WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Thomas Kean Jr. said on Tuesday he was battling depression as he returned to Congress after a months-long absence during which he did not disclose his illness or speak in public.
“This is not an easy speech for me to give,” the New Jersey Republican said on the House of Representatives floor on his first day back after missing more than 100 votes. “Talking about myself has never come naturally.”
In his first appearance at the U.S. Capitol since early March, Kean said, “Several months ago, due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing. I did not believe that this would result in a long-term stay. I was given the diagnosis of depression.”
He said he followed his doctor’s advice to remain in the hospital and described his illness in stark terms.
“It is physical. It is emotional. And until you experience it for yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”
About one in five U.S. adults has been diagnosed with depression at some point, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called Kean, the son of former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, “a genuinely good man.”
“He’s missed some votes, but he’s still been working as he was able, as he explained,” Johnson told reporters before Kean’s remarks. “I think his constituents have been served throughout this process. We’re all human. People get ailments, people have to fight cancer and terminal diseases, and all sorts of other maladies, but they’re still duly elected representatives.”
Kean faces Democrat Rebecca Bennett in the November general election in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, a seat that has changed parties twice within the past eight years and ranks as a key target for Democrats hoping to capture the House of Representatives.
Kean ran unopposed in the Republican primary for that seat. Hours before polls closed on June 2, Kean released a statement promising to be transparent about his health but pushing his return to work farther into the future. He had said on May 21 that he would be back in “a couple of weeks.”
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Morgan; editing by Scott Malone, Rod Nickel)
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