This morning, I officially announced my intentions regarding the next congressional election. I wanted to share this with you because so many of you were encouraging me to run again. Marion and I appeared in front of the new Moosic Emergency Services headquarters building, one of the many projects I was thrilled to help fund.
The following is the text of the speech.
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I will not be a candidate in the 2026 elections. I worked 80-hour weeks at this job for 12 years. I’ve decided it’s time to give it a rest and give the chance to someone else.
For 12 years I gave it my all, and I meant to make myself useful for NEPA.
I made it to the top of the Appropriations Committee, becoming one of the 12 Cardinals, or Chairs of the Appropriations Committee.
And that helped me bring a lot of our tax dollars back here to be put to work in our local economy. About $100 million on my own signature.
In our office we placed a premium on working for economic development, and helping our local employers navigate the federal and state government.
16 of the bills I wrote passed into law. Bills that help veterans and military spouses. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, to remove a blot on our national integrity that came about from our government’s poisoning hundreds of thousands of U.S Marines and their families with carcinogens in their drinking water.
Our office wrote and passed bills that streamline government operations and make it work more efficiently. We passed a bill that is already saving American taxpayers billions of dollars every year in the routine purchasing of software products. I wrote Appropriations bills that helped bring fair compensation to federal corrections officers at USP Canaan and all over the nation.
I’m proud to say that we worked very hard in my office to revitalize the Amtrak project, which is all systems go, and I’ll continue to work with terrific people behind this effort like Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Larry Malski, Charlene Doyle, Dominic Keating, Bob Hay and the entire PNNRA Board to keep that project moving. I cannot tell you how gratifying it was to me personally to have Amtrak economists confirm that this new line connecting northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City will generate $84 million in extra economic activity every year once it gets going. That means an awful lot of good paying jobs will be coming here, and I’m so proud to have had a major hand in that.
I do want to say a few words about politics.
When you think about who to vote for, I’d suggest you don’t just always go for the change candidate. Because half the time the change they offer is not for the better.
Don’t automatically vote for extremist candidates who offer simple solutions to complicated problems. If solutions were that simple those wouldn’t be problems in the first place.
Don’t vote for candidates who scapegoat the least of our brothers and sisters. Targeting their lives isn’t what is going to fix yours. Being kind to them won’t hurt you.
Do your own research about who to vote for. The problem is, the internet has made traditional journalism unprofitable, and the money going into things like investigatory journalism has been slashed. So the sources that our parents and grandparents could rely on for the truth aren’t around anymore. People aren’t getting news from the Edward R. Murrows and the Walter Cronkites, journalists with principles, ethics and standards. Instead, people get news from the new Main Stream Media: political cable TV shows and the internet, where there are no standards and you can find support for the most ridiculous, outlandish lies and conspiracy theories they try to make you believe, about anything.
Do your homework. Do your own research from reputable sources and vote for candidates that have concrete plans that will actually help you and the people you care about. Vote for leaders who will fight for things that really matter:
For people’s healthcare, for police and first responders, for fair pharmaceutical prices, for veterans’ care, for seniors’ benefits, for workers’ rights, for civil rights, for voting rights and civil justice, for clean air and clean water, for tax fairness, for sensible economic policies and for public education.
These are the things I fought for, and I was proud to do it, and I’m proud to say I went down swinging for these things. Thanks to all the supporters, volunteers and voters — to everyone — who gave me the opportunity.
I’ll always remember my time in the public eye, to serve as what Teddy Roosevelt called “the man in the arena … whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood” whose “place will never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
And I’ll always be grateful to the people of northeastern Pennsylvania for giving me the chance to do that. God bless you all.
