Okla. Congressman Sullivan Enters Betty Ford Clinic

From staff and wire reports
Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) said that he has entered the Betty Ford Center in California to receive treatment for his addiction to alcohol, the Tulsa World reported today.

Sullivan released a statement saying that he had checked himself in to the treatment center Thursday night.

In the brief statement, he says he would take a temporary leave of absence from Congress and asks for the public's support.

Sullivan was elected to the House in 2002 and made headlines in July 2003 when a car in which he was traveling crashed into a security barrier on the Capitol grounds. He subsequently sued the federal government over the incident but dropped the suit in 2007 when the Labor Department accepted his worker's compensation claim.

Sullivan told the World in 2007 that the accident had left him blind in his left eye.