Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY, 25th) passed away unexpectedly on Friday morning. She had been receiving treatment for a concussion after falling at her home.
Pictured: Rep. Louise Slaughter (Source: Twitter)
Slaughter, 88, was the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee and was the first woman to serve as chair of that panel when the Democrats controlled the House from 2007-2011, during which time the House passed the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform law.
The congresswoman was well-known for championing women’s and manufacturing rights; she was also a microbiologist with a master’s degree in public health and led a charge to regulate the use of antibiotics in raising livestock.
Slaughter was born in Kentucky and moved to western New York in the 1950s; she was first elected to Congress in 1986 to represent the Rochester area.
