U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, has died.
Longtime She was 74. Lillie Conley, her chief of staff, confirmed Friday night that Jackson Lee, who had pancreatic cancer, had died. The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district since 1995. She had previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2. “The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me,” Jackson Lee said in a statement then.
Jackson Lee was also was among the lead lawmakers behind the effort in 2021 to have Juneteenth recognized as the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1986. The holiday marks the day in 1865 that the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom. A native of Queens, N.Y., Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and earned her law degree at the University of Virginia.
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