Harkin back to a great society

Monday morning I missed class, for an opportunity to hear from one of my heroes Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. Harkin was first elected to Congress in 1974, and became a senator in 1984. Without him and the work that he has done throughout his career, my life, and the lives of all Americans would be very different.

Sen. Harkin has helped to pass legislation to make our food supply healthier, by requiring inspections and safety regulations relating to our food supply. He helped create government funding for college students through Pell Grants. He also initiated head start programs, and is currently working on early education legislation. All of the work he has done has touched my life and the lives of my loved ones. But, it is his work in crafting legislation that would later become the American with Disabilities Act that truly makes him a hero in my book-- and why it was important for me to see him.

To me Sen. Harkin is the perfect politician, because he puts people first. He says that the climate in Washington has changed over the past 30 years, and told a story about what it used to be like in the early days in Washington. There was a cafeteria in the basement of the House of Representatives, where all the representatives would break bread together. He said it was a great way to build relationships and get to know one another off the record, which made working together and reaching compromise a much easier task than it is today. Unfortunately, the lunches stopped in the 80s, when the laws surrounding campaign finance began to change. Then the representatives spent their lunch time campaigning and “chasing the money”, as he calls it.

It was quite inspiring for me to set in the top floor of the LBJ Library and listen to a man who still embodies those ideals. He worked with and had a personal relationship with LBJ, and spent a good deal of time talking about the Great Society, and where we've gone wrong. He says that there is a big problem in the party system itself, because there used to be conservatives, moderates, and liberals in both parties. However, for some reason the Republican Party has become more and more rigid and conservative. It is because of their rigidity, productive debate has become a thing of the past and true compromise a rarity. In that climate, it is ideology the rules-- not the people.

Much of Harkins time Monday morning, was spent having a Q&A with the audience, where he encouraged open debate, because he feels that through conflict and productive debate powerful change is possible. He embodies a quality few people I know have, which is something I would describe as respectful curiosity. I wasn't able to muster up the courage to ask my question, but I had to shake his hand and thank him personally for how much the ADA has impacted my life. I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk with the senator, and it was during our talk together that one of his aides came over to remind him he needed to catch a plane. He invited me to walk and talk with him, so I rode the elevator with Sen. Harkin, the dean of the LBJ School and several of their big donors, and the Senators staff. We had a lovely conversation where he recommended a few books for me to read, offered for me to be in e-mail contact with him, and encouraged me to be in contact with one of his assistants who lives here in Austin. All in all it was a pretty amazing morning-- it's not every day that you get to meet one of your heroes.

Senator Harkin's Web Site: http://harkin.senate.gov/

Audio files from a recording I made of the talk:

Sen Harkin 10-17-11 at LBJ Part 1 (1).m4a

Sen Harkin 10-17-11 at LBJ Part 1 (2).m4a

Info about LBJ and The Great Society: http://www.ushistory.org/us/56e.asp