U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee dies

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WASHINGTON — Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat who was one of many longest serving members of Texas’ congressional delegation and a longtime advocate for progressive causes, died on Friday amid her battle with pancreatic most cancers. She was 74.

Jackson Lee started her congressional profession as an underdog, defeating four-term U.S. Rep. Craig Washington within the 1994 Democratic major, earlier than establishing herself as a fixture in Congress and Houston with ties to the best reaches of the Democratic Occasion.

“Regardless of the difficulty – from delivering racial justice to constructing an financial system for working individuals – she was unrelenting in her management,” President Joe Biden mentioned in an announcement launched Saturday. “All the time fearless, she spoke reality to energy and represented the facility of the individuals of her district in Houston with dignity and charm.”

Jackson Lee was a progressive advocate on Capitol Hill for many years. She was an early opponent of the Iraq Conflict and advocate for homosexual rights. In 2021, Jackson Lee was arrested for partaking in civil disobedience over a federal voting rights invoice. By the point of her dying, she was a senior member of the Home Judiciary, Homeland Safety and Price range committees. She by no means shied from talking on the Home ground or earlier than the cameras on causes she cared about.

“She at all times mentioned what she meant and backed up her phrases with motion, former President Invoice Clinton, who endorsed her in elections as not too long ago as final yr, mentioned in an announcement. “Above all, she knew tips on how to get issues achieved. We simply beloved her.”

Former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi mentioned in an announcement that Jackson Lee was a tireless fighter for equity, fairness and justice for all. “In a testomony to her relentless dedication, Congresswoman Jackson Lee was the writer and lead sponsor of laws that established Juneteenth as the primary new federal vacation in 38 years. And as an writer of the Violence Towards Ladies Act, she was a champion for the rights of girls,” Pelosi mentioned.

Jackson Lee was additionally a family title within the 18th Congressional District, which incorporates Downtown Houston. She was recognized for her frequent visibility at constituent graduations, funerals, meals drives and child showers. She handed out masks throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and inspired constituents to get vaccinated.

She typically used her trademark chutzpah to combat for federal funds to be despatched to Houston. In 2009, she secured $1 billion for the town’s gentle rail system after cornering then-Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood forward of then-President Barack Obama’s first joint tackle to Congress. She might reliably be discovered within the aisle forward of the State of the Union tackle, among the many few members to straight meet with the president on his method to the dais.

“She was a fierce fighter to be sure that what was despatched to Texas benefited all Texans,” U.S. Rep. Al Inexperienced, D-Houston, mentioned in an interview. “I’ll have fun her life and word that she, she lived each second of her life.”

However that persistence waned this yr as her sickness stored her more and more at house, lacking each vote in June and virtually all of Might, in line with the Home Clerk. Inexperienced, who used to dwell two doorways down from Jackson Lee in Houston years earlier than they had been in Congress, mentioned he spoke together with her simply off of the Home ground the final time she voted.

“I might see then that she was not in the most effective of well being, however she was nonetheless decided to be sure that her vote was counted,” Inexperienced mentioned.

Jackson Lee was working in full gear solely months earlier than. The veteran congresswoman made a pivot final yr when she introduced a run for Houston mayor.

“I hope I’ve been a humble servant for you for 28 years,” she mentioned at Metropolis Cathedral Church, the place she introduced her bid. “Sheila Jackson Lee needs to come back house to be your Mayor, for the Metropolis of Houston.”

The transfer was rumored for months however ended up changing into a messy debacle after a leaked tape final yr revealed her berating workers with a string of profanities. Her workplace was lengthy recognized for a excessive turnover charge amongst workers. Regardless of an endorsement from outgoing-Mayor Sylvester Turner and Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries, Jackson Lee misplaced the race to former-state Sen. John Whitmire, a fellow Democrat.

