[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE STEPHANIE TUBBS 
                                 JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 8, 2008

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today 
to honor the memory of former Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones 
and her lifetime of dedication to the people of Ohio and the United 
States. I was deeply saddened to learn our colleague passed away so 
suddenly. We have not only lost a wonderful friend but an individual 
who made a number of historic achievements during her lifetime.
  After graduating from law school at Case Western Reserve University, 
Stephanie began her career with Cleveland's sewer district before 
serving as an attorney with the city's Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission. In 1976, she served as an assistant Cuyahoga County 
prosecutor before her election as Cleveland Municipal Court judge in 
1981. Two years later, the governor of Ohio appointed her to a 
judgeship with the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County, and in 
1991, Stephanie was appointed Cuyahoga County prosecutor.
  Stephanie was elected to represent the 11th District of Ohio in the 
U.S. House of Representatives in 1998. Throughout her 5 terms of 
office, she strove for advances in health care, economic development, 
and education. Recently, she had become a leader in the fight against 
predatory lending practices.
  Most notably, Stephanie's legacy will be her career filled with 
firsts. She was the first African-American and the first female to 
serve as prosecutor in her native Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Stephanie was 
the first African-American to be chief prosecutor in the State of 
Ohio's history. She also became the first African-American woman to 
represent Ohio in Congress and the first to serve on the House Ways and 
Means Committee.
  At the beginning of the 110th Congress, Stephanie was named 
chairwoman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, of 
which I am a member.
  Stephanie Tubbs Jones will be deeply missed by her family--her son, 
Mervyn Jones II and her two sisters--as well as the countless friends 
she leaves behind. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all at this 
difficult time.

                          ____________________