Complete 6 pages APA formatted article: Analysis of Biography and Actions of Tom Harkin. Harkin went to Vietnam as an aide to Democrat Congressman Neal Smith where he witnessed the ‘tiger cages’ (a cramped cage intended to leave the prisoner no room to move or get comfortable, depriving sleep and constant and increasing torture) at the Con Son island prison where he took pictures of abused and tortured prisoners which he allowed to be published in Life Magazine. The result of which was to bring to light the inhumane conditions within the prison, leading to the American public questioning their continued support of the South Vietnamese Government. Senator Harkin married his wife Ruth Raduenz in 1968 and they have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Congressman Harkin began his service as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives in 1974. Then years later, Congressman Harkin became Senator Harkin and has the distinction of being the first Senator elected to a fifth term in Iowa. One of his more interesting and innovating achievements is the creation of a ’mobile office’ which is run from a van from which he travels through 99 counties each year to bring his congressional services to his constituents. One of his first achievements was through Senator Ted Kennedy who approached Senator Harkin to draft a bill in relation to the rights of those with physical and mental challenges. Because Senator Harkin’s brother, Frank, had been deaf from birth, Senator Harkin was tapped as being sensitive to the needs and issues faced by those with physical and mental challenges, and the result was The Americans with Disabilities Act. This legislation revolutionized the accessibility afforded to those with challenges through requirements for public buildings and requirements for public transportation and employment accommodations.

The types of concerns that Senator Harkin has supported have been to endorse the needs and address the concerns of the American public. Senator Harkin has been active in promoting health and health care initiatives, his belief system centered on a concept he terms ’well-care’, which he believes is in&nbsp.contrast to the current system which treats people after they become sick.