CONGRESSIONAL POWERHOUSE

By: Shelley McKinley U.S Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, representing the Texas 18th congressional district, was a fixture on the local, national, and world stages, championing progressive policies as well as engaging with the international community. She is more recently known for authoring and serving as the lead sponsor of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which established the first new federal holiday in 38 years which was signed by President Joe Biden in 2021. In May 2024, she reintroduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would create federal police reform by limiting the use of force and restrict the use of no-knock warrants, chokeholds, and carotid holds. It would also lower the criminal intent standard to convict a law enforcement officer for misconduct in a federal prosecution and limit qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against a law enforcement officer. Jackson-Lee’s political career began in Houston, TX as a municipal judge from 1987 to 1990. She then went on to win an At-Large Houston City Council seat where she served from 1990 – 1994. In 1994, then Houston City Councilwoman Sheila Jackson Lee won her Congressional District seat and held that...