Sheila Jackson-Lee

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Sheila Jackson-Lee
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 3, 1995
Preceded by Craig Washington
Born January 12, 1950 (1950-01-12) (age 58)
Queens, New York City, New York
Political party Democratic
Spouse Dr. Elwyn C. Lee
Residence Houston, Texas
Alma mater Yale University
University of Virginia Law School
Website jacksonlee.house.gov

Sheila Jackson-Lee (born January 12, 1950), is an American politician. She has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995. She represents Texas's 18th congressional district (map), which was once represented by her role model, former congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Jackson-Lee graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens. She earned a B.A. in political science from Yale University in 1972, followed by a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975. Jackson-Lee moved to Houston after her husband, Dr. Elwyn C. Lee, took a job at the University of Houston. Her husband now holds a dual position of Vice Chancellor and Vice President for Student Affairs of the University of Houston System ("UHS") and the University of Houston ("UH"), respectively. Jackson-Lee is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

[edit] Political career

Jackson-Lee made three unsuccessful attempts at local judgeships before becoming a municipal judge from 1987 to 1990. Jackson-Lee, along with Sylvia Garcia, were appointed by then Mayor of Houston Kathy Whitmire. In 1989 she won the at-large position for a seat on the Houston City Council, serving until 1994. While on the city council, Jackson-Lee helped push through a gun safety ordinance that punished parents who did not keep their guns away from children. She also worked for expanded summer hours at city parks and recreation centers as a way to combat gang violence.

In 1994, Jackson-Lee, then serving her third term as a member of the Houston City Council, defeated incumbent Congressman Craig Washington in the Democratic primary for the 18th Congressional District of Texas. The victory assured her the seat itself, as the district is overwhelmingly Democratic.

As a federal legislator, Jackson-Lee is an outspoken advocate for her liberal views, which range from supporting affirmative action to immigrant and women's rights.

Jackson-Lee's role model is the black legislator Barbara Jordan, who represented the same congressional district from 1973 to 1979. Like Jordan before her, Jackson-Lee uses her seat on the Judiciary Committee to focus attention on civil rights, abortion rights and other liberal causes.

Minority issues are at the forefront of Jackson-Lee's political concerns. Within the past few years she has traveled to South Africa to decry racism and has backed sanctions against Sudan. She is the first vice-chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. She also gained notice in 2005 for her speaking out against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for not naming more hurricanes stereotypical black names such as Shaquil, Shaniqua, and Leeroy.

Jackson-Lee on occasion has partnered with Republicans in Congress, for instance backing President George W. Bush's energy plan, which was strongly criticized by environmentalists. In 2000 she favored permanently normalizing trade status for China, arguing that it would aid both human rights and Houston's economy.

Jackson-Lee currently serves as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection in the House Committee on Homeland Security. In that role, she has worked on bills to strengthen the security of the nation's rail and mass transit systems, as well as aviation asset. She has also conducted oversight of the protection of the nation's critical infrastructures, such as the electric grid, nuclear plants, and chemical plants.

She was one of the 31 who voted in the House not to count the electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 Presidential election. [1]

Prior to the 110th Congress, Jackson-Lee served on the House Science Committee and on the Subcommittee that oversees space policy and NASA. She once asked, during a visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, whether the Mars Pathfinder had taken an image of the flag planted on Mars in 1969 by Neil Armstrong. [2]

Jackson-Lee is one of the cosponsors of the 2007 Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act.

[edit] Venezuela

Jackson-Lee has urged better relations between the U.S. and Venezuela, which she describes as a friendly nation. She also seeks an end to the ban on selling F-16 fighter jets and spare parts to that country. The U.S. State Department bans such sales due to "lack of support" for counter-terrorist operations and Venezuela's relations with Iran and Cuba. [3][4]

[edit] Darfur

On April 28, 2006, Jackson-Lee, along with four other members of Congress and six other activists, was arrested for disorderly conduct in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington. They were protesting the role of Sudan's government in ethnic cleansing in Darfur.[5]

[edit] Controversy

Jackson-Lee volunteered as an advocate for the father of Elián González in the international custody controversy. She also attracted controversy in 2003 by meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and offering to sponsor a visit for the controversial leader to come to the United States. The Houston Chronicle interviewed two illegal immigrants who claimed to have worked for a day in Jackson-Lee's campaign office moving furniture. Jackson-Lee denied the allegation.[6]

The Weekly Standard has published criticism of her travel arrangements and her banning by Continental Airlines from flying with them after badgering airline staff and flight attendants. [7][8]

In her first two years in Congress, Jackson-Lee's staff reportedly had a 180 percent turnover rate, which was attributed by the Houston Press to overwork and bullying by the congresswoman. [9] Accordingly, House staffers unofficially voted her the "second meanest" member of the body as well as naming her "Biggest Windbag" and "Show Horse" in a 2006 Washingtonian article. [10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml
  2. ^ http://www.seds.org/spaceviews/970915/cap.html
  3. ^ "Jackson Lee wants ban on fighter jets reconsidered." Houston Chronicle. February 21, 2007
  4. ^ "Jackson Lee tries to smooth Chavez ties / Her Venezuela trip, she says, was an attempt to protect jobs here." Houston Chronicle.
  5. ^ Jim Doyle, Five members of Congress arrested over Sudan protest, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2006. Accessed 25 September 2006.
  6. ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/side2/3500063.html
  7. ^ http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=867&R=4EEE25C0C
  8. ^ http://www.houstonpress.com/1998-05-14/news/the-insider/
  9. ^ http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/1997-02-20/news/feature.html
  10. ^ http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/1666.html

Alison Cook, Alison Cook looks back at 1997: The Year That Bit, Houston Press, May 2, 2007.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Craig Washington		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 18th congressional district
1995 – present		 Incumbent
v • d • e
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