Kevin McCarthy: I’m Leaving the House but Not the Fight

I’m an optimist. How could I not be? I’m the son of a firefighter. For 17 years I’ve served in the same congressional seat—the same office in which I was once denied an internship. Only in America.

I helped lead Republicans to a House majority—twice. We got more Republican women, veterans and minorities elected to Congress at one time than ever before. I remained cheerfully persistent when elected speaker because I knew what we could accomplish.

Even with slim margins in the House, we passed legislation to secure the border, achieve energy independence, reduce crime, hold government accountable and establish a Parents’ Bill of Rights. We did exactly what we said we would do.

We kept our eyes on America’s long-term global challenges by restoring the Intelligence Committee to its original charter and establishing a bipartisan Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.