HOUSTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will eulogize the U.S. congressman. Sheila Jackson Lee at a north Houston church on Thursday as the days of memorials for the longtime Democratic lawmaker come to an end.
Harris is poised to be the first Black woman to be a major party’s presidential candidate, and Jackson Lee has become one of the most prominent Black women in Congress during nearly three decades representing her Texas district. She helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize June 19 as a national holiday.
Jackson Lee was 74 when she died on July 19 after being treated for pancreatic cancer. Harris, a former senator from California, said in a statement after her death that she was “one of our nation’s fiercest, smartest and most strategic leaders in the way she thought about making progress happen.”
Services for Jackson Lee have begun on Monday when hundreds of people paid tribute to Jackson Lee as his body lay on display in a flag-draped casket inside Houston City Hall. President Joe Biden was one of the visitors, placing a bouquet of flowers near his casket and visiting Jackson Lee’s family.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Jackson Lee was remembered in displays at two different churches.
The Democrat represented her district based in Houston and the fourth largest city in the country since 1995. She previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2nd.
Before being elected to Congress, Jackson Lee served on the Houston City Council from 1990 to 1994.
After being elected for the first time, Jackson Lee quickly established herself as a fierce advocate for women and minorities and a leader for House Democrats on many social justice issues, from policing reform to reparations for descendants of enslaved people. She led the first rewrite of Violence Against Women Law in nearly a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant women.
Jackson Lee typically won re-election to Congress easily. She executed unsuccessfully to be mayor of Houston last year.
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