DeLauro Statement on Lowey’s Retirement Announcement

WASHINGTON, DC — (October 10, 2019) Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, released the following statement after Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (NY-17) announced she would not be seeking re-election in 2020.

"Congresswoman Nita Lowey has been a champion for the people of New York for more than three decades and a dear friend of mine for nearly as long. As the first woman to ever serve as Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Nita has shifted the course of our nation's history. She has been a tireless advocate on a range of important issues, from healthcare and the environment—especially our states' shared Long Island Sound—to afterschool programs, public broadcasting, and the list goes on. Nita has never backed down from a fight."

"When I first joined the Appropriations Committee, Nita, now-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and I were referred to as the ‘DeLoSi's'—a band of women who fought for women's health at a time when women's issues were on the fringe of our political discourse. With Nita's driving force, we always made an impact—especially given her unyielding commitment to the Labor-HHS-Education bill. We helped ensure women and people of color were included in clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health. We passed the breast cancer education program, which has saved the lives of thousands of low-income women by ensuring access to lifesaving mammograms and pap tests. And we worked to double NIH funding between 1998 and 2003, with funding now at a record high under her leadership."

"As Chair, Nita has taken a great interest in making sure everyone's priorities are incorporated. Committee Members have counted on her to hear us out on the programs most important to us, and we know they are just as important to her. She has made it a point to work across the aisle with our fellow appropriators. She is the foremost of a special breed within Congress, and as she is fond of saying, there are really three parties: ‘Democrats, Republicans, and Appropriators.'"

"Nita's legacy will be lasting on the Congress—and she is not done yet. I look forward to working with her through the end of her term, and I will be running for Chair of the Appropriations Committee in the next Congress."