Congressional Black Caucus endorses Rep Sheila Jackson Lee to head Homeland Security

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. PHOTO/File

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) have given their official endorsement to encourage President Obama to nominate Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee as the replacement for the outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Ms. Napolitano will be stepping down late August to take up the presidency of the University of California system.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee is the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 18th congressional district, and has served since 1995.

In a letter dated July 25 to the president, the Congressional Black Caucus and CBC Chairman Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat who has led the CBC since January, asked Obama to nominate Jackson Lee to the federal appointment, highlighting the key committees she has served on since becoming a member of Congress.

The letter says that Jackson Lee “would serve as an effective DHS secretary because she understands the importance of increasing border security and maintaining homeland safety.” The letter notes that in her former position as chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, Jackson Lee advocated for increased airplane cargo inspections and increased railroad safety.

Read more: Los Angeles Sentinel