Walter Jones, congressman who worked to atone for his Iraq
war vote, is dead at 76
FEBRUARY 10, 2019 05:42 PM
WASHINGTON
Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., an Eastern
North Carolina congressman who made it his mission to atone for his vote
sending U.S. troops into Iraq in the early 2000s, died Sunday on his 76th
birthday. Jones, like his father, served his district for nearly a
quarter-century. His death was confirmed by his office.
Jones, a Republican, was first
elected to the House in 1994 and won 12 more terms, including in 2018 when he
ran unopposed in the general election. He served five terms in the North
Carolina House as a Democrat before switching parties and winning a seat in
Congress during a Republican wave election.
A strong advocate for the Marine
Corps and against both the national debt and money in politics, Jones made
national headlines for his change of heart over his Iraq War vote. An early
supporter of the war, Jones was generally credited with coining the term
“freedom fries” and bringing them to House cafeterias, to protest France’s
refusal to join the war effort In Iraq. Jones voted to give President George W.
Bush authorization for the war in 2002.
But
he soon regretted the vote and said so publicly many times.
“I
did not do what I should have done to read and find out whether Bush was
telling us the truth about Saddam (Hussein) being responsible for 9/11 and
having weapons of mass destruction,” Jones said in a 2015 radio
interview. “Because I did not do my job then, I helped kill
4,000 Americans, and I will go to my grave regretting that.”
Jones
signed more than 11,000 letters to families of dead troops since 2003, an
act he told The Associated Press was
“penance” for his vote. Jones began sending the letters after attending the
2003 funeral of Marine Sgt. Michael Bitz.
“I
want them to know that my heart aches as their heart aches,” he told the AP.
Outside
of his House office, Jones had the photos of “anybody that’s been sent and died
from Camp Lejeune,” he told The News & Observer, in American wars since
2003. The memorial, which also included some members of the National Guard from
North Carolina, had grown to roughly 580 in 2018.
Rep. Walter
Jones, R-N.C. looks at pictures of the soldiers killed this century based in
Camp Lejeune along a hallway leading to his office on Capitol Hill, on Oct. 25,
2017, in Washington.
Andrew
Harnik AP
Jones
tried, without success, to get the House to debate a new war authorization as
the U.S. military presence spread around the Middle East in its fight against
terrorism, arguing that the 2001 authorization approved after the attacks of
Sept. 11 had been used “far too long,” according to one letter, as
justification.
“He
was a public servant who was true to his convictions,” North Carolina Gov. Roy
Cooper said in a statement.
MILITARY FOCUS
Those
who knew or worked with Jones spoke of his decency and moral character — and of
his work on behalf of those in the military.
“Jones’
legacy will undoubtedly be the unequivocal advocacy he put forth for the men
and women who serve in this country’s armed forces, and not just those who
lived in his district, but across the nation,” North Carolina Republican Party
Chairman Robin Hayes, who served with Jones in Congress, said in a statement.
Jones,
whose 3rd Congressional District includes Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, introduced legislation each year since
2001 to rename the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and
Marine Corps.
Many
of Jones’ accomplishments involved the military — and trying to help clear the
names of members of the military. He fought for years to help clear the names
of two Marine pilots wrongly blamed for the deadly crash of a V-22 Osprey in
2000. In 2016, the Navy issued a
clarification about the cause of the fatal crash. He fought for a
decade for a public exoneration of Marines accused of murdering
children in Afghanistan. His work helped create a military working dogs memorial.
He
took up the cause of Marine Lt. Ilario Patano, who was charged with
shooting and killing two Iraqis, after hearing Patano’s mother discuss the
case. All charges were dropped by the military.
“God
just put it in my heart,” Jones told McClatchy in 2005. “I told her, if I
believe your son is innocent, I will do everything I can to make sure the
people of this country know about your son.”
Jones
served in the North Carolina National Guard from 1967 to 1971.
“Walter
was an effective voice for those in uniform and our veterans,” said U.S. Rep.
G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat and friend of Jones’ for more than 40 years.
“Anyone who knew of Walter knew of his abiding love for the military.”
While
in the state legislature, Jones was a small businessman, serving as president
and co-owner of two small companies based in Farmville.
