FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 3, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: brian.phillips@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) released the following statement on the passing of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson:

“Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson was a giant. As the first person of color and woman to chair the House Science, Technology, and Space Committee, she was pivotal in making historic investments to strengthen our economy and support HBCUs. Before seeking elected office, she was enlisted as the first Black nurse at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas, and then became the hospital’s chief psychiatric nurse, but her service for her community did not end there. Not long afterward, Mrs. Johnson was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as the first Black woman to win electoral office in Dallas, left the legislature to serve as regional director of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and then became a State Senator before rising to serve in the U.S. Congress in 1992.

“She served in the U.S. Congress for 30 years, bringing home hundreds of millions of federal dollars to the Dallas area as the region’s most powerful Democrat. Throughout her long and renowned career, she stood as a guiding light to many Black women, such as myself, who had the honor of working alongside her in the Congressional Black Caucus.

“As we mourn with her family, communities in the Dallas area, and many more across the nation, we must take solace in the fact that her legacy and leadership will live on within us and the rest of the lives she touched.”

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Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has been in Congress since 2007. She represents New York’s Ninth Congressional District, which includes Central and South Brooklyn and serves as First Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.