>> Kentucky's former 3rd congressional District Representative John Yarmouth served 8 terms in Washington.

He's back home in Louisville and passing the baton to a former state senator who represent Louisville in Congress.

I talked with the former congressman about his service proudest achievements.

What he wished was accomplished during his tenure and even what's next.

That's now on connections.

♪ ♪ >> Welcome to you.

And thank you so much for joining us for connections today.

I'm Renee Shaw, a former newspaper editor turned Congressman has left the life of the Beltway to return to the Derby city after 16 years of service.

>> It was wants chair of the powerful House Budget Committee and made the rounds on national media as we all known and seen now that John Yarmouth has relinquished that seat representing Louisville.

What we do now, what are is reflections on his service in Washington.

For those answers we're pleased to have.

He is always going to be the congressman from the John Yarmouth.

Thank you so much, sir, for.

>> Thanks to you know, it's great to be with How how are you feeling?

I just have to ask you that >> haha.

>> Yeah, I KET decided to make the announcement I I would miss it terribly.

you know, I know that as time goes on, I will deal with that.

But it's very it's very difficult right now.

I'm leaving my dearest friends from 16 being in that historic place every day.

And I'm being realizing you're part of history, even though sometimes it's history.

That's not not.

You want to brag about, it it's it's rough.

it's been a great honor.

Its, you know, the people of Louisville have been so good to me of course, they elected times, but also just in in day-to-day of just falling in love again and again and again with the people that I represent right.

>> So many people were shocked by the announcement of your retirement and wonder why why now, when so much seem to be at stake.

What was the reason?

>> Primarily because I was about to turn.

75 just turned 75 this past November wanted to control the rest of my life.

1, 1, thing that anybody who served in Congress knows is your time is not yours.

Then of 2 young grandsons, 3 and a half and 6 months.

And I don't want to miss any of the significant events in their lives.

Also, I think there's a time to to give things up and I was so happy that Speaker Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, he decided to step down from the leadership roles anyway.

And there are 82 right.

But it's time for new generations of hand.

You know, the the world is moving so fast right now, things are changing so rapidly that you need people who are a little bit more adaptable, flexible will bring new energy to the job.

The and I think more guns going more in the guard is going to do that as the 3rd district congressman and so as I've said, many people out, I really didn't want to go, but I was not prepared to stay right, right.

>> And you can also see the writing on the wall to about how the House may flipping its control to the hands of the GOP.

That was not as big a factor because I was not as pessimistic as many I thought we had a 50, 50 chance of of maintaining control.

>> But then again, you know, it's German of the Budget Committee for 4 years that that's a lot of work and a lot of pressure and I was I was ready to relax a little bit, right?

Yeah, that's one of the things I did talk to now.

By the time this airs Congressman Morgan McGarvey about is that he's going in that time.

>> Where there is, I'll call a new generation of leadership among back conference urged our Democratic caucus that you've came Jeffries.

And you know, and I think the oldest in the leadership is what 58 or 59 right, right?

So I mean, how do you know you just made the point?

But, you know, you think about what that can do to a site, the party and a new one, a and all 3 of them.

By the way, were elected in So the and that's pretty amazing at your 3.

Top leaders have only been there 10 So I mean, that's highly unusual.

>> So that that's good.

I mean, it will.

It will motivate a lot of younger members the do the right thing and I think, yeah, it will be and it will be a new atmosphere and a new energy.

I think that's good.

Yeah.

What will you miss?

Well, miss, I will miss the people for you know, the for the you know, maybe it maybe time will tell that be able to KET doing this.

But one of the things that out discovered very early service was the most important part of this job was to make people feel they had a connection to the government.

And so that's a simple as visiting schools going to churches and synagogues going to Costco in the weekend and talk to people and community festivals, whatever it is.

And I miss I miss that and that I never dreamed that that was such an important part of the job.

One has initially decided to write this that as well.

you know, I'll be around town and yeah, just go to Costco and still going to go more often.

If you want to do which we all do.

>> I did want to ask you about the floor speech you gave Rich and they said, you know, your final floor speech and >> you made it through and almost into and and humid.

You mentioned your chief of staff and you just overcome and gratitude to her for how she had served.

Not just you, but the nation >> Well, Julie Carr is a Louisville u of L graduate.

She worked for a number of members before I got there and I didn't know her.

A couple days after I got elected in 2006, she called me and she you know, I'm my name is Julie Karma, Louisville native Louise Slaughter's chief of staff, Louise Slaughter, then being the chair of the Rules well about to become the chair of the Rules Committee.

Actually a native of But she said I never thought to have a chance to work for a Democrat from my I'd like to talk about being your chief of staff.

