Former congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson hospitalized in Italy

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A former U.S. representative from Southeast Missouri is recovering after being hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage while vacationing in Italy.

The family of Jo Ann Emerson in a statement Tuesday said the former Republican congresswoman is at an Italian hospital.

The statement said Emerson, who married future U.S. representative Bill Emerson of Cape Girardeau in 1975, is in stable condition after surgery. Jo Ann Emerson served as U.S. representative from 1996 to 2013.

She now is CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. A spokeswoman for the association said in a statement Emerson was traveling with family when she had a "medical emergency."

A former chief of staff said she now lives in the Washington, D.C., area.