Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his second campaign run for the White House on Thursday, touting his record as the longest serving governor in the Lone Star state along with his service in the U.S. military.

"I'm running for the presidency of the United States," Perry said at a rally held at the Addison Airport outside Dallas on Thursday, reports CNN.

"We have the power to make things new again, to project America's strength again, and to get our economy going again. And that is exactly why today I am running for the presidency," Perry said, while standing in front of a C-130 prop plane emblazoned with his "Perry for President" logo, according to USA Today.

He also put emphasis on the five years he spent in the Air Force at the event, which was filled with a list of military veterans, including the widow of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and retired U.S. Navy SEAL and author Marcus Luttrell.

Perry went on to focus on foreign policy, while reminding his supporters of the economic prosperity that Texas achieved under his 14 year reign as governor.

"It can be done because it has been done -- in Texas!" Perry said.

Perry also spent time criticizing the Obama administration and the president's economic policy.

"We are a resilient country," Perry said. "We've been through a civil war, two world wars, the Great Depression -- we even made it through Jimmy Carter. We will make it through the Obama years."

The former Republican governor continued by promising to help millions of college graduates with student debt, lower the corporate tax rate, approve the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline and reduce big government.

"We need to return power to the states and freedom to the individuals," he said.

Perry faces steep competition from popular GOP hopefuls like Sens. Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who is scheduled to announce his candidacy on June 15. He is also already drawing criticism from Democrats.

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa released a statement saying that Perry caused much damage to middle class and working families in Texas.

"Texas is still suffering from Perry's failed policies and misplaced priorities. He refused to expand Medicaid, leaving hundreds of thousands of Texans without health insurance. Instead of building a strong middle class in Texas and an economy that works for all, he increased income inequality by failing to raise Texas' minimum wage and vetoing Texas' equal pay bill," the statement read.

Hinojosa added that Americans should look toward someone else who will take more than just the one percent into consideration.

Watch a clip of Rick Perry's presidential announcement below.