U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman to retire

BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced that he would not seek re-election because routine medical tests revealed he has cancer of the esophagus, according to media reports Thursday.

"In view of this development and the treatment it will require, I will not seek re-election (in November)," Lantos said on Wednesday.

Hungarian-born Lantos, 79, has served for 14 terms since joined the House in 1981. He is the only Holocaust survivor elected to U.S. Congress.

Lantos was born in Budapest, Hungary. In 1944, as a teenager, he was sent to a labor camp but eventually escaped. In 1947, he came to the United States on an academic scholarship.

As a lawmaker, Lantos supported the 2002 congressional resolution that authorized President George W. Bush to launch the invasion of Iraq, but has become an outspoken critic of the nearly five-year-old conflict.

If the Democrats retain control of the House after this fall's elections, the next in line to assume control of the Foreign Affairs Committee would be Rep. Howard Berman, who was a strong supporter of the Iraq invasion but has since voted to bring troops home, the reports added.

If Republicans took control of the House, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., would likely become chairwoman, according to the reports.

(Agencies)