LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Congressional Representative John Yarmuth, who is in his last days in office, gave his final address on the floor of the House Wednesday. He is the only Democrat in Kentucky’s congressional delegation and is retiring after 16 years in Washington. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rep. John Yarmuth gave his final House floor address Wednesday

  • He is retiring soon after serving in Congress for 16 years

  • Yarmuth thanked his family, staff and colleagues

  • Representative-Elect Morgan McGarvey (D, Louisville) will replace Yarmuth in the Third Congressional District 
 

Yarmuth represents the Third Congressional District and has served as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Authoring the American Rescue Plan was one of his proudest accomplishments, he told Spectrum News 1 in May. 

In his final floor speech, he talked about some of what he’ll miss; feeling a part of history, the give and take of policy debates, and many of his colleagues. 

“I won’t miss the frustrating reality that we rarely move quickly enough to deal with the challenges of a fast moving world and the fear that if this body doesn’t figure out how to work more expeditiously, we will continue to frustrate our citizens,” he said.  

It was an emotional speech as he thanked his family and staff and the people of Louisville. 

“I will be eternally grateful to the people of Louisville, who have given me the extraordinary honor and responsibility to represent them here,” he said. “I will leave the House proud of my work, grateful for the opportunity to serve here and committed to continue to serve our great country and its people.”

Yarmuth announced last year that he would not seek reelection and quickly endorsed Democratic State Senator Morgan McGarvey, who was elected to replace Yarmuth last month. 

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