During a press conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced he would retire from Congress in January to spend more time with his children.
Ryan began by saying, “I have no regrets whatsoever for having accepted this responsibility. This has been one of the two greatest honors of my life. The job provides incredible opportunities.”
He continued, “But the truth is, it’s easy for it to take over everything in your life, and you can’t just let that happen. Because there are other things in life that can be fleeting as well, namely, your time as a husband and a dad, which is the other great honor of my life. That’s why, today, I am announcing that this year will be my last one as a member of the House. To be clear, I am not resigning, I intend to [fully serve my] term as I was elected to do, but I will be retiring in January, leaving this majority in good hands, with what I believe is very bright future.”
Ryan further stated, “Now, all three of our kids are teenagers, and one thing I’ve learned about teenagers is, their idea of an ideal weekend is not necessarily to spend all of their time with their parents. What I realize is, if I am here for one more term, my kids will only have ever known me as a weekend dad. I just can’t let that happen. So, I will be setting new priorities in my life, but I will also be leaving incredibly proud of what we have accomplished. Some of you know my story, my dad died when I was 16, the daughter — the age my daughter is. And I just don’t want to be one of those people looking back at my life thinking I spent more time with my kids, when I know if I spend another term, they will only know me as a weekend father.”
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