Hailed by EBONY magazine as one of the "100 Most Fascinating Black Women of the Century," and "Congressional Quarterly," as one of the 50 most effective members in Congress.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994 to represent the 18th Congressional District of Houston, Texas. In her most recent election to the 108th Congress, she captured over 77% of the vote. In addition, the Congresswoman has periodically enumerated the deficiencies of the State of Texas under the President’s leadership and can now share a detailed history of the weaknesses of the current federal Administration.  Her current focus in the 108th Congress is to promote the characteristics of a prospective Administration necessary to serve the nation.  She has worked to promote children’s interest in the United States Congress.  Relative to foreign policy during the 108th Congress, the Congresswoman has furthered a number of initiatives dealing with international peace including the need to increase the involvement and leadership of women in the movement for peace and joining the Partnership for Peace in bringing Israeli and Palestinian women together in Oslo, Norway.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee's swearing-in as a Member of the 108th Congress marks her fifth term in the US House of Representatives where she continues to be an active member of Congress, pursuing and successfully achieving a number of legislative objectives. She has distinguished herself as a staunch defender of the Constitution, civil rights and juvenile justice, protection of America's health needs, gun safety and responsibility, economic empowerment for low and middle income America. In addition, the Congresswoman has been out-spoken on human rights issues and has passed legislation that instructs the National Science Foundation to donate surplus computers and scientific equipment to elementary and secondary schools. The Congresswoman also increased funding for the Sims Bayou flood control by $3.5 million which assisted in ending the flooding of residential communities in Harris County, Texas.

During her tenure on Congress,  Congresswoman Jackson Lee has successfully spearheaded the passage of two major pieces of legislation, House Joint Resolution 98, a bill that she authored with Senator Kennedy which honors all minority veterans who fought or served in World War II and declares May 25, 2000 as a Day of Honor in their memory, and H.R. 2130, the "Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date Rape Prevention Drug Act, named for two women (one of which was from the Congresswoman's home state of Texas) who died after ingesting the date rape drug Gamma Hydroxy-butyrate ("GHB") which was also signed into law by the President.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee has also successfully worked to establish an Office of Special population within the Agency for Health Research and Quality to gather statistical information to establish health needs for minorities, women, children and the elderly living in inner-cities and rural areas. In addition, the Congresswoman has attached sixteen amendments to several major pieces of legislation in the past twelve months alone, thus making her one of the leading legislators in Congress.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee, a veteran of both corporate and private law practice, is a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary where she is a member of the Subcommittee on Crime and was selected as the first African-American woman to serve as the Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. A well-known policy-maker on immigration law in the United States, in this leadership role, Congresswoman Jackson Lee has worked to overhaul the former Immigration and Naturalization Service to better address the nation's immigration laws. In fact, Congresswoman Jackson Lee recently joined a number of her colleagues in Congress in meeting high tech business executives and touring their facilities. Also, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, Congresswoman Jackson Lee played a pivotal role during the impeachment hearings of President Clinton. Throughout this national crises, the Congresswoman sought to find a resolution that would heal the nation and preserve the Constitution. Consequently, she along with three other Democrats drafted a resolution that would have avoided the necessity of an impeachment vote. Although the resolution was not adopted, her vigor and protection of the Constitution was not diminished. Congresswoman Jackson Lee continued her call for healing and non-partisanship in Congress and throughout the country. 

The Congresswoman is also a member of the House Committee on Science, where she sits on the subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. A supporter of NASA and its contribution to American science and medical research Congresswoman Jackson Lee offered an amendment in 1999 to restore funds to NASA during the Appropriations process. In this role, the Congresswoman has been a strong advocate for Historically Black Colleges and Universities where she has convened a meeting of the presidents of these institutions in Washington, DC and has worked to ensure that part of NASA's funding is used for the recruitment and training of students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to Science, the National Technical Association (NTA) of Scientists and Engineers honored the Congresswoman as one of their 1998 Top Women in the Sciences.

In addition, at the beginning of the 108th Congress, Congresswoman Jackson Lee was selected to be on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Congresswoman Jackson Lee sits on the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security and the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science, and Research and Development.
 

During the 105th Congress, Congresswoman Jackson Lee founded the bipartisan Congressional Children's Caucus, which included many of her colleagues in Congress. This Caucus was responsible for legislation that strengthened adoption laws, and promoted labor for public housing residents. During this Congress, the Congresswoman was also an active member of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law where she spearheaded legislation that would protect child support and payments in bankruptcy proceedings, ensure that all priority payments like child support and alimony would be paid before any unsecured creditors, and would strike provisions that made unsecured or credit card debt competitive with child support and alimony payments. As a result of the Congresswoman's hard work she was selected to be a conferee on the Bankruptcy Bill's Conference Report.

In the 104th Congress, the Congresswoman was elected President of the Democratic Freshman Class, and was appointed to serve as the freshman member of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Also, the Speaker of the House appointed her to the Telecommunications Reform bill. This bill, which was one of the major bills to have been considered during the 104th Congress, created new opportunities for regional telephone, long distance, broadcast and cable industries.

During her tenure in Congress, Congresswoman Jackson Lee is a founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Children’s Caucus, the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, and the Congressional Afghanistan Caucus; has served as Co-Chair of the Democratic Caucus's Children's Taskforce, Speaker on the Bi-Partisan Taskforce on Youth Violence; member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the Building A Better America Caucus (BABAC), the Qatari–American  Economic Strategic Defense, Cultural and Educational Partnership Caucus, the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issue, the Congressional Black Caucus where she has served as the Whip for two terms, the Aeronautics and Space Caucus and the House Democratic Caucus Task Forces on Hunger, Welfare Reform, Economic Renewal, Affirmative Action and Travel and Tourism along with her service in the House Internet Caucus. Congresswoman Jackson Lee was also awarded for her outstanding work on mental health legislation in 1998.  

Before her election to Congress, Congresswoman Jackson Lee served two terms as one of the first African American women At-Large members of the Houston City Council where she also chaired the first Human Relations Committee. Prior to her Council service, she was an Associate Municipal Court Judge for the City of Houston.

While a member of the city council, Congresswoman Jackson Lee was instrumental in the passage of legislation dealing with human rights. She also concentrated on issues such as homelessness, gun safety and responsibility, cable television regulations, and the revision of the Traffic Modification Ordinance. Her Council service also involved major efforts related to aviation, and urban redevelopment and revitalization. Her commitment to community issues and problems caused Congresswoman Jackson Lee to lend her efforts to numerous civic and professional organizations. She was an active member of the State Bar of Texas, and is only one of three African-American women to have served as Director of the State Bar of Texas. From 1987 to 1988, she chaired the Justice Court Subcommittee of the Texas Bar. Congresswoman Jackson Lee is also a former Director of Texas Young Lawyer's Association, and was Chair of its Minority Affairs Committee.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee received her undergraduate degree from Yale University, graduating from the Honors Program in Political Science. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee is married to Dr. Elwyn C. Lee, Vice Chancellor of the University of Houston System and Special Assistant to the Chancellor of the University of Houston System. She is the mother of Erica Shelwyn, 24, and Jason Cornelius Bennett Lee, 18.

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee's Official Website

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In 2002, 22 percent of legal immigrants and their children cut back on the size of meals or skipped meals because of financial concerns. (National Bureau of Economic Research)