After thirty years in the United States House of Representatives Congressman Jim McGovern (D) announced recently he is running for another term to represent the Massachusetts second district. Spectrum News caught up with the veteran lawmaker to discuss his decision to run again. Congressman McGovern, "For me, it was a question of, you know, do I have something to offer? Do I still believe that it matters that I'm there? And I answered yes, I really do. I think it does matter who we elect to office. I think it does matter whether you have people that are willing to fight or whether people want to just retreat and give up. You know, I'm a fighter. There are two kinds of politicians. There are the talkers and the doers. I'm a doer. I believe in results."

McGovern said that after thirty years he still feels ready to fight for the citizens of the second district. He said his decades in Congress should be a plus, not a detriment. "I have the energy, I have the desire, and I have the passion, and I'm ready to fight like hell for the people I represent. I think it's kind of insulting to the voters to say that you should vote for against somebody solely on their age and not on what they stand for and not on what they believe. You know, politics is about issues. It's about, you know, what you believe. It's about who's best qualified to advance the ideas that you believe in." McGovern continued, "Sometimes people get older and they're not up to it. I get it. When it's that point, then maybe it's time to move on. If somebody's advocating you know, the ideas and beliefs that you think are important. I don't care what their age may be. That's who you ought to vote for. If they're advocating things that you disagree with, I don't care whether they're 26 or 86, you should vote against them."

A Democrat, McGovern is the ranking member of the House Rules Committee.