41 Facts About Louise Slaughter

Dorothy Louise Slaughter was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States Representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018.

Louise Slaughter served as the Dean of the New York Congressional Delegation for the last few terms as Congresswoman before her death.

Louise Slaughter studied microbiology and public health at the University of Kentucky, earning both Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

Louise Slaughter served as Chair of the House Rules Committee from 2007 until 2011, and as ranking minority member of the Committee from 2005 to 2007, and from 2011 until her death.

Louise Slaughter was the lead House sponsor of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which became law in 2008.

At the time of her death, Louise Slaughter was the oldest sitting member of Congress and the last sitting member born in the 1920s.

Louise Slaughter was the daughter of Daisy Grace and Oscar Lewis McIntosh, a blacksmith for a coal mine.

Louise Slaughter had two brothers, Philip and David, as well as two sisters, Marjorie and Virginia.

Louise Slaughter's sister Virginia died of pneumonia while she was a child; Slaughter later cited this as her reason for earning degrees in microbiology and public health.

The family moved to Monticello, Kentucky, in Wayne County, and Louise Slaughter graduated from Somerset High School, in adjoining Pulaski County.

Louise Slaughter graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, where she studied microbiology.

Already involved in community groups like the scouts and the League of Women Voters, Louise Slaughter became increasingly concerned with local political and community issues.

Louise Slaughter was involved in a local environmental group, the Perinton Greenlands Association, which promoted recycling and opposed development of Hart's Woods.

Louise Slaughter decided to run for the Monroe County Legislature, winning on her third try.

When Cuomo was elected lieutenant governor in 1979, Louise Slaughter stayed on as his Rochester regional coordinator.

Louise Slaughter challenged Hanna, and she won with 52 percent of the vote.

Louise Slaughter was re-elected with 55 percent of the vote.

Louise Slaughter sat in the 185th and 186th New York State Legislatures.

Louise Slaughter defeated Eckert by one point in the 1986 midterm election.

In 1993, as a member of the United States House Committee on the Budget Louise Slaughter secured the first $500 million earmarked by Congress for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health.

Louise Slaughter was a co-sponsor of the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993, and fought to ensure the legislation included language guaranteeing that women and minorities were included in all federal health clinical trials from that point forward.

Louise Slaughter fought to include language establishing an Office of Research on Women's Health at NIH in the legislation.

In 1994, along with Senator Joe Biden, Louise Slaughter co-authored the Violence Against Women Act which is designed to reduce incidences of domestic violence in the United States and provide resources to victims.

Louise Slaughter was the first woman in history to chair the Rules Committee, and she served in that capacity until 2011.

In 2007, Louise Slaughter introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which would limit the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, to counter the threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Louise Slaughter has reintroduced her legislation in every subsequent session of Congress.

Louise Slaughter strongly supported the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.

Louise Slaughter introduced the bill repeatedly over a period of 14 years before it was signed into law on May 21,2008.

Louise Slaughter's request resulted in the Department of Defense launching an investigation, recalling 16,000 pieces of body armor and replacing them with safer armor.

Louise Slaughter was chairwoman of the United States House Committee on Rules during the writing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and managed the rule for the legislation on the House Floor.

In March 2010, Louise Slaughter proposed that a House rule be passed to expedite the passage of health care reform legislation.

Critics, who called the strategy the "Louise Slaughter Solution", charged this proposed strategy was an affront to democratic principles and challenged its constitutionality.

In 2011, Louise Slaughter secured $62.5 million in federal funding for the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at University of Rochester.

Louise Slaughter was one of the most liberal and progressive members of the New York congressional delegation from upstate New York, and in the 110th Congress, was the most progressive member of the entire House of Representatives according to the National Journal.

Louise Slaughter was one of several Democratic members of Congress who posted at Daily Kos, a Democratic-oriented blog.

Louise Slaughter was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Louise Slaughter was the oldest member of Congress at the time of her death.

Louise Slaughter was a member of a variety of congressional caucuses.

Louise Slaughter was a former Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues.

Louise Slaughter's funeral was held at the Eastman Theater in Downtown Rochester.

Louise Slaughter had played a significant part in securing the funding for replacing Amtrak's 1970s-vintage station with a new multimodal station that opened in 2017.