Longtime congresswoman and arts champion Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) died on March 16 following an injury. She was 88 years old.
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Slaughter, who was elected to the House of Representatives for New York in 1986, was a longtime champion of the arts. She served as the Chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus for 23 years. One of her final acts in Congress was spearheading a "Dear Colleague" letter encouraging full funding of the National Endowment for the Arts after learning about President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts of the important program. The letter garnered a record 166 signatures from members.
She also supported artists getting paid for terrestrial radio, co-sponsored the Fair Play Fair Pay Act in this congress and the 114th Congress as well as the Performance Rights Act in the 110th and 111th Congresses. She also co-sponsored the Allocation For Music Producers Act, CLASSICS Act and the Music Modernization Act this Congress.
Beyond her tireless advocacy for music creators and the arts, Slaughter had an impressive career. Born in Kentucky, Slaughter earned degrees in microbiology and public health before relocating to New York where she served in the New York State Assembly from 1982 to 1986. When she was elected to Congress in 1986, she wasted no time in advocating for the rights of others, such as her support for children under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Housing Assistance Act.
When Slaughter became the chair of the House Committee on Rules from 2007–2011, she became the first woman to chair the committee since its inception in 1789. Other important initiatives Slaughter had a hand in include authoring the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, co-authoring the Violence Against Women Act, serving as co-chair and founding member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, and establishing the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health.
"To have met Louise Slaughter is to have known a force of nature," said her chief of staff Liam Fitzsimmons. "It is difficult to find a segment of society that Louise didn't help shape over the course of more than 30 years in Congress."
There is no more fitting way to honor her "force of nature" than to support her efforts to fund the NEA. Join the Recording Academy and urge Congress to fully fund the agency.
