HOUSTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday eulogized longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee as a “power of nature” as memorials for the longtime Democratic lawmaker drew to a detailed.
Watch Harris’ remarks in our participant above.
Harris took time away from her presidential marketing campaign to explain Jackson Lee, who represented Houston in Congress, as a coalition builder and knowledgeable within the legislative course of. Harris joked about hiding within the corridor when Jackson Lee walked by as a result of the lawmaker was so intense.
“She at all times anticipated in all of us that we might rise to a degree of excellence, understanding that life was too brief and there’s an excessive amount of to be performed,” Harris mentioned. She mentioned she known as Jackson Lee, who died July 19 at age 74 after being handled for pancreatic most cancers, just a few days earlier than then to specific her gratitude for his or her friendship.
“To honor her reminiscence, allow us to proceed to struggle,” Harris mentioned.
Harris is poised to be the primary Black girl to be a significant social gathering’s presidential candidate, and Jackson Lee was considered one of Congress’ most distinguished Black ladies throughout her almost three a long time in Washington. Jackson Lee helped lead federal efforts to guard ladies from home violence and acknowledge Juneteenth as a nationwide vacation.
Greater than 50 members of the U.S. Home attended Thursday’s funeral service. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Home Democratic chief, mentioned Jackson Lee was a “voice for the unvoiced.”
The group of a number of hundred within the church cheered and sometimes stood throughout the service and at instances individuals within the viewers yelled out, “Thanks Sheila.”
Former President Invoice Clinton mentioned Jackson Lee was on his “simply say sure” listing at any time when she known as him throughout his time in workplace. She “actually believed that we’re all created equal,” he mentioned, emphasizing, “We’re the longest enduring democracy in human historical past as a result of we had sufficient individuals like Sheila Jackson Lee.”
Providers for Jackson Lee started on Monday when a whole bunch of individuals paid their respects to her as her physique lay in state in a flag-draped coffin inside Houston’s Metropolis Corridor. President Joe Biden positioned a bouquet of flowers close to her casket and visited with Jackson Lee’s household.
President Joe Biden pays respects to the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee at Houston Metropolis Corridor in Houston, Texas, July 29, 2024. Photograph by Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Arva Howard, 72, who was among the many a whole bunch to pay respects Thursday, mentioned Jackson Lee cared deeply for individuals. “We at all times knew if we would have liked one thing solved, Sheila was the particular person to go to,” Howard mentioned.
Earlier than the service, Calandrian Simpson Kemp, 53, posed subsequent to a big picture of Jackson Lee within the church’s lobby whereas holding up a photograph of her 20-year-old son, George Kemp Jr., who died from gun violence in 2013. Simpson Kemp mentioned Jackson Lee was a mentor in Simpson Kemp’s efforts to cease gun violence and enact widespread sense gun legal guidelines after her son’s dying.
“Once I consider Sheila and her legacy, I take into consideration empowerment. I take into consideration the ability of 1,” Simpson Kemp mentioned. “She by no means let up for individuals. She left all of it on the battlefield, and I feel it’s as much as us now to select up the torch.”
Jackson Lee represented her Houston-based district since 1995. She beforehand had breast most cancers and introduced the pancreatic most cancers prognosis on June 2.
Earlier than being elected to Congress, Jackson Lee served on Houston’s metropolis council from 1990 to 1994.
In Washington, Jackson Lee established herself as a fierce advocate for girls and minorities and a frontrunner for Home Democrats on many social justice points, from policing reform to reparations for descendants of enslaved individuals. She led the primary rewrite of the Violence In opposition to Girls Act in almost a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant ladies.
Jackson Lee unsuccessfully ran to be Houston’s mayor final yr.