Tom DeLay says he quit the U.S. Congress to fight for Israel and conservative causes.
Tom DeLay says he quit the U.S. Congress to fight for Israel and conservative causes.
The former Republican majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives was forced to step down from his leadership post last year to face charges of breaking fund-raising laws in his home state of Texas. DeLay surprised colleagues by quitting Congress altogether and joining a conservative think tank.
Appearing on CNN on Thursday to promote his new book, "No Retreat, No Surrender," DeLay said he stepped down because "I had to do two things, push the conservative cause and support Israel." He said he felt he would be more effective doing so as a commentator than as a rank-and-file congressman.
DeLay was one of Israel's fiercest defenders in the House, at times deriding bills driven by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the main pro-Israel lobby, as insufficiently pro-Israel.
