House Democrats remember former Rep. Jack Brooks

Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) commemorated former Rep. Jack Brooks on Wednesday following the former Texas Democrat's death.

Jack Brooks was an original. Courageous, tough, rough-hewn and passionate. Congress could use a few more Jack Brooks.

— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) December 5, 2012

Brooks, who memorably appears in the photograph of former President Lyndon Johnson's 1963 swearing in after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, died Tuesday night in Texas. He was 89.

Jack Brooks refused to sign the segregationist "Southern Manifesto" in 1956 and helped write the Civil Rights Act of 1964. RIP, Mr. Chairman

— James E. Clyburn (@Clyburn) December 5, 2012

Updated at 1:19 p.m.

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