Source: PRESS RELEASE, 11/7/13

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) announced today that he would not seek a 16th term in office next year.  At a crowded news conference, also packed with several hundred friends and well-wishers, Congressman Coble said his chronic back problems and long-standing battle with skin cancer forced him into retirement.

        “I still have the energy and the interest to discharge my congressional duties,” Rep. Coble told the crowd, “but my back trouble and battle with skin cancer are troublesome, so that is why I have decided to retire.”  Rep. Coble headed to the airport immediately after the news conference to fly to Washington.  On Friday morning, Rep. Coble has an appointment with skin cancer doctors at Bethesda (Maryland) Naval Medical Center to have stitches removed from his latest skin cancer surgery on his ear.  He will return to North Carolina on Friday afternoon.

        “Being asked to name a greatest accomplishment during my three decades in Congress,” Coble stated, “I would have to say that it is the countless thousands of people we have been able to assist throughout the Sixth District.  Having been blessed with a dedicated and talented staff, residents of the Sixth District have long-known that if they had a problem with the federal government, they could turn to our offices for assistance.  I am equally proud of the accessibility that I have maintained throughout my time in office.  I think it is important for elected officials to be visible and accessible and, pardon my immodesty, I feel I have lived up to that goal.”

        Rep. Coble is the longest-serving Republican in the history of the North Carolina congressional delegation.  If he serves until the last day in office of the 113th Congress, he will have served for 10,958 days.  He was first elected on November 6, 1984, and reelected 14 more times.  He currently chairs a House Judiciary subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the nation’s intellectual property laws along with federal courts and prisons.  He is also the fourth-ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee.