Thank you for being here. It’s a great pleasure to be among family and with friends, some of you I’ve known for many years. It’s also great to meet new friends today, committed to the purposes that bring us here this morning. For the last three decades, especially since moving back to the Midwest in the 1980s, I’ve listened intently as friends and neighbors describe their lives… talking about their families, their hopes and dreams, their long-term aspirations. I’ve learned a great deal as people have leveled with me about matters that are important in their lives. In recent months, as I weighed a congressional campaign, I’ve been especially interested in conversations about our country, about our government, and about the entire political process. It’s been quite an education.
To no one’s surprise, Iowans think our country is headed in the wrong direction. Our government seems to work best for those who need it least… people who already live in comfort, people assured of adequate health care coverage, people able to afford the soaring cost of college tuition. But all too often, our government works poorly for those who need help the most – working families, single parents, children in low-income households. We’re not getting the government we deserve.
And, a lot of people are fed up. America is ready for transformational change… change that goes beyond fine-tuning or subtle adjustments. “Business as usual” just won’t cut it anymore. I know it. You know it… and America knows it. Fortunately change is in the wind. Look at the overwhelming attendance at the Iowa precinct caucuses. In 2004, Democratic caucus attendance set what was then a new high-water mark. 124,000 people showed up on a cold winter night to perform their civic duty. But as many of you know, last month Democratic caucus attendance not only surged past the previous mark, it obliterated it! We nearly doubled the previous record: almost 240,000 people – a remarkable achievement.
Look what Iowa started: state after state, region after region, in caucuses and primaries – every week, a record turnout somewhere. There’s a sense of resolve and resurgence among Democrats that has never occurred before in my lifetime. And for all of us gathered here today, this new spirit, this new commitment, presents an exceptional, unprecedented opportunity… to change the direction in which our country is headed. And Iowans will lead the way. This November, we will not only change who lives in the White House, we will change its priorities. We will elect a Democratic President who fights for working families... for young couples saving to buy their first house, for retirees struggling to pay for medications, for parents without enough insurance for a crucial medical procedure, for family farmers squeezed by increased fuel prices and already high taxes." And, we need to make another vitally important change. We need to change Iowa’s congressional delegation by electing a Democrat in Iowa’s 4th district.
Today, I’m formally announcing plans to seek the Democratic nomination for Congress. I want to represent you and the entire 4th district in the United States House of Representatives… the way you ought to be represented – by someone who shares your values, who shares your priorities, who shares your hopes & dreams. Before I ask for your support, let me tell you a bit of my story. Paula and I are fifth-generation Iowans. My roots are in Mitchell County in Otranto Township in the far northwest corner of the County, very near the stateline. Members of my family have lived in this peaceful rural neighborhood for more than 150 years, which is about as far back as your roots can reach in this particular community. I grew up on a small family farm in a union household. I attended country school where I had the same patient classroom teacher for the first five years. As the oldest son in a family of milk drinkers, I learned to milk cows the old fashioned way, by hand… and then peddled milk at 50 cents a gallon up and down the gravel road where my parents still live. (Incidentally, my booming little business managed to cover the costs of my first semester in college.)
Dad, who retired from farming last fall, supported our family by working at Hormel’s in nearby Austin, MN, something he did for more than 40 years. Mom did everything possible to provide six kids with the support and encouragement we needed to make something of our lives.
As I look back, it was a much simpler time, yet the lessons I absorbed have had a far-reaching impact on my life: Keep your word. Help your neighbors. Do your part. Mind your manners. Wait your turn. Open your eyes. And, follow your dreams.
My siblings and I – the six of us – all graduated from St. Ansgar High School, after which I attended Luther College in Decorah, where I majored in History and Political Science. More important, it was at Luther where I met Paula. This August, it will be 30 years since we were married in Northwood, a short drive north of here. After graduating from college, I worked for then-Congressman Mike Blouin in his successful re-election campaign. Four years later, Paula and I were co-directors of finance for Senator John Culver’s 1980 campaign, a year-long experience that had a profound impact on our lives. Working with Senator Culver, I found a new career path… helping nonprofit organizations generate the community support and the funding they needed.
Since 1981, I have worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations – hospitals and nursing homes, schools and colleges, scientific research organizations and churches, human service providers, and other agencies and institutions – helping them plan, helping them strengthen their programs, helping them do a better job of serving their communities. For more than 16 of these years, I owned and operated my own company, which served nonprofit clients throughout the Upper Midwest.
I’ve enjoyed a satisfying career, dedicated primarily to community service. Now I’m running for public office. Let me tell you why. First, I believe in citizens getting involved in government, especially when the stakes are high. It’s not enough to say “somebody should do this…” or “I sure hope someone steps up.” People who care – people with drive, skill and talent – are obligated to roll up their sleeves and pitch in… something encouraged by my family and reinforced by the rural community where I grew up and now reside. Second, like many of you, I am deeply troubled about the course our country has taken – especially the bitter partisanship that often characterizes Washington. Congress now has an even lower approval rating than the President! It’s clear we have work to do to restore confidence in Washington and the ability of our government to get things done for the American people.
Can we do it? You bet! But we’ve got to start now. I’m confident that a positive, results-oriented, future-directed approach to public service can – and will – turn things around. Despite our current national trajectory, we can take the steps needed to make sure our children and grandchildren won’t inherit a world with little promise and few opportunities. One of our top priorities must be to restore a sense of financial discipline and fiscal responsibility in Washington. Second, we must extract our forces swiftly from our misguided involvement in Iraq – without endangering our ground troops there. Third, we must find a way to provide healthcare for each and every citizen living in this, the richest country in human history. And fourth, of special interest to me, we must find an appropriate balance between wise energy policies and wise environmental practices. If there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that big oil and big coal have little interest in long-term sustainable environmental policies. We cannot continue to allow them free reign to determine the fate of our environment.
All these issues converge as we think about the kind of legacy we want to leave our children. A shared goal of those in community service and those in public office is to create a better world for future generations. I’m running for Congress to change our current course and to create a better world… for ourselves and for our children. I intend to run a strong, energetic, issue-focused campaign, outlining the important changes we need to make in Washington. But it all starts right here. To make these changes, I need your support and ask for your vote – first in the June 3 primary, then again in November.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for your attention. And thank you for your support.
