HOUSTON – Better known as “The Congresswoman,” Sheila Jackson Lee has passed away after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 74.
Lee lived a life of service for the Houston community. First as a City of Houston Councilwoman and then for 29 years as a Congresswoman representing the Texas 18th Congressional District.
Among those more than three decades of combined public service, it’s words she just recently spoke that could be her most impactful.
“The bill is passed,” Lee said as she smacked the gavel approving Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021.
“My suspicion is that at Juneteenth celebrations, there will always be a mention of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and what she did to bring it to fruition,” said Congressman Al Green of the Texas 9th Congressional District.
Lee was known for being the voice of reason, demanding constitutional rights for all people.
“She was a champion for the people who truly worked and devoted her life to making real the great ideal expressed in our pledge of Allegiance, liberty and justice for all. She wanted liberty and justice for all,” Green said. “She was a person who connected on a personal level with people. She had great interpersonal skills, and those skills cause people to love her. But that was a part of the reciprocity of love that you get when you love people. She loved them. They loved her. And she will always be remembered.”
Congressman Green has worked alongside Congresswoman Lee since 2005, becoming friends in the process.
However, even he was shocked to learn of her passing on Friday.
I was taken by surprise, notwithstanding my having knowledge that, this transition might take place, that it was imminent, I was still not ready for it,” he said.
Over her 14 terms in congress spanning 29 years, Lee accomplished a lot. However, there’s still work to be done.
Work for Houston. Work for Texas. And work for America.
“There’s still more work to be done. Things that she initiated are things that we have to bring across the finish line,” Green said. “She’s run the race. She’s, served well. I’m assuming that she’s received a well done, my good and faithful servant. It’s time for the rest of us to pick up the torch and and carry out the next leg of the race.”