President Joe Biden prays by the flag-draped coffin of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, with her husband, Elwyn Lee, in the rotunda of Houston City Hall Monday, July 29, 2024, in Houston. Jackson Lee died on July 19 after battling pancreatic cancer.
Residents who stood in line on Monday to pay their respects to longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas as her body lay in state in Houston’s City Hall remembered her as an advocate for human rights and her community.
“I don’t know of another politician that worked as hard as Sheila Jackson Lee did for our community, and I will be forever grateful to her for everything she did for our community,” said Phyllis Moss, 62, a Houston resident who was among the more than 100 people who stood in line Monday morning to enter City Hall as the building was opened to the public.
Following a trip to Austin earlier in the day, President Joe Biden stopped in Houston on Monday evening and paid his respects to Jackson Lee.
Biden placed a bouquet of flowers beside Jackson Lee's flag-draped casket, briefly prayed over it and then put his hand on the casket before spending some time visiting with her husband and two children.
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“No matter the issue — from delivering racial justice to building an economy for working people — she was unrelenting in her leadership,” Biden said in a statement after Jackson Lee’s death.
The congresswoman, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, was 74 when she died on July 19 after being treated for pancreatic cancer.
Her body will lie in state in Houston’s City Hall rotunda for 10 hours.
Residents, constituents, officials, and others stood in line outside in hot and humid conditions before entering City Hall and walking by her flag-draped casket. Next to her casket stood a large photo of Jackson Lee and two large flower arrangements.
Some who walked by Jackson Lee’s casket stopped to pray, while others took photos.
Eskender Tamrat walked by and waved an Ethiopian flag. Tamrat, who immigrated to Houston from Ethiopia, called Jackson Lee “a longtime friend of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian community.”
“She’s a great community supporter. She’s a great human rights advocate. But she’s also a global leader because she doesn’t just focus on the community in Houston or her area, but she focused on the betterment of every individual, every community,” said Tamrat, 70.
By Monday afternoon, nearly 900 people had passed through the rotunda, according to a city spokesperson.
The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district and the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1995. She previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2.
During a brief ceremony with local religious leaders before the rotunda was opened to the public, Mayor John Whitmire said he saw firsthand Jackson Lee’s passion and dedication for all Houston residents.
“She didn’t let a redistricting line or a boundary line interfere with her voice. We gather here this morning, sad but a celebration,” said Whitmire, who had contacted Jackson Lee's family about having her lie in state at City Hall.
Before being elected to Congress, Jackson Lee served on Houston’s city council from 1990 to 1994.
She was only the second person to be granted the honor of lying in state in Houston’s City Hall rotunda. The other was renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, who died in 2008.
Monday was the first of several events honoring Jackson Lee’s life. She will also be remembered at viewings and services on Tuesday and Wednesday before her funeral on Thursday.
Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to attend the funeral service in Houston.
After being elected, 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 the Violence Against Women Act in nearly a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant women.
Jackson Lee routinely won reelection to Congress with ease. She unsuccessfully ran to be Houston’s mayor last year.
Bobbie D. Nickerson, 71, a suburban Houston resident, said Monday’s crowd at City Hall for Jackson Lee shows “how much she was loved and cared for and respected.”
