Robert E. Jones Jr.

Robert "Bob" Emmett Jones Jr. was a member of the United States House of Representatives from the 8th district of Alabama. He was the last to represent that district before it was removed as a result of the 1970 United States census. Presently there are seven U.S. House districts in Alabama.

Early life

Robert Emmett Jones Jr. was born on June 12, 1912, in Scottsboro, Alabama, in Jackson County. He attended public schools and the University of Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama law department on January 7, 1937, and was admitted to the bar the same year. His early years saw much legal work in Scottsboro. Jones was elected judge of Jackson County Court in July 1940 then reelected in absentia in May 1945 where he served until October 1946. Jones served in the United States Navy as a gunnery officer in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters from December 1943 until February 1946.

Jones first entered the United States Congress by special election in 1947 when he was elected as a Democrat to the seat vacated by John Sparkman who had been elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1949, he actively supported the Housing Act of 1949, and played a key role in Section V of the bill which provided money for rural farm housing. He also supported the renewal of the act in 1961. He advocated legislation that led to the Federal Highway Act of 1956, which helped create the modern interstate system. Having been a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Jones voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, the Civil Rights Acts of 1960, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and the Civil Rights Acts of 1968 as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Jones was an advocate for the economic development of north Alabama, and supported military, NASA, and Tennessee Valley Authority projects in his district. Jones served as Chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee. Jones served 14 consecutive terms until his retirement on January 3, 1977. Jones was not a candidate for reelection in 1976. His papers are housed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Among his legislative achievements was his principal sponsorship of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. He was also instrumental in passage of the 1965 Appalachian Regional Development Act.

Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama, is named in his honor, as is the Bob Jones Bridge over the Tennessee River in his native Scottsboro.

Jones died June 4, 1997, in Florence, Alabama.