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Oklahoma Senator Coburn, battling cancer, says he will resign

by Reuters
Friday, 17 January 2014 04:34 GMT

Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, said Thursday that he would leave Congress at the end of this year.

Coburn said in a statement that although he is battling cancer, that is not the reason that he is resigning. His departure will leave two years left in his term.

"This decision isn't about my health, my prognosis or even my hopes and desires," Coburn said in the statement, which was posted on his website.

"As a citizen, I am now convinced that I can best serve my own children and grandchildren by shifting my focus elsewhere," he said. "In the meantime, I look forward to finishing this year strong."

A physician who says he has delivered 4,000 babies, Coburn was first elected to Congress in 1994, and served three terms, according to a biography posted on his website.

He left after his third term, but then ran for Senate in 2004, the biography said. His website says he is a three-time cancer survivor. He is a ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Ken Wills)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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