[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1312-E1313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF MR. JOHN H. JONES FOR HIS DEDICATED CAREER OF PUBLIC 
                                SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 26, 2018

  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and give thanks 
to a lifelong public servant and deeply valued member of my staff, Mr. 
John H. Jones. On Friday, September 28, 2018, John will bid his final 
farewell as my Chief of Staff to pursue opportunities presented through 
his years-long public service as a congressional staffer. Since his 
first day on the job in February of 2014, John has overseen operations 
in my legislative office in Washington, D.C., as well as my district 
offices in Kansas City, Independence, and Higginsville, Missouri. Over 
the past four and a half years, John has dedicated his time to serving 
the people of the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri with the 
utmost integrity and class. Now is my opportunity to give thanks on 
behalf of myself and the constituents he has so honorably served.
  John was born and raised in northern New Jersey. Following his 
graduation from high school, John attended Clark Atlanta University, a 
historically black university, in Atlanta, Georgia. At CAU, John 
received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, graduating with honors 
and Cum Laude. He then attained his Master of Arts in Diplomacy and 
International Relations as well as Master of Arts in Corporate and 
Public Communications at Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy 
and International Relations. But John's pursuit of higher learning 
wasn't finished there. Just last year, while serving as my Chief of 
Staff, John earned his Master of Business Administration from the 
University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. If ever there 
was an example of education leading to success, look no further than 
John Jones.
  Professionally, John's first post-grad opportunity came from the 
distinguished Congressional Black Caucus Foundation as a Legislative 
Fellow. After his year-long fellowship, John moved to Copenhagen, 
Denmark to work for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe as an International Research Fellow. Following two years of 
working internationally, public service and home came calling.
  In 2006, John began his steady climb up the ranks on Capitol Hill, 
beginning as a Senior Legislative Assistant for my good friend, 
Congressman Al Green. After a three-year stint focusing on homeland 
security and energy issues in the House of Representatives, John 
decided it was time for a move to the upper-chamber, landing a job in 
2009 as Director of National Security Policy for current Minority 
Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. For the next six years, John would 
focus on a legislative portfolio that included foreign affairs, 
national security, energy, and homeland security, while also serving as 
the lead Banking Committee staffer on issues pertaining to economic 
sanctions along with terrorism and financial intelligence--all the 
while managing a group of Legislative Aides, Legislative 
Correspondents, and a Military Fellow to achieve excellence on behalf 
of Senator Schumer.
  Although his portfolio has contained a wide array of issue areas, 
John is one of a very limited number of people with policy expertise in 
the intersection between financial services and technology industries. 
That, along with his litany of accomplishments--both professionally and 
academically--left me no choice but to make him my Chief of Staff when 
an opening arose in 2014.
  John's first year as my Chief of Staff was a busy one. Following the 
tragic death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August of 2014--
in an effort to increase transparency of police tactics--I wrote a 
letter to President Obama, urging the President to secure funding for 
body cameras and community policing. On February 2, 2015, I announced, 
and am proud to say, that the President included $22.5 million of 
funding for body cameras in his FY2016 budget. Over the next four 
months, John played an integral role in helping me push H. Res. 295--
sponsored by myself and Congressman Al Green--through the House of 
Representatives. This bill, highlighting a report by the U.S. 
Department of Justice entitled ``Police Officer Body-Worn Cameras,'' 
called for support of local law enforcement agencies' use of body-worn 
cameras, and I'm proud to say it was approved by the House on June 10, 
2015.
  That same year, I led an effort to close the digital divide within 
different neighborhoods of Kansas City. The digital divide, at its 
heart, is an issue that only perpetuates existing social and economic 
inequality. Again, John played a critical role in urging then-Secretary 
of the U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development (HUD) Julian 
Castro to select Kansas City as one of the demonstration cities for 
their new ConnectHome digital inclusion program. Yet again, I am proud 
that Kansas City was chosen to participate and has reaped extensive 
rewards from its inclusion in the program.
  As many of you are aware, I've dedicated much of my time in Congress 
to promoting social and economic equality while fighting for an end to 
discrimination on several fronts. In 2016, there were reports of 
discrimination against African Americans and other minorities who 
attempted to book rooms on the room-rental company ``Airbnb, Inc.'' 
John served as the staff-lead in my successful campaign to convince 
Airbnb to conduct a comprehensive review of discriminatory practices 
employed by some of its users. In a letter to the company, I urged 
Airbnb to conduct a review of the accusations, pinpoint how the issue 
was occurring and put an end to such practices. The CEO, Brian Chesky, 
responded by hiring former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help 
conduct a thorough review of discrimination within the Airbnb platform. 
By January

