Senator Tom Harkin’s 78-year-old brother, Frank, died of congestive heart failure on Thursday morning. Frank Harkin was deaf, and after a diagnosis of prostate cancer he had been cared for in a hospice home in Des Moines. Senator Harkin says his brother was the inspiration for his work on behalf of the disabled. Harkin’s landmark “Americans with Disabilities Act” was signed into law ten years ago. Senator Harkin’s two sisters died of breast cancer. His brother, John, lives in central Iowa.