DEBT, MONEY AND POLITICS
Jones was
born Feb. 10, 1943, in Farmville. He is survived by his wife, Joe Ann, and
daughter, Ashley.
A
convert to Catholicism, Jones’ faith influenced his politics, which was often
focused on the constituents back home rather than amassing power in Washington.
Jones never chaired a House committee, for example.
“I’ve
tried to do the best for Him,” Jones told McClatchy, “and the best for them.”
Said
Butterfield: “He was a man who was deeply rooted in his faith and he
demonstrated it every day.”
Jones
served as co-chair of the Campaign Finance Reform Caucus, pushing for reforms
to lessen the impact and role of large campaign contributions. He called for
the repeal of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, which opened the
door for super PACs, and pushed for public financing of elections. Jones railed
against the corrosive influence of money in politics for much of his career.
“The
money up here is power,” Jones said in a 2005 interview with McClatchy. “Power
is money. It’s true for both sides. That’s what creates problems.”
Jones
also worried deeply about the nation’s growing debt, angering some Republicans
by voting against President Donald Trump’s signature tax-cut bill because of
its impact on the debt. He refused to vote for bills that increased the
national debt.
“I
can’t do it,” he told The News & Observer. “My consistency is the fact that
of my great concern that the debt one day of this nation will strangle the
economy. ... We can’t keep doing these things we can’t pay for.”
In
the state legislature, where Jones served from 1983 to 1992 representing Greene
and Pitt counties, he made his impact on campaign finance reform
and ethics issues. He helped pass a bill increasing disclosure of
money spent by special-interest groups to influence legislation, The News &
Observer reported in 1992. He supported unsuccessfully a state
constitutional amendment allowing public officials to be removed from office if
a court found they lied about their opponent during the campaign. In his final
campaign for Congress, Jones filed a complaint with the state board
of elections over what he called false ads pushed by his primary opponent.
In
1989, Jones — then a Democrat — joined with Republicans to force out Democratic
House Speaker Liston Ramsey, one of the many times he angered those in his
party.
FOLLOWING HIS FATHER
Jones’
father, Walter B. Jones Sr., served Eastern North Carolina in the House as a
Democrat from 1966 until his death in 1992. He had announced previously that he
would not seek re-election. His son ran, as a Democrat, for his father’s seat,
but lost in the Democratic primary to Eva Clayton. Jones Jr. changed parties
and won a seat in 1994 in a reconfigured district that included many of the
same counties that were in his father’s district.
In
his congressional office, Jones kept a photograph of himself and his father, in
a wheelchair, taken months before his father’s death.
“The
respect for my father is here whether he is here or not. I was in Ahoskie three
weeks ago and citizens, both white and black, said, ‘If you are just half as
good as your father, we’d like to see you up there,’” Jones told The News &
Observer in 1992 while seeking the Democratic nomination before his father’s
death. “... You cannot change your name at birth. What you can try to do is
prove yourself.”
Jones
Jr. announced he was not going to seek re-election during the Republican
primary in 2018, which he won easily in a three-way race. But Jones, who missed
time in the previous Congress to care for his wife, hadn’t voted in Congress
since September due to illness. He missed the first day of the new Congress
last month. Butterfield administered the oath of office to Jones in his
Farmville home. Jones later fell and broke his hip, requiring surgery. He
entered hospice care in late January.
“It
was one of the greatest honors of my life, for my friend Walter Jones to ask me
to administer his oath,” Butterfield said at the time.
Jones’
congressional office issued a statement Sunday evening by email.
“Congressman
Jones will long be remembered for his honesty, faith and integrity,” the
statement says. “He was never afraid to take a principled stand. He was known
for his independence, and widely admired across the political spectrum. Some
may not have agreed with him, but all recognized that he did what he thought
was right.”
JANUARY 26, 2019 07:27 PM
Brian Murphy covers North Carolina’s congressional delegation
and state issues from Washington, D.C., for The News & Observer, The
Charlotte Observer and The Herald-Sun. He grew up in Cary and graduated from
UNC-Chapel Hill. He previously worked for news organizations in Georgia, Idaho
and Virginia. Reach him at 202.383.6089 or bmurphy@mcclatchydc.com.
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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