capital.

Between the famous Siouxland steak dinner in Washington and the Harkin steak fry in Indianola, there is no doubt TOM will miss staking out Iowans to discuss politics and policy. However, I have no doubt my home State colleague will continue to champion the causes for which he has devoted a lifetime of service. In fact, I have read in news media about his retirement of what he intends to pursue, and so I have no doubt he is going to pursue out of the Senate what he has pursued in the Senate.

To his credit, my colleague's legacy reflects the priorities he set out to achieve decades ago, to make a difference for those on the downside of advantage.

My wife Barbara and this Senator extend our warmest wishes to TOM and his wife Ruth, and of course to the entire Harkin family, as he starts life's next chapter. I see my colleague on the floor, so I can look at him.

As you start life's next chapter, may you enjoy the blessings of hearth and home, health and happiness. Although TOM is retiring from public office, I am confident he is not retiring from serving the public interest. From one constituent to another, I thank you for your lifetime of public service and I wish you good luck and Godspeed.

I yield the floor.

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