* Congresswoman representing the 18th District of Texas
* Member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
* Member of the Congressional Black Caucus
* Commonly accuses her political opponents of racism
Born on January 12, 1950 in Jamaica, New York, Sheila Jackson Lee earned a BA in political science from Yale University in 1972 and a JD from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975. She subsequently worked as an attorney from 1975-77, and as staff counsel to the U.S. House Select Assassinations Committee from 1977-78.
Jackson Lee then moved to Houston and made three unsuccessful attempts at local judgeships before securing a post as an associate municipal judge from 1987-90. She then won a seat on the Houston city council in 1990 and served there for four years.
In 1994 Jackson Lee, a Democrat, was elected to represent Texas’s heavily Democratic 18th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A major backer of her campaign was local executive Kenneth Lay of the Enron Corporation, which was later to fall amid a national scandal. Jackson Lee has been re-elected to Congress every two years since then, and she is a longtime member of both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.
In February 1999, Jackson Lee was part of a six-person Congressional Black Caucus delegation that visited Fidel Castro‘s Cuba to criticize the U.S.-imposed restrictions on trade and travel between that Communist nation and the United States. Among those who accompanied Jackson Lee were Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters.
In March 2016, Jackson Lee was part of a delegation sent to Cuba by President Barack Obama.
In 2000, Jackson Lee was one of 70 members of Congress (66 Democrats and 4 Republicans) who signed a letter calling on President Bill Clinton to “de-link” economic sanctions against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq from a continued embargo against the shipment of any military equipment into that country. Such a measure would have permitted Iraq to continue receiving economic aid even as Saddam refused to honor his previous commitments to verifiably dismantle his weapons programs.
In December 2005, reporter Amanda Carpenter asked Jackson Lee whether she believed that a precipitous withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Iraq might lead to civil war in that country and foster the creation of a new haven for terrorists. The congresswoman replied: “Well, let me say that I started out against the war. I remain opposed to the war, but I am forward thinking and I think now is a question of how we can safely secure our troops and provide for the safe, successful exit strategy … to redeploy as soon as practical….” Carpenter followed up by asking: “If they are redeploying, where are they going to go? Are they going to stay in the region? What does that mean?” To this, Jackson Lee responded: “Redeployment has several aspects. Redeployment would mean they would stay in the region on the perimeters. If, by chance, there was a total collapse, as it relates to a peaking violence, they would be poised and ready.”
In 2007, Jackson Lee was one of 90 Members of Congress who signed an open letter to President George W. Bush, stating: “We will only support appropriating funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.” The letter was initiated by the Peace Pledge Coalition, an alliance led by such notables as Medea Benjamin, Bill Fletcher, Kevin Zeese, and representatives of the Progressive Democrats of America, Democrats.com, AfterDowningStreet.org (later called WarIsACrime.org), Velvet Revolution, and the Backbone Campaign.
In 2003 Jackson Lee was invited by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to go on a “fact-finding” mission in the Middle East. Clearly impressed by Assad, the congresswoman subsequently told reporters: “He’s a 39-year-old president who even gave us a picture of him and his children”—implying that Assad’s gesture may have been an indication of his good will and humanity. “Let’s see what he can do. He’s not his father”—a reference to the late Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria as a totalitarian dictator from 1971 until his death in 2000. Moreover, Jackson Lee invited the younger al-Assad to speak in Texas, even though the U.S. government had designated Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism.
In November 2003, Jackson Lee spoke at a rally in support of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride—an effort to promote comprehensive immigration reform featuring a path-to-citizenship for virtually everyone residing in the U.S. illegally.
In 2003 Jackson Lee served on the advisory committee of the Progressive Majority.
In 2006 the Immigrant Legal Resource Center presented Jackson Lee with its annual Phillip Burton Award, named after the late U.S. congressman who had helped abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1975.
In 2007, Jackson Lee was a guest speaker at the annual “Take Back America” conference organized by the Campaign for America’s Future and the Institute for Policy Studies.
In 2011, Jackson Lee addressed a Rebuild the Dream rally with the revolutionary communist Van Jones.
In July 2005, Jackson Lee was one of numerous Congressional Black Caucus members who met with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and were photographed with him. The congresswoman also attended a 2006 Farrakhan sermon at a Houston mosque, where she lauded the Nation of Islam for having “always been on the forefront of leadership without embarrassment, shyness or apology.” Farrakhan, for his part, praised Jackson Lee as someone who “knows the struggle that the Black and Brown members of Congress have to influence that process.”
When the Daily Caller in February 2018 contacted Jackson Lee and a number of her fellow Congressional Black Caucus members to ask if they would be willing to publicly denounce the notorious Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan because of his racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, Jackson Lee was one of 20 who declined not only to denounce him, but also to issue any comment at all regarding his infamous anti-Semitic, anti-white rhetoric.
