Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee and strong shipbuilding advocate, died over the weekend at age 57 from breast cancer.
Davis’s Newport News district was home to the Northrop Grumman [NOC] the nation’s only producer of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of two companies that can produce nuclear submarines.
As a co-chair of the congressional shipbuilding caucus in 2006, Davis pressed for a top-line increase in the Navy’s budget that House authorizers and appropriators supported in legislation for fiscal year 2008. She was also a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee.
Although Davis had been receiving positive reports about her condition, her health took a turn for the worse last week, according to a statement from her office.