Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) announced this week that he will not seek reelection after his current term in the U.S. House, which runs through December 2014, is finished.
Bachus, the dean of the Alabama House delegation who has served 11 terms as the representative for the Sixth District, said that he will focus his full energies to his legislative duties and to his constituents during the remainder of his current term.
“It has been the greatest privilege imaginable to serve as the representative of the people of Alabama in the United States House of Representatives,” Bachus said. “It is an honor that I never dreamed could have been possible for me and the words ‘thank you’ are far from adequate. But as Ecclesiastes 3 says, to everything there is a season and I feel in my heart that now is the time for me to announce this decision and allow others to have the opportunity to serve. This was a family decision, because my wife Linda, our five children, and our seven grandchildren have always been my biggest source of support, strength, and joy.
“Since I will continue to be the representative for the Sixth District until the end of my term, I do not consider today a ‘goodbye.’ There is much important work that remains to be done and what I would like to see above anything else before I leave is a spending reduction plan that will put the federal government on a sensible and sustainable financial path going forward.”
First elected to the House in 1992, Bachus serves as chairman emeritus of the House Financial Services Committee and chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.