“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. As a former Assemblywoman and Congresswoman, Louise worked tirelessly to serve her constituents and to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Louise was instrumental in advancing access to health care and making sure that women and minorities were treated equally by the National Institute of Health trials and programs. Louise fought to create the Office of Research on Women's Health and helped allocate hundreds of millions of dollars for research to combat breast cancer. Her efforts earned her the ‘Visionary for Women's Health Research’ award, and respect on both sides of the partisan divide. We will all miss Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, and my thoughts are with her family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time.”