Vice President Kamala Harris Pays Tribute To The Late Sheila Jackson Lee

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Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the eulogy to honor the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) at a service on Thursday.

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Transcript

00:00Good afternoon. Good afternoon, church. Please have a seat. Good afternoon. Thank you. Thank

00:11you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And let me thank Chaplain Black for your words

00:16and the time that we have prayed together when I was in the United States Senate. I

00:20thank you, Chaplain. And Pastor Michael A. Pender, Sr., thank you for the warm welcome

00:25this afternoon. And to the members of the Lee family, President Bill Clinton, Secretary

00:33Hillary Clinton, the members of Congress, and the elected officials, and all of our

00:39distinguished guests, it is an honor, a true honor, true honor, to be with you this afternoon

00:47to remember and to celebrate the extraordinary life of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

00:56Thank you. Sheila Jackson Lee, to know her was to know a true champion, a fierce champion

01:06for justice. Sheila Jackson Lee was a woman of deep faith and deep compassion. She was

01:15a proud member of our beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. And she was

01:24a dear, dear friend to my husband, Doug, and me. Over her career, as we all know, Sheila

01:30had many titles, judge, council member, congresswoman. And yet, perhaps the titles she cherished

01:39the most were wife to Elwin, mother to Jason and Erica, and BB to Ellison and Roy. And

01:49so, to the entire Lee family, Doug and my prayers are with you. It is not easy to lose

01:56a member of one's family who holds such an extraordinary place. Sheila was just a presence.

02:04She was a presence. And it is not easy, and I say to the family, when a loved one lives

02:11a life of public service. And so, especially someone like Sheila Jackson Lee. And I want

02:16to thank the family on behalf of the people of our nation for your sacrifices and the

02:22work that you did to support her over these many, many years that allowed her to give

02:27so much to our country. So the Bible teaches us, whatever you do, work at it with all your

02:39heart as if you were working for the Lord. And everything she did, Sheila Jackson Lee

02:47worked with all her heart. As a member of the United States Senate and the Congressional

02:53Black Caucus, I had the honor to work directly with Sheila on many issues over the years

02:58and to observe firsthand her leadership. And she truly was a force of nature. When it came

03:06to her constituents, there was no task too big or too small for the Congresswoman. If

03:11it needed to be done, she made sure it was done and done right. When it came to crafting

03:18policy, there was no detail too minor or point of order too obscure. If it needed to

03:26be understood, the Congresswoman would make sure everyone understood it and understood

03:34it well and used it to the benefit of the people she served. To know her was to marvel

03:42at her mastery of the legislative process. We were talking about it backstage. Sheila

03:49Jackson Lee was one of the smartest and most strategic legislators in Washington, D.C.

03:59And I will say, and we all who have worked with her and had the blessing of work with

04:03her know, she was also one of the most unrelenting. As those of us who were her colleagues can

04:11attest, there was never a trite or trivial conversation with Sheila Jackson Lee. Now,

04:21there were times, I will admit, if I saw her walking down the hall, I would almost want

04:31to hide because I knew whatever else may be on my mind, Sheila Jackson Lee would require

04:41a very serious and specific conversation with you about what she had on her mind. And then

04:49she would tell you exactly what she needed you to do to help her get it done. And Sheila

04:57Jackson Lee, that was her character. She never lost an opportunity to fight for the

05:06people she served. And her fight, her fight was born out of love. She had a big, big heart.

