Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas and others on the U.S. House Science Committee will find themselves with a new chairman in the coming year. Chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas has announced he will not seek re-election and will leave Congress when his term ends in 2018.
The 16-term Congressman has been considered something of a controversial chairman of the committee as he has disagreed with academics, scientific groups and government regulators in the years since he became Science chairman in 2013.
He issued a letter to constituents saying he simply wants to spend more time with his grandchildren, adding, “I hope to find other ways to stay involved in politics.”
At 69, Smith is one of the longest-serving members of congress from Texas.
“With over a year remaining in my term, there is still much to do,” he wrote in the letter Thursday. “There is legislation to enact, dozens of hearings to hold, and hundreds of votes to cast.”
While chairman when President Obama was in the White House, he often took on the National Science Foundation, the EPA and the Energy Department.