2009-09-17

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has been named Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senator Harkin succeeds the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who served as Chairman of the HELP Committee until his death on August 25.

As Chairman of the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, a position which he will retain, Senator Harkin has been a strong supporter of funding for the National Institutes of Health, has led efforts in the Senate to expand federally funded stem cell research, and has been active in the health-care reform efforts that the Senate has been undertaking this year. In assuming the chairmanship of the HELP Committee, Senator Harkin will exert even more influence and control over policy in those areas.

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