Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (VA 1st) Dies of Breast Cancer at 57

I certainly do not intend to speak ill of the dead, but the death of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA 1) will hopefully allow for the election of a less rabid anti-gay member to Congress and decrease the Christianist voting power in Congress. She may have remained true to her own religious beliefs, but Davis cared little for the Constitution and the separation of church and state. Here is part of the Virginian Pilot's story (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=134133&ran=2051&tref=po):

Jo Ann Davis died at her home in Gloucester today after a battle with breast cancer, according to a statement on her official Web site. She was 57. Davis, R-1st District, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and had a recurrence earlier this year. She had been receiving treatment at Duke University.

Davis was in her fourth House term representing a district that stretches from the Peninsula to the Fredericksburg area. She was first elected to Congress in 2000, and was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Her first piece of legislation, passed by the House in 2001, increased the life insurance benefit paid to survivors of military members killed on duty.

"Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis made history when she became the first female Republican elected to the House of Representatives from the commonwealth in 2000," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, said in a statement. "She inspired Virginians as she battled breast cancer while continuing to serve the commonwealth." Before Congress, Davis served four years in the Virginia House of Delegates.

A local Williamsburg Virginia columnist described Davis in this manner:

In addition to posting the Ten Commandments, Davis also co-sponsored a bill that would “recognize the need for fasting and prayer to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people and the Armed Forces during the conflict in Iraq.” Dangerous it is indeed when an allegedly secular government presses its citizens to fast and pray because of its own colossal preemptive military scam and what we have recently learned were unforgivable intelligence blunders that have caused thousands to die for no rational cause.

Another tendency on the part of Davis is to foster legislative extremism by waxing gaga over constitutional amendments. During the last session of Congress, Davis co-sponsored amendments to prohibit the desecration of the flag, to restore religious freedom, to ban gay marriage, to outlaw real and virtual child pornography, to make English the official language and to balance the budget.

Returning to her religious roots, Davis is ever on the warpath against gays, and, in addition to the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, sponsored a bill of her own that would define marriage in Washington, DC as consisting of the union of one man and one woman. As for the amendment to “restore religious freedom,” it is nothing more than a feeble attempt to enable such sanctimonious bloviators as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson to get the IRS off their backs when they openly endorse political candidates from the pulpit.

Here are some highlights of Davis' other actions:

1. 2005 - Republican congresswoman Jo Ann Davis of Virginia reintroduced her bill seeking to prohibit the District of Columbia from legalizing same-sex marriage on Jan. 6.

2. 2004 - Davis was one of the five original co-sponsors in the House of the federal Marriage Amendment. The National Black Justice Coalition also found that Davis had an abysmal voting records on issues important to the African-American community.

Aren't you glad that you do not live in Virginia??