HOUSTON, Texas — Household, mates, and fellow politicians gathered on Thursday to honor the life and legacy of longtime Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee at a celebration of life service.
“Remembering Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee” began at 11 a.m. central time. Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivered the eulogy on the celebration of life on Thursday.
“To know her was to know a real champion. The whole lot she did, Sheila Jackson Lee labored with all her coronary heart,” Harris mentioned in the course of the service. “The congresswoman was a frontrunner for Houston. She was a nationwide chief. She touched the lives of the individuals throughout our nation.”
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a eulogy for U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston.
AP Photograph/LM Otero
“She was a drive,” the vp continued. “However she by no means allowed something to be mediocre. She at all times anticipated in all of us that we might rise to a degree of excellence figuring out life was too brief and there is simply an excessive amount of to be completed.”
WATCH: Vice President Kamala Harris delivers eulogy at service for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
Vice President Kamala Harris gave a eulogy at Sheila Jackson Lee’s celebration of life on Thursday.
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Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the Sigma Gamma Rho nationwide conference earlier than delivering a eulogy for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
Among the many attendees of Thursday’s service had been additionally Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and forty second President of the USA Invoice Clinton.
“She spent years working to make Juneteenth a federal vacation, to memorialize the tip of slavery,” Hillary Clinton mentioned of the late congresswoman.
“Earlier than you understand it, (Jackson Lee) made it onto the smallest listing we stored within the White Home once I was there. It was known as the, ‘Simply say sure’ listing,” Invoice Clinton added. “Fairly quickly, Sheila made the listing. She was the one freshman on that listing. The listing meant this: no matter it’s they need, ultimately, they’ll do it.”
WATCH: The Clintons’ remarks on late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and forty second President of the USA, William Jefferson Clinton, honored Sheila Jackson Lee at her celebration of life.
The celebration of life was being held at Fallbrook Church. Thursday’s service was closed to the general public.
A closure on Walters Street at Welington Parkway and Previous Waters Street continues into the afternoon. Drivers can take Veterans Memorial and T.C. Jester as an alternate route.
Jackson Lee acquired her political begin in Houston as a municipal court docket decide and served on town council. She then represented Texas’s 18th congressional district for practically three many years and is credited with renewing the Violence In opposition to Ladies Act and sponsoring the invoice that made Juneteenth a federal vacation.
She died on July 19, just a bit over a month after saying that she’d been identified with pancreatic most cancers. Jackson Lee was 74 years previous.
She was additionally a spouse and mother. Her husband, Elwyn Lee, spoke at a group appreciation service on Wednesday evening.
He mentioned he remembers as soon as when a storm hit Houston, he thought she would keep residence as a result of the water was so excessive, however as an alternative, she had a hearth truck come to select her up so they may go assist individuals.
“I mentioned, ‘What are you doing?’ She will get on the hearth truck, they go off, they deviate from their unique route as a result of anyone let her know anyone wanted rescuing, so that they go and rescue them. And afterward, the following day I see her out on a ship in a flooded neighborhood,” Lee remembered.
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden visited Houston to pay his respects to Jackson Lee as she lied in state on the Houston Metropolis Corridor rotunda.
He left this message within the guestbook:
“Fearless, proud, and daring. Could God bless a pricey buddy and nice American. Could God bless you, Sheila Jackson Lee.”
Nationwide and worldwide dignitaries have been out and in of Houston all week, and safety is high of thoughts.
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Late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is mendacity in state Monday contained in the Houston Metropolis Corridor rotunda.
Secret Service, federal, state, and native legislation enforcement had been by the loads on Monday evening when Biden paid his respects.
“It is an enormous occasion and it will be multilayers and multi-subjects that should be protected,” James Conway, a counterterrorism knowledgeable and former member of the FBI, mentioned. “Issues are actually heightened while you mix that with the menace matrix which are on the market on the planet. You possibly can relaxation assured that safety providers and safety groups shall be at their upmost.”
The Houston Police Division, the Division of Public Security, the Secret Service, and different businesses had been seen in massive numbers throughout Biden’s go to.
“Thursday shall be actually the time when safety providers shall be at their highest vigilance since you’ll have plenty of motion and you are going to have motion throughout town and that at all times complicates issues,” Conway mentioned.
Companies didn’t discuss their plans, so it’s unclear what number of legislation enforcement officers from each degree of presidency had been helping in maintaining the providers and town protected as so many honored the late congresswoman.
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Eyewitness Information speaks with a former FBI official who provides a glimpse into what Houston can anticipate amid visits by a number of high-profile dignitaries for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s providers.
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