The American representative Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, a frank democrat who sought key reforms in the federal government while bringing transformational development in his district of Virginia populated, died on Wednesday. He was 75 years old.
Connolly, who recently held a leading position as a classification member of the Chamber’s supervisory committee, has sat in the congress for more than 16 years.
He died at home with family members, his family said in a statement. Connolly announced in 2024 that he had esophagus cancer and said a few months later that he planned to withdraw from the Congress. His death leaves Republicans at home with a majority of 220-212.
The animated Fairfax Democrat and sometimes Bull’s head has become known for its bulky nature and its desire to engage in animated debates. During a hearing, he accused the Republicans of engaging in a witch hunt against the IRS, asking a witness if they read “the Creuset of Arthur Miller”.
“My heart is broken by the loss of my dear friend,” said Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner. “For me, he illustrated the best of the public service.” He said that Connolly “took up each challenge with tenacity and objective, including his final battle against cancer, which he confronted with courage, grace and quiet dignity”.
Elimination of Virginia’s policy for three decades, Connolly was elected for the first time at the Comté de Fairfax supervisors in 1995. On the board of directors of the county, he led the Tysons corner transition from northern Virginia to a traffic shopping area to a traffic center in the city center.
In 2003, Connolly was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors and continued to put pressure for transport investments that have been debated between those responsible for decades. Connolly asked billions of dollars of state and federal to develop the silver line of the regional rail system connecting the national capital region to Tysons Corner.
Connolly’s dream was made with the opening of Silver Line in 2014, and eight years later, the rail line was extended by 11 additional miles (18 kilometers) to reach Dulles International Airport.
While the extension opened its doors in 2022, Connolly said: “doing great things is difficult – the world is filled with opponents.”
Connolly’s local government experience has launched its career at Congress. He was elected in 2008 after overthrowing a republican open seat of nearly 42,000 votes. In his victory speech, Connolly said he would use his position to ensure that federal bureaucracy is “a responsive and responsible instrument for the people we serve”.
“If we will insist on the fact that the government must work again for all our citizens, we cannot fail,” said Connolly.
Connolly obtained her first taste for Congress while working as a staff member of the Senate Committee for Foreign Relations in the 1980s. Decades later, Connolly became a member of the Committee of the Chamber of Foreign Affairs.
He was also a member of the Chamber’s Supervisory Committee and directed Democrats on sub-commies on government innovation and information technology.
Connolly has coparpoded the 2010 telework improvement law, which forces federal agencies to allow part of their employees to remotely a day per week. In 2014, he spread another bill which reformed federal IT management and has since saved billions of government dollars, according to the government of the government.
He also closely followed the financial burden on the slowdown in the American postal service, becoming an eminent voice accusing President Donald Trump and former post office Louis Dejoy to seek to win the postal service to abolish postal bulletins during the 2020 presidential election.
Connolly has taken a new stage at the end of last year when he was chosen a classification member of the Chamber’s supervisory committee. He beat the Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the position. The victory occurred shortly after Connolly announced at the end of last year that he had received a diagnosis of esophagus cancer and would undergo chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
As a classification member, Connolly called on the general inspectors to investigate the government’s ministry of efficiency. He and other Democrats have also presented a pair of resolutions demanding that the Trump administration will return to documents and information on the potential conflicts of interest to the billionaire councilor Elon Musk and the dismissals of federal workers.
He said at the end of April that after “exhausting treatments”, he learned that cancer had returned and that he decided to leave his post in the committee and would not ask for re -election.
“Without resentment and a full heart, I go up in this last chapter full of pride of what we have accomplished together over 30 years,” he said.
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