TN First District Rep. Roe delivers farewell address to Congress

Longtime Northeast TN lawmaker 1st District Congressman Dr. Phil Roe presented his farewell speech to Congress on the house floor earlier this week.

“It’s one of the great privileges of my life to serve in the House of Representatives in the greatest delivering bodies in the world, the United States Congress,” said Roe.

Roe is set to retire after nearly 20 years of public service that started in 2003 on the Johnson City Commission and later turned into six consecutive terms representing Northeast TN in Congress.

Roe highlighted his time in Washington, which included service to the Committee on Veterans Affairs which he helped pass several bills to provide better care for veterans, as well H.R. 2094 signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2013, that gave additional preferences to schools applying for asthma-related grants if they stored epipens.

“With Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD-5), we passed an epipen bill so they can be put in schools around the country. I can tell you after that happened in my own district about three years ago, a student had a anaphylactic reaction, she didn’t know she had a problem, and her life was saved because of that,” Roe said.

Roe will be succeeded by Diana Harshbarger, who will become just the second woman to ever represent Tennessee’s 1st District, when the 117th Congress convenes on Jan. 3.

Photo Courtesy: CSPAN