By Associated Press
Buffalo, NY – Long-time Southern Tier Congressman Amo Houghton says he's retiring.
The 77-year-old Republican from Corning made the announcement Tuesday morning at a restaurant in his hometown.
Houghton says it's time to step down after 18 years in Congress representing parts of eight upstate counties in a district that stretches from the Finger Lakes to suburban Rochester and south to the Pennsylvania line.
Houghton -- who served as CEO of Corning Incorporated before entering Congress -- praised his home district, calling it a "very special area."
In his nine terms in Congress, Houghton displayed a moderate bent and became a member of the "Republican Main Street Partnership" -- a group generally voting as fiscal conservatives and social moderates.
This year he fought a Bush administration proposal to close the Veterans Affairs hospital in Canandaigua.