H7826 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 8, 2008 REMOVAL OF NAME OF MEMBER sadness, as well as a deep sense of diately reciprocated as she shared with AS COSPONSOR OF H. CON. RES. privilege that I rise this evening to me, over my Blackberry, a favorite 362 commemorate and to celebrate the life poem from which she drew succor. Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, of our friend, colleague, and sister, Imagine how many memories each of I ask unanimous consent to have my Congresswoman STEPHANIE TUBBS us has, how many thousands of lives name removed as a cosponsor of House JONES of Ohio’s 11th District. This she touched, representing a district Concurrent Resolution 362. evening, we do this with the deepest and State that tested her talents, her The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. gratitude for her life, and on behalf of spirit, and her conscience daily. She our entire Ohio delegation, the people served people well beyond her district, SESTAK). Is there objection to the re- quest of the gentleman from Georgia? of our State, her home city of Cleve- logging thousands of miles in freedom’s land, and citizens far and wide, who There was no objection. cause. were blessed to know and walk, work, I don’t think I saw STEPHANIE too f worship and smile along with STEPH- many times without that little valise PERSONAL EXPLANATION ANIE. in the back room here. She was always On the day of her funeral, the Cleve- going somewhere. She held a hard job, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, land Plain Dealer, or actually it was and she put her entire being into it. on the passage of S. 2403, I was un- the day after, the Sunday Plain Dealer, She literally gave herself to us. And in avoidably detained. I would like the had a very large photo of the memorial her memory, we should dedicate our- RECORD to reflect that had I been service held in Cleveland, Ohio. And selves to her unfinished work. present I would have voted ‘‘yes.’’ the headline read, STEPHANIE TUBBS One can imagine how few women f JONES, 1949 to 2008: Tears flow, laughter have ever served in the Congress from rolls during memorial service. And the our State. To those afforded the privi- REMOVAL OF NAME OF MEMBER paper goes on to recount so many beau- lege, there is a priceless bond that AS COSPONSOR OF H.R. 1619 tiful, beautiful remarks and remem- links our spirits and provides support. Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I seek brances that people across this country STEPHANIE was such a valued sister. unanimous consent to have my name attributed to her life. We will be plac- Though her years with us were far too removed from H.R. 1619 as a sponsor. ing this in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, short, her impact endures well beyond The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there as well as I would like to read from my the years. She made history. She spoke objection to the request of the gen- home paper, the Toledo Blade, way on her conscience, and she reveled in tleman from Tennessee? the other side of the State from where every step of the journey. There was no objection. STEPHANIE represented. It stated, a Thanks be to God, she did not suffer leader passes, the loss of her fighting in the end. The Lord spared her that, f spirit will be keenly felt, deeply perhaps as, through her life, she had PERMISSION FOR COMMITTEE ON mourned and difficult to replace. endured too much personal sadness and NATURAL RESOURCES TO FILE I think particularly this evening of loss that would have broken lesser spir- SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT ON H.R. her son, Mervyn. We wish him comfort, its. 3667, MISSISQUOI AND TROUT and we wish him her strength as he In loss, STEPHANIE’s strength RIVERS WILD AND SCENIC RIVER mourns her passing. strengthens us. Her enduring personal STUDY ACT OF 2008 We all know that when one met legacy of character and endurance, be- STEPHANIE, you knew you had met yond her milestone achievements, re- Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I ask strength. You knew you had met some- unanimous consent that the Com- main the portrait of her life. Our dele- one who endured struggle. She had a gation is especially honored to fit- mittee on Natural Resources be au- keen intelligence, a high-minded ideal- thorized to file a supplemental report tingly commemorate her life and ism, and wow, her charisma just over- achievements here this evening. on H.R. 3667. flowed. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there [From the Sunday Plain Dealer, Aug. 31, The other day I was in my district 2008] objection to the request of the gentle- and I met a man from Cleveland who woman from California? STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES, 1949–2008: TEARS had gone to school with STEPHANIE. FLOW, LAUGHTER ROLLS DURING MEMORIAL There was no objection. And I said, tell me, was STEPHANIE al- SERVICE f ways that enthusiastic? He said, (By Tony Brown) ‘‘Marcy, I went to law school with her. EXPRESSING THE CONDOLENCES It was a moment that surely would have She never changed.’’ earned one of the wide, knowing smiles re- OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- And from the time she was in her membered so well by all the friends of Steph- TIVES ON THE DEATH OF THE late teens and early 20s to her service anie Tubbs Jones. HONORABLE STEPHANIE TUBBS here, she had the same boundless en- Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, the man Tubbs JONES, A REPRESENTATIVE OF ergy, drive and positive spirit. Jones used to call her ‘‘white son,’’ and fel- THE STATE OF OHIO She was a devoted wife, a beloved low Congressman Kendrick Meek of Florida, mother, a sister to us all, and an elect- whom she nicknamed her ‘‘black son,’’ had Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise just finished moving tributes to their con- this evening in order to consider the ed leader, in that order. And she rel- gressional ‘‘mom.’’ bereavement resolution in memory of ished all of her life’s roles. Her drive That’s when Mervyn Jones II, her real son, our beloved colleague. and energy were genuine, and they slipped out of his front-row seat to join his The Clerk read the resolution, as fol- were infectious. And she carved a no- ‘‘brothers’’ in an intimate, tearful embrace lows: bler path for America with her election in front of thousands gathered to bid fare- as the first African American woman well to the first black woman elected to Con- H. RES. 1415 from Ohio to serve in the U.S. Con- gress from Ohio. Resolved, That the House has heard with gress. We Ohioans were very proud of The three remained locked in each other’s profound sorrow of the death of the Honor- arms well into remarks made by former Rep. able Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Representa- her. Louis Stokes, the man whose seat Tubbs tive from the State of Ohio. I know that I, like my colleagues, Jones inherited in 1989. Resolved, That the Clerk communicate have so many vivid lasting memories of After the men returned to their places, these resolutions to the Senate and transmit STEPHANIE. Upon her first swearing in, Sen. Barack Obama—the son of a black fa- a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. I still recall a little table in a recep- ther and a white mother who grew up to be- Resolved, That when the House adjourns tion hall here where I was able to come the first black presidential nominee of today, it adjourn as a further mark of re- present her with a single red rose as a major U.S. political party—turned in his spect to the memory of the deceased. she was sitting next to her predecessor, chair to console a still-sobbing Meek. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gen- In that moment, amid the grieving and the Congressman Louis Stokes, and how laughter and the consolation and the stories tlewoman from Ohio is recognized for 1 she poignantly responded. She knew and the campaign rhetoric of the celebration hour. the steepness of the climb. of a life well-lived, everyone under the vault- Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker and col- I recall my efforts to comfort her on ed ceiling of Public Hall—all friends of Tubbs leagues, it is with a profound sense of the loss of her husband, and she imme- Jones—shared in that group hug.

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