Texas Republican congressman dies of COVID-19
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: "...rise for a moment of silence in remembrance of the late honorable Ron Wright of Texas."
The U.S. House of Representatives held a moment of silence on Monday for the passing of Republican congressman Ron Wright, who died on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 last month, making him the first member of Congress to die from the pandemic that has claimed roughly 464,000 American lives.
The 67-year-old had also been battling cancer. A statement from his office said "Despite years of painful, sometimes debilitating treatment for cancer, Ron never lacked the desire to get up and go to work, to motivate those around him, or to offer fatherly advice."
Dozens of lawmakers from the Senate and House have contracted COVID-19 or been exposed to the deadly virus over the past year. But Wright is the only sitting member of Congress to succumb to the disease. Luke Letlow, a 41-year-old Republican from Louisiana who won election to Congress in November, died of COVID-19 late last year before he could be sworn into office.
Wright sat on the House Foreign Affairs and Education and Labor Committees.
The statement from his office said the Texas Republican "will be remembered as a constitutional conservative," adding "He was a statesman, not an ideologue."
