WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee announced Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, but does not expect it to interfere with his legislative schedule.

In a statement, staffers said Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., received the news following a recent routine physical and will undergo treatment in Tennessee during the August work period.

“The prognosis is excellent, and treatment is not expected to interfere with his scheduled legislative duties,” the statement said. “Congressman Roe thanks East Tennesseans for the privilege of serving them and looks forward to continuing to represent them.”

Roe, 72, has served on the committee since entering Congress in 2009. He took over as chairman at the start of this year.

He served two years in the Army in the early 1970s with the 2nd Infantry Division, 2nd Medical Battalion. That included a deployment to South Korea for medical missions at an evacuation hospital there.

Following that, he spent 31 years working as an obstetrics and gynecology specialist in Tennessee, boasting that he delivered “close to 5,000 babies.” That work also included training at the VA hospital in Memphis and working in consultation with VA physicians for some of his private practice patients.

Roe announcement comes just less than a week after Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., announced he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. His prognosis has been less certain, but he returned to Capitol Hill for votes on Tuesday.

The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has laid out an ambitious agenda for the year, already tackling a host of veterans health care and education reforms. Roe has drawn praise from colleagues from both sides of the aisle for his leadership on the committee thus far, along with praise from the White House.

 

Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com. Follow at http://www.twitter.com/LeoShane.


Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.

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