Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones

(September 10, 1949 – August 20, 2008)

Today is a sad day for me. My soror, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, went to be with the Lord on today. She will be sorely missed by her family and friends and the sisters of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. I first met Soror Tubbs in 2004 when I attended Delta Days at the Nation's Capital, an annual legislative conference in our Nation's Capital for members of the sorority where we'd come together to influence our Nation's legislators.

Every year that I attended the conference, Soror Tubbs would escort us around the Nation's capital and talk to us about issues of the day, all while treating us with such kindness. She was the kind of person you could just talk to and who didn't put on heirs. I remember Soror Tubbs parking her Honda Accord in the front of the capital to help orchestrate a group picture for sorors in front of the Capital. She was a real person which is a rare quality these days. Below is a statement that Tubbs made in response to the 2004 election. This quote, in my opinion, sums up Soror Tubbs' strength, courage and wisdom:

I, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a representative from Ohio,

and Ms. Boxer, a Senator from California, object to

the counting of the electoral votes of the State of Ohio

on the ground that they were not, under all of the

known circumstances, regularly given.

I, thank God, that I have a Senator joining me in this

objection. I appreciate Senator Boxer's willingness to

listen to the plight of hundreds and even thousands of

Ohio voters that for a variety of reasons were denied

the right to vote. Unfortunately objecting to the

electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate avenue

to bring these issues to light.

While some have called our cause foolish I can assure

you that my parents, Mary and Andrew Tubbs did not

raise any fools and as a lawyer, former judge and

prosecutor, I am duty bound to follow the law and apply

the law to the facts as I find them.