In November 2006 in Arlington, Virginia, Jackson Lee spoke at a fundraising banquet held by the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
In September 2014, the congresswoman said of CAIR: “The Council’s work in the state of Texas and across the nation is much appreciated.”
In October 2017, she said at a CAIR event: “Our democracy requires the active participation of informed citizens, and I commend CAIR for its efforts to support the principles of civic engagement on which the United States of America was founded.”
In 2018, Jackson Lee sent a congratulatory letter to CAIR, celebrating its 24th year of operation.
In 2006, far-left activist Stoney Cooks served as Jackson Lee’s chief of staff and administrative assistant. In 1967, Cooks had joined members of the Students for a Democratic Society and other leftist groups in a delegation that traveled to Czechoslovakia to participate in a propaganda meeting with representatives of the North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong. And in 1973, Cooks had co-sponsored the U.S. Preparatory Committee for the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in East Berlin; this Committee operated from the offices of the Communist Party USA‘s official youth front.
Jackson Lee has long called for improved relations between the United States and Communist Venezuela, which she characterizes as a friendly nation. In 2007 she urged the U.S. to lift its ban on selling F-16 fighter jets and spare parts to the government of the late Hugo Chavez.
Shortly after Congress had approved a $700 billion bailout of financial services firms in October 2008, Jackson Lee was one of six Democratic members of Congress who enjoyed a Caribbean junket sponsored by Citigroup that November. According to the National Legal and Policy Center, a watchdog group, the trip violated House rules: “The ‘lead sponsor’ was Citigroup, which contributed $100,000. Citigroup was certainly aware that it would be a major recipient of bailout funds. It was also aware that its fortunes had become increasingly reliant on Congressional actions. Citigroup should have also been aware that corporate sponsorship of such an event was banned by House rules adopted on March 1, 2007, in response to the [lobbyist Jack] Abramoff scandal and the infamous golf trip to Scotland.” Joining Jackson Lee on the trip were Charles Rangel, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Bennie Thompson, Donald Payne Jr., and Donna Christensen.
In May 2017, the Washington Free Beacon reported that in early February of that year, Jackson Lee’s congressional campaign had unlawfully used $9,800 from its political funds to purchase tickets to Super Bowl 51, which was played on February 5, 2017 at NRG Stadium in Houston. The campaign had also spent another $4,900 at an Italian restaurant in Houston on the day of the Super Bowl. That same day, a jovial Jackson Lee posted to her Instagram account a photo of herself “on location” at NRG Stadium. Following these revelations by the Free Beacon, Jackson Lee scrubbed the photo from her Instagram page. Neither Jackson Lee’s campaign nor her congressional office returned requests by the Free Beacon for a comment matter.
In July 2009, Jackson Lee told activists who were rallying on Capitol Hill in support of the newly reintroduced Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), that the United States had a moral obligation to follow the example of “twenty-seven other countries, including Rwanda, Afghanistan, Algeria and China [that] have equality provisions” for women. As CNS News pointed out: “According to the State Department’s 2008 report on human rights, the four countries cited by Jackson Lee are in fact described as nations where women face grave injustices.”
When the House of Representatives voted by a 345-75 margin to defund the notoriously corrupt community organization ACORN in September 2009, Jackson Lee was one of the 75—all Democrats—who voted to continue funding the group.
In July 2010, Jackson Lee stated, from the floor of the House of Representatives, that North and South Vietnam had managed to forge a peaceful relationship with one another in the years since the Vietnam War. Said the congresswoman: “Today we have two Vietnams, side by side, North and South, exchanging and working. We may not agree with all that North Vietnam is doing, but they are living in peace. I would look for a better human rights record for North Vietnam, but they are living side by side. Because that was a civil war. And because the leadership of this nation did not listen to the mothers and fathers who bore the burden of 58,000 dead and did not declare victory….” (Click here for video.) In fact, of course, South Vietnam had ceased to exist on July 2, 1976, when North and South were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
In a January 2011 floor debate over a Republican bill (HR2) calling for repeal of the recently passed national healthcare reform legislation (Obamacare), Jackson Lee said that such a repeal would violate the U.S. Constitution:
“The Fifth Amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process. That is what H.R. 2 does and I rise in opposition to it. And I rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured. Can you tell me what’s more unconstitutional than taking away from the people of America their Fifth Amendment rights, their Fourteenth Amendment rights, and the right to equal protection under the law?”
