Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) is utilizing a text-to-voice application in order to speak on the House floor as she navigates a degenerative brain condition she was recently diagnosed with.
Wexton was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy which affects her ability to speak, hear, and move. When she testified before Congress on Monday, she used the assistive application to speak about legislation she introduced to rename a post office in her constituency.
“PSP makes it very difficult for me to speak, and I use an assistive app so that you and our colleagues can understand me,” Wexton said via the app. “I am proud to be here today speaking in support of my bill to rename the Purcellville, Virginia, post office in honor of my former constituent.”
During her remarks, she only briefly touched on her condition before centering the speech around the post office renaming. She is proposing the post office be renamed after fellow Virginian and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
“[Albright] was a fearless trailblazer for women and a devoted public servant who touched the lives of so many whom she taught, mentored, and worked with — including me,” Wexton said.
Wexton was diagnosed with PSP last year after initially being misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She announced she would not seek reelection this year after representing Virginia’s 10th Congressional District since 2019.
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“I’m heartbroken to have to give up something I have loved after so many years of serving my community,” Wexton said in a statement. “But taking into consideration the prognosis for my health over the coming years, I have made the decision not to seek reelection once my term is complete and instead spend my valued time with Andrew, our boys, and my friends and loved ones.”
She is the first member of Congress to use this type of assistive technology. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) uses talk-to-text technology to help him with auditory processing problems, which make it difficult to understand different sounds, brought on by a stroke he suffered in 2022.
