Press Releases

Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford (NV-04) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement on the passing of former Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson: 

“Today, the Congressional Black Caucus mourns the loss of our beloved Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and we are holding her family in our hearts during this difficult time. 

“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. 

“Prior to Congress, Mrs. Johnson worked her way up to chief psychiatric nurse at Dallas’ VA Hospital, and would go on to serve in the Texas State Legislature where she focused her efforts on health care, education, public housing, racial equity, and economic development. Congresswoman Johnson left her mark on the U.S. Congress as the first African American and the first female Chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, where she was a fierce advocate for expanding STEM opportunities to Black and minority students, and successfully helped shepherd the historic CHIPS and Science Act through the House. 

“Congresswoman Johnson was instrumental in delivering hundreds of millions of dollars towards revitalizing transportation in Texas – most notably for the Southern Gateway Project and the DART Rail System, for which Dallas' DART and Amtrak rail center was renamed the Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station in her honor. 

“Among her many accomplishments in the Texas State Legislature, as a nurse, and member of Congress, Congresswoman Johnson was perhaps best-known to those close to her as a mother, wife, and friend, and she will be greatly missed. She leaves a legacy and a lifetime of public service that will not soon be forgotten.”