[[Page E1313]]

2017, Airbnb had implemented non-discrimination policy changes that 
made great strides to ensure all consumers are treated equally when 
using Airbnb services.
  Among other efforts to root out racism and discrimination, 
particularly in the wake of the Unite the Right white supremacist rally 
in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, which was organized on social 
media, I sent a letter to social media giants Twitter and Facebook, 
raising questions about diversity issues related to social media 
platforms. John assisted in leading the congressional effort to 
convince Facebook to implement standards to curb abusive and hateful 
on-line content. While there is still much work to be done in 
eliminating racism and discrimination on social media platforms, I'm 
happy to say that progress is being made.
  I have also consistently supported and fought for the inclusion of 
minorities in positions of leadership. Last year, with John 
spearheading my initiative, we were able to persuade the Internet 
Association--a prominent technology group that represents the interests 
of some of Silicon Valley's largest companies--to announce a new 
Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and Director Position aimed at 
conducting inclusion efforts and confronting the potential challenges 
of artificial intelligence and algorithms in technology, including 
financial technology.
  During my time in Washington, I have worked diligently to protect 
American consumers from fraudulent or discriminatory lending practices, 
and John has played a pivotal role in many of these efforts. Over the 
past year, John has worked tirelessly to help me provide a report on 
the lending practices of financial technology companies, otherwise 
known as FinTech companies. Thanks to his tireless research and 
outreach to numerous FinTech entities, I was able to release a detailed 
and revealing report on the small-business lending practices of the 
rapidly-expanding field of FinTech. Although there is more work to be 
done, this report was an important step in the right direction to 
ensuring these relatively new companies are promoting fair lending 
practices.
  The last, but maybe most important, accomplishment I would like to 
note came in 2015 when I co-authored H.R. 3700, the Housing 
Opportunities Through Modernization Act. This legislation was a 
comprehensive housing bill that made long-needed changes to public 
housing and the Section 8 rental assistance programs, as well as 
programs within the Federal Housing Authority and Rural Housing 
Services. With John's help implementing a legislative strategy to 
manage the bill through the House, I am proud to say it passed with 
unanimous bipartisan support and was signed into law by President 
Obama. It was the largest public housing overhaul in three decades, and 
I could not be more appreciative of John's leadership in shepherding it 
through the House with unanimous support, something almost unheard of 
for a bill as extensive and impactful as H.R. 3700.
  These are but a drop in the bucket of the various projects, events, 
and initiatives that John successfully managed while overseeing my 
congressional office. Since 2014, John has helped me manage everything 
from navigating legislation through the arduous process of becoming law 
to implementing communications strategies to investigating and 
addressing constituent concerns back home. As everyone in this chamber 
understands, a Member of Congress is only as good as the staff they 
surround themselves with. I can say, without a doubt in my mind, there 
is not a single member in this esteemed chamber that wouldn't be 
extremely fortunate to have John Jones running their office.
  Having known John for years now, I can say he is a patriotic, 
intelligent, and compassionate individual. He's a loving father and as 
hard-working and caring as they come. As he leaves the halls of 
Congress for other opportunities, Mr. Speaker, please join me in 
recognizing John Jones for his dedication to public service and for all 
he has accomplished for our great nation. On behalf of the Fifth 
District of Missouri, thank you.

                          ____________________