Newly seated Sen. Darline Graham said she thinks her late brother’s work in Congress took a toll on his body, causing his sudden death earlier this month.
“I begged him to slow down. I knew it was not going to be good. And I had already prayed, and knew in my heart, that one day something was going to happen,” she said of late-Sen. Lindsey Graham. “I feel like it took him from us.”
Darline Graham gave the emotionally raw remarks during the Senate Budget Committee’s first meeting since the death of her brother, who was previously the panel chair.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the committee’s new chair, also said he believes Lindsey Graham’s advocacy for foreign policy issues and aggressive travel schedule caused his death.
“I think it cost him his life,” Johnson said, noting Graham’s travel to Turkey and Ukraine in the days before he died July 11. “So that’s his lasting legacy. He dedicated his life. He gave his life to this country.”
The official cause of death for Graham was an aortic dissection caused by cardiovascular disease.
Johnson called for lawmakers to attempt more bipartisan policy efforts in Graham’s memory: “We’re going to miss his demonstration of how to work together. It’s maybe a wake-up call.”
Democrats on the panel also noted the late senator’s ability to bring lawmakers from both parties together on policy issues while also influencing President Donald Trump.
“We are a grimmer and a dumber place without Lindsey Graham,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “Our prospects as a body are narrower. Our boundaries are more constrained, and frankly, more tedious.”
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