Institute of Politics

Tom Harkin served Iowa in the U.S. Senate from 1984 until his retirement in January, 2015, making him the longest serving Democratic senator from his state. Previously, Harkin served 10 years in the U.S. House representing Iowa’s fifth congressional district. He is now Senior Advisor to the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement at Drake University.

Harkin’s legislative policy priorities included federal farm policy, civil rights for Americans with disabilities, childhood nutrition and food access, healthcare access and reform, labor issues, and access to and improvement of education.

As a young senator, Tom was tapped by Senator Ted Kennedy to craft legislation to protect the civil rights of millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. Tom knew firsthand about the challenges facing people with disabilities from his late brother, Frank, who was deaf from an early age. What emerged from that process would later become Tom's signature legislative achievement - The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA, known as the "Emancipation Proclamation for people with disabilities," changed the landscape of America by requiring buildings and transportation to be wheelchair accessible, and to provide workplace accommodations for people with disabilities. To preserve the intent of the ADA after court rulings weakened its standards, Tom and Senator Orrin Hatch (R- UT) introduced the ADA Amendments bill to ensure continuing protections from discrimination for all Americans with disabilities. It was signed into law in 2008.

Tom also led the fight to lift former President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, which shows great promise for new treatments of conditions like Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries and juvenile diabetes. On March 9th 2009, President Barack Obama signed an executive order lifting those restrictions.

In September 2009, following the death of Senator Kennedy, Tom became chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Tom believed that to serve in this capacity is to carry on the legacy of Senator Kennedy, who dedicated his life to ensuring that our economy works for all Americans, guaranteeing every child the opportunity to pursue a quality education and the cause of Kennedy's life: access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Tom Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa (pop. 150) on November 19, 1939, the son of an Iowa coal miner father and a Slovenian immigrant mother. To this day, he still lives in the house in Cumming where he was born. In 1968, Tom married Ruth Raduenz, the daughter of a farmer and a school teacher from Minnesota. Tom and Ruth have two daughters, Amy and Jenny, and three grandchildren.