Calling the late U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee “a proud Texan and a tireless advocate for the people of Houston,” Texas Governor Gregg Abbott joined a chorus of voices — Republican and Democrat — who praised the Texas political mainstay, who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer this week at age 74.
Abbott added that Jackson Lee’s “legacy of public service and dedication to Texas will live on.”
Cecilia and I will forever remember Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
She was a proud Texan and a tireless advocate for the people of Houston.
Her legacy of public service and dedication to Texas will live on.
Please join us in prayer for her family and loved ones.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 20, 2024
Jackson Lee’s family issued a statement that characterized the Congresswoman as “a local, national, and international humanitarian,” saying Jackson Lee was “acknowledged worldwide for her courageous fights for racial justice, criminal justice, and human rights, with a special emphasis on women and children.”
Representing the Houston area in Congress since 1995, Jackson Lee was the lead sponsor of the bill that made Juneteenth — the day (June 19, 1865) when enslaved people in Texas learned that the Union victory in the Civil War meant slavery was abolished — a national holiday.
President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in 2021. In 2022, Biden also signed a reauthorization of the Jackson Lee-sponsored Violence Against Women Act.
Jackson Lee, a former judge and widely respected lawyer who attended Yale and the University of Virginia Law School before entering private practice and then politics, was also praised by other politicians who, like Abbott, normally excoriate the kind of so-called “woke” policies and initiatives Jackson Lee worked to implement.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — an anti-woke warrior — was among those praising Jackson Lee’s spirit and tenacity — if not her priorities — saying he was “deeply saddened” at the passing of his “friend and colleague” and that he would “always cherish our friendship & the laughs we shared throughout the years.” Echoing Abbott, Cruz called Jackson Lee a “tireless advocate for Houston.”
I’m deeply saddened by the passing of my friend & colleague Sheila Jackson Lee.
She was a tireless advocate for Houston.
I will always cherish our friendship & the laughs we shared throughout the years.
Heidi & I offer our prayers and sincerest condolences to her family. pic.twitter.com/SGZhFQ8rHk
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 20, 2024
[Right wingers haven’t always offered Jackson Lee high praise. When she introduced a bill targeting white supremacy in 2023, then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson said: “Sheila Jackson Lee has devoted her entire political career – indeed her entire life – to a single cause: shrieking about white racism.”]
Democratic House members praised Jackson Lee as an inspiration and a model legislator whose integrity stood out in the divisive political fracas of Washington. Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) wrote, in part, that Jackson Lee was “a tenacious advocate for civil rights and a tireless fighter, improving the lives of her constituents. Our country is better for her service.”
I’m deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She was a tenacious advocate for civil rights and a tireless fighter, improving the lives of her constituents. Our country is better for her service.
My prayers are with…
— James E. Clyburn (@RepJamesClyburn) July 20, 2024
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who worked with Jackson Lee on two committees and called her a “dear friend,” said that Jackson Lee’s “passing has left a void and her leadership will be missed.”