Beginning August 5th, communities across the country and in Iowa will celebrate National Health Center Week.  This week is meant to raise awareness of the crucial role that Community Health Centers - or CHCs - play in providing health care to millions of Americans.  These clinics serve everyone, regardless of ability to pay, and have become a lifeline to Iowans who may have lost a job or are suffering in this economic downturn.

This year's theme is: "Celebrating America's Health Centers: Powering Healthier Communities," which is intended to showcase the multitude of ways these health centers are strengthening communities.

And helping local communities is exactly what these centers do.  CHCs serve some of the nation's most vulnerable - individuals who even if insured would nonetheless remain isolated from traditional forms of medical care because of where they live, who they are, the language they speak, and their higher levels of complex health care needs.

Last year alone, more than 170,000 Iowans chose CHCs for their healthcare, accessing medical, dental, and behavioral health services.  Today, Iowa's health centers provide care to nearly 123,000 Iowans living in poverty, which is more than one-third of the state's total population living in poverty.

Similarly, individuals and families in Iowa who do not have health insurance have also continued to grow, with many of them seeking care at CHCs.  In 2010, Iowa's health centers served more than 66,000 uninsured patients, which is one-quarter of the state's total uninsured population.  Taken together, uninsured, Medicaid, and Medicare patients make up more than three-quarters of CHC patients in Iowa.

As chair of the Senate's health committee and the Appropriations subcommittee that funds health care initiatives, I have made the expansion of the Community Health Center network a major priority.  I have worked to secure a $300 million increase in funding for CHCs this year and also to ensure provisions are included in the new health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, aimed at strengthening CHCs.  These efforts will increase the nurse practitioner, hygienist, and health care workforce and has already funded 286 new sites.  In Iowa alone, the construction and renovation funding I worked to include in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Affordable Care Act have brought nearly $30 million of investment to communities across Iowa since 2009.

We are already seeing the benefits of federal CHC policy in Iowa.

In June, the Sioux Community Health Center received a designation as a federal health center, which means the Center will begin to receive an annual operating grant of $595,833 from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This week, a clinic will expand on the east side of Des Moines, having been constructed with a $2.6 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Council Bluffs recently opened a new facility with $5 million from the Affordable Care Act, and my office continues to work with the town of Clinton to find a good site to construct a clinic there with $9 million, also from the Affordable Care Act.

Across our state, community health centers are improving care, even as they strive to serve more people.  With help from the Recovery Act, they are transitioning to electronic health records that will better coordinate care, even while they work with the State of Iowa to welcome IowaCares patients into their clinics.

I am very proud of Iowa's health centers and I encourage all Iowans to find out what our health centers are doing in your area.  To find the nearest center, please visit: www.ianepca.com.  For more information about National Health Center Week, visit http://www.healthcenterweek.org/join.html.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of my offices in Iowa or Washington, D.C. or visit my website at harkin.senate.gov.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded a total of $687,362 to three Iowa airports: Cherokee County Regional Airport, Davenport Municipal Airport, and Sheldon Municipal Airport.  The funding was made available through the Federal Aviation Administration.  Harkin is a senior member of the Senate panel that funds transportation initiatives.

"Improving the pace of economic recovery in our state means investing in our infrastructure," said Harkin.  "These improvements to Iowa's airports will bring jobs to the communities by helping to facilitate a more attractive business environment."

Details of the grants are as follows:

Cherokee County Regional Airport - $534,542 to purchase land within the runway projection zone for Runway 18.

Davenport Municipal Airport - $63,000 to perform an environmental impact assessment of the proposed extension of Runway 15.

Sheldon Municipal Airport - $89,820 to install a vertical/visual guidance system to enhance safety as pilots seek access to runways.

By Senator Tom Harkin

At a recent field hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in Cedar Rapids, a new generation of Iowans living with disabilities described their high expectations to succeed in the competitive labor market.  This group of young people, whom I refer to as the "ADA Generation," are inspiring and motivated.  The strategies they shared should serve as a national model of what can be done to increase the employment participation rate for all individuals with disabilities.

Emilea Hillman of Independence is only 24 years old, but she is already an entrepreneur and owner of Em's Coffee Co., a café where she employs six people.  After spending months developing a business plan and navigating the challenges that face any new small business owner, she opened the shop in 2009.  Em, who has an intellectual disability, uses various techniques to help her in remembering orders and now has a loyal customer base.

Ron Frank, the manager of the Walgreens in Cedar Rapids, described how his company has pioneered efforts for enhancing employment for youth and adults with disabilities.  This local store has partnered with Goodwill of the Heartland to provide a job skills training program, allowing job seekers with disabilities to gain both classroom knowledge of the retail environment and skills necessary for hands-on experience in a retail setting.

As these Iowans demonstrated, young people with disabilities know that they can succeed in the workplace, and the private and public sectors are ready to give them the chance.  But despite those facts, people with disabilities have not begun to see the benefits of our nation's economic recovery.  Last year, nearly 3 million Americans without disabilities joined the labor force, but over same period, 94,000 workers with disabilities left the labor force.  In Iowa, even with our relatively low unemployment rate in comparison to the rest of the country, individuals with disabilities face barriers to finding jobs.  As Alex Watters of Milford, a young man with a spinal cord injury, said at the hearing, "A talent pool is sitting stagnant due to the overwhelming obstacles in their way."

As the country celebrates the 22nd anniversary of the ADA this July 26th, I released a report that urges Congress, the Administration, the business community, and society at large to make the issue of disability employment a national priority.  In this report, I call attention to the bad shape that disability employment is in right now, but I also focus on several new factors, which have the potential to reshape employment for people with disabilities.  I am delighted that the new chair of the National Governors Association (NGA), Jack Markell of Delaware, recently announced that he will make boosting disability employment his top priority during his tenure of the leader of NGA.

Although the numbers highlighted in my report are sobering, I think that we are at a turning point for bringing more people with disabilities into the workforce.

For more information about the ADA, please contact any of my offices in Iowa or Washington, D.C., or visit my website at harkin.senate.gov.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that five cities in Iowa have received funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Shelter Grant, and the HOME programs.  The cities of Ames, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, and Sioux City will all receive funds to assist moderate, low and very-low income families improve their economic circumstance and to provide housing.

"The importance of helping those of modest means improve their chance to move upward economically and to provide decent housing is especially crucial for families raising children," said Harkin.  "These funds will help cities with the programs that allow these families to find quality, affordable housing and feel a sense of security in their living situation."

The Community Development Block Grant program provides annual grants to develop viable urban communities by providing housing and a suitable living environment, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.

The Emergency Shelter Grants program provides annual grants to improve quality and number of emergency homeless shelters.

The HOME program helps to expand the supply of decent affordable housing to low- and very low-income families by providing grants to fund housing programs that meet local needs and priorities.

Details of the Grant are as Follows:

Ames - $511,276.00 from the Community Development Block Grant program.

Cedar Rapids - $1,091,099.00 from the Community Development Block Grant program and $361,579.00 from the HOME program.

Davenport - $1,328,125.00 from the Community Development Block Grant program and $410,918.00 from the HOME program.

Iowa City - $ 638,918.00 from the Community Development Block Grant program and $385,380.00 from the HOME program.

Sioux City - $1,507,259.00 from the Community Development Block Grant program, $197,984.00 from the Emergency Shelter Grants program, and $376,184.00 from the HOME program.