Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on the Passing of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was a tenacious advocate for justice and a tireless fighter for the individuals of Houston and the individuals of America.
 
Her profession in public service spanned effectively over three many years. As a choose in Houston, a member of the Houston Metropolis Council, and a member of america Congress, Sheila Jackson Lee’s work improved the lives of thousands and thousands of People.
 
In america Home of Representatives, Sheila Jackson Lee distinguished herself as a devoted advocate for her group, an efficient legislator, and a fiercely loyal colleague and pal. To work alongside the Congresswoman was to marvel at her mastery of the legislative course of.
 
Sheila Jackson Lee was, before everything, a pacesetter devoted to serving the individuals of her beloved metropolis. She secured essential funding for much-needed infrastructure upgrades, coordinated catastrophe aid within the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and helped to face up testing and vaccination websites in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. No process was too small as long as it was the best factor to do.
 
Congresswoman Jackson Lee was additionally a nationwide chief. As a champion for ladies’s rights, she performed an important function in reauthorizing the Violence In opposition to Ladies Act, landmark laws that improved the lives of thousands and thousands of ladies and ladies throughout the nation. She additionally authored the legislation that made Juneteenth a nationwide vacation, a legislation I used to be proud to co-sponsor as a United States Senator. She noticed what could possibly be—a nation that’s extra equal, extra honest, and extra free—and she or he devoted her life to realizing that imaginative and prescient.
 
Sheila Jackson Lee was a pricey pal for a few years, and a fellow member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Included. As a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I had the chance to work intently together with her on many points and to watch her management firsthand. She was relentless—one in every of our nation’s fiercest, smartest, and most strategic leaders in the way in which she considered how you can make progress occur. There was by no means a trite or trivial dialog with the Congresswoman. She was at all times combating for the individuals of Houston and the individuals of America.
 
After I known as Congresswoman Jackson Lee earlier this week, I conveyed my deep gratitude on behalf of our nation for her lifetime of management.
 
Doug and I ship our prayers to her husband, Dr. Elwyn Lee, her youngsters, Jason Lee and Erica Lee Carter, and her beloved grandchildren, Ellison Bennett Carter and Roy Lee Carter, III.
 

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