Kamala Harris calls Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee 'force of nature'

Vice President Kamala Harris joined hundreds of mourners Thursday to celebrate the life of late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston.

The big picture: Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, reminded political supporters her speech wasn't about her campaign.

• "We are focused on her right now," Harris said as she began speaking.

Catch up quick: Jackson Lee, a Democrat who represented Houston in Congress for nearly three decades, died last month , soon after announcing she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer .

What they're saying: "She truly was a force of nature," Harris said of Jackson Lee. "When it came to her constituents, there was no task too big or too small for the congresswoman."

• "Very few people have loved the people of Houston more than Sheila Jackson Lee," Harris later said. "In the community, she was ubiquitous and omnipresent."

Harris shared that she called Jackson Lee days before her death to express gratitude for her service and that Jackson Lee had formed a bond with Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff.

Zoom out: Several other dignitaries also delivered remarks, including former President Bill Clinton, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Context: Harris attended Jackson Lee's funeral the day after former President Donald Trump questioned her race while addressing Black journalists in Chicago.

• Harris, speaking Wednesday to historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho in Houston, said "the American people deserve better" than the "divisiveness and the disrespect" exhibited by Trump.

The intrigue: This is Harris' second trip to Houston and third in Texas in the last month.

• President Joe Biden also visited the Lone Star State this week commemorating the Civil Rights Act in Austin and paying respects to Jackson Lee in Houston.