The Catholic University of America

Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1984, Harkin was a candidate for his party's presidential nomination in 1992, and is currently chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa. His father, Patrick Harkin, an Irish American was a coal miner and his mother, Frances, was a Slovene immigrant who died when he was ten. He attended Dowling Catholic High School which is currently located in West Des Moines, Iowa. Harkin attended Iowa State University and was a member of Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. He graduated from there in 1962 and served in the United States Navy from 1962 to 1967. Harkin was stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan, where he ferried aircraft to and from the airbase that had been damaged in the Vietnam War and in operational and training accidents. He was also stationed for a time at Guantanamo Bay, where he flew missions in support of U-2 planes reconnoitering Cuba. He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in 1972.