And so she made the decision to leave one of the most powerful people in Congress.

Lewis won't slow to come to work for me and, you know, as I said in the if she had left me at any time during the 16 years, I think I retired the next day because I couldn't have done the job without her.

She's like an alter ego and yeah, I can't imagine a better friend.

Yeah, I get sure he choked up thinking about right now.

But she's just been incredible.

And so, yeah, I rehearse the speech the morning before a gave it and I totally lost and I'm standing in my kitchen in Washington.

A lot of it that I did that the morning of speech and I got through it fine.

And but the the moment, the moment and the atmosphere that's different when it's this is the thing right now.

And there won't be another time was again, that that makes perfect sense.

Well, you did start off with a more comedic notes.

>> wound Zahn and the circus.

And I want you to to to tell us what you're really talking about several years ago, I ran into a former friend of mine and I asked him how you >> miss it.

And he said, I don't miss the circus.

I miss the of repeated that hundreds of times.

And it's a great way to describe because I think most members will tell you that that's what they miss most is the >> collegiality and but they don't miss the the every day for the garages.

But what I went on to say was are certain things about the circus that I will miss.

And things like.

I really love the debates.

We had, even though, as I said in the they never changed anybody's But those debates are really important for the country to have.

And down here.

So that on not don't miss the fact that so much of what we say on the floor and committees comes from the border side of our nature.

Instead of the best side of our nature.

And we're doing a lot of performance.

Art and the political theater.

yeah, that's it's a great way to put it because that I think that's again, every former member I've talked to said the same thing.

I miss my colleagues.

Yes.

>> Are you still going to where the F on your lapel?

Sarah have been thinking about that?

Probably not.

And we should remind people if they don't know.

That's because you have consistently gotten an F rating from the National Rifle Association.

Annual warned this proudly for the last 4 years.

Yes, and it's interesting that >> I get my portrait hung in the Budget Committee room as a as a chair and former chairman and I had to decide whether I wanted the f 10 on my porch of and I finally decided, yeah, I mean, every every session of it that Iran is chairman, I had the F and then on.

So it should be on the part of it.

>> It's part of your board.

>> But I'm going, you know, Morgan, I'm going to want to honor that put any pressure on him.

But hopefully he'll get an F rating from the NRA and he can be the repository.

>> I love the fans will.

It does seem I mean, we talked about gun control and then he had the bill in the state Senate right now.

The crisis aversion rights retention.

So it's kind of a red flag I do want to talk to you about kind of missed opportunities and policies, policy proposals that have languished for years and gun control, even though there's been some movement and in a direction we've heard the president say there needs to be more, Don.

And we've had some recent incidents that says something is still not working here.

Do you believe that's one of the greatest missed opportunities that you would see during your Absolutely.

And we passed the first gun safety last year in since the Mid 90's, which was a step in the right direction.

It was totally We need to do so much more.

>> And the American people want us to do so much more.

The members of the NRA wants to do so much more.

Which is interesting.

Yeah.

And but you know, the the NRA has a hold on mostly the leadership of the illusion.

That man right on the mostly on the Republican side and we haven't been able to get anything more significant than we have been able to do universal background checks and anything with assault weapons and so forth.

Red flag laws and these are things that the American people think are very reasonable things to do by huge >> And just the political will is not there.

The courage to do that is that often the reason why things just like wishes because of the money that's in politics and the influence in politics, the lobbying that goes along and this the constant need to seek reelection.

>> Of course, and we particularly in the house where you have most of the districts are a pretty much solid Republican or Democratic district.

So members are not afraid of challenges from the others.

The other party, they're afraid of child challenges from their own party in the primary so that those issues become much more significant than they in the general election.

But you mentioned one thing.

That's also my great frustration is that we haven't been able to do anything about money in politics and starting with.

the the not the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court and then a subsequent decision, the neighbor, which I can remember, but just open the floodgates we even even those who.

You've like Mitch McConnell had once said, you know, the answer is disclosure.

Well, we tried to pass what we call the disclose act and Republicans have blocked that.

you know, now we have a situation in which one guy gave a billion and a half dollars this year.

2 of the put it in the political system.

And that's just crazy.

but that's that's another reason.

You're right.

Why the the members it's so hard to get certain actions taken at some point because they're so dependent on.

>> On the money and the gerrymandering, right, that it now has really given a buoy to those on the extreme left and the extreme right.

And like you said, it's not so much worrying about the general election.

It's being primary that right but it seems like in this what will it is?

The 100 18th Congress?

There was some pushback from French, right?

Would you agree with that?

>> There was.

