U.S. lawmaker and civil rights hero John Lewis has pancreatic cancer

FILE PHOTO: Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) speaks ahead of a vote on two articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., in a still image from video December 18, 2019. House TV via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Representative John Lewis, a hero of the U.S. civil rights movement, said on Sunday he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Lewis, 79, who endured beatings by white police and mobs during the 1960s civil rights movement and won further respect as a foremost black member of the U.S. Congress for more than three decades, said he was "clear-eyed" about the severity of his diagnosis.