Dodd Undergoes Surgery For Prostate Cancer

August 12, 2009 6:45 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) underwent surgery on Tuesday for prostate cancer, a condition he announced two weeks ago. The five-term senator was recently cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee about a controversial mortgage, and is in the middle of the healthcare debate, sitting as chairman of the Senate Health Committee on behalf of another ailing lawmaker, his close friend Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

"The surgery was successful and the senator is now resting comfortably," said Peter Scardino, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. "He is expected to be in the hospital for a few days. It is anticipated that he will be able to return to full activity within a few weeks."

The surgery coincides with a month-long summer recess by lawmakers. Congress reconvenes on Sept. 8.

Dodd announced on July 31 that he had been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. He expressed confidence that he would completely recover from his condition, which was "caught early" and "showed a minimal amount of cancer," but said his "excellent prognosis" was due to quality healthcare coverage millions of Americans did not have.

"As a Member of Congress, I have good health insurance. I was able to seek the opinions of highly skilled doctors, consider all the available options, and choose the treatment that's right for me," he had said. "My hope is that we will pass the healthcare bill that we passed in the HELP Committee in the Senate so that every American will be able to get an annual physical and talk to their doctor about screening so that problems like this can be caught early and treated."

The senator also preempted questions about his re-election, joking that he may be an even better candidate "without a prostate."

Exactly a week after that press conference, the Ethics panel said Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, had not not violated any rules when he refinanced his home mortgages in 2003 with controversial lender, Countrywide Financial.

Dodd faced allegations that he had received loans with below-market rates from Countrywide. He allegedly belonged to a group, which included Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), former Housing Sec. Alphonso Jackson and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, that the company called FAOs or Friends of Angelo. The name refers to the company's chief executive, Angelo Mozilo.

The allegations, which Dodd had repeatedly denied, raised questions about the ethics of receiving special loans while in public office at a time when the subprime mortgage crisis was deepening.

Dodd is seeking a sixth term amid what could be the most challenging time in his career. Public outcry over $165 million in bonuses given by American International Group to employees in March later focused on Dodd after his role in why the bonuses were paid was revealed.

The bonuses were retention payments under contracts finalized in April 2008, to members of the AIG's Financial Products division, the very office that led to the insurer's near-collapse last year.

The Federal Reserve took over 79.9 percent stake of AIG with a two-year $85 billion loan in September 2008. At the time the biggest bailout in the nation's history, the company has received more than $180 billion in federal assistance.

The bonuses were not under the restrictions on executive pay under the Obama administration since they were outside the oversight provisions of the financial bailout plan or Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which Congress passed October 2008, and the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which became law in February.

The ARRA, or economic stimulus, initially had an amendment from Dodd limiting executive pay from companies receiving federal assistance. But that amendment was changed to allow bonuses under previous contracts.

Dodd had at first denied he had anything to do with the modified amendment, but then admitted that he had "agreed reluctantly" because the Obama administration had pushed him to do so.

At the time of the controversy, Dodd also faced calls from Republicans to return campaign contributions from AIG.