Rep. Niki Tsongas (D., Mass.) announced Wednesday that she will not seek reelection in Massachusetts' third congressional district.
Tsongas is a member of the House Armed Services and Natural Resources committees, and she will serve out the remainder of her term. In a statement, she expressed pride in her leadership on matters related to women in the military.
"I'm especially proud of the role I have been able to play in challenging the ways in which women are treated in the military, understanding that if you change the culture of one of our country’s rightly honored bedrock institutions, you can change a country," she wrote.
She also touted her part in bringing up the female representation in Massachusetts at the state and federal levels.
"I'm proud that my election marked the first time in a quarter century that Massachusetts sent a woman to Congress," she wrote. "Since that door cracked open, the Commonwealth has elected another female member of Congress, our first female US Senator, and in my district, 50 percent of our state legislators are now women, paving the way for even more women from our state to serve in political office bringing their voices to all we value as a country."
Tsongas' late husband, Paul Tsongas, served as U.S. senator for the commonwealth of Massachusetts and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. She credited him with inspiring her to public service, in which she has represented Massachusetts in Congress since 2007.
"It has been my heartfelt honor to serve the people of this district over the past ten years and I have been guided all along by an extraordinary role model in my late husband Paul," she wrote. He passed away in 1997.
"The time feels right most especially because of my desire to spend more time enjoying and celebrating my wonderful and growing family," she wrote.