Jackson Lee revisited this theme on May 6, 2013, when she said, from the floor of the House: “[A]lthough health care was not listed, per se, in the Constitution, it should be a constitutional right. And if you read the words or quote the words of the Declaration of Independence — ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that we have certain inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ — one might argue that education and health care fall into those provisions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
On February 13, 2013, Jackson Lee, arguing that government spending programs were already as lean as they should ever be, exhorted her House colleagues to reach a budget compromise so as to prevent automatic spending cuts through sequestration. “We’re at the bone almost,” said the congresswoman, “and sequester, that is across-the-board cuts, will literally destroy us and put us in a recession.” Jackson Lee then suggested that lawmakers should try to emulate the spirit of cooperation that Congress had shown during the Civil War: “I stand here as a freed slave because this Congress came together. Are we going to be able to do it today to free America?”
Also in February 2013, Jackson Lee honored the hip-hop artist Jay Jenkins, known as “Young Jeezy,” with a “Certificate of Congressional Recognition” for his “outstanding contribution” to the lives of young people through his Street Dreamz Foundation. “Your core values of hard work and integrity has helped improve youth in the Houston community,” said the certificate, which was signed by Jackson Lee. The lyrics of Young Jeezy’s songs are replete with profanity, including many references to “niggas.”
While speaking from the House floor on March 12, 2014, Jackson Lee suggested that the U.S. Constitution (which was adopted in 1787) had been written in the early 1600s: “Maybe I should offer a good thanks to the distinguished members of the majority, the Republicans, my chairman and others, for giving us an opportunity to have a deliberative constitutional discussion that reinforces the sanctity of this nation and how well it is that we have lasted some 400 years, operating under a constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not.”
In January 2019, Jackson Lee introduced H.R.40 — Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, founded on the premise that there should be “appropriate remedies” to address the “lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society.” The bill had 125 co-sponsors, all Democrats.
In January 2019, a female former intern of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) — the Caucus’s nonprofit arm which was chaired by Jackson Lee — filed a lawsuit alleging that in 2018 the CBCF had fired her in retaliation for her stated desire to sue by Damien Jones — the Foundation’s then-intern coordinator — who, the young woman alleged, had raped her in October 2015, when she was nineteen years old. Moreover. the plaintiff claimed that she was in possession of evidence — including text messages, telephone conversations, and DNA — to prove that the encounter with Jones had occurred. During a lengthy phone call on January 17, 2019, the CBCF board demanded that Jackson Lee resign from her position as head of the Foundation. But the congresswoman refused to step down, and the call ended abruptly. A few days later, however, Jackson Lee agreed to resign not only from her position as CBCF chairwoman, but also from her post as House Judiciary subcommittee chair. The New York Times, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported that some CBCF board members had told Jackson Lee that she would face a “vote of removal” if she failed to resign.
Jackson Lee was outraged when a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant died of flu-like symptoms while in the custody of U.S. Border Patrol personnel who had apprehended him for illegally crossing the America’s southern border near Hidalgo, Texas on May 13, 2019. During a House Homeland Security hearing soon thereafter, the congresswoman said to Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): “I believe there should be an internal task force set up dealing with [migrant] children, dealing with children’s death. My question to you is: Will you set up an internal in-house task force to deal with … these deaths, to find what solutions should be put in place?” In response, McAleenan informed the congresswoman that “we already have internal task forces working these issues.”
On July 22, 2021, Jackson Lee joined such notables as fellow Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Emanuel Cleaver, Troy Carter, Hank Johnson, and Al Green in speaking at a demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building. They were demanding the elimination of the Senate filibuster so that Democrats in that chamber of Congress would be able to pass the radical For The People Act, which sought to ban Voter ID laws and other election safeguards, with just a simple majority. They also chanted: “Whose street? Our street. Whose house? Our house.”
On January 9, 2023, Jackson Lee introduced a House Bill known as H.R.61, the “Leading Against White Supremacy Act of 2023,” which:
In a series of floor speeches on March 23, 2023, House Democrats took turns denouncing HR 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, characterizing the legislation as a fascist measure that would not only lead to book bans, but would also prevent children from learning about gay-and-transgender issues as well as the Jewish Holocaust.
Sponsored by Rep. Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana), HR 5 sought to: (a) require all public school districts to disclose their respective curricula, materials, and related budgets to the parents of the children in those districts; (b) require parental consent before students could participate in any surveys at school; (c) prohibit schools from selling student information “for commercial or financial gain”; and (d) guarantee parents’ right to speak at school board meetings, meet personally with their children’s teachers, and be informed of any significant disciplinary, academic, or psychological issues involving those youngsters.
