federal courts to take them back…to slave states." He later defended this characterization in an interview in the Wall Street Journal. President Obama referred to O'Brien's remark in a September 26, 2013 speech on the Affordable Care Act at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, saying "You had a state representative somewhere say that it's as destructive to personal and individual liberty as the Fugitive Slave Act. Think about that. Affordable health care is worse than a law that lets slave owners get their runaway slaves back." Post-Speakership After Republicans lost control of the House, O'Brien did not run for a leadership position or seek to serve on a committee. Instead, he transitioned towards running for New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district against Democratic Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster in the 2014 elections. However, in August 2013, he announced that he would not run. Instead, he became COO of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based U.S. subsidiary of the German software company Brainloop. In 2014, Republicans regained the House of Representatives. O'Brien ran for Speaker of the House, but lost to Shawn Jasper. O'Brien is now the President/CEO of technology company RegDOX Solutions and a Principal and co-founder of Liberty Tree Consulting & Strategies. References External links Representative O'Brien's page on official New Hampshire House of Representatives website 1951 births 21st-century American politicians Living people People from Mont Vernon, New Hampshire Speakers of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Republican Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Candidates in the 2020 United States elections