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From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

Jackson Lee, Sheila (b. 1950)

Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas entered the U.S. House of Representatives on January 3, 1995. She held the leadership position of Democratic chief deputy whip in in the 116th Congress (2019-2021).

Her priorities in the late 2010s include criminal justice reform. Elected president of the Democratic freshman class of 1995, Jackson Lee helped found the bipartisan Congressional Children’s Caucus during her second term. She has introduced and passed legislation relating to adoption, jobs for public housing residents and research grants for historically black colleges and universities as well as those serving Hispanics. Flood control and support for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), two areas important to her constituents, are also her priorities.

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Jackson Lee has supported affirmative action programs, saying that, as an African American, she would not have attended Yale University without them. She explained: “It is so intensely personal, I have trouble containing myself when I debate this issue.” When Congress considered the crime bill, she offered an amendment to redirect money normally reserved for building prisons to building boot camps for offenders. The amendment passed, but the funds became part of block grants that allowed states to determine their use. Believing that block grants contributed to segregationist policies, Jackson Lee voted against the bill. Her achievements included an amendment to provide adequate funding for the African Development Foundation, a U.S. federal agency that supports community-based, self-help initiatives to alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development in Africa.

Homelessness, gun safety and responsibility, welfare reform emphasizing back-to-work programs, and science and technology issues are among Jackson Lee’s legislative priorities. Congresswoman Jackson Lee has been the lead sponsor on anti-bullying bills. Other issues she has advocated include a comprehensive immigration policy and enhanced enforcement of the federal hate crimes act. She advocates funds for anti-violence programs in schools, full funding for Head Start, and increased support for school lunch programs.

Born in Jamaica, New York, Sheila Jackson Lee earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University in 1972 and her law degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975. She worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations as staff counselor from 1977 to 1978. She moved to Houston, Texas, and entered into private law practice for the next several years.

Appointed an associate judge on the Houston Municipal Court in 1987, Jackson Lee later served on the Houston City Council from 1990 to 1994. As a council member, she sponsored and won passage of a gun safety law containing penalties for adults who do not have their guns locked away from children. She expanded the summer hours for city parks and recreation areas as a way to discourage gang activity, and she created a city-authorized committee on homelessness.

See also: Affirmative Action; Brady, Sarah Jane Kemp; Congress, Women in; Lesbian Rights

References: Congressional Quarterly, Politics in America 1996 (1995); Doherty, Surface Racial Harmony on Hill Hides Simmering Tensions (1998); Gill, African American Women in Congress (1997); “Sheila Jackson Lee,” http://jacksonlee.house.gov/biography (accessed July 23, 2012 and April 4, 2019).

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Jackson Lee, Sheila (b. 1950)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0489.
APA 7th
Jackson Lee, Sheila (b. 1950). From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0489.
CMOS 17th
"Jackson Lee, Sheila (b. 1950)." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0489.