Thank you, best wishes, and God bless ya, Senator @TomCoburn
Coburn, arguably the most staunchly conservative, principled (not to mention pro-life) man in the Senate announced today that he will be resigning at the end of the year. Via The Oklahoman (hat tip):
WASHINGTON β Sen. Tom Coburn, who has spent a combined 15 years here rooting out government waste and warning about mounting U.S. debt, will resign after the current session of Congress, foregoing the final two years of his term.
Coburn, R-Muskogee, has been battling a recurrence of prostate cancer but said he wasn’t leaving early because of his health.
In a brief interview, Coburn said he wanted to focus on the next stage in his life.
βI’ve had a lot of changes in my life,β Coburn, 65, said. βThis is another one.β
Coburn said he had some ideas about what he would do next but that he wasn’t ready to discuss them. He said his wife, Carolyn, was βecstaticβ about his decision.
In a prepared statement, he said, βMy commitment to the people of Oklahoma has always been that I would serve no more than two terms. Our founders saw public service and politics as a calling rather than a career.
βThat’s how I saw it when I first ran for office in 1994, and that’s how I still see it today. I believe it’s important to live under the laws I helped write, and even those I fought hard to block.β
In an interview in November, shortly after he began treatment for prostate cancer, Coburn told The Oklahoman, βI got good assurances that I’ll be around five or ten years, unless I’m another 1 in 100,000 that doesn’t respond to treatment.β
Coburn has become increasingly frustrated with the Democratic leadership of the Senate, which has routinely blocked him and every other senator from offering amendments to bills. He said in November that he would leave his seat early if he thought he and his staff could not make a difference βthat will change what’s coming for this country.β
It’s completely understandable why he’s getting out now, but all the same, he’ll be missed. Prayers for his continued good health as he heads into retirement, and let’s hope whoever his replacement is will do Oklahoma as proud as Coburn has.