Kweisi Mfume: “I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida for yielding. I know there are a lot of people who have a lot to say…”

“I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida for yielding. I know there are a lot of people who have a lot to say about someone whom we cared about and loved, and so I do appreciate this opportunity. I thank her and the honorable gentleman from the State of Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is the chair of the caucus, for convening this Special Order tonight. It is a Special Order for a lawyer and a legislator, a woman who saw things that were not and found it in her heart to find a way to make those things come into existence. I extend my condolences to her husband, Elwyn, to her two adult children, to other members of the Jackson Lee family, and to the people of Houston who knew her, embraced her, loved her, and kept her. I first heard of Sheila Jackson Lee before she ever got here. In fact, I was a Member of the House then, and she came in with a big class. I think she got here in `95, and she won the election in 1994. I think Jim Clyburn was a part of that class, Bobby Scott, and Maxine Waters, a number of people who came in the door bigger than life, and there was Sheila who was also bigger than life. They taught us along the way things that were sometimes not so obvious about fighting for what you believe in. She was a member of the Houston City Council before she got here, and they didn't know what to do with her because she would not stop fighting for the things that she believed in.…”