AMO Currents - Maritime mourns loss of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones

AMO Currents - Posted: August 22, 2008

Maritime mourns loss of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones

The maritime community lost a friend and ally Aug. 20 with the death of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

The Democratic congresswoman representing Ohio's 11th District suffered an aneurysm while driving her car in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Tuesday evening and was admitted to Huron Hospital. She died the next day.

In her fifth term in Congress, Rep. Tubbs Jones was named Great Lakes Legislator of the Year in 2008 by the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force for her strong support of U.S.-flag shipping and American industry.

"As a lifelong resident of the district she represented, Stephanie Tubbs Jones had a thorough command of the issues that matter most in the Great Lakes region," said AMO National Vice President for the Great Lakes Don Cree. "Her outspoken advocacy exemplified her responsible leadership in Congress, for Ohio and for her constituents, including those of us in the maritime trades.

"As a member of the Great Lakes Congressional delegation, she supported greater funding for vital dredging projects, renewal of Coast Guard icebreaking assets and took a leading role in advancing measures to keep the cargo flowing to terminals in Cleveland and throughout the Great Lakes system for American steel mills, power plants, manufacturing and construction industries," Cree said. "The maritime community has lost a friend and ally, a defender of family-sustaining jobs in our region and a champion of Great Lakes shipping."

Rep. Tubbs Jones was the first African-American woman to chair the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) and the first African-American woman to serve on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. She was an active member of numerous Congressional Caucuses, including the Congressional Black Caucus.

Congresswoman Tubbs Jones has made a number of historic achievements in her distinguished career as a public servant. Prior to her election to the House, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones served as the first African-American and the first female Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Prosecutor. She was the first African-American woman to sit on the Common Pleas bench in the State of Ohio and was a Municipal Court Judge in the City of Cleveland.