Sheila Jackson Lee

Sheila Jackson Lee (born January 12, 1950 in Queens, New York), an American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995. She represents Houston's 18th Congressional District (map), which was once the domain of her role model, former congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

Controversy

Publicity-Seeking

To her critics, Jackson Lee is well known in Houston and on the national scene for her reputation as a publicity hound. Critics charge her with a tendency to volunteer unsolicited on-camera commentary and press statements on a wide range of political issues, such as a 2003 request to use more African American-sounding names when naming hurricanes and tropical storms http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33896. This has caused conservative critics to nickname her "Hurricane Sheila." Citing the hurricane incident, conservative pundit and former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg included Jackson-Lee in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, ranking her #98.

Related Topics:
Houston - 2003 - African American - Hurricanes - Conservative - CBS - Bernard Goldberg - 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

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Jackson Lee volunteered herself as an unsolicited advocate for the father of Elián González in the international custody controversy and reportedly spends hours seeking out prime seating locations in the House of Representatives chamber to increase her camera visibility for special events such as the State of the Union address. She was also one of the few members of congress to come to the defense of Michael Jackson during an ongoing criminal investigation of the pop star http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/6/172832.shtml. She also attracted controversy in 2003 by meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and offering to sponsor a visit for the controversial leader to the United States.

Related Topics:
Elián González - State of the Union - Michael Jackson - Syrian - Bashar al-Assad

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Keeping with her camera-friendly reputation, Jackson Lee is one of the few members of Congress outside of the leadership who seeks time for a House floor speech almost every day. According to the gossip columnist of a local free paper, The Houston Press, the congresswoman's reputation as a "floor hog" has also given rise to a humorous betting game among Capitol Hill staffers in other member's offices in which quarters are deposited into a jar each time she speaks. The office staff in possession of the jar when a whole day goes by without Jackson Lee speaking wins and gets to keep the contents http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2004-02-12/hairballs.html.

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Sheila-isms

Jackson Lee's penchant for misspeaking (called Sheila-isms in Houston political circles, similar to Bushisms) has also made her the object of ridicule from the political right, especially over a well publicized episode in which she asked NASA scientists if the Mars Pathfinder robot probe had photographed the location of the 1969 Moon Landing. In early 2004 Jackson Lee praised the Houston Super Bowl for upholding "family values," seemingly unaware of the infamous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction that marred the event. More recently, conservative talk radio heckled Jackson Lee's claim "I came here as a slave, and I deserve to vote" during the 2005 challenge of the electoral votes from Ohio.

Related Topics:
Bushisms - NASA - Mars Pathfinder - 1969 - Moon Landing - Super Bowl - Janet Jackson - Wardrobe malfunction - Talk radio - 2005 - Ohio

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Other criticism

According to the Houston Press and The Hill, Jackson Lee has also reportedly been involved in several altercations with airline flight personnel over her requests for a complimentary upgrade to first class based on her celebrity. http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/1998-05-14/news/news3.html The Press reports one altercation, which Jackson Lee later denied, she loudly derided a staffer over her travel arrangements:

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:"You don't understand. I am a queen, and I demand to be treated like a queen"

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Another altercation onboard an airplane was reported by The Hill. During a full flight on Continental Airlines Jackson Lee was denied a complimentary upgrade to first class. According to a witness interviewed by the Capitol Hill newpaper, "When she saw that she had to sit with other people, she started shouting that she was in Congress and worked hard. She was really loud. Everybody in the plane could hear." Later in the flight she is reported to have had a "friendly visit" with the displaced passengers. http://www.hillnews.com/open_secrets/090303.aspx

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The Press further reports that Jackson Lee has a reputation on capitol hill as a "high-maintenance" employer and has exhibited one of the largest staff turnover rates for years http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/1998-05-07/news/news3.html. Several former employees have cited her demeanor and incidents such as the travel arrangement altercations as a major reason why so many staffers leave her office. The Houston Chronicle reported that one staffer even quit after she threw a cell phone at him.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/742662/posts

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Adding to her reputation as an elitist, she was criticized after an investigative reporter from the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard photographed her using a chauffeur to travel the distance of approximately one block from her congressional office to the U.S. Capitol Building entrance. The Capitol Hill magazine Roll Call reported a couple weeks later that Jackson Lee was seen pressuring her driver to tailgate Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) through a security checkpoint.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/690900/posts

Related Topics:
Elitist - Conservative - The Weekly Standard - Roll Call - John Dingell - D - MI

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Alleged use of the race card and gender card

Other critics have charged Jackson Lee with frequent political race baiting to obtain political goals. In a publicized 2002 incident Jackson Lee became engaged in a shouting match with Republican Dana Rohrabacher, the Chairman of the NASA subcomittee, after Rohrabacher ruled her out of order for exceeding her allotted time for questions. Jackson Lee snapped back at Rohrabacher, "I'm the only member that you comment on. It may be that I'm the only African-American woman sitting here."http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/science/hsy80686.000/hsy80686_0.htm#159http://www.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru072602.asp Rohrabacher responded, "Ms. Jackson Lee, that type of charge is beneath you. It is beneath your dignity." Jackson Lee also accused the Harris County (Houston) Republican Party of racism after an email it sent to members criticizing the local Democratic congressional delegation included a photograph of her but not the Democratic "white male" members from other Houston districts, despite the fact that the email was one of a series that did, in fact, include her white male Democrat colleagues.http://www.jacksonlee.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=6245

Related Topics:
Race baiting - Dana Rohrabacher

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