Posted By LambChop
From The Houston Chronicle:
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairwoman Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) sent a letter to President Barack Obama on July 25th strongly suggesting that Obama consider appointing Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Jackson Lee would replace the position formerly held by Janet Napolitano. Jackson Lee has been in Congress since 1985 and has served on the Foreign Affairs committee and the Judiciary and Homeland Security committee, in which she was the Chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) is the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security who was being considered for the Cabinet position before he released a statement saying that he was not interested in the position. Instead, he has chosen to endorse Jackson Lee.
Fudge’s letter stated:
“Representative Jackson Lee would serve as an effective DHS Secretary because she understands the importance of increasing border security and maintaining homeland security,” “As Chairwoman, Representative Jackson Lee supported increased airplane cargo inspections and increased security for railroads, issues of great importance to the security of this nation and its citizens.”
Jackson Lee currently holds the post of Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, a position that the CBC said that Jackson Lee “stands as a strong and honest ‘voice of reason.’”
Jackson Lee opted to support Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama during the primary in 2008. She is not a shoe-in for the position. She does not have the temperament - Jackson Lee has earned the dubious reputation as one of the worst bosses on the Hill. Jonathan Strong of The Daily Caller in 2011 reported, “Yet even by the harsh standards of Congress, Sheila Jackson Lee stands out. She may be the worst boss in Washington. ‘It’s like being an Iraq War veteran,’ says someone who worked for her.
Jackson Lee’s notorious behavior does not stop with staff abuse. Here are the TOP TEN FAVORITE SHEILA JACKSON LEE ANTICS:
- As reported by The Hill (during a full flight on Continental Airlines), Jackson Lee went haywire after being denied an upgrade to first class, according to a witness interviewed by Capitol Hill newspaper who said, "When she saw that she had to sit with other people, she started shouting that she was in Congress and worked hard. She was really loud. Everybody in the plane could hear."
- In 1997 The Hill reported that the congresswoman asked NASA officials whether the Mars Pathfinder photographed the American flag astronaut Neil Armstrong had planted on the surface of Mars. Jackson Lee was corrected - the flag was on the moon, not Mars. Jackson Lee later accused the officials of racism in a letter to the editor: “You thought you could have fun with a black woman member of the Science Committee.”
- In 2000 Jackson Lee volunteered herself as an unsolicited advocate for the father of Elián González in the Cuban custody controversy.
- In 2003, Sheila Jackson Lee criticized the weather establishment for the selection of names used for hurricanes stating that “all racial groups should be represented “would try to be inclusive of African -American names as well.”
- In 2008 -A former staffer said that Jackson Lee demanded a meeting with a top Treasury aide during the financial crisis even though she did not sit on any of the finance committees. She forced her driver to park where the Secret Service had instructed them not to park. Jackson Lee confronted a team of Secret Service Agents screaming, “I’m Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee! Who do you think you are?” Jackson Lee later accused the “white” agent of racism. Later, she filed a formal complaint with the Secret Service, which prompted an investigation. The accusation had been dismissed because the agent in question was Hispanic (not “white’).
- In 2009 - Jackson Lee brought up the death of Michael Jackson on the House Floor and attended his Memorial service with a Proclamation from the City of Houston. When asked about what funds she used to cover her travel expenses to the service, she claimed they were “funds for her use.”
- In 2009, she thwarted Rush Limbaugh from becoming an NFL owner. “He does not represent the fullness of appreciation of athletes of all diverse backgrounds, no matter what he wants to pretend to say on his radio station,” she said.
- In 2011, Jackson Lee criticized a Pepsi advertisement (aired during the Super Bowl) in which a black woman throws a can of soda at her husband for eyeing an attractive white woman next to them. “It was not humorous. It was demeaning — an African-American woman throwing something at an African-American male and winding up hitting a Caucasian woman.”
- Lee is best known for her “hog” positions: “Floor Hog” and “Aisle Hog”. These labels are used by congressional staffers to define those who take time on the House Floor with speeches (Floor Hog) and for those who take center aisle seats during joint sessions of congress (including the annual State of the Union) to position themselves to be on camera in front of the president (Aisle Hog). Lee is known to claim her aisle seat as much as 12 hours in advance and wear brightly- colored, tablecloth-like outfits to attract attention.
- Equally disturbing, Jackson Lee has a habit of inappropriate funeral attendance, showing up at random funerals of dignitaries looking for speaking opportunities and pretending to grieve.
Never thought I'd read the phrase "voice of reason" and Sheila J. Lee in the same sentence.
Posted by: German Shepherd | 07/30/2013 at 11:21 AM