Voicing her opposition to HR 5, Jackson Lee said:
“… I am against undermining vulnerable children, such as the transgender children. I am against banning books, such as a book about a black astrologist [astronomer], a scientist, Neil deGrasse [Neil deGrasse Tyson], or the story of a man ultimately of peace, who brought South Africa together, Nelson Mandela. Banned books. I am against that. I am against it because I would want to make sure that parents wanted to have involvement of [sic] what their children learned. I’m against not wanting to hear the words of Elie Wiesel, about the Holocaust, who said, ‘I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humilation.’ Don’t we want our children to be kind? Don’t we want our children to know that slavery was wrong, as I fight against slavery today that still exists? Don’t we want our children to understand the basis of all our history, the mosaicness [sic] of this nation and African American history? …”
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on July 13, 2023, Jackson Lee was angered when Wisconsin Republican Rep. Thomas Tiffany noted that any sanctuary city in the United States would “almost certainly” have a “Soros prosecutor” — i.e., a prosecutor whose election was supported and funded by the multi-billionaire leftist, George Soros — heading its District Attorney’s office. Said Jackson Lee in response to Tiffany:
“Let me ask you this: First of all we have accusatory commentary of Soros DA’s. Let us not put an individual that is not here, a contributing American, and jeopardize his life, or always throwing his name out in the most ugliest of ways. I am offended by that. Mr. Soros does not deserve that. He is an American and a patriot, and he also comes from a minority community, one might say, and you create a dangerous situation. That’s unfortunate.”
Over the course of her career as a legislator, Jackson Lee has often accused her political opponents of racism. For example:
It should be noted, moreover, that Jackson Lee’s accusations of racism are by no means limited to political matters. For instance:
Over the course of her political career, Jackson Lee has earned a reputation for having both an entitlement mentality and a highly volcanic temper. According to the Daily Caller, the congresswoman’s toxic personality has caused her to have “one of the highest staff turnover rates in Washington.” Between 2001 and 2011, for instance, at least 39 of her staffers quit their jobs less than a year after they had been hired. In March 2011, the Daily Caller enumerated a host of examples of incidents where Sheila Jackson Lee’s volcanic and unpredictable temperament was on display. Following are some excerpts from that article:
A 1998 HoustonPress.com article also provides a number of examples of Jackson Lee’s intemperance. Following are some excerpts from that piece:
On another occasion, in 1998, Jackson Lee — who was accustomed to having an aide drive her back and forth to her destinations each day, in a government-leased car — became enraged when a staffer failed to reserve a limousine for her. After wondering aloud whether a white male colleague had gotten a limousine to chauffeur him because of his race, Jackson Lee told her executive assistant and events scheduler: “You don’t understand. I am a queen, and I demand to be treated like a queen!”
During an August 2009 town hall meeting on healthcare reform, Jackson Lee, showing contemptuous disrespect for a questioner who opposed the Democratic plan, openly carried on a cell-phone conversation while the questioner—a female cancer survivor—was addressing her. Jackson Lee subsequently appeared on CNN’s Newsroom program, where anchor Rick Sanchez showed a YouTube video of the incident and then said: “I gotta ask you, what were you thinking, Congresswoman?” In a rambling reply, Jackson Lee speculated about whether the people who post videos on YouTube generally care about “a robust public [healthcare] option” and “eliminating pre-existing diseases.” Unable to get Jackson Lee to respond directly to any questions about her telephone call, an increasingly exasperated Sanchez said: “Congresswoman, you’re absolutely ignoring my question. I don’t think that’s very nice.” Finally, Sanchez put it so simply and directly that Jackson Lee was forced to respond. The exchange went as follows:
SANCHEZ: I say to my children it’s impolite to text—it’s wrong to be on the phone when you’re talking to people, and it’s rude to do that especially when you’re dealing with adults. Here you have people who have come to hear you speak. They are asking you a question, and it appears on the video like you’re not giving them their due. How do you explain that?
JACKSON LEE: I’m so glad you said it. It “appears” on the video. Maybe it’s a doctored video.
SANCHEZ: Do you think the video was doctored? Do you think the video may have been doctored?
JACKSON LEE: Let me say this—we who are members of Congress who believe in democracy are not going to focus on distractions. We’re really going to focus on giving the people the opportunity to express themselves in any way they desire.
SANCHEZ: Well, well, look at it. I mean—let’s—I’ll tell you what—let’s play it and you tell us if this is you or not you and if we’ve made a mistake by showing video—that may have been doctored—is there anything about this video that isn’t reflective of what happened?
JACKSON LEE I know nothing about the video. I know nothing about the video, Rick, and I’m not going to comment on it.
For an overview of Jackson Lee’s voting record on a number of key issues during her years in Congress, click here.
Congressional Bosses from Hell: Sheila Jackson Lee
By Jonathan Strong
March 2, 2011
The Queen of Texas
By Ian Tuttle
August 1, 2013
Sheila Jackson Lee: Racist and Moron
By Daniel Greenfield
July 26, 2011