I was glad to see that.

there were a number of elections where you had people primarily on the Republican side who were election than Ayers, we're kind of we're indoors by Donald Trump and had to bow.

Donald Trump really won the 2020 election or elections are corrupt and we need to worry about that when there's no evidence that they are.

And most of them lost, which was a good sign.

>> I remember one time.

I think it was we talked in the August of 2021 and the infrastructure measure had passed and we're talking about build back better.

>> And when we were all fair, you know, you seem to be almost emotional about the opportunity that those set of proposals would would really do for this country that we had not seen in decades.

Scores.

Do you also believe that there needs to be a reevaluation of what the priorities should be?

What's the main men who determines, you know, what is the main thing when it comes to investment and whether that's childcare or critical infrastructure education system.

Everybody wants the same thing.

It's just how to get there, right?

But so does this of.

>> It is.

And the other thing is and I've become much more aware of this.

Start well for several years, but particularly with the the American rescue plan to get out.

My name's on that, right.

But what we that we don't pay enough attention when we're able to get something done, something big like we did in those the implementation.

And so, for instance, it we tried to get universal childcare in and universal early childhood education into the but became inflation Reduction Act.

It was going to build back better.

And I kept on the White House.

We have to be very careful about these programs because we can say to everybody we're going to we're going make sure you can afford your your child care.

But if there's not enough infrastructure, if the childcare spots aren't there, then it's a false promise that we're making and early for early childhood education we're going to do.

I talked to Marty Pollio the and the the head of JCPS and he said if we were to do that, Universal Pre K for 3rd in 3, 4, year-olds.

We have to hire 400 new teachers and build 2 new facilities.

And he said we're already 200 teachers short at the time in our existing classrooms where we're going to get them.

So that's what we haven't 10.

We have great ideas and really ambitious things.

But got to figure out how to make them work.

Yeah, the execution is really important.

There.

>> Across the aisle.

Who are your big house?

Well, believe it or not, Trey Gowdy was a dear friend and he left several years ago.

A I mean, we've had kind of a romance with us.

I know people think that's strange because, you know, when he's in public, he's he's a real But he's a very wonderful it funny guy.

M*** our good friends there's a member from Oklahoma and Tom Cole.

very closely.

He's a very faithful member of the Bourbon he can bond over bourbon.

What can as mayor of it?

>> A few weeks ago he had me over to his office to have some bourbon.

Yeah.

>> there are several You know, I've I've consider him as a very close to to Brett Guthrie and Jamie Comber and well, the coast, Andy Barr, we we because we.

The lot of times with Kentucky base problems and we we get along really well only when we're doing that.

yeah, I've I've friends and there was a guiding Rob Woodall who representative one of the the Atlanta suburbs for a while and Robin, our pretty close and so, yeah, I have have good relationships on the other.

So has now Chairman Comber asked you for advice about how he should proceed is oversight and Reform Committee But if he did, I would tell them to be very what what they seem to be planning to do.

>> Could dramatically backfire on them.

I mean, if they go after Hunter Biden and they and there is no connection to to Joe Biden of anything that hundreds done that's going back for our seriously on them.

And yeah, I know that that's what we're going to see.

Well out of the Oversight Committee, which Jamie will chair.

And some of the other committees, legislative committees like Energy and Commerce and and Judiciary and those are just going to do oversight.

They're going to try to embarrass the Biden administration instead of actually trying to work on a positive agenda and again, that.

That's has not proven to be a successful political strategy.

>> Well, and there's not a whole lot of margin to play with.

And we look at the membership, right?

I mean, so many people are saying, well, when we ended the year, it was a lame duck Congress.

Will it still be a lame duck Congress when they reconvene or when they had already convicted in January?

I mean, what are your thoughts about what can actually get done with been.

Majorities on either side?

>> Well, it's going to be very difficult for the Republicans to get anything primarily because they don't really have an agenda.

You know, you heard Mitch McConnell say give us that, give us the power to give us the majority.

And we'll tell you what we're going to do.

And Rick Scott put forth an agenda which immediately of most Republicans disavowed because it was so politically toxic and all we've heard about them now is that the that they're they're going to change the rule on what we call pay.

Go, which means if you if you have a bill that firm that has more spending and all the new spending, Jeff to offset it with either new revenues or cut somewhere else.

They want to do something called cut go, which means if you want to do that, you cannot generate new revenue.

If you want to have additional spending, you have to cut somewhere else.

But that doesn't include unpaid for tax cuts.

So they're basically back to 2017 when they're setting themselves up so they can cut taxes for the very wealthiest Americans and and not have to worry about whether it's compensated somewhere else in the budget.

