Zoe Lofgren: “It is my honor to join my colleagues in paying tribute to the incredible life and career of our friend and colleague…”

“It is my honor to join my colleagues in paying tribute to the incredible life and career of our friend and colleague, Eddie Bernice Johnson. When I walked into Congress as a freshman, Eddie was already here. When I walked into the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology as a freshman, Eddie was already there. Those of us who worked with her know what an unstoppable force she was. She worked hard for her constituents, and she worked hard to advance American science. One of her focuses was on building a better future for everyone, where everyone could pursue STEM, no matter their race, gender, background, or ZIP Code. That was not just because of fairness for those individuals but because our country, unless we are able to get all the smart young people into STEM, is going to lose out. She made a difference there. There are countless rising generations who will see doors opened because of Eddie Bernice Johnson, even though they may not know that she did that for them. She always referred to the Science Committee as the committee of the future. It was also the committee of an island of bipartisanship. I am now the ranking member of the Science Committee, and I can see the tremendous work she did with our current chairman to make sure that the committee was focused on our mission, just to get the work done. I know the job she did was excellent because of the excellent staff that she built to carry forward her legacy. Mr. Speaker, I miss EBJ.…”