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- Utah lawmakers honored Mia Love with a moment of silence in the House.
- Rep. Burgess Owens praised Love's legacy as a trailblazing Black Republican woman.
- Love's death prompted widespread tributes, highlighting her courage and positive spirit.
WASHINGTON — The entirety of Utah's U.S. House of Representatives delegation gathered to hold a moment of silence for former Rep. Mia Love, who died earlier this week of glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, led the delegation by giving remarks Thursday honoring Love's legacy as the first Black Republican woman elected to the House and as the first Black member of Congress to be elected from Utah. Owens praised Love's work while serving in the House, where she represented Utah's 4th Congressional District for two terms.
"She was a fierce advocate, a tower servant, and a bright light," said Owens, who represents the district Love once served. "She led with grace and conviction, never backing down from a challenge and always striving to make a difference to those who served."
"Her legacy is one of faith, courage, love," Owens continued. "All fitting for a woman whose name said it all."
Love's family announced her death on Sunday, three years after her initial diagnosis. She was 49.
Love's death prompted an outpouring of gratitude and praise from lawmakers across the political spectrum who lauded the former congresswoman as a "trailblazing leader."
"Mia spoke her mind and never allowed others to define her," Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a speech on the Senate floor earlier this week. "Mia knew that this country wasn't defined by where you start, but by the opportunities you seize and the work you put in."
"It quickly became apparent to everyone watching that Mia Love was a rising star in politics, not just throughout the state of Utah, but throughout America," Lee recalled of Love's early political career. "Mia knew that she had a role to play in our nation's future. She was a fighter, a leader, and above all, a woman of deep conviction."
Other lawmakers from outside the Utah delegation expressed their condolences to Love's family shortly after her death was announced.
"Rest peacefully Mia. Keeping the Love family in our prayers," Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said in a post on X.
"Mia was a trailblazer who loved her country and inspired us all with her positive spirit and commitment to making a difference," wrote Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida. "Please join Ann and me in praying for the Love family and all who were impacted by Mia's life."
Love's family announced earlier this month that her brain cancer was no longer responding to treatment, with the former congresswoman writing an open letter in the Deseret News expressing her "living wish" for the America she knew and loved, joking that couching the column as a "dying wish" felt a little dramatic, even for a drama person like her.
Love will lie in state at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda on Sunday, April 6, with a public viewing scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Her public memorial service will be held Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint Institute of Religion on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City.
