‘I’m a legislator’

Tom Harkin says he'll miss the legislating most.

'I love legislating. I love working these things out, the interplay. Yeah, I'm going to miss that,” Iowa's Democratic U.S. senator told our editorial board. Harkin is preparing to retire after 30 years in the Senate and a decade before that in the U.S. House.

'I'm a legislator. I ran for president once, and it's probably a darn good thing for me and the country that I never made it,” he said, noting that he succeeded in getting 18 bills to the president's desk in the last two years, even in an era of gridlock on steroids.

'Too many of my colleagues draw lines in the sand. You can't do that,” Harkin said.

We believe Harkin's skill as a legislator, and the major legislation those skills yielded, will be his enduring legacy.

Again and again, Harkin was able to forge bipartisan alliances and foster the compromises necessary to push important policy forward. With each election, our Congress seems to have fewer and fewer members with Harkin's skills, and far too many who love partisan fighting far more than legislating.

We haven't always seen eye-to-eye with the Democrat from Cumming. But we admire his hard work, strong convictions and desire to make Iowa and the nation better.

Among his many accomplishments, these are, in our view, his biggest:

1. THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Clearly, the landmark legislation intended to ban discrimination against disabled Americans and break down barriers to full and equal opportunities will stand as Harkin's greatest accomplishment.

The law, signed in 1990, by President George H.W. Bush and modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has had a profound effect on the lives of Americans with physical and mental disabilities.

'The one thing I am proudest of and felt the best about is the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Harkin said. 'Maybe I'll write something about that sometime. People don't understand how long it takes to get something like that done, how many years of work, negotiations. But we got it done.”

Harkin concedes that the work is not over. The act is the subject of legal battles. The road to making all public facilities accessible, including countless buildings that predate the law, remains a gradual process. And Harkin is dismayed that unemployment among the nation's disabled still is extraordinarily high.

But the progress is inescapable.

'ADA has really changed a lot of ways we do things in America,” Harkin said.

Does he think such an ambitious bill could pass in today's sharply partisan Congress? 'In a word - never,” he said.

2. AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION

Harkin, who served on House and Senate agriculture committees for his entire time in Washington, has been a key player in the effort to make conservation part of the nation's farm policy.

Harkin succeeded in creating the Conservation Stewardship Program as part of the 2002 Farm Bill, and pushed to expand the effort in 2008. The voluntary program provides incentives to farmers who adopt and maintain practices that reduce the environmental impact of agricultural production.

More than 60 million acres of land across the nation are covered by the program, including 1.8 million in Iowa.

'And it's going to continue to expand. Farmers love it,” Harkin said, noting that incentives to Iowa producers have received more than $250 million in incentives.

The Conservation Stewardship Program is one among several efforts Harkin championed aimed at protecting the nation's soil and water resources.

3. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS

Harkin said in 1989, Iowa had just two community health centers providing care to underserved communities. But just last month in Clinton, ground was broken for the state's 15th center, and Harkin deserves much of the credit.

Harkin, as chairman and ranking member of the Labor, Health and Human Services Committee, pushed to increase funding for community health centers from $496 million in 1989 to $1.5 billion in 2014. Iowans who need primary and preventive care but face barriers in receiving traditional care have benefitted from Harkin's efforts.

And the clinics remain important and relevant as Iowans navigate a changing health care landscape.

4. HARKIN GRANTS

We know 'earmarking” has become a four-letter word in Congress, and despite the criticism the senator took for naming them after himself, Iowa schools clearly benefitted from the $132 million they received over 15 years through 'Harkin Grants.”

The money was intended to fund repair and renovation projects, including fire safety upgrades. In many cases, a Harkin Grant was matched by other local, state and private funds. Linn County school districts have received 38 grants since 1998 worth more than $11.8 million. Johnson County schools have received $775,000 in grants.

Parting advice

Harkin will miss lawmaking, and his list of successes and accomplishments make it easy to see why.

But as he departs, he's also sounding a cautionary note on the growing dominance of campaign money over politics and governing. Fundraising, he said, is no more important than working with and building relationships with Senate colleagues.

'The money has gotten out of hand,” Harkin said. 'I won't miss raising money. People say we don't do much in the Senate. Look, we come in on Monday night. We have a bed check vote on Monday night. It doesn't mean anything, you just check in.

'We're in on Tuesday and Wednesday and then on Thursday, everybody leaves. In the past, we had a Senate dining room where only senators could eat. No staff. No press. We always gathered there and we would tell stories, Republicans and Democrats. That doesn't even exist any more,” he said.

Harkin said that party caucuses have lunches on Tuesday, and policy lunches take up Thursday.

That leaves Wednesday. What's everybody doing Wednesday?

'Raising money,” Harkin says. 'That's where they go on weekends. Raise money. That money chase. I won't miss that.

'We need people there who are willing to sit down with each other and work things out. You need people there who can reach across the aisle. In the spirit of compromise, you can work things out,” Harkin said.

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