Sheila Jackson Lee dies at 74

ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has died. She was 74.

The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district since 1995.

Jackson Lee had previously had breast cancer and announced she had pancreatic cancer in June.

Jackson Lee helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence, and to get Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday. The holiday commemorates the day the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.