Sheila Jackson Lee, Representative for Texas's 18th Congressional District

Jackson Lee is the representative for Texas’s 18^th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 4, 1995. Jackson Lee is next up for reelection in 2018.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In 2015 Lee was investigated for travel funded or organized by one or more entities prohibited from providing congressional travel. The House Committee on Ethics concluded implicated House members did not intentionally accept gifts from prohibited entities.

May. 8, 2015	House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the allegation
Jul. 31, 2015	House Committee on Ethics concluded implicated House members did not intentionally accept gifts from prohibited entities

Photo of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee [D-TX18]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2017 Report Card for Jackson Lee.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Jackson Lee is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Jackson Lee has sponsored and cosponsored. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Human Rights Campaign: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% American Civil Liberties Union: 94% NIAC Action: A League of Conservation Voters: 79% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B United States Chamber of Commerce: 40% FreedomWorks: 11% Americans for Prosperity: 5% NumbersUSA: 3% The Club for Growth: 0%

Committee Membership

Sheila Jackson Lee sits on the following committees:

House Committee on the Judiciary
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations
- Member, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security
House Committee on the Budget
House Committee on Homeland Security
- Member, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
- Member, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection

Enacted Legislation

Jackson Lee was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:

View All »

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Jackson Lee sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Crime and Law Enforcement (45%) Emergency Management (15%) International Affairs (10%) Education (9%) Transportation and Public Works (6%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (6%)

Recent Bills

Some of Jackson Lee’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Jackson Lee’s Vote	Vote Description
Yea	H.R. 3823: Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017 Sep 25, 2017. Failed 245/171. The bill reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for six months, provides certain tax benefits for victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, reauthorizes certain expiring health programs, and includes provisions to increase the availability of private flood insurance for individuals in flood zones. Federal ...
Aye	H.R. 1599: Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 Jul 23, 2015. Passed 275/150. This bill was enacted as S. 764. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the distribution and labeling related to bioengineered foods (often referred to as genetically modified foods or GMOs). It would ...
No	H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act Jun 18, 2015. Passed 218/208. This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. 2146 was originally introduced as a bill to address issues with retirement funds of federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. ...
Yea	H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015 May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88. The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
Yea	H.R. 622: State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 2015 Apr 16, 2015. Passed 272/152.
Aye	H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
Yea	H.R. 5325 (112th): Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 Jun 6, 2012. Passed 255/165.
Aye	H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117. The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and ...
No	H.Res. 1137 (111th): Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2847) making appropriations for the Departments ... Mar 4, 2010. Passed 212/209.
Nay	H.Res. 1031 (110th): Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 895) establishing within the House of Representatives an ... Mar 11, 2008. Passed 229/182.

Missed Votes

From Jan 1995 to May 2018, Jackson Lee missed 968 of 15,778 roll call votes, which is 6.1%. This is much worse than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1995 Jan-Mar	279	1	0.4%	18^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jul-Sep	232	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Oct-Dec	185	3	1.6%	49^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	5	4.5%	67^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	24	13.2%	97^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	6	3.7%	68^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	2	1.1%	38^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	6	2.6%	63^rd
1997 Oct-Nov	163	5	3.1%	66^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	16	18.0%	92^nd
1998 Apr-Jun	185	1	0.5%	21^st
1998 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	12	6.5%	82^nd
1999 Jul-Sep	204	3	1.5%	48^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	22	15.1%	95^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	25	26.3%	94^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	4	1.4%	38^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	2	1.5%	47^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	9	8.9%	62^nd
2001 Jan-Mar	75	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	4	3.0%	61^st
2001 Jul-Sep	149	7	4.7%	81^st
2001 Oct-Dec	153	7	4.6%	70^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	4	5.1%	71^st
2002 Apr-Jun	203	9	4.4%	71^st
2002 Jul-Sep	141	5	3.5%	62^nd
2002 Oct-Nov	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	1	1.1%	38^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	9	3.8%	67^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	4	2.1%	56^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	23	15.2%	95^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	13	12.5%	87^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	8	3.6%	61^st
2004 Jul-Sep	161	8	5.0%	63^rd
2004 Oct-Dec	58	4	6.9%	66^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	8	8.9%	88^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	40	14.7%	97^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	4	2.7%	62^nd
2005 Oct-Dec	163	6	3.7%	59^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	8	9.9%	89^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	5	1.8%	47^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	8	5.0%	80^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	6	2.8%	65^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	2	0.5%	19^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	13	4.1%	79^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	8	3.0%	53^rd
2008 Jan-Mar	149	10	6.7%	77^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	27	8.4%	85^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	32	15.6%	96^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	4	2.3%	51^st
2009 Apr-Jun	303	20	6.6%	86^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	12	4.5%	82^nd
2009 Oct-Dec	246	9	3.7%	63^rd
2010 Jan-Mar	195	12	6.2%	78^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	45	20.5%	98^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	1	0.7%	21^st
2010 Nov-Dec	99	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	2	0.9%	45^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	7	2.5%	69^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	17	6.9%	88^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	2	1.0%	37^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	8	5.3%	82^nd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	22	7.4%	84^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	87	57.2%	99^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	6	11.8%	87^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	18	20.2%	98^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	14	6.5%	85^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	4	2.0%	62^nd
2013 Oct-Dec	137	8	5.8%	83^rd
2014 Jan-Mar	148	7	4.7%	75^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	11	5.0%	77^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	25	17.0%	97^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	3	6.1%	85^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	2	1.4%	41^st
2015 Apr-Jun	244	49	20.1%	99^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	18	12.9%	93^rd
2015 Oct-Dec	177	13	7.3%	93^rd
2016 Jan-Mar	137	30	21.9%	96^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	34	16.7%	95^th
2016 Jul-Sep	232	18	7.8%	92^nd
2016 Nov-Dec	48	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	12	5.8%	86^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	2	1.5%	45^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	5	2.5%	76^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	5	3.0%	65^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	6	4.7%	70^th
2018 Apr-May	101	1	1.0%	29^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

@unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

Sheila Jackson Lee is pronounced:

SHEE-luh // JAK-sun lee

The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:

Letter	Sounds As In
A a	cat
EE ee	meet
H h	hat
J j	jam
K k	king
L l	leg
N n	not
S s	sit
U u	cup
UH uh	cup

Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

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