California Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald has Died

California Congresswoman and Chair of the House Administration Committee Juanita Millender-McDonald has died from cancer at the age of 68. A few of her admirable actions while in Congress:

Republicans controlled the House during all but the last few months of Millender-McDonald's tenure, constraining her opportunities to enact legislation. But she occasionally demonstrated a flair for dramatic political gestures.

In 1996, she brought then-CIA director John Deutsch to Watts to address allegations that the agency was using profits from crack-cocaine sales to fund the Contras in Nicaragua. The incident led Glamour magazine to describe Millender-McDonald in a 1997 article as "one of 11 women who will change the world."

In 1999, she staged a "sit-in" at the office of former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) to force the confirmation of former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) as ambassador to New Zealand and Fiji.

In recent years, she has made security at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach a priority.

Read more on her life and political career in this obituary in the LA Times.

May she rest in peace.