Longtime U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks dead at 89

[Draggingtree]

Galveston Daily News:

 

 

 

 

 

Longtime U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks dead at 89

Posted: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 6:30 am | Updated: 8:14 am, Wed Dec 5, 2012.

AP Photo/Lana Harris

Jack Brooks

 

 

In this July 30, 1987, file photo, Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Texas rest his head on hand during the Iran-Contra hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington. Brooks has died at age 89.

 

By TJ Auldsgalvestondailynews.com

 

BEAUMONT — Jack Brooks, the former Texas Congressman who was one of the first southern Democrats to push for civil rights reform, died Tuesday night. He was 89.

 

Brooks, who served in Congress for 42 years and whose district included Galveston County, became one of the most powerful Congressmen in the United States and a strong advocate for the Texas Gulf Coast.

 

In a statement to the Associated Press, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department said Brooks died at Baptist Hospital of Beaumont after a sudden illness.