U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has included Spencer in a series of stops in northwest Iowa during the August recess.

The Cumm-ing Democrat will host a "Moving Iowa Forward-Cafe Stop" at 8:15 a.m., Thursday at Family Table restaurant in Spencer. The public is invited to attend.

Today, Harkin will be in Le Mars, Sioux Center, George before wrapping up the day in Ashton at the Poet Biorefining Ethanol Plant.

The cafe stop in Spencer will be his first appearance Thursday before continuing on to Storm Lake and Primghar. The Iowa senator will wrap up his tour in Pocahontas and Humboldt on Friday.

Harkin was called into active duty as a U.S. Navy jet pilot beginning in 1962. He first won election to the U.S. Congress from Iowa's 5th Congressional District in 1974.

Harkin served in the House of Representatives for 10 years and, in 1984, he again challenged an incumbent, winning election to the U.S. Senate.

His fifth term in the U.S. Senate is set to expire following the 2008 election cycle. Harkin has filed to run again and will face Christopher Reed, a Marion Republican, in the Nov. 4 general election.