Rep. Louise Slaughter, who served in Congress for more than 30 years, has died
WASHINGTON – Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a Rochester-area Democrat who represented parts of Buffalo for a decade and who left a legislative legacy on issues ranging from health care to government ethics, died early Friday at George Washington University Hospital. She was 88.
Slaughter died about a week after she suffered a fall and a concussion in her Washington home.
First elected to Congress in 1986, Slaughter represented a series of Western New York districts over the years, rising over time to be a leading liberal voice in the House and a confidant to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Pelosi said she and her husband, Paul, were heartbroken to hear of Slaughter's death.
“It was my great privilege to serve with her and to benefit from her friendship and wise counsel for 30 years," Pelosi said.
Slaughter was the first woman to ever chair the House Rules Committee, the powerful panel that serves as the gatekeeper that plans legislation that goes to the House floor.
But she is more likely to be remembered both for her legislative legacy and her feisty fight for progressive values, delivered on the House floor and in the Capitol hallways in a lilting drawl that echoed of her native Kentucky.
“To have met Louise Slaughter is to have known a force of nature," said Liam Fitzsimmons, Slaughter's chief of staff.
Two landmark pieces of legislation bear her name.
A microbiologist by training, Slaughter fretted for years that as science progressed and the human genome was decoded, average people would find themselves discriminated against if they had genetic markers that indicated they would be likely to get cancer or another grave illness. So she fought for more than a decade for legislation barring such discrimination, and Congress finally passed her bill, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), in 2008.
Similarly, Slaughter long was aghast that her colleagues could buy and sell stocks without their constituents knowing in real time what was happening. So she fought for -- and won -- passage of the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012. The bill, which requires lawmakers to quickly discuss their stock trades, led to revelations about Rep. Chris Collins' investment in Innate Immunotherapeutics, currently the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation.
An aggressive politician who was not afraid to butt heads with other lawmakers, Slaughter nonetheless won the respect of her colleagues with her hard work and her persistence.
"Her commitment to public service was extraordinary, serving 47 years in elected office, including 32 years in Congress," said Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat. "She was a strong and respected leader in the House of Representatives and a passionate advocate for the community she represented and loved."
Slaughter will be remembered, too, for her sharp wit and eclectic way of thinking, which often carried her from one topic to the next and then another in lightning-fire conversations that tended to end with laughter.
"She brought the grace and grit of her Southern background to her leadership in the Congress, building bridges and breaking down barriers all with her beautiful accent," Pelosi said. "Louise could be fiercely debating on the floor in the morning, and singing in harmony with her colleagues across the aisle in the evening."
Rep. Tom Reed, a Corning Republican, also issued a statement praising Slaughter.
"Louise worked tirelessly to help improve the lives of those in the Rochester region and Western New York," Reed said. "It was an honor to serve in the House with her over the years. My deepest sympathies go out to her family. She will be missed."
Slaughter was the oldest sitting member of the House and the dean of the New York delegation.
She suffered mobility issues after a breaking a leg in a 2012 fall, but continued to work at a relentless pace, first maneuvering the Capital hallways on a scooter and later with the help of aides.
For years, her husband Bob played an important role in her congressional career. Always nattily attired with his trademark bow tie, he acted as her driver throughout her many Western New York appearances. Bob Slaughter died in 2014 at the age of 82.
A leading liberal voice in the House, Slaughter often expressed a desire to never retire, and she had planned to run for a 17th term this fall.
“Congresswoman Louise Slaughter was a giant," said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat. "Throughout her entire career, Louise worked with people from so many different philosophies and backgrounds, because she was such a genuine human spirit. The ferocity of her advocacy was matched only by the depth of her compassion and humanity."
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I've met her and have worked with her staff. Sorry to see this. She will be missed by her constituents.
It’s sad when this happens. Didn’t agree with her on much of anything but none the less condolences to her family and may she RIP.