New York congressman Chris Lee quits in Internet scandal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Chris Lee, a married Republican, abruptly resigned from Congress on Wednesday after revelations that he had sent flirtatious messages to another woman on a prominent Internet site.

"The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately," Lee said in a statement posted on his congressional website.

"I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness," Lee said.