WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Senior Member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security and Budget, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and the Chief Deputy Whip, issued this statement following the death of former United States Senator Harris Wofford:

“Yesterday, our nation lost a civil rights champion, and an icon in his own right. Harris Wofford—an attorney, former advisor to President John F. Kennedy, and United States Senator representing Pennsylvania—died. He was 92.

“A son of Manhattan, Senator Wofford spent his life as a public servant and was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Harris marched with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Selma, Alabama and encouraged John F. Kennedy to call Mrs. King after Dr. King was jailed in 1960. Some have said that the call led to Kennedy’s designation as the “Candidate with a Heart.” Then-Senator Kennedy won the endorsement of Dr. King’s father—the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. Senator Kennedy would go on to win 70% of the black vote in his narrow victory over Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. His work in politics continued, later as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in 1986, and as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Labor and Industry.

“He also leaves behind a remarkable legacy of public service outside of politics, and which was reflected in the Senator’s commitment to community. He served as a legal assistant for Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, a professor, a university president, as chief executive of AmeriCorps, and as a board member for numerous charities and service organizations. I mourn his loss, but also celebrate his life. I extend my condolences to his husband, Matthew, and to all who survive him and celebrate the life of this statesman.”