Veteran Democrat congresswoman dies

WASHINGTON

Veteran U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Kentucky blacksmith’s daughter who chaired one of Congress’ most important committees, died Friday at a Washington hospital where she was being treated after falling in her home, her top aide said. She was 88.

The New York Democrat died at George Washington University Hospital a week after a fall in which she suffered a concussion, said Liam Fitzsimmons, her chief of staff.

Slaughter was the first woman to chair the House Rules Committee and was her party’s top member on the panel when she died.

Slaughter was serving her 16th term in the House, and her 31 years in the chamber made her its third longest-serving woman, according to the official House website.