WASHINGTON — Rep. Henry Waxman, one of Congress’ fiercest negotiators and a policy expert on everything from clean air to health care, will retire at the end of the year after four decades in the House.
“It’s time for someone else to have the chance to make his or her mark,” the liberal California Democrat said Thursday in a statement announcing he won’t seek re-election.
“Henry will leave behind a legacy as an extraordinary public servant and one of the most accomplished legislators of his or any era,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.
Waxman, 74, was elected during the post-Watergate class of 1974. Over the next 20 terms in Congress, he established himself as one of the House’s leading liberals.
Sandra Fluke, the former Georgetown University law student who testified to congressional Democrats on birth control and was branded a “slut” by radio personality Rush Limbaugh, said she might run for Waxman’s seat.
