Gov. Roy Cooper and members of Congress are gathering in eastern North Carolina to remember the late U.S. Rep. Walter Jones Jr.Jones' funeral is slated for Thursday at St. Peter Catholic Church in Greenville. Jones died last weekend on his 76th birthday after serving 24 years in Congress. He had missed the last few months on Capitol Hill and was moved to hospice care in January.
Jones was originally a Democrat as was his father, who also served in Congress until his death in 1992.
The younger Jones switched parties and was elected to the 3rd Congressional District seat in 1994. He was a fiscal and social conservative who reversed course on his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, becoming a leading critic of military action there.