LOUISVILLE, KY – Today, at his campaign headquarters, Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) announced that he will seek a 6th term as Louisville’s U.S. Representative in 2016.
“As the lone progressive voice in Kentucky’s federal delegation, I take very seriously my responsibility to fight for our community’s values in Washington. The Republican Leadership has become more extreme, and they have increasingly pursued an agenda that threatens the livelihoods and opportunities of families in Louisville and throughout the nation,” Congressman Yarmuth said. “I believe the work of changing the priorities of the next Congress is critically important, and that’s why I’m running for reelection in 2016.”
Kentucky candidates for federal office are not able to file for 2016 campaigns until November, but Yarmuth didn’t want speculation about his race to distract from the issues in campaigns for statewide offices.
The second ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, Congressman Yarmuth has advocated for a budget that prioritizes investments in communities, families, and businesses. While most now agree that income inequality is a major problem, the Congressman said the Republican budget would cut funding for job training, education and infrastructure, while trying to take health insurance away from millions of Americans. He has become a vocal and persistent opponent of the gimmicks in the current budget proposal that hide the massive costs of greater tax breaks to the well-off and well connected.
As a member of the Ways and Means Committee in the 111th Congress, Yarmuth was active in the development of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, which has helped more than 500,000 Kentuckians gain health insurance and cut Louisville’s uninsured rate by 81%. He remains a strong national advocate for the law and plans to continue working on improvements to ensure all Americans in need of medical attention get the care they need when they need it.
In the last Congress, Yarmuth served as part of the bipartisan group of 8, helping to craft a compromise comprehensive immigration reform bill that received wide support but was not brought up for a vote. He pledged to continue working for a law that promotes humane enforcement, provides a path to citizenship, and keeps families together.
Long before he was elected to Congress, Yarmuth was a strong advocate for equality for women and minorities, and he reaffirmed that commitment today . “America should be a place where, partners have the freedom to marry, prayer is personal, and no one ever loses their job, home, or life based on how they look, whom they love, or where they were born,” he said.
His platform was decidedly progressive but hardly partisan. Among numerous issues that receive broad, bipartisan support nearly everywhere but within the halls of Congress, Yarmuth singled out gun safety. Initiatives such as background checks and limits on magazine capacity have garnered favor from voters in both parties in poll after poll. But, amidst a plague of shooting deaths and calls for action by Yarmuth and numerous colleagues, Congressional Leadership has failed to act.
He addressed another topic that is taboo on Capitol Hill despite near universal support: campaign finance reform. The lead sponsor of a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United, Yarmuth stated, “Until we get the big money out of politics, our elections will never be honest, and our government will never be responsive to the priorities of the American people.
“As long as our laws say money equals speech, speech will not be free,” Yarmuth added. “That’s just common sense.”
Hear Yarmuth on the Rusty Satellite Show Here
