FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2011 file photo, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., left, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. arrive for a House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing to discuss the need to create jobs. Miller, the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and a longtime confidant of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2014 after four decades in Congress. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
January 13, 2014 - 10:08 AM
WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller, the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and a longtime confidant of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2014 after four decades in Congress.
Miller, the dean of California's congressional delegation, has been a leading Democratic party voice on education, labour and health care policy. He played a prominent role in developing President Barack Obama's signature health care overhaul and has helped guide House Democrats on issues such as education funding and college affordability.
"I look forward to one last year in Congress fighting the good fight and then working in new venues on the issues that have inspired me," Miller said.
Miller, 68, was first elected in 1974 to his reliably Democratic San Francisco Bay area district and he has been a longtime adviser to Pelosi, serving on her leadership team while she was House speaker.
Pelosi said in a statement that Miller's "patriotism, wisdom and guidance have been especially valued, and he has been a close friend since my first days in the House."
The congressman's Capitol Hill home helped inspire Amazon's political comedy "Alpha House," a television series starring John Goodman about the lives of four U.S. senators who share a D.C. home while not in their home states.
Miller's roommates include Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who joked on Twitter: "Seeking roommate. 20 terms in the House & unmatched legislative record preferred. Lover of cold cereal a must."
Miller is the fourth House Democrat to announce retirement plans in recent weeks, joining Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Carolyn McCarthy of New York.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014