Nita Lowey, Tenacious New York Representative, Dies at 87

Nita M.Lowey, who represented a congressional district based in Westchester County for 32 years, ardently supporting liberal causes and playing a key role in shaping legislation to advance them, died on Saturday at her home in Harrison, N.Y.

She was 87.Her death was announced by her family, which said she had metastatic breast cancer.A Democrat who charmed her constituents and fellow politicians with a warm, grandmotherly image — she was 51 when she was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1988 — Ms.Lowey was also a savvy negotiator on the House Appropriations Committee, the powerful body influential in enacting government spending laws.She served on the committee for nearly all of her time in Washington and rose to be the first woman to lead it.

Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who was House speaker when Ms.Lowey steered the committee and with whom Ms.

Lowey was closely allied, called Ms.Lowey a “master legislator” who “is both gracious and tenacious” and seeks “to find common ground where she can and stands her ground where she can’t.”Representative Henry J.

Hyde, an Illinois House Republican who tangled with Ms.Lowey, cautioned colleagues not to be misled by her kindly demeanor.“She can make you smile while you’re bleeding,” Mr.

Hyde said.“We call that the perfumed ice pick.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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