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Exit Interview: Rep. Pat Tiberi

Ohio Republican looks forward to seeing his daughters’ sporting events

Ohio Rep. Pat Tiberi says Congress needs to work in a bipartisan way. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Ohio Rep. Pat Tiberi says Congress needs to work in a bipartisan way. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

10 members of the House have either resigned from the 115th Congress or will be before the end of this term. Some are returning to their home districts for good while others will stay in Washington for other jobs.

Ohio Republican Pat Tiberi, 55, was first elected in 2000. He announced in October that he would resign to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable. His resignation goes into effect Monday.

Q: What will you miss most about being in Congress?

A: The people, and that’s a broad statement. My team, the people who work with me and work for me, both in Ohio and here. We’ll miss them. We’ll miss some of my colleagues. We’ll miss my constituents. We get to meet a lot of interesting people. … We have seven counties now in my district, which is up from the three originally.

October 5, 1999: Ohio Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine endorsed state Rep. Pat Tiberi in his bid to succeed retiring Rep. John Kasich. Ian Wagreich/Roll Call
Tiberi, first elected in 2000, is looking forward to watching more of his daughters’ sporting events. (Ian Wagreich/Roll Call file photo)

Q: What do you think the first thing you will do back home in your district — out of office — will be?

A: Starting my new job is the first thing I’m going to do, but I finally get to see all my girls’ sporting events. Next Tuesday night, rather than being here in Washington in session, I will be with one of my daughters at her basketball game.

[Editor’s note: Tiberi has four daughters.]

Q: If you could change one thing about Congress what would it be?

A: I feel pretty strongly about the lack of bipartisanship. There is bipartisanship in pockets here and I have great bipartisan relationships with a number of Democrats. I think, as a country, we’re kind of a reflection of the country, we have to fix this partisanship that we’ve gotten more and more into over the years. If we’re going to fix big problems in America, historically, that’s been in a bipartisan way.

[Revealed: An Exclusive Ways and Means Secret Tradition]

Q: What do you think is the most memorable moment you’ve had in Congress?

A: There’s several but I think if I had to say most memorable moment, I was here in the Cannon Building on 9/11 and it was a pretty surreal moment and a pretty surreal day. It was like you were in the middle of an action-packed movie that this couldn’t be happening for real. It was a pretty amazing day, not in a positive way.

[Meet Pat Tiberi, the Latest Soon-to-Be-Ex-Congressman]

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