On Wednesday morning, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, M.D., held an official campaign kick off as he seeks re-election to continuing representing Tennessee’s First Congressional District.
Roe was first elected to Congress in 2008 and has been re-elected three times, serving for eight consecutive years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now he hopes to win his fifth election to the post, saying the work in Washington is not yet done.
When he began his first campaign for Congress, Roe said he made the choice to run because he saw a need for change in the way the federal government was operating.
“After a 35 year medical career and delivering almost 5,000 babies, I said we needed people with vast real life experiences outside politics to serve as citizen servants like our founding fathers envisioned,” Roe said. “Not as career politicians. I said it was not about the next election, but about the next generation of Americans.”
“I said being a good congressman is like being a good doctor: if you listen and put your patients first and give them your best, they’ll take care of you and re-election will take care of itself,” he added. “I said I believed one person can make a difference, with a lot of help from other people who also believe that.”
While he feels as if the last eight years have passed quickly, Roe said he still feels there is work to be done, perhaps more than there was when he was first elected.
“If you read the media and listen to the administration, they will tell you the country is doing fine,” Roe said. “Then if you look at the data around the country, it shows 70 percent of the people think the country is headed in the wrong direction. In the First Congressional District that number is as high as 85 percent.”
“That doesn’t add up,” he added. “Why would we feel like this if the administration is right?”
Roe said he hopes to return to Congress so he can work to help the nation turn back toward the direction it needs to go. The theme he selected for his re-election bid this year is “In Tune with East Tennessee,” which is both an homage to the state’s deep-rooted musical history as well as how he feels elected leaders should be.
“I want to keep making a difference, staying ‘In Tune with East Tennessee,’” Roe said. “When I first ran for this job I said there were worse things than losing an election. I wish more people believed that in Congress.”
“The first feeling you have when you get to Congress is ‘How in the world did I get here?’ After a few more months, you look around and say, ‘How in the world did most of these people get here,’” he added. “There is simply no substitute for the common sense and wisdom you get just from getting home every week and staying in tune with East Tennessee.”
In the next term, Roe said he looks forward to working with Republican leaders in Congress, and hopefully a Republican president, fight against “national one-size-fits-all approaches” and to work at repealing harmful policies and regulations that were put in action under the Obama administration. Two of the biggest focuses, Roe said, will be working to repeal the Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare) and helping the nation recover from the Obama Administration’s “disastrous foreign policy” to help ensure the safety of American citizens.
“For eight years now, I’ve also fought the Obama Administration’s disastrous foreign policy,” Roe said, citing his votes against the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Obama and attempts to close Guantanamo Bay. “I’ve pressed him to fight radical Islamic terrorism and show the American people a plan to defeat jihadism on the battlefield and in people’s hearts and minds.”
“We need to restore America as the shining city on the hill, and that will be a priority for me if you give me the opportunity to continue representing you,” Roe said.
The Congressman also touted his record when it comes votes on key conservative issues that are close to the hearts of many of his constituents.
“I’ve stayed In Tune with East Tennessee on the most important issue of all. I’ve kept a 100 percent Pro-Life Voting Record. A perfect score,” Roe said. “I literally made my living being pro-life. I still believe that human life is a miraculous thing and a precious gift from God. Without life, there is no liberty or pursuit of happiness.”