BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — U.S. Sen. David Vitter called his tenure in Congress "the greatest honor of my professional life," as he gave a farewell speech ahead of the end to his 12-year tenure in the Senate.

The Republican incumbent didn't run for a third term, after losing the Louisiana governor's race last year. His term ends in January.

Vitter successfully pushed for term limits when in the Louisiana Legislature. While he's been unable to enact something similar in Congress, he said Monday he was "imposing it on myself."

Louisiana's senior senator said he was inspired by his home state people's resilience through disasters like hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Vitter said: "Their strength and their optimism have been powerful reminders of how blessed I've been to serve them."

 

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