A Washington newspaper says Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is one of the top 50 richest members of Congress. The newspaper " Roll Call " says Harkin, a Democrat, is the 27th richest House or Senate member with a worth of $10.5 million.
The paper’s rankings are based on the disclosure statements. The statement for Harkin shows his minimum net worth had doubled since 2006 as Harkin’s wife Ruth purchased about five-million dollars worth of stock in 2007. The disclosure form says Ruth Harkin purchased over one million dollars worth of stock from United Technologies Corporation where she used to be a vice president.
The paper speculates that Ruth Harkin may’ve received stock owed to her under her United contract and converted it to other securities. The paper says the other assets owned by Harkin or his wife jointly total less than $100,000.
No other Iowans were on the newspaper’s top 50 rich list. Roll Call says Senator John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts is the richest member of Congress, with a worth estimated at nearly $231 million. The paper says its efforts to rank the richest members of Congress are hampered by the financial disclosure forms with require assets to be reported in broad categories leading to what is says are "extraordinarily unreliable sources of information."