Republican Representative Bachus will not seek re-election

Margaret Chadbourn
House Financial Services Committee ranking member Spencer Bachus (R-AL) speaks during the Reuters Washington Summit September 23, 2010. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican and former chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said on Monday he will not seek re-election when his term ends next year. Bachus, 65, won an 11th two-year term in Congress in November 2012. After success in state politics, he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992. "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 in a statement. "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." Bachus was under investigation last year over possible violations of Securities and Exchange Commission laws that prohibit insider-trading rules. He was cleared of wrongdoing by the Office of Congressional Ethics. The allegations focused on suspicious trades on his annual financial disclosure form. Bachus is a former sawmill owner and lawyer from a solidly Republican and largely suburban district outside of Birmingham, Alabama. His district is likely to remain in Republican hands in the 2014 election. Republicans hold a majority in the House. Bachus said his family was the primary reason for his decision to retire from Congress. The Republican said he plans to continue to focus on cutting government spending during the remainder of his term. He became the ranking member of the financial services committee in 2006 by backing John Boehner in his successful battle with Roy Blunt for Republican leadership in the House. Stepping down because of term limits, Bachus was replaced as chairman of the Financial Services Committee by Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling. Bachus has fought against the Obama administration's Wall Street reform efforts. (Editing by Doina Chiacu) (This story was refiled to fix capitalization in the first paragraph)