GOP veteran Jim Sensenbrenner says he is retiring



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Jim Sensenbrenner, representative of the Republican veteran of Wisconsin, announced Wednesday his resignation from Congress, making the former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee the 15th legislator of the GOP announcing that he will step down before the elections of the Next year.

Sensenbrenner, 76, was first elected in 1978 and is the second sitting member of the House for a longer time. It is followed by Republican Alaska Don Young in terms of seniority. Sensenbrenner said in a statement that when he started working in the public service, "I said I would know when it's time to step back" and decided that it was now .

Two other members of the House also announced on Wednesday that they will not be running again next year: Bill Flores, Republican of Texas and Susan Davis, Democrat of California.

The wave of retirements of Republicans in the House ahead of them in the 2018 election cycle, while 34 of them were not candidates for re-election. This was the largest number of retirements of the party since at least 1930.

The Sensenbrenner District, which includes parts of the suburb of Milwaukee, is considered a safe Republican land. Even then, his departure adds to a parade of GOP lawmakers who will not return, including at least four seats that Democrats have the right to seize, which will complicate the efforts of Republicans to win back the majority of the House.

Democrats control House 235-197, with an independent and two vacant positions in North Carolina, expected to be filled in special elections next week.

Sensenbrenner was one of the principal authors of the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism measure adopted in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. Conservative lobbyist, he has made the defender of immigration restrictions, including by limiting the right of asylum and prohibiting immigrants from the country illegally obtaining driving license. In 2015, he drafted a bill limiting the Patriot Act by limiting the collection of certain data by the federal government.

Sensenbrenner is a descendant of the founder of Kimberly-Clark, the company behind the invention of the sanitary napkin. Financially comfortable since his birth, he has also won at least one lottery in the District of Columbia, for $ 250,000.

In his statement, Sensenbrenner said he had recorded 23,882 votes in the House and sponsored or co-sponsored 4,299 bills, of which 217 were passed by six different presidents.

The districts of Davis and Flores are both considered safe for their holidays.

Davis, a 10-term veteran, worked on education and military issues. She became the fourth Democrat to say this year that she will not run again in 2020.

Flores, who has previously headed the conservative Republican study committee, served five terms and declared that he had always pledged to serve fewer than six.

In addition to the 15 GOP retirees, a 16th representative – Pennsylvania's representative, Tom Marino – left Congress early this year and has already been replaced by another Republican.

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