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 Lowey, the former 16-term congresswoman from New York, has died after a battle with breast cancer, her family says.

Longtime New York congresswoman Nita Lowey, 87, has died from metastatic breast cancer, her family announced Sunday.