WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Former Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson passed away at the age of 88 on Sunday.
“She was the single most effective legislator Dallas has ever had,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement. “Nobody brought more federal infrastructure money home to our city. Nobody fought harder for our communities and our residents’ interests and safety. And nobody knew how to navigate Washington better for the people of Dallas.”
The Congressional Black Caucus put out a statement detailing Johnson’s impressive accomplishments. “A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the first registered nurse elected to Congress, the first Black woman elected to Congress from Dallas, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Congresswoman Johnson was a trailblazer who served her constituents and her country honorably in the U.S. Congress for 30 years.”
Johnson was also the first Black woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
President Joe Biden lauded her “immense courage” and proclaimed her “an icon and mentor to generations of public servants, through whom her legacy of resilience and purpose will endure.”
The Associated Press was used as a source in this story.
