The congresswoman known for giving her staffers profanity-laced nicknames, throwing temper tantrums and, at times, throwing objects, has introduced anti-bullying legislation.
In March 2011, The Daily Caller ran an expose of Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s treatment of her staff, complete with tears, shouting, waiting, cursing and quitting (Jackson Lee has one of the highest turnovers on Capitol Hill).
“‘You stupid mother-effer’ was like a constant,” one former staffer told TheDC. “Like, all the time. But the interesting thing is she would really project that behavior more towards her African-American staffers. She would have other ethnic groups in the office, like interns or whatnot. But it was really her African-American staffers who she felt comfortable enough to really curse out. … This is something we always talked about. We chalked it up to her just feeling more comfortable acting out her aggression toward a certain group of people versus others.”
The irony might have been lost on the congresswoman — on Monday afternoon, her “Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2012” is up for a vote.
“As we saw recently with the viral video of bus monitor Karen Klein being verbally assaulted, 21st century bullying has reached beyond its previous scope of only affecting young people,” Jackson Lee said in a statement. “Now, our seniors are getting bullied, there is bullying in the workplace and some would even suggest that there is bullying between the two parties on Capitol Hill. When will it all end?”
Jackson Lee, who once made a staffer write a memo in front of colleagues about the staffer’s own incompetence, is also a self-described founding member of the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, launched late last month.
Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith is an original co-sponsor of Jackson Lee’s legislation, which would reauthorize the Juvenile Accountability Block Grants program and direct grants to states to combat bullying.
This is not the first piece of anti-bullying legislation Jackson Lee has pushed. The same month TheDC profiled Jackson Lee’s reign of terror, the congresswoman introduced the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2011.
Even then, Roll Call’s Alison McSherry noted the irony.
“While some say Jackson Lee is a bully, it turns out she is against kids doing the same thing,” McSherry wrote.
Jackson Lee’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Update: Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp also noted the irony Monday afternoon.
“Should anti-bullying legislation apply to its sponsor? https://dailycaller.com/2011/03/02/con … #HR6019,” Huelskamp tweeted.