American Physical Therapy Association

Sen. Harkin, member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources committee and the Senate Appropriations committee, spoke before an audience during the Government Affairs Forum of the American Physical Therapy Association on the health care agenda of the current session of Congress. Sen. Harkin was the chief Senate sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which ensures equal rights for people with disabilities. He cited statistics claiming the U.S. spent more on military research and development in the previous 27 months than all biomedical research since 1900. Sen. Harkin discussed his introduction of the Allied Health Professionals Promotion Act of 1991, which would increase funding for allied health professionals' education and training. Sen. Harkin also introduced the Prevention First legislation, a package of seven bills designed to stress preventative medicine programs to offset the high costs of treatment for preventable diseases and conditions. close