--- title: DNC: Watch Tom Harkin Show Delegates How to Sign 'America' description: Watch Tom Harkin shows the Democratic convention how to do the sign for America. canonical: https://time.com/4425158/dnc-tom-harkin-sign-language-americans-disabilities-act/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-26T21:47:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:34:07.642Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Tom Harkin Show Delegates How to Sign 'America' og:description: "We still have a way to go before we can build a truly inclusive America." og:url: https://time.com/4425158/dnc-tom-harkin-sign-language-americans-disabilities-act/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7c1c1a1527bbaef/69889f89a988ca56326b8cc3/tom-harkin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The 2016 Democratic National Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Tom Harkin Show Delegates How to Sign 'America' twitter:description: "We still have a way to go before we can build a truly inclusive America." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7c1c1a1527bbaef/69889f89a988ca56326b8cc3/tom-harkin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Tom Harkin Show Delegates How to Sign 'America' by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 26, 2016 9:47 PM UTC  Tom Harkin, former Senator from Iowa, gestures while speaking during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, on July 26, 2016. Tom Harkin, former Senator from Iowa, gestures while speaking during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, on July 26, 2016.Daniel Acker—Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 26, 2016 9:47 PM UTC Former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin taught delegates how to say “America” in sign language during the Democratic national convention Tuesday. During a presentation on the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law he championed in Congress, Harkin spoke about how he [learned sign language from his older brother](http://www.omaha.com/news/tom-harkin-s-brother-fueled-his-ada-determination/article%5F87ac69b0-d54c-5a71-ae61-6a7434fac397.html), Frank, who was deaf. As delegates followed Harkin’s lead and interlaced their fingers, he told them to move their hands in a circle. “That is the sign for America,” Harkin said as he held up his hands while addressing the crowd. He then said there is still work that needs to be for people who are disabled, arguing that Congress needs to help more people who have disabilities enter the workforce while ensuring they are paid fairly for their work. “We still have a way to go before we can build a truly inclusive America,” Harkin said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4425158/dnc-tom-harkin-sign-language-americans-disabilities-act/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4425158/dnc-tom-harkin-sign-language-americans-disabilities-act/"},"headline":"Watch Tom Harkin Show Delegates How to Sign 'America'","datePublished":"2016-07-26T21:47:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:34:07.642Z","description":"Watch Tom Harkin shows the Democratic convention how to do the sign for America.","url":"https://time.com/4425158/dnc-tom-harkin-sign-language-americans-disabilities-act/","keywords":["Democratic National Convention","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7c1c1a1527bbaef/69889f89a988ca56326b8cc3/tom-harkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7c1c1a1527bbaef/69889f89a988ca56326b8cc3/tom-harkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The 2016 Democratic National Convention","caption":"Tom Harkin, former Senator from Iowa, gestures while speaking during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, on July 26, 2016.","creditText":"Daniel Acker—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/democratic-national-convention/","name":"Democratic National Convention"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4425158/dnc-tom-harkin-sign-language-americans-disabilities-act/","name":"Watch Tom Harkin Show Delegates How to Sign 'America'"}}]}] ```