President Joe Biden's bond with former Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson
DALLAS – President Joe Biden traveled more than 1,500 miles to pay his respects to former longtime Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who died at the age of 89 on New Year's Eve.
While he did not speak at the prayer service Monday night, his presence served as a reminder of the bond he shared with EBJ, as she was known.
They worked together on a variety of issues over the past several decades, and she supported his efforts once he ran for higher office.
When Biden ran for president, Johnson was one of the first elected officials in our area to endorse him in July of 2019.
This was months before he came to Dallas in March of 2020 for a campaign rally at Gilley's the night before the Super Tuesday primary.
They took photos back stage and she appeared on stage with him along with a number of key Democrats including other Democrats who suspended their presidential campaigns and endorsed Biden.
In a statement after her death, Biden praised her legacy and their relationship. "She and I worked together throughout her 30 years in Congress, and I've always been grateful for her friendship and partnership.. She had unwavering dedication to the people of North Texas."
When Johnson was honored in late 2022 with an official portrait at the U.S. Capitol, the president sent a plaque of the Chips and Sciences Act she helped pass to boost semiconductor chip production in the U.S.
She also helped pass the Infrastructure bill earlier that year.
She received an official portrait because she was a chair of a committee – in this case the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. She became the first African-American woman to be chair of that committee.
Johnson also backed the 1994 crime bill, legislation that was pushed by Biden who was in the U.S. Senate at the time.
Much of her time in Congress was spent emphasizing the need for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, particularly for women and girls.
She also was a key legislator in the House to help end the flight restrictions at Dallas Love Field known as the Wright Amendment and she fought for a $700 million federal grant for DART so it could expand its light rail to DFW International Airport.
Two years ago, after Johnson announced she was retiring at the end of her term, she told CBS News Texas that she didn't want to change committee assignments and wanted to stay on the science committee and the transportation committee.
"I noticed that people there who have been most effective have been on those same committees time after time, there was always something to learn," she said. "I've worked with every Governor, every Department of Transportation leader and board members in the state for as long as I've been here, and I've learned a lot. I didn't even know what a 100-year flood was before I went to Washington, but I found it out now. I must say too taking time to learn and do my homework has been very helpful to me."
Johnson prided herself in doing the homework and the research, to learn how to help constituents in her district and all of North Texas.
She said it was not a glamour job to her.
