During a press conference Saturday, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX 18th) delivered remarks on Houston native and WNBA star, Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia on drug charges. In her statement, the congresswoman says she will be demanding her release.
Watch her entire statement below:
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX 18th District) had a thoughtful and reassuring reponse for Texas reisdents when asked by a local television reporter about Senator Ted Cruz's ill timed trip to Cancun during an extreme weather emergency in Texas that has killed dozens. Watch her response below:
"I'm present and accounted for," said Congresswoman @JacksonLeeTX18 when asked about #TedCruz & his trip to Mexico. "I do think in time of crisis the place & the only place I want to be is with the people I represent." She is in Houston at a water distribution site. #abc13 pic.twitter.com/AGQuZCB8fu
— Steve Campion (@SteveABC13) February 18, 2021
Every year, Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee introduces a resolution to recognize the historical significance of Juneteenth. Introduced June 15, this year it has more than 200 co-sponsors — and that’s not all: she also plans this week to introduce a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The road to such a holiday becoming a reality may be long, the Democrat acknowledges, noting it took nearly 20 years for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to become a national holiday, but she’s optimistic that the time is right for increasing awareness about slavery and how its legacy has carried over into modern racism.
“There needs to be a reckoning, an effort to unify. One thing about national holidays, they help educate people about what the story is,” Jackson Lee says. “Juneteenth legislation is a call for freedom, but it also reinforces the history of African Americans. We’ve fought for this country. We’ve made great strides, but we’re still the victims of sharp disparities. Our neighborhoods reflect that. We’ve been denied the same opportunities for housing, access to healthcare and, in 2020, [during] COVID-19, all of the glaring disparities are shown. Because of that, I think this is a time that we may find people who are desirous to understand the history not necessarily only of African Americans, but the history of America.”
