Brown has been a U.S. Senator since 2007 and chaired the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Ohio House of Representatives and as Ohio’s Secretary of State. In 2024 he lost his bid for reelection against Republican Bernie Moreno in a race that was marked by record spending.
He spoke about how his parents met and had opposing political views, but credited them with his values that he brought to the Senate, saying, “The role of government is to help the little guy; the big guy can take care of himself.”
He also said that the duty of a lawmaker is to speak with their constituents and to bring back their concerns and ideas to Congress to magnify their voices. For inspiration he said he drew on John Quincy Adams circumventing congressional rules not to talk about slavery to read out letters from his constituents on the evils of owning slaves.
“Then as now, our duty is to amplify the voices of the people who we serve. To be their megaphone, we start by listening,” he said.
Most of all, though, Brown talked about fighting for working people above large corporate interests, saying that a congressperson’s job is “not to listen to Wall Street, not the drug companies, not the railroads, but to fight for the people who make this country work.”
In particular he touched on the fight over worker pensions that led to the Butch Lewis Act, the fight for the Heath Robinson PACT Act to secure health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and the fight for lower drug prices that led to the cap on insulin prices for Medicare recipients and ability for Medicare to negotiate some drug prices in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
“Politics isn’t about left or right, it’s about whose side you are on, who you are willing to fight for,” he said, adding that true populism lifts all people, doesn’t tear others down, doesn’t play to race or division and is about putting workers at the center.
He called for continuing to fight against large corporate interests, pointing to events in eastern Texas where a judge struck down rules that guaranteed overtime pay for workers making between $35-40,000 per year.
Corporations never just give workers benefits, Brown argued, touching on multiple fights for adequate compensation and better treatment culminating in the fight against the interests of large drug companies to cap insulin prices for Medicare recipients and allow Medicare to negotiate some prescription drug prices.
Brown choked up early in the speech while talking about his team.
“All of them have dedicated themselves to making sure their colleagues land well and making sure case work for Ohioans has been handed off to other members of Congress,” he said.
He also choked up later when addressing his family and thanking and talking about his wife, saying “her talent is only exceeded by her kindness and spirit.”
Speaking on the future, Brown said that he would continue to fight for workers, saying “If you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work every day.”
“This is my last speech on the senate floor, but I promise you this is not the last time you will hear from me,” he said.
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