Biden mourns passing of Rep. Alcee Hastings

President Biden mourned the passing of “trailblazing” Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), who died on Tuesday at the age of 84 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

In a statement, Biden said that he had the privilege of getting to know Hastings when Biden served in the Senate and later as vice president and admired Hastings’s humor and ability to speak the truth without reservation.

“I greatly admired him for his singular sense of humor, and for always speaking the truth bluntly and without reservation,” Biden said.

The president further hailed Hastings as a “trailblazing lawyer who grew up in the Jim Crow South” and said he was “passionate about helping our nation live up to its full promise for all Americans.”

“It was a passion he forged as a pioneering civil rights lawyer in the 1960s, fighting tirelessly to desegregate hotels, restaurants, and public spaces in south Florida — a trailblazing spirit to advocate for what is right that guided him throughout his life,” he added.

Biden said Hastings “always stood up to fight for equality, and always showed up for the working people he represented. And even in his final battle with cancer, he simply never gave up.”

Hastings was a civil rights attorney who fought segregation and poverty. He was nominated by former President Carter to serve as a federal judge in Florida. He later won election to the House to represent the state’s 20th Congressional District and would do so for 15 terms.

Hastings was the dean of Florida’s congressional delegation and its longest-serving member.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that Hastings “leaves behind a powerful legacy of activism and action on behalf of Floridians and all Americans. His leadership and friendship will be missed by his many friends in Congress.”