Again, we're going to see not much none terms of a positive agenda unless.

Kevin McCarthy or whoever becomes the we may know by now, show airs less.

They take the position that it's good to work with.

and get 30 or 50 Republican votes to get something done.

Yeah.

And and one of the things that we absolutely have to get done.

I don't know if Republicans are going to be willing to do it.

Is immigration reform.

We have to do.

It's not.

It's not optional.

We have a broken system.

We see it every day and they they complain about it, the Republicans, but they're not willing to legislate solve the problem.

And that's one thing where I think there's a real opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to work.

And we've heard Congressman calmer talk about that.

They call a border crisis and talk about fentanyl and illicit drugs that are coming across the border and how to deal with that.

Yeah, they're very serious problem.

When I worked on immigration reform in 2013 and a bipartisan group of it.

>> Sadly, we're not able to get the we came to an agreement.

We thought we KET we had a bill to pass.

Speaker John Boehner at the time would not bring it to the floor.

The Senate already passed a bipartisan measure.

So we had a real opportunity there.

Tragically, we didn't take advantage of.

I do want to ask about maybe the darkest day of your services that January 6 course.

Yeah.

I'm a day that I still had not of.

>> I was in my office by myself that that day we had told the staff to stay home.

Not because we anticipated an attack on the Capitol, but we KET there were a lot of crazy dangerous people in the city.

So I was there we were evacuated twice the second.

But the second time we were we were stay in your office, lock your doors, stay within the windows.

And so I was there for 6 or 7 hours.

Watching what was on TV, getting texts from my colleagues, some of whom are in the chamber and had to put gas mask on and where fear and feared for their lives.

It was it was a a day that, again, I can still process because it was like what country, a land mine and we even at that time we we weren't seeing what was going on inside the Capitol.

Sure.

You know, we will.

We saw what everybody else did and gosh, after and later died days after that when we realize what with what they did inside the Capitol.

worst worst day of my service for >> A better day of your service.

Our best day.

>> Willow, there would be to one woods when we passed the Affordable Care Act.

Back in I was on one of the 3 committees that drafted the bill.

So I felt I had a role in albeit a small one.

you know, to know that, for instance, in Kentucky, we reduce the uninsured rate by I think about 85 or 90% and was just astounding.

What with the progress we made for individuals that was that was one of the reasons I just want to go to Congress was to work toward universal health care.

So that was a big deal.

And then the American rescue plan again, you that we passed that.

Well to finally about 2 o'clock in the morning.

And I had to stay around for.

To do some clerical things.

And then because I managed the bill on the floor and I'm driving back to my place and yeah, I was just overcome liking.

Gandhi realize how many millions of people you just helped write.

And the next day I got home the little of on sitting at lunch and phone rings and it's a weird number.

But it from Washington that ended an 0, 0, 0, 0, sum of better answer the answer.

The woman's it Congressman, do you have a minute to talk to the president?

Oh, wow.

And so President Biden came Honda to thank me for all the work I've done for the leadership on that.

So, yeah, that's pretty pretty heady moment right?

>> It just thinking about all the conversations were now still having about even some saying that there was too much money.

That was I given by the federal and investigating how that was used, particularly when it comes to unemployment insurance and and all of these things.

I mean, are there any regrets about how much was invested to bring the country back from COVID >> you know, I think it's easy in hindsight to see where overdid But at the time.

We had a kind of me that basically stopped and, you know, 20 million people lost their jobs so many segments of the economy basically just shut down.

We felt that in order to head off a really deep depression that we had to get lots of money into the economy.

And sure people got money that they didn't need and that one of the things that we that I at least took away from that whole experience was we have to fit again.

relates to implementation.

We have to figure out how to have an emergency program that logically gets resources to people.

You know, we with FEMA for natural disasters and so forth, but we don't have it on the financial side.

And for instance, the PPP program, which the payment protection plan, we said, OK, SBA, small Business administration, you implement this.

They don't have the staff to do that, right?

They just didn't do it.

So, yeah, there was a lot of a lot of people got money that they lot of people committed fraud and a lot of people got money.

You really didn't need it.

But again, I think in the final analysis we headed off for a much deeper a decline in the economy.

>> We'll have to have you back to talk about a book.

Maybe that you're writing, you'll be even next door to Austin Martin School.

So we're so excited to see what's next in and catch up with you.

When you catch your breath.

Absolutely love.

Thank you, Congressman, for your service.

Thanks so much.

So many ways.

Thanks so much.

And thank you for watching connections today.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Watch each week night.

Kentucky Edition to stay in the know what's happening with the federal delegation in Washington and in our state.

Take really good care.

And I'll see you soon.

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