Bob Filner, a fiery liberal with a short fuse who served in the House for nearly two decades, died on April 20 at the age of 82.
Filner left Congress in 2012 to become mayor of San Diego, only to leave that post within a year amid allegations of sexual harassment. He was known equally in the halls of Congress for his volatility as he was for his advocacy for veterans.
He saw himself as the guardian of both veterans and the employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and he served as the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee for five years. Filner held the committee gavel from 2007 until Republicans took the majority in 2011.
