[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO NATHANIEL JONES

 Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I rise to honor the memory of one 
of our country's great civil rights leaders and judges, the Honorable 
Nathaniel Jones, who passed away on January 26 at the age of 93.
  Judge Jones was a native of Youngstown in my home State of Ohio, a 
veteran who served in the Air Force during World War II, and a tireless 
advocate for justice and equality. After his time in the military, he 
earned an undergraduate degree and a JD from Youngstown State 
University.
  For much of the 1960s, Judge Jones was the assistant U.S. attorney 
for the Northern District of Ohio at the appointment of Attorney 
General Robert F. Kennedy. In 1969, he became the general counsel for 
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, 
where he argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court.
  In 1979 he moved to the Cincinnati area upon being appointed as an 
appeals judge for the Sixth Circuit by President Carter, and he served 
admirably in that role for decades. With all of his experience, and his 
reputation for integrity and problem-solving, Judge Jones was an active 
member of the Cincinnati community and widely respected in legal 
circles. As an example, he was asked to deliver the inaugural Judge A. 
Leon Higginbotham Distinguished Memorial Lecture at Harvard Law School.
  His work also included helping to end the apartheid regime in South 
Africa, working to promote a free and independent Namibia, 
participating in the U.S.-Egypt Judicial Exchange Program, and 
advocating for human rights within the Soviet Union. Among his many 
accomplishments, he received the Distinguished Service Citation from 
the National Conference for Community Justice and the State 
Department's Millennium International Volunteer Award. For all of his 
accomplishments, worked in the House of Representatives to write and 
pass legislation to rename the U.S. courthouse in Youngstown after 
Judge Jones--the courthouse stands only a few miles down the road from 
where he was raised as a child. It now bears the name of this proud son 
of Youngstown.
  Back home in Cincinnati, Judge Jones was just as important a figure 
in the fight for a more equitable society, having taught law at the 
University of Cincinnati, among other schools. I was proud to work with 
him on launching the National Underground Railroad Museum, housed in my 
hometown of Cincinnati. It is there in large part because of the 
efforts of Judge Jones, who also served as a co-chair of the board of 
trustees for the museum. I was honored to work with him over the years 
to further its mission. Just last fall, the University of Cincinnati 
College of Law renamed its Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice 
in his honor.
  Judge Jones was a model public servant, working to better his 
community and his fellow man. I will remember him as a friend who 
brought people together to support racial healing, equality and to 
improve the community. His legacy of justice and equality before the 
law should inspire all of us to continue to seek positive change.
  Today, my thoughts are with his family--his sister, Allie Jean, his 
daughters Stephanie and Pamela, his sons Rick, William, and Marc, and 
the many others whose lives he touched.

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