It is a long overdue move.
Details found at the Secular Coalition of America press release:
http://secular.org/...
"Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a member of Congress since 1973, acknowledged his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for America (www.secular.org ). Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee."
This will hopefully be the first among many to be open about their secular beliefs. It is commonly known to be political suicide to announce your atheism to the public, and it will be interesting to see if this impacts Stark's re-election efforts (assuming he intends to run).
Brian