Video Remarks Announcing Candidacy for President

As a congressman from Youngstown, Ohio for almost 20 years, I've watched the American Dream slip through the fingers of many Americans.

Like so many in America's heartland, I come from a long line of factory workers who helped build our nation into a powerhouse of innovation. But over the last 20 years, failed leadership and broken promises have destroyed the middle-class, forcing our economy into crisis and pushing the American Dream out of reach.

When our local GM factory was shutdown last Thanksgiving, I got a call from my daughter who was consoling her friend whose father was an auto worker and was just laid off. My daughter said to me, with tears in her voice, "You have to do something."

That's why I am running for President. It's time to do something.

As I travel through Ohio and the country, I've been inspired by the solutions that exist. On every issue, from manufacturing, to health care, to schools and education, to taking care of and healing our Vets, I find brilliant Americans who are innovating and creating REAL solutions.

And our current government and leaders are in the way of these solutions being implemented on a broad scale. We must invest in and bring the solutions that are working to communities across the country.

The devastating stress and anxiety that comes with living paycheck to paycheck, not being able to afford to put food on the table or take your child to the doctor is making us sick and has fractured and divided our communities across the nation.

We have to fix it.

It's time for us to start building the America we deserve. An America that invests in public education, affordable health care and an economy that works for all of us. An America united by a shared vision for our future.

A quiet revolution is happening in this country. One that is driven by compassion and the independent spirit our nation is known for. It's time for us to invest in our values so we can focus on what really matters: healing and uniting our nation.

Together, we can confront the challenges ahead and win the future

— Our future is now.