Congressman Clyburn seeks reelection, emphasizes accomplishments of Biden administration

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Having served as Congressman for South Carolina’s Sixth District since 1993, Jim Clyburn announced Monday morning that he is seeking reelection this November.

Congressman Clyburn greeted a packed room of his supporters at the Waverly-Clyburn auditorium at Allen University, a building named after him in part for his contributions to the district and the school.

He listed his proudest achievement as the establishment of the “Lake Marion Regional Water Agency” — which helps provide clean drinking water for district residents.

“For the first time schools in those counties had safe drinking water for their children,” said Clyburn to the audience.

The Congressman also stressed his continued support for President Biden — listing the administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan as some of its successes.

Clyburn says through the infrastructure law, South Carolina benefited $4.8 billion in infrastructure investments including $357 million to fix malfunction junction and another $61 million for clean school buses across the state.

Clyburn reiterated that funding from these initiatives helps support his continued efforts to make sure all homes and businesses across the state are connected to high speed internet by 2026.

“As I’ve said before, we’ll do everything we can to make broadband affordable. It’s one thing for things to be accessible. It’s another thing for things to be affordable. And that’s why we worked as hard as we possibly could. The $65 billion…. over $20 billion of that is for affordability. The rest of that is for accessibility. And I’m going to continue to make sure we do that,” he says.

The Congressman stresses the importance of every person’s vote — highlighting the Biden administration’s capping of insulin costs at $35 a month, and reiterating the $2 billion in student loan debt relief that’s been delivered to around 32,000 South Carolinians so far.

“Well you can go down through history and you will see what the importance is of one vote. And I tell people if you are interested in this democracy continuing to move forward, your part in that is to cast an informed vote. Not just to go vote. But be informed about who you’re voting for and why you’re voting,” Clyburn says.

Regarding the presidential election, he addressed young voters.

“Well the first thing I’ve said to young people is ‘cast a selfish vote.’ think about yourself. You’re here in school now. Where do you want to be 4 years from now or 5 years from now or even 10 years from now? And which one of these candidates offer you the best opportunities? Not so much on what they say… and I believe very strongly, it’s not what they say that matters. It’s what they do.”

When it comes to Biden’s opponent former President Donald Trump, Clyburn says he hopes young people are paying attention.

“What did he do to Barack Obama trying to disqualify him from being President of the United States? What did he do for this African American woman who worked for him, looking in the camera referring to her as a dog? What did he do for those five young people in Central Park when he took out a full page ad asking for the death penalty for them and they were innocent, and he was presented with the facts, and refused to apologize and said he doesn’t make mistake, so don’t tell me what this man says, look at what this man has done,” he says.

South Carolina’s statewide General Election as well as the Presidential Election will be held on November 5th.