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…
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
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.
