Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) underwent 2 1/2 hours of surgery this week at the University of Pennsylvania’s hospital to remove a brain tumor.
“The operation went well and an apparent meningioma, which was 2 inches in diameter, was removed entirely,” the senator’s son Shanin said in a statement Monday.
The operation was performed Monday by Dr. Eugene Flamm, chairman of the hospital’s division of neurosurgery, who reported that the tumor appeared benign. But a definitive diagnosis will not be reached for several days.
Specter, 63, who is one of 10 Jews in the Senate, serves on the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, which makes decisions regarding foreign aid to Israel. He has been a leader in the fight against global terrorism.
Specter, who was first elected to the Senate in 1980, is also a member of the Judiciary Committee, During the committee’s hearings on Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court, he came under sharp criticism from women’s groups for his questioning of witness Anita Hill.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
