A local of Queens, New York, Ms Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and earned her legislation diploma on the College of Virginia.
She was a decide in Houston earlier than she was elected to Houston Metropolis Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994.
She was energetic all through her profession in selling laws geared toward addressing social justice, financial inequality and public well being issues.
Ms Jackson Lee was additionally among the many lead lawmakers behind the trouble in 2021 to make “Juneteenth” a federal vacation, commemorating the top of the authorized enslavement of Black People.
The vacation marks the day in 1865 when a Union common knowledgeable a bunch of enslaved folks in Texas that that they had been made free two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation through the Civil Conflict.
Ms Jackson Lee routinely gained re-election to Congress with ease. The few instances she confronted a challenger, she by no means carried lower than two-thirds of the vote.
She thought-about leaving Congress in 2023 in a bid to turn out to be Houston’s first feminine Black mayor, however was defeated in a run-off. She then simply gained the Democratic nomination for the 2024 common election.
Ms Jackson Lee served on a number of Home committees, together with judiciary, homeland safety and funds.
