© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is embraced by U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) as she signs the “Creating Meaningful Incentives for Semiconductor Production (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022” after the House passed the legislation R
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat who retired from the House of Representatives after 30 years in office, has died at the age of 88, her family said on social media on Sunday.
Johnson, who represented a district in Texas that includes downtown Dallas, was the first person of color to serve as chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and was the oldest member of the House of Representatives when she left office in January 2023.
“She was a wonderful and loving mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother, as well as a pioneer and public servant,” her son, Kirk Johnson, wrote on Facebook.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that in 1992, Johnson became the first registered nurse to be elected to the US House of Representatives and the first African American to serve in Congress from North Texas.
“Congresswoman Johnson was a pioneering icon, a transformative public servant and a legendary member of the Congressional Black Caucus,” Jeffries said.
As a Representative, Edie Bernice Johnson authored and co-authored more than 177 bills that became law while fighting for her communities and residents, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement.
“She has been the most effective legislator Dallas has ever seen,” the mayor wrote in the statement posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
