Sheila Jackson Lee: US Democratic Congresswoman dies aged 74 after battle with cancer
Democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognise Juneteenth as a national holiday, has died aged 74.
Jackson Lee, had represented her district of Houston, Texas for nearly three decades and on June 2 had announced that she had pancreatic cancer, after previously having breast cancer. She said at the time: “The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me.”
On Friday (July 19) evening her family released a statement confirming her passing on her X account, it reads: “Today, with incredible grief for our loss yet deep gratitude for the life she shared with us, we announce the passing of United States Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th Congressional District of Texas.”
Jackson Lee was a native of Queens, New York, she graduated from Yale and earned her law degree at the University of Virginia. She was a judge in Houston before she was elected to Houston City Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994.
Throughout her career she was an advocate for both women’s and African-American rights, a leader for House Democrats on many social justice issues, she led the first rewrite of the Violence Against Women Act in nearly a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant women. She was also one of the lead lawmakers behind the effort in 2021 to have Juneteenth recognised as a federal holiday, marking the day the last enslaved African Americans finally learned of their freedom.
Tributes have poured in for Jackson Lee, from across the political divide with Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott Pelosi descried her “relentless determination” in getting Juneteenth declared a national holiday. Adding: “As a powerful voice in the Congress for our Constitution and human rights, she fought tirelessly to advance fairness, equity and justice for all.”
Whilst Abbott said he and his wife Cecilia will always remember Jackson Lee, describing her a “tireless advocate for the people of Houston”. He said: “Her legacy of public service and dedication to Texas will live on.” Bishop James Dixon, a friend in Houston who visited Jackson Lee earlier this week, said he will remember her as a fighter. Bishop Dixon said: “She was just a rare, rare jewel of a person who relentlessly gave everything she had to make sure others had what they needed. That was Sheila.”