President Joe Biden will be traveling to Dallas on Monday to attend services for the late former Texas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who died on December 31.
The president is expected to attend the wake service for Johnson on Monday evening at Concord Church, with the funeral service scheduled for Tuesday, per CBS News.
This trip will be the first time Biden has traveled to Dallas since becoming president, but he is expected to depart from the city immediately following the service, according to Spectrum News.
Last week, Biden spoke about Johnson’s death, saying that she was a “dedicated nurse, state legislator, and longtime U.S. congresswoman with immense courage and a commitment to the promise of America.”
“She had unwavering dedication to the people of North Texas,” said the president.
“She and I worked together throughout her 30 years in Congress, and I’ve always been grateful for her friendship and partnership. … Throughout her life, and as the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, she was an icon and mentor to generations of public servants, through whom her legacy of resilience and purpose will endure.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who served with Johnson in Congress, also offered her condolences to the former congresswoman’s family.
Harris said in a statement that Johnson was “a visionary, a pioneer, and a fighter,” further explaining that “so many have benefited from her tireless work, myself included.”
“Throughout her long career in public service, she was always clear-eyed about what she was fighting for: the right of every person in Dallas and across the country to live free from discrimination and to have the opportunity to live up to their full potential,” added the vice president in the statement.
Johnson’s family has since announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation and Baylor Scott & White Health System, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The lawsuit alleges that “medical negligence” resulted in the death of the former congresswoman, with Johnson’s son Kirk claiming that he visited his mother at the facility and found her “lying in her own feces and urine.”
