Phil Roe Quotes

I never thought I would run for Congress. If you look back at a certain reality TV show, you know that.

My mother-in-law, Nanny, spent her working years as a bookkeeper at a medical office in Columbus, Ohio. Like so many Americans, she worked hard and paid into Medicare, knowing that one day she could count on having high-quality health care when she needed it most.

I never envisioned retiring out of the Congress.

As I stated shortly after retiring from the U.S. Army and first pursuing a seat in Congress in 2010, I planned to self-impose term limits.

I have been immeasurably honored to serve the people of Maine for nearly 40 years in public office and for the past 17 years in the United States Senate. It was incredibly difficult to decide that I would not seek a fourth term in the Senate.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life in politics. When I'm finished with my term as governor, I'm going back to the life that's waiting for me in the private sector.

When I came to Congress, like our first panel, small business people, 64 percent of the people had health insurance. We'd buy it. Now, we're down to about 34 percent. That's why we have to do something on health care in this country because the cost is killing us.

I treated as few patients as I could as a medical student, and I never practiced medicine.

When I was introduced to Johnson he was a freshman Congressman.

I'm a politician. I run for office. That's my profession.

If I had quietly retired as governor in 2007 and went into banking or something of that nature, I would have been, at most, a footnote in the story and probably never mentioned.

I spent 28 years working in healthcare. I thought I'd retired from non-profit community health care.

You don't train someone for all of those years of medical school and residency, particularly people who want to help others optimize their physical and psychological health, and then have them run a claims-processing operation for insurance companies.

My father was in Congress when I was born. He was mayor my whole life from when I was in grade school - first grade - to when I went away to college.

I came to Congress hoping to change the world; I now hope to be able to leave with my dignity.

If you want to be a policy maker, run for office.

The only problem with running for office is, once you are elected you have to serve.

One of the reasons for retiring from public life was to avoid further speechmaking.

Being a member of Congress is a hard job but it's an uplifting job.

Public men rarely keep their promises to retire from public life.

[Announcing his retirement:] While I will retire my seat, I will not retire my views or retire my voice.

One of the advantages of no longer running for public office is that I don’t have to pretend to be nice to people I dislike.

People have less health care and less retirement benefits than they had 10 years ago.

As a diabetic, I was fortunate to have good health coverage through my employer prior to and during my first run for office in 2004.

I will complete my second term, but I have made no decision as to my plans after Congress except that I will continue in public service, including as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve.