Edward W. Pattison; Former New York Congressman

Edward W. Pattison, 58, former New York congressman who helped topple the seniority system in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pattison was president of the “Class of 94,” made up of 75 upstart freshman Democrats in the 94th Congress, which convened in 1975. The group revised several outdated rules and streamlined congressional procedure. Pattison, a lawyer who left the House in 1978, also directed the reform of the federal copyright law in 1976 and founded the Congressional Institute on the Future. On Wednesday in West Sand Lake, N.Y., of liver cancer.