Dorothy Louise Slaughter was a member of Congress for over 30 years, and was one of the longest-serving women in the House of Representatives. She was a relentless advocate for Western New York whose visionary leadership brought infrastructure upgrades, technology, and research investments, as well as two federal manufacturing institutes to Rochester that will transform the local economy for generations to come.
Born in Harlan County, Kentucky, Slaughter graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and a Master of Science degree in Public Health.
Slaughter served in the New York State Assembly from 1982 to 1986 and the Monroe County Legislature between 1976 and 1979. She delivered results for Monroe County, securing major infrastructure investments, bringing high-tech companies to Eastman Business Park, and working to make Rochester, New York a national leader in advanced manufacturing. She was elected to Congress in 1986, where she worked tirelessly to hold elected officials and other public servants to the highest ethical standards.
In 2006, Slaughter authored the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a critical bill which bans insider trading and dramatically increases transparency for federal officials– including members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, and the president of the United States. After her six-year effort and a groundswell of public support following a 60 Minutes investigation, the legislation was passed and signed into law on April 4, 2012.
A prominent lifelong advocate for women and minorities, Slaughter was the co-chair and founding member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, which works to promote reproductive health and protect a woman’s right to choose. Slaughter also established the Office of Research on Women’s Health and secured the first $500 million in federal funding for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and she co-authored the landmark Violence Against Women Act, which has reduced cases of domestic violence by 67% since 1994.
Slaughter took particular pride in delivering strong constituent services over her three decades in Congress while never losing touch with the people she represented. She continued to live in the same house in Fairport, NY, and despite all of her accomplishments, she was always fondly known by constituents simply as, “Louise.”
