Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank you for recognizing me this evening. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today with a bittersweet message for my colleagues. After more than a dozen years here in the House of Representatives, I am retiring/resigning this week. I have so loved this work. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the good people of eastern and southeastern Ohio. To many, the people I represent are just the flown-over of flyover country, but they are truly so much more. From Youngstown to Portsmouth, to St. Clairsville to Zanesville, these are people who care deeply. They are hardworking men and women, with strong values and a proud legacy of doing the hard things that keep America moving forward--mining coal, making steel, and producing oil and natural gas. So often they do it with the deck stacked against them, mocked by political elites who wish they would simply go away. Leaving Washington, believe me, will be easy, but leaving my job, representing these fine folks, is hard. I hear a new call. It is a call to help prepare the next generation of American leaders. I will be doing it at one of our country's finest public institutions of higher learning, Youngstown State University. It took a unique offer for me to leave the people's House, but becoming president of Youngstown State is a challenge I felt I must accept. Working with our young people to shape the future excites me and gives me hope and zeal for the work ahead. This brings me to my main message today.…”