UPDATED 2:43 AM EST, December 5, 2012
BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks, a Democrat who spent 42 years representing his Southeast Texas district, has died at age 89.
A Jefferson County Sheriff's Department statement says Brooks died Tuesday night at Baptist Hospital of Beaumont after a sudden illness. Deputy Rod Carroll says Brooks, who would have turned 90 on Dec. 18, was surrounded by family when he died.
