Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, born in Queens, New York, was elected and reelected a Democrat from the Texas 18th congressional district to the U.S. House of Representatives every two years from 1994 to 2016. She is the first female ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigation. She is also a senior member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and is a member of the Budget Committee. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus, she earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Yale University, with honors, in the first class that included females. Sha also earned a doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Virginia Law School. Her career before election to Congress included serving as a municipal judge in Houston, Texas, and as a city council member in Houston.