Chair's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement regarding a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of potential risks associated with the drug AVANDIA (rosiglitazone maleate), which is a medication manufactured by...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the statement below following today’s announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will require new private health plans to cover evidence-based preventive services and to eliminate...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, applauded the appointment of a committee to review and update the criteria used to define Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) and Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).  The formation of the committee was...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement regarding an announcement made today by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it is opening a docket to solicit comments on how to proceed with the menu labeling requirements in the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement after President Obama appointed Donald Berwick as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Dr. Berwick is a recognized pediatrician, a talented Harvard...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on the first report submitted to Congress by the new National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council.  The Council was created under the recently passed health reform...

“I welcome everyone to this important hearing.  Nine years ago this September, two planes were flown into the World Trade Center, and the twin towers fell.  In a burst of flame and debris, nearly 3,000 people were killed.  And all of our lives were changed forever.   “We will never forget the images burned into our...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement today on the Trust for America’s Health new report “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future.”  The report shows that, among other things, adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the...

Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today applauded the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) for beginning to accept applications into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP).  This program was created to provide a bridge for employers, including...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced the panel will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Continuing Needs of Workers and Communities Affected by 9/11.”   The goal of this hearing is to learn more about the health needs...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement praising regulations issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would implement a new Patient’s Bill of Rights under the health reform bill, The Affordable...

“Thank you all for attending this important hearing.  The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – more accurately called an oil well blowout – is an unprecedented environmental and human disaster.  On April 20, the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers, a terrible tragedy.  The explosion set about a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after President Obama signed an executive order establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council.  The Council was authorized under the new health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Harkin, who...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced the panel will hold a hearing next week titled “Evaluating the Health Impacts of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.”  The hearing will examine the effects of the BP oil spill and its cleanup efforts...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a new report entitled “Enhancing Food Safety: The Role of the Food and Drug Administration.”  In 2008, Congress directed...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., following the recall of 40 varieties of childrens’ and infants’ formulations of Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl by Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare.  Harkin,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after news that raw alfalfa sprouts had been linked to a Salmonella outbreak in ten states.  The tainted sprouts were distributed to a variety of restaurants, delicatessens and...

“Today’s hearing will explore how physical activity, good health and sound nutrition can enhance students’ ability to succeed in school and in life.  “It alarms me that many health experts now predict that today’s generation of kids will be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.  Our young...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, praised the action plan released by the Task Force on Childhood Obesity this morning.  On February 9th, the President created the interagency Task Force and directed it to produce a plan within 90 days.  The plan,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today applauded the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) effort to reduce the amount of salt consumed by Americans.  The effort is based on recommendations made in a report released today by the Institute of Medicine...