Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) [2010 file photo]
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is dead at 74
The Houston Democrat announced earlier this year that she had cancer.BY MATTHEW CHOI AND SEJAL GOVINDARAO
JULY 19, 2024
10:04 PM CENTRALWASHINGTON — Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat who was one of the longest serving members of Texas’ Congressional delegation and a longtime advocate for progressive causes, died on Friday amid her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 74.
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Jackson Lee was a progressive fixture on Capitol Hill for decades. She was an early opponent of the Iraq War and advocate for gay rights. In 2021, Jackson Lee was arrested for engaging in civil disobedience over a federal voting rights bill. [….] She never shied from speaking on the House floor or before the cameras on causes she cared about.
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Fourteen years ago, in Kansas City:
….All those who wore sheets a long time ago have now lifted them off and started wearing [applause], uh, clothing, uh, with a name, say, I am part of the tea party. Don’t you be fooled. [voices: “That’s right.”][applause] Those who used to wear sheets are now being able to walk down the aisle and speak as a patriot because you will not speak loudly about the lack of integrity of this movement. Don’t let anybody tell you that those who spit on us as we were walking to vote on a health care bill for all of America or those who said Congresswoman Jackson-Lee’s braids were too tight in her hair had anything to do with justice and equality and empowerment of the American people. Don’t let them fool you on that [applause]….
Previously:
NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights (July 13, 2010)