Democracy in Action photos-June 9, 2019 Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Celebration Speeches: Rep. Tim Ryan

IDP Hall of Fame Celebration Speeches—Rep. Tim Ryan ... next >

Thank you. Thank you. It's been a pleasure speed dating with you tonight.

If you want a second date, go to TimRyanforAmerica.com.

My name is Tim Ryan. I'm from Northeast Ohio. My wife Andrea is a first grade teacher. Our oldest son Mason is 16, Bella is 15, Brady will be five next week.

And Andrea and I have grown up and lived at the epicenter of deindustrialization in the United States.

I could tell you a story about her dad, 40 years ago, when he lost his job at Youngstown Sheet and Tube, had no idea what he was going to do, had just bought a house, just had his second kid. He had to roof houses sell insurance, and cut down trees to make a living.

I could tell you a story about my cousin, Donnie, Vietnam veteran. His last act at his factory was to unbolt the machine from the factory floor, put it in a box and ship it to China.

I could go back just a couple of weeks, the General Motors plant just outside of Youngstown, Ohio that used to have 16,000 workers just laid off its last shift, devastating our community.

The reason I tell you this is because the next nominee for the Democratic Party has got to deeply, deeply understand what the workers in America are going through.

And we have, and we have in my community watched the ripple effects of these economic trade deals and everything else, the devastation, where you can't get mental health coverage, you don't have funding for your schools, you don't have funding for your roads, there's pollution in your river, there's lead paint and high rates of infant mortality, as this ripples through the economy.

The next person has got to understand that, because that person is the person who can beat Donald Trump. That's the person who can win Michigan, in Wisconsin, in Iowa, in Ohio, in western Pennsylvania, to pull these workers back into the fold of the Democratic Party. And understand that working hard and playing by the rules should matter in the United States of America. And I will promise you that I understand what they are going through, and that we can win these workers back over again in the United States.

But you know what, it's not just about beating Donald Trump. It's about putting an industrial policy together in the United States of America, so we start building things again, in the United States of America.

And we don't, and we don't just talk about $15 an hour, we talk about $30 an hour and $40 an hour and $50 an hour jobs so that if you work hard and you play by the rules, you can have a good living in the United States of America,

GM gets a bailout, GM gets a tax cut. The banks get a bail out the banks get a tax cut. Meanwhile, the worker in this country continues to suffer. It's like the old country song. They get the gold mine, we get the shaft. Those days, my friends, are over.

And I will make no promises to you, but this: Every morning when I walk into the Oval Office, I will use every ounce of power that that office holds. I will pull every lever to help rebuild the middle class in the United States of America.

Let me end with one quick story about Muhammad Ali. And Ali was walking down the street in Kentucky. And someone ran into him and said, "Hey, champ, I saw a fight you were in, when I was a kid." And he said, "Yeah." Kid said, "Yeah, and you got knocked down in the third round." Ali said, "Wasn't my fight."
Kid said, "No, no, it was a big deal. My dad took me it was a father-son thing. And I remember going. You did great but you got knocked down in the third round." He said, "Wasn't my fight. I ain't never been knocked down. I'm either up or I'm getting up."

Well the Democratic Party has never been knocked down. You are either up or you're getting up. And I will tell you that Democrats in the United States of America have never been knocked down. They're either up or they're getting up. The workers in the United States of America have never been knocked down. They're either up or they're getting up. The women in the United States have never been knocked down. They're either up or they're getting up. America has never been knocked [music starts] down. We are either or we're getting up. Thank you so much.