In defense of ethanol, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says he’s writing a letter to President Clinton today. Harkin says he will call for the President’s support on several issues related to the corn-based fuel, including the national banning of the ethanol competitor M-T-B-E.Ethanol is said to be a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline and since it can be made from organic matter like corn, can help reduce the U-S reliance on foreign oil.More frequent and less expensive airline service might be coming to Iowa with an agreement in a Congressional conference committee Wednesday. Senator Harkin says the bill could pave the way for more flights between Iowa’s airports and those in Chicago, New York and Washington D-C.Harkin says the measure aims to improve competition not only for Iowa’s bigger cities like Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, but he also highlighted Sioux City, Dubuque and Waterloo.After this week’s fatal school shooting of a Michigan six-year-old by another six-year-old, Senator Harkin says the solution to preventing more tragedies is clear. Harkin says the way to solve the problem is to get rid of guns and have stricter laws dealing with guns.Harkin also calls for an increase in social services through schools and communities to “reach out to families” that are at-risk. He points to a program in Des Moines called Smoother Sailing which tries to help children.Iowa Congressman Tom Latham says the Michigan shooting contains many elements, some of which could not have been prevented through legislation. Latham says the shooting was not a breakdown of the legislation, but rather a breakdown in a family.The boy’s father was in prison, his mother is also gone. The child lived with his uncle in what Latham calls a flop house, where drugs and guns were being dealt — a “total breakdown of the family.”
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