[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 29 (Thursday, March 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E350-E351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING MAYOR LUTHER JONES OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TX

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 2002

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my friend, a great 
man and Mayor Emeritis of Corpus Christi, TX, Mayor Luther Jones, who 
passed away last week after a very short hospitalization. He was a 
great man, a beloved friend, and a figure known far beyond Corpus 
Christi as a moral, lovable man who loved life, his home, and all the 
people in it.
  To see the future, you must stand on the shoulders of a giant. Mayor 
Jones' political legacy, his legacy of good government, is easily the 
leadership he exhibited in 1983 when he forced all parties in 
disagreement about the election of city officials to sit together in 
the same room until the issue was resolved. His leadership at that 
moment in our history was pivotal to restructuring the city's election 
process.
  In the highly charged emotions of the time, Mayor Jones saw around 
the curve of history, and through the sheer force of will, personality, 
and the righteousness of the cause, he persuaded all parties to find a 
compromise--modified single member-districts--which changed the face of 
Corpus Christi politics and offered minorities entry into city 
government.
  As much as he will be remembered for delivering Corpus Christi into 
the late 20th century in terms of political participation, it is his 
personal legacy that made him a widely loved friend and leader.
  While many in south Texas have extolled the mayor for his 
contributions to the Nation's military through his leadership at the 
Corpus Christi Army Depot and his support for education, particularly 
his successful effort to get

[[Page E351]]

a four-year institution of higher learning in Corpus Christi, that was 
not what was most important to him.
  The thing that he loved the most was the school that bore his name, 
the Luther Jones Elementary School, because he knew the silver bullet, 
the single most important thing in the life of a young person was 
education, pure and simple. He knew you had to get kids early to make 
an impression on them.
  The children there loved him, and he loved them. He never missed a 
graduation; he came to every event and spoke to everyone there. He 
wanted these young people to know there was an adult who believed in 
them. And they believe in him.
  In the weeks just before the mayor passed, the children at Luther 
Jones Elementary were building a monument to him. The pentagon-shaped 
monument had words on each side of it most often associated with the 
mayor: Integrity, Honesty, Perseverance, Success, and Victory. These 
were the traits of the only man ever afforded the title of Mayor 
Emeritus in the history of Corpus Christi.
  If the measure of a man is in the number of lives touched, of 
positive changes made, Corpus Christi Mayor Emeritus Luther Jones will 
be the yardstick by which the rest of us are measured. I ask my 
colleagues to join me in remembering this great American patriot today.

                          ____________________