Ex-US Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat who chaired powerful House Appropriations Committee, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a long serving New York Democrat who was the first woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has died. She was 87.

Lowey's family, in a statement shared by the Westchester County Democratic Committee, said she died Saturday after battling metastatic breast cancer with the “same tenacity and strength that she fought throughout her 32-year career in Congress for women, children and families."

The family said she passed away peacefully in her home in Harrison, New York, surrounded by her husband, children and grandchildren. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who served with Lowey in Congress, ordered flags flown at half-staff Sunday through Monday in honor of her former colleague.

“A public servant in the truest sense, she was guided by the Jewish core value of ‘Tikkun Olam,’ repairing the world,” the family's statement read. “She was an indefatigable fighter and worked across the aisle to deliver results for her constituents and all Americans."

Lowey represented suburban communities north of New York City, including parts of Westchester County and the Hudson River Valley.

She was elected to Congress in 1988 and served until she opted to retire rather than seek reelection in 2020.

In her decades in the House, Lowey pushed for federal funding to combat AIDS and for economic aid to developing nations.

She supported women’s health care and education initiatives and notably led a successful fight to provide contraception coverage to federal workers via their federal health insurance plans in the late 1990s under the Republican-controlled House.

“Frankly to have a job that I love so very much made this a very difficult choice,” Lowey, who became chair of the House Appropriations Committee in 2018, told The Associated Press of her decision to retire. “But I just felt it was time.”

Connecticut U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, now the ranking Democrat on the appropriations committee, remembered Lowey Sunday as a "fierce negotiator and loyal public servant" who was “courageous, humorous, and tenacious with a smile that lit up even the darkest rooms.”

She said Lowey was a tireless advocate on a range of important issues, from health care and the environment to after-school programs and public broadcasting.

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who now represents Lowey's congressional district, praised her "bipartisan spirit, commitment to our community, and dedication to the country."

Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said Lowey “championed integrity, honesty and the values of good government" and said she had been a “mentor, a friend and always a beacon of hope.”

Lowey's family said a private funeral and burial will be followed by a memorial service at a later date.

“We will miss her more than words can say and take great comfort in knowing that she lived a full and purposeful life," the statement said. “Her memory will forever be a blessing to all who had the honor of knowing and loving her, and to the millions of people whose lives she touched.”