Bill Young, Florida\'s Master Appropriator, to Retire

Representative C. W. Bill Young of Florida, currently the longest-serving Republican in Congress, will retire in 2014, he announced Wednesday.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press Representative C.W. Bill Young, Republican of Florida, in 2007 on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Young, 82, told the Tampa Bay Times that he will vacate his seat representing parts of Pinellas County, on the Gulf Coast, at the end of his term for several reasons, concluding, “It's my time.”

“I don't know that I would pick out one thing,” he said by telephone from the hospital where he is recovering from a back injury. “It's a lot of things. My family, my job, my rehabilitation from my back.”

The congressman has long served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, including as its chairman from 1999 to 2005. In Florida his name adorns roads, bridges and other projects, and he is known for bringing millions of dollars back to his district, especially in military contracts - making him a target for critics of earmarks. But those days have gone by the wayside with both chambers of Congress imposing bans on earmarks in recent years, inhibiting the ability of lawmakers - even members of the appropriations committees - to bring home the bacon.

A moderate Republican, Mr. Young came to Congress in 1971, at a time when most Southern conservatives were still Democrats.

Last week he said he would vote for a “clean” budget resolution to end the government shutdown that did not touch President Obama's health care law. While he said he admires the spirit of the Tea Party members of his party, Mr. Young said he was “a little disappointed” with the gridlock.

He also discussed their hold on Speaker John A. Boehner. “He withstood the pressure for a long time,” he told the Tampa Bay Times last week. “He finally has agreed to the outspoken minority of his conference. And they're pretty much in charge right now.”

Though Mr. Young held a solid grip on his district, Mr. Obama carried it in 2008 and again in 2012 after it had been redrawn, signaling increasing difficulties for some Republicans. He is the fourth member of the House, all Republicans, to announce retirement plans this year. Representative Spencer Bachus, the senior congressman from Alabama, said last week that he would also step down.