Jackson Lee is the representative for Texas’s 18th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 4, 1995. Jackson Lee is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
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]](/static/legislator-photos/400199-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 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 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 from Jan 6, 2015 to Sep 25, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Sheila Jackson Lee sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Jackson Lee was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 434: Emancipation National Historic Trail Study Act
- H.R. 710 (114th): To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare a comprehensive security assessment of the transportation security card program, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 78 (113th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston, Texas, as the “George Thomas ‘Mickey’ Leland Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 6510 (111th): To direct the Administrator of General Services to convey a parcel of real property in Houston, Texas, to the Military Museum of Texas, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 6610 (110th): To amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine.
- H.R. 6212 (110th): Medicare Efficiency and Development of Improvement of Care and Services Act (MEDICS Act) of 2008
- H.R. 4510 (109th): To direct the Joint Committee on the Library to accept the donation of a bust depicting Sojourner Truth and to display the bust in a suitable location ...
Does 7 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
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 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Jackson Lee sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Crime and Law Enforcement (37%) Emergency Management (17%) International Affairs (10%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (10%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%) Health (5%) Education (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Jackson Lee’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 8092: Protecting Democracy by Securing the Right To Vote by Mail Act
- H.R. 7636: Custodial Interrogation Recording Act
- H.R. 7637: New White House Act
- H.Res. 1038: Recognizing the forthcoming centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
- H.R. 7232: Juneteenth National Independence Day Act
- H.Res. 1001: Recognizing June 19, 2020, as this year’s observance of the historical significance of ...
- H.Res. 1005: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the enhancement of unity ...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1995 to Sep 2020, Jackson Lee missed 998 of 16,955 roll call votes, which is 5.9%. This is much worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
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
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
