Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has announced that he doesn't plan to run for reelection in 2014. He spent 10 years in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate 28 years ago. Reading the article in the OWH triggered my memory of an experience that occurred 36 years ago. I had been promoted into a "super grade" positions a few months earlier and attended a 2-week Bookings Institute session at Williamsburg, VA. I rode down from our home in the Mantua area of Fairfax, Co. VA, with at neighbor, Andy Diedrick who participated in the same session. Andy was with the Federal Highway Commission and alerted me that a young lady, going to the session had asked to ride along with us. It turned out to be Ruth Harkin, the young Congressman's wife. There were nearly 50 of us in the class who were at about the same Federal grade level. President Ford gave his State of the Union Address during the time we were in session which we critiqued. Jimmy Carter's inauguration also occured while we were there so we watched that on TV and discussed his message. We were a pretty bipartisan group as is Bookings Institute. At least at that time, it seemed that it was a "haven" for career politicians whose party was not in office. I did have occasion to testify before Senator Harkin as Chair of the Senate Ag Committee (That included Sen. Bob Kerrey from NE) back in the early 90's when they held a hearing in Iowa while I was with the Soil and Water Conservation Society at Ankeny.
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