Jackson Lee then confronted her first aggressive major in a long time, a race towards Amanda Edwards, who years in the past served as an intern in her workplace. Jackson Lee was in a position to faucet into a long time of robust relationships all through her social gathering, securing the endorsement of the Democratic institution going all the way in which as much as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Home Democratic management and former Presidents Clinton and Obama additionally endorsed her within the race. She received the first by over 22 share factors.

A local of Queens, New York, Jackson Lee graduated from Yale College in 1972, a part of one of many first courses of girls to graduate from the college, and from the College of Virginia Regulation Faculty in 1975. She moved to Houston after her husband, fellow Yale alumnus and Houston native Elwyn Lee, obtained a job with the College of Houston.

She served as a municipal choose and on the Houston Metropolis Council earlier than launching her 1994 marketing campaign for Congress. She and Austin Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett had been the longest-serving Texans in Congress on the time of her dying.

As soon as in Congress, Jackson Lee constructed robust ties together with her social gathering’s management and all through her caucus. She has campaigned for her mates in remote districts and within the Capitol for management positions. She advocated for Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi to once more take the gavel in 2018 amid a left-wing revolt towards her management. Jackson Lee additionally served as considered one of 10 deputies to Home Minority Whip Katherine Clark.

“Congresswoman Jackson Lee was an inimitable drive for change and a warrior for justice over the course of her historic, trailblazing profession,” Jeffries mentioned in an announcement.

There are advantages to her robust relationships. She was the primary feminine rating member of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Crime and Federal Authorities Surveillance and chaired the subcommittee within the 117th Congress from 2020 to 2022. She was additionally tapped to talk on the 2016 Democratic Nationwide Conference, heralded by the workers of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as a uniquely efficient surrogate.

Notable mates and allies issued tributes late Friday. “By means of crises and disasters – in addition to triumphs – Sheila’s ceaseless and unwavering dedication to these she represented served as an inspiration and supply of power to me in my profession,” mentioned Rodney Ellis, a longtime state senator from Houston who’s now a Harris County commissioner. “She exhibited this dedication day by day via her deeds, actions, and accomplishments.”

Turner, the previous mayor, praised her as an advocate for the individuals of Houston, saying: “Her work on the bottom, in among the poorest and under-resourced communities; the channeling of billions of federal {dollars} again to her district; her presence at somebody’s bedside, giving phrases of consolation to households who misplaced family members; her appearances at locations of worship and occasions showcasing the worldwide range of our Metropolis; and her uncanny potential to be in every single place, working day by day for individuals who wanted a champion, made her actually distinctive.”

Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, referred to as her a “fierce advocate for the Houston group” with a “larger-than-life persona and devotion to her constituents.”

“Sheila and I served collectively on the Judiciary Committee for seven years,” Johnson famous in an announcement Saturday. “Whereas we hardly ever agreed on coverage, I at all times loved our spirited debates about legislation and coverage, and I counted her as a pal.”

Jackson Lee stepped into the footwear of the trailblazers who held the 18th Congressional District seat earlier than her – together with Barbara Jordan, the primary Black lady from a southern state to be elected to the USA Home of Consultant, and Mickey Leland, a former At-Giant Majority Whip.

Jackson Lee was not immune from criticism, notably over her avid starvation for the highlight and her excessive workers turnover. Washingtonian Journal dubbed her among the many “meanest” members of Congress for her therapy of her workers.

Jackson Lee expressed regret after the audio of her verbally abusing workers leaked final yr, saying in an announcement on the time that “in my zeal to do the whole lot doable to ship for my constituents I’ve prior to now fallen in need of my very own requirements and there’s no excuse for that.”

However she has additionally famous that her white, male colleagues typically escape the criticisms concerning how they deal with workers which have adopted her via her profession.

“I am a lady of a sure period,” she instructed the Tribune in 2017. “I feel I have been a sufferer of discrimination, sexism and even racism, frankly, as a result of I’m positive there’s a complete array of tales to be instructed, and I do not go round looking for out about them … I do not fear about it. I do the work on this workplace. I do it quietly and persistently, and I verify off the bins of who’s being helped and who’s in want.”

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