US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas to lie in state at Houston city hall

HOUSTON (AP) — Several days of events honoring the life of longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas were set to begin Monday with the lawmaker lying in state in Houston’s city hall.

President Joe Biden also was scheduled to come to Houston Monday evening to pay his respects to Jackson Lee, according to the White House.

“No matter the issue — from delivering racial justice to building an economy for working people — she was unrelenting in her leadership,” Biden said in a statement after Jackson Lee’s death.

The congresswoman, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, was 74 when she died on July 19 after battling pancreatic cancer.

Her body will lie in state in Houston’s city hall rotunda for 10 hours on Monday.

The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district and the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1995. She previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2.

Mayor John Whitmire, along with members of Jackson Lee’s family and religious leaders, are expected to take part in a prayer service Monday morning on the steps of city hall before the rotunda is opened to the public.

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