Longtime Bush aide leaving State Dept.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes is planning to leave the Bush administration at year's end to return to Texas, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Hughes, who is Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, said she was proud of her accomplishments, USA Today reported. She has worked with President George Bush off and on since he was governor of Texas.

"I feel that I've done what Secretary Rice and President Bush asked me to do, by transforming public diplomacy and making it a national security priority central to everything we do in government, while also engaging the private sector more extensively than ever before," she said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Hughes "made it possible for every ambassador around the world to feel comfortable going out and talking about America's message, pressing the public diplomacy case."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told USA Today Hughes "feels she has done a lot to set up the systems in the public diplomacy program."