With roughly an hour to spare before a midnight deadline, federal lawmakers and President Barack Obama struck a deal to avoid a shutdown of the federal government — at least for this week.
“We don’t want a shutdown,” U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said, contrasting federal Democrats with Republicans like Rep. Michele Bachmann. “We are not applauding anyone who says they want to shut the government down, but evidently the entire Republican caucus in the House would like to see the entire government shutdown.”
This morning, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin raised the prospect that the U.S. Senate might hold another vote on extending federal unemployment insurance benefits before the July 4 holiday. “I hope we can pass it tonight before we…
Both of Minnesota’s senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, as well as Iowa’s Sen. Tom Harkin, introduced the Federal Response to Eliminate Eating Disorders (FREED) Act on Tuesday, which would direct the federal government to track, screen, diagnose…
Legislation to reform the program designed to provide assistance to nuclear workers suffering illnesses related to exposure to radiation and toxic substances continues to languish in the U.S. Senate.
Next week, the federal departments of justice and agriculture will hold the first in a series of public workshops about antitrust laws, competition and agriculture. The Mar. 12 event in Ankeny, Iowa, will focus on crop-based farming…
Calling yesterday’s health care summit in Washington the “the final port of call” in achieving health care reform, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) says he can see “that final harbor… without binoculars,” adding that he thinks action on a…
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is joining the chorus of Democratic senators who support the use of reconciliation — a procedural tool that would allow a bill to pass with a simple majority vote, thereby circumventing filibuster attempts — to pass health care reform measures. In a statement prepared for the Minnesota Independent, Klobuchar indicated she essentially agreed with Sen. Al Franken and nine other senators (eight Democrats, plus Vermont independent Bernie Sanders), who signed a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use reconciliation to bring about a Senate vote.
Momemtum is growing for adding a public option to the health care reform bill during the reconciliation process: Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has signed on to a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to “bring for…
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison has introduced a bill that would extend Minnesota-style, same-day voting rights to all eligible Americans in federal elections.
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