WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Phil Crane's alcohol use grew to almost nightly 10-Heineken binges until a surprise intervention by friends, family and fellow lawmakers made him reluctantly agree to get help.
Now, after three weeks in a Maryland rehabilitation facility, the Illinois Republican is back in the fray of Congress, conducting soul-baring interviews with reporters and even briefly running the House floor for the first time in his 16 terms on Capitol Hill.Crane, the House's most-senior Republican and a former presidential candidate, declared Friday he has given up alcohol for good and already feels better.
"My victories are on a roll. See, rehab and now I'm speaker," the 69-year-old congressman from Chicago's northwest suburbs joked during a wide-ranging interview.
Still, Crane appeared to struggle with the widely accepted view of alcoholism that it is a lifelong addiction and disease. Instead, he repeatedly referred to it as a "habit" he has successfully kicked, even bragging that he left his treatment program after 26 days -- four days early -- because counselors deemed him ready.
"Not that you conquer it," he quickly corrected himself. "You do it day by day, they stress that, hour by hour."
He said he has been invigorated since his return Monday by colleagues' "hugs and pats" and applause.
But Crane said he was especially anxious to get back before lawmakers left for a two-week recess so he could work on his longtime pet project: extending new trade benefits to African, Central American and Caribbean nations. Indeed, a tentative House-Senate agreement was reached just Thursday night.
He also acknowledged that addressing his drinking problem was important as he strives to become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee next year.
Crane is next in line to succeed retiring Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, as head of the tax-writing panel. But Crane faces a stiff challenge.