Former U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a long serving New York Democrat who was the first woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has died. She was 87.

Nita M. Lowey, a veteran legislator from New York who served 16 terms until her retirement at the end of the 116th Congress, died on Saturday. The cause was breast cancer, her family announced. She was 87.

Nita M. Lowey, a liberal New York Democrat who won a seat in Congress in her early 50s and rose over 16 terms to one of the top positions on Capitol Hill as the first female chair of the House Appropriations Committee,