[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        TRIBUTE TO JONNA LYNNE (J.L.) CULLEN, A REMARKABLE WOMAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, it is my sad duty today to report the death 
of a very good friend of this House, Jonna Lynne Cullen. J.L., as we 
called her, was a special staff member who served this Nation for many, 
many years as a staff member to Trent Lott in the Committee on Rules; 
she worked this House in many different ways. I got to know her when I 
began to serve at the Office of Management and Budget under President 
Reagan, where she was the first director of the Office of Legislative 
Affairs, the first woman director of that office.
  Several weeks ago there were a number of Members on both sides of the 
aisle that held a special tribute to her. They included, the gentleman 
from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston], the chairman of the Committee on 
Appropriations, the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas], the 
gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley], the gentleman from Virginia 
[Mr. Wolf], the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Thornberry], the gentlewoman 
from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson], and myself. A similar tribute was held 
on the Senate floor. Both Majority Leader Lott, Senator Cochran, 
Senator Snowe, and Senator Dorgan were involved, with very kind words 
for a woman with a very distinguished career.
  I would like to announce that there will be a special tribute to her 
this Friday in the Russell caucus room at 11 o'clock for her friends 
and family. Saturday there will be a service, a memorial service, at 
the Presbyterian Church in Georgetown at 2 o'clock.
  I just want to wish her family well. This was a tremendous loss for 
this country, for a woman that bridged both sides of the aisle. She was 
one that many Republicans and Democrats held in special love and grace 
for the work that she did. We wish to send condolences to her family as 
well.

      Jonna Lynne ``J.L.'' Cullen--A Tribute to a Remarkable Woman

       Dear Colleague: As many of you have heard, our dear friend 
     Jonna Lynne ``J.L.'' Cullen lost her long and courageous 
     fight with cancer late last week. She served Congress as a 
     prominent and distinguished staffer from 1967 until 1981. Her 
     energy, expertise and acts of kindness blessed many lives, 
     including our own.
       Starting her career as a staff assistant on the House Rules 
     Committee for the late Chairman William Colmer (D-Miss), J.L. 
     rose through the ranks to ultimately serve as Associate 
     Minority Counsel for the Republican minority.
       In 1981 she served as the first female Director of 
     Congressional Relations at the Office of Management and 
     Budget. She contained to be heavily involved in the political 
     process after leaving the administration, serving on 
     President Reagan's Bipartisan Commission on Central America.
       Beyond her many professional accomplishments, J.L. was one 
     of those rare and wonderful individuals who relished being a 
     mentor, role model and always a generous friend.
       In her honor, we are pleased to announce two services 
     allowing all who loved her to attend and pay their respects.
       First, a special tribute will be held to celebrate J.L.'s 
     life on Friday, June 20, l997 at 11:00 a.m. in the Senate 
     Caucus Room in room 325, Russell Senate Office Building. A 
     reception with J.L.'s family will be held immediately after.
       On Saturday, June 21, 1997 at 2:00 p.m., a Memorial Service 
     will be held at the Georgetown Presbyterian Church, 3115 P 
     Street, northwest Washington. A reception at the church will 
     follow.
       Notes of condolences can be sent to her mother, Mrs. Joel 
     Shipp, 5480 Meadow Oaks Park Drive, Jackson, MS 39211 and her 
     stepmother Mrs. John Cullen, 490 Stonewall, Memphis, TN 
     38112. In lieu of flowers, a contribution in J.L.'s memory 
     can be made to the Hospice of Northern Virginia, 6400 
     Arlington Boulevard, Suite 1000, Falls Church, VA 22042 or 
     the Cancer Research Foundation of America, 200 Dangerfield 
     Road, Alexandria, VA 22314.
     Trent Lott,
       Senator Majority Leader.
     Thad Cochran,
       Member of the Senate.
     Fred Upton,
       Member of the House.
     Nancy Johnson,
       Member of the House.
                                  ____


               [From the Washington Post, June 19, 1997]

                               Obituaries


                joanna lynn `j.l.' cullen--businesswoman

       Joanna Lynn Cullen, 54, founder of a food speciality 
     business and a former director of congressional relations for 
     the Office of Management and Budget, died of breast cancer 
     June 5 at her home in Alexandria.
       She also worked as a congressional aide and a government 
     affairs consultant and lobbyist whose clients included the 
     City of Dallas and the Cunard cruise line.
       Miss Cullen was a gourmet cook who frequently organized 
     dinners for reporters and for the female members of Congress 
     whose numbers were increasing in the 1980s. She began her 
     firm, J.L. Gourmand, in the late 1980s, making her own 
     flavored pestos, called Pesto Plus. She sold them on her own 
     at the Saturday Farmer's Market in Alexandria and to stores 
     and restaurants.
       Miss Cullen was born in Memphis and later lived in Jackson, 
     Miss. She was a graduate of the University of Mississippi.
       She moved to Washington in 1967 to be an intern on Capitol 
     Hill. She was a staff assistant on the House Rules Committee 
     and later became associate minority counsel for the 
     Republicans.
       She joined the staff of OMB Director David Stockman in 1981 
     and guided efforts aimed at gaining congressional support for 
     tax cuts and budget plans proposed by the administration of 
     Ronald Reagan. She became an independent lobbyist and 
     consultant in 1984.
       Miss Cullen served on Reagan's Bipartisan Commission on 
     Central America and chaired the Commission on Compensation of 
     Career Federal Executives under President George Bush. The 
     compensation commission reported in 1988 that the pay gap 
     between senior federal executives and the private sector had 
     grown to 65 percent.
       Miss Cullen was a founder of Charter 100, a women's 
     networking organization. She traveled overseas as a business 
     adviser to female entrepreneurs. She also was a member of Les 
     Dames d'Escoffier International and a volunteer for the 
     American Cancer Society and Cancer Research Foundation.
       She also was a watercolorist whose botanical works were 
     exhibited and sold locally.
       A tribute to Miss Cullen was held last month on the floor 
     of the House.
       Survivors include her mother and stepfather, Louise Shipp 
     and Joel E. Shipp, both of Jackson, Miss.; her stepmother, 
     Harriet Ann Cullen of Memphis; and three brothers.
                                  ____

       Cullen, Jonna Lynne (J.L.)--On Thursday, June 5, 1997, at 
     her residence in Alexandria, VA, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
     Joel E. Shipp of Jackson, MS and Mrs. Harriet Ann Cullen and 
     the late John N. Cullen, Jr., of Memphis, TN. Also survived 
     three brothers, three nieces and one nephew. Memorial service 
     at Georgetown Presbyterian Church, 3115 P St., NW, 2 P.M. 
     Saturday, June 21. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions 
     may be made to Hospice of Northern Virginia, 6400 Arlington 
     Blvd., Suite 1000, Falls Church, VA 22042, or the Cancer 
     Research Foundation of America, 200 Dangerfield Rd., 
     Alexandria, VA 22314.

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