US Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat and the chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology in the House of Reprensatives, says he will not seek re-election in 2010.[AP, NYTimes, WaPo]

Gordon, 60, cited his age and his family as reasons to retire after 25 years in Congress. It’s a post he’s had ever since Al Gore opened up his seat upon moving to the Senate. Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington and another member of the science committee, has also said he would not seek re-election, as Republicans target right-leaning districts for the 2010 mid-term elections in November.

Gordon cited the America COMPETES Act as one of his significant accomplishments. But for non-Beltway types reading this, it is important to remember that Gordon ran an ‘authorizing’ committee. Just because Gordon helped pass the legislation that called for ARPA-E and a doubling of long-term basic science budgets, doesn’t mean those programmes and agencies get the money that’s called for (though they have lately). To obtain money from Congress, programmes also need the support of the all-important appropriations committees in both the House and Senate.