She is the author and lead sponsor of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which established the first new federal holiday in 38 years.

And Congresswoman Jackson Lee is the author and fighter for the passage of the Violence Against Women's Act-signed by the President for the first time in almost a decade.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is an influential and forceful voice in Washington. She is serving her fourteenth term as a United States House of Representatives member. She represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas, centered in Houston, the world's energy capital. Considered by many as the "Voice of Reason" she is dedicated to upholding the Constitutional rights of all people. She sits on three Congressional Committees - as a senior member of the House Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and the crucial Budget Committee. She was appointed the first female Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, which she now chairs.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee's major legislative initiatives include the Sentencing Reform Act, the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, The RAISE Act, The Fair Chance for Youth Act, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, Kaleif's Law, the American RISING Act.

She has also introduced the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act, the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act. She is a champion for women and children, supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and introducing an amendment to funding bills that provides for outreach to minority- and women-owned businesses concerning business opportunities in the commercial space industry, and authored the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act.

She was named by 'Congressional Quarterly' as one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress. The 'U.S. News and World Report named her as one of the ten most influential legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a founder, member, and Chair of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus and the Congressional Children's Caucus. She is also chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Energy Braintrust, Co-Chair of the Justice Reform Task Force. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee earned a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University with honors in the first graduating class, including females, followed by a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. She is married to Dr. Elwyn Lee, a Yale Graduate and an Administrator at the University of Houston. She has two children Jason Lee a graduate of Harvard University, and Erica Lee a graduate of Duke University, who is also a Member of the Harris County School Board in Houston, Texas. She is also the proud grandmother of two grandkids (twins), granddaughter Ellison Bennett Carter and grandson Roy Lee Carter, III.