Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, one of the longest-serving members of the Texas delegation, has died at the age of 74. In June, Jackson Lee announced her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, yet she showed little indication of letting it interfere with her plans to run for a 16th term this November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fiery congresswoman disclosed her diagnosis in a written statement shortly after winning renomination in a fiercely contested Democratic primary. Known for her unwavering commitment to social justice, she was a fervent advocate for reparations for African Americans and a vocal critic of the twice impeached and 34 times convicted felon and former President Donald Trump. Unlike some of her colleagues, she did not join the calls for President Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As recently as Wednesday, July 19, Jackson Lee continued to champion President Biden\u2019s re-election campaign. \u201cSomething that does not get talked about enough: we were able to bring down homicides in Houston with federal investment,\u201d she wrote on X. \u201cAfter President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan<\/a>, we brought $50 million to the city to take on crime\u2014and it worked! Local\/federal partnership saved lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She added, \u201cThis House Democrat believes Joe Biden has served us well and has the best plans for the future. I am laser-focused on beating Donald Trump and delivering for America because that\u2019s what matters.\u201d Jackson Lee also reminded her followers that America saw one of the most significant homicide spikes ever in Trump\u2019s last year in office. \u201cHe threw his hands in the air and did not know what to do,\u201d she asserted. \u201cSince he left, I am proud that our American Rescue Plan has done the very important work to bring these numbers down! Federal\/local partnerships worked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jackson Lee\u2019s legislative achievements are significant and wide-ranging. She played a crucial role in the passage of the Violence Against Women Act<\/a>. She was a senior House Committee member on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget Committees. She was the first female ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, serving as Chair during the 117th Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) extends to the family of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee our profound condolences. May the legacy and memory of Sheila Jackson Lee be enshrined in the pantheon of global freedom fighters,\u201d said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Jackson Lee was a powerful advocate for a free and energetic press \u2014 and for the Black Press of America in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among her notable legislative efforts were the Sentencing Reform Act<\/a>, the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act<\/a>, the RAISE Act<\/a>, the Fair Chance for Youth Act<\/a>, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act<\/a>, Kalief\u2019s Law<\/a>, and the American RISING Act<\/a>. She also introduced the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act<\/a> and the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A staunch supporter of women and children, Jackson Lee championed the Paycheck Fairness Act<\/a> and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act<\/a>. She authored the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jackson Lee was widely recognized for her effectiveness and influence. Congressional Quarterly named her one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress, and U.S. News and World Report listed her among the ten most influential legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a founder, member, and chair of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus and the Congressional Children\u2019s Caucus. She was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Energy Braintrust and the Justice Reform Task Force co-chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Yale University alumna, Jackson Lee earned her B.A. in Political Science with honors and later received a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Elwyn Lee, an administrator at the University of Houston; her two children, Jason Lee, a Harvard University graduate, and Erica Lee, a Duke University graduate and member of the Harris County School Board; and her two grandchildren, twins Ellison Bennett Carter and Roy Lee Carter III.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, one of the longest-serving members of the Texas delegation, has died at the age of 74. In June, Jackson Lee announced her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, yet she showed little indication of letting it interfere with her plans to run for a 16th term this November. The fiery congresswoman disclosed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/66a7377f84b79.image_.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/73"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}