Harkin Aides Launch Summer Listening Tour to Collect Ideas on How to Rebuild the Middle Class in America

Senator Tom Harkin

DES MOINES – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced today that his staff will visit all 99 counties this summer to hear directly from Iowans on how the economy is impacting families across the state. The listening tour aims to collect ideas for rebuilding the middle class in America– from recent college graduates looking for employment to working Iowans needing to secure their retirement. The tour, “Rebuilding America’s Middle Class: Stories from Around Iowa,” will begin next week.

The Iowa tour builds upon Harkin’s work in Washington, where he is examining the impact of economic policies on the middle class. In mid-May, Senator Harkin, as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, convened his first Committee hearing on this issue entitled, “The Endangered Middle Class: Is the American Dream Slipping Out of Reach for American Families?” Archived video and testimony from that hearing can be found here.

“As I travel in Iowa and across the country, I hear from more and more hardworking middle class families who feel that the American Dream is slipping away,” said Harkin. “One thing is certain: there can be no sustainable economic recovery without the recovery of our middle class. This listening tour will collect ideas directly from the students, workers, near retirees, and all of those impacted by this economy.”

Each summer, Senator Harkin’s staff visits each Iowa County to talk to Iowans about the issues impacting them and their families. Staff will then post information on their visits on Senator Harkin’s web site (http://harkin.senate.gov/) Last summer’s tour focused on the positive impact the Americans with Disability Act has had on Iowans as the nation celebrated the law’s 20th anniversary.

Source: Senator Harkin Office