05:14Very few people have loved the people of Houston more than Sheila Jackson Lee. In the community,

05:25she was ubiquitous and omnipresent. Whether it was the funerals and memorial services

05:31or the birthday parties or block parties, she celebrated with the people. She mourned

05:39with the people. She stood with the people always. And you may not know, but Sheila and

05:47Doug, my husband, struck up a fast friendship in recent years. And they did a number of

05:52events together, including with the Jewish community here in Houston. Because Sheila,

05:58of course, was also a coalition builder. And she fought for everybody, knowing that the

06:05vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. Yes, she did. And

06:16as folks in this city can attest, if you were having trouble getting your VA benefits

06:22or your Social Security, or if a family member had an issue with their visa, you called the

06:29Congresswoman, even if you did not live in her district. In fact, I suspect she gave

06:38nearly every person here her cell phone number at one time or another. And when you called,

06:47Sheila Jackson Lee would always find a way to help, even if she needed to get a little

06:53creative. As some of you may remember, a number of years ago, the city of Houston faced a

06:59budget shortfall. And to save money, decided to close a number of public pools. In the

07:07middle of an historic heat wave. Well, Sheila Jackson Lee wasn't having that. And so she

07:15called around, as the story goes, to business leaders across Houston, and convinced them

07:22to donate more than $350,000. And those pools then stayed open all summer long. The Congresswoman

07:36was a leader for Houston. And she was a national leader. She was a national leader. She touched

07:42the lives of people all over our country. As a champion for women's rights, she helped

07:49reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. As a fighter for LGBTQ rights, her support

07:55helped repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. As a lifelong advocate for our nation's children,

08:01she founded the Congressional Children's Caucus. And as a leader who believed deeply

08:08that America's true and full history must be acknowledged and honored, it was Sheila

08:14Jackson Lee whose bill made Juneteenth a federal holiday. Which as a United States Senator,

08:24I was proud to co-sponsor. And then as President, as Vice President, it was my honor, with the

08:29President, with the President, it was my honor, it was my honor, with our President

08:42Joe Biden, to stand beside Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee as our President signed her bill

08:49into law. So, I'll say this, the late, great Barbara Jordan, a mentor of Sheila's, who

08:57also, of course, represented the 18th District, once said, and I'll quote, it is a privilege

09:06to serve the people. A privilege that must be earned. And once earned, there is an obligation

09:16to do something good with it. Sheila Jackson Lee understood the privilege and obligation

09:25and nobility of public service. And through her service, she did untold good. You know,

09:35a few days before she passed, I called her. And I expressed my sincere and deep gratitude

09:43for all she had done. And I told her, she had such an impact on me. And my life. You

09:54know, to know Sheila is to know how she could be tough, but oh my goodness, she was so loving.

10:02And so encouraging. And she always encouraged me. And so I called to thank her for that.

10:11I called to thank her for the impact she has had on so many people. I know all of us, and

10:19in particular, all of us who have worked with her in Washington, have stories to tell.

10:25She was a force, but she never allowed anything to be mediocre. She always expected in all

10:32of us that we would rise to a point of excellence. Knowing life was too short, and there's too

10:40much to be done. And so I expressed to her my personal gratitude for her longstanding

10:47friendship and inspiration. And I thanked her for her courage, and her conviction,

10:53and her relentless focus on those who are too often left out and left behind, and her

10:59unwavering belief in the power that we each have to change our country for the better.

11:07So I will end with this. Sheila Jackson Lee was the first elected, first elected to United

11:15States Congress 30 years ago this year. She was first elected 30 years ago this year.

11:21Hours after her swearing in, she stepped onto the House floor, and she addressed the American

11:26people. So new members of Congress have that moment where after they are elected, they

11:31will speak in the chamber to give a statement about what they intend to do with their time

11:37in Congress. And Sheila's words were simple, but very concise. She said, as members of

11:46Congress, we are here to make change. Sheila Jackson Lee was a change maker. She worked

11:56with all her heart to lift up the people of her city, of her state, and of our nation,

12:03and to honor her memory, let us continue to fight to realize the promise of America,

12:10a promise of freedom, opportunity, and justice, not just for some, but for all.

12:17And Sheila, we are going to miss you dearly. We will carry your spirit with us every day

12:31in all the work that we have ahead. God bless the dear Congresswoman, Sheila Jackson Lee,

12:37and God bless the United States of America. Thank you all.

Vice President Kamala Harris Pays Tribute To The Late Sheila Jackson Lee

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