By Jeff Barker, Oct 17, 2019<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings \u2014 the son of sharecroppers who rose to become a House committee chairman and Baltimore icon \u2014 often spoke of the need to leave a legacy for \u201cgenerations unborn,\u201d but said he was unsure how his own contributions might be remembered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here for a season and a reason,” the veteran Democratic lawmaker said this summer in his Capitol Hill office, sitting below framed photographs of civil rights leaders Nelson Mandela and Coretta Scott King. “I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m here, I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019ll be here, but I\u2019m here. And I\u2019m going to make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Colleagues defined Cummings\u2019 legacy as his devotion to Baltimore and civil rights, and his adherence to civility in a fractured political climate, even as he pursued an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump from his role as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Cummings, 68, died about 2:45 a.m. Thursday due to complications from longstanding health problems. He was a patient of Gilchrist Hospice Care, a member of his staff said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHe used to always say, \u2018Our children are our living messengers to a future we will never see,\u2019\u201d House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. \u201cHe wanted to be sure that that future was going to be better for them and that they would bring with them our values.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Other members of Congress said Cummings would be remembered for preaching calm, and his frequent exhortations of \u201cWe are better than this!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He \u201cbrought peace where there was no peace,\u201d House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Southern Maryland Democrat, said on the House floor. He recalled Cummings walking the streets of Baltimore, counseling against violence during unrest following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray from injuries suffered in police custody. Cummings was among the speakers at Gray\u2019s funeral, asking people if they truly \u201csaw\u201d Gray before he died.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
His constituents framed his legacy as that of a father figure and a civil rights icon, ranking him with the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHe stood up, put himself out there so we could get a better life,” said Matthew Hubbard, 45, a barber in West Baltimore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
As part of his own thinking about his legacy, Cummings said he tried to set an example for younger members of his committee, such as the outspoken progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOne day, they\u2019ll be sitting in Pelosi\u2019s shoes,\u201d Cummings said. \u201cNelson Mandela said … the greatest person and the strongest person is the one who was able to hold their emotions in when they feel they should strike out. And I believe in that. If you ever hear me raise my voice, it\u2019s because I believe that somebody is trying to get something over on me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Cummings had been absent from Capitol Hill in recent weeks while he was sick. But his death came as a surprise, as it was not known publicly he was in hospice care, when medical and other services are provided for people who are terminally ill. Cummings\u2019 staff did not say why or when he was moved to hospice care and did not respond to questions about the cause of death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Bishop Walter Thomas of New Psalmist Baptist Church, where Cummings worshiped for nearly 40 years, said he spoke with Cummings as he was going into hospice and said the congressman was there \u201cfor only a matter of hours.\u201d Thomas declined to comment further, citing pastoral confidentiality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The congressman\u2019s wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, said in a statement that \u201che worked until his last breath.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Cummings had not participated<\/a> in a House roll call vote since Sept. 11. He missed a key committee hearing in mid-September, and his office said then he had undergone a medical procedure. Statements from his office suggested he would be back in a week or so, and later that he would return when the House came back Tuesday from a recess, but Cummings did not appear.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not know he was this gravely ill,\u201d said Larry Gibson, a University of Maryland law professor and civil rights activist who knew Cummings for more than 50 years and said he spoke with him last week. \u201cHe would tell me I was his mentor. He was my brother. He was my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings had other health issues in recent years. In 2017, he underwent a procedure to correct a narrowing of the aortic valve<\/a> in the heart. The surgery led to an infection that kept him in the hospital longer than expected. He was later hospitalized for a knee infection, but he said this summer that his health was fine. In recent years, Cummings used a wheelchair to get around and braced himself with a walker when he stood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n According to state law, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan will need to announce plans by Oct. 28 for a primary and a general election to fill the vacancy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The committee Cummings chaired is among three panels leading the impeachment inquiry of Trump, a Republican. Under House rules, Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York becomes acting chairwoman because she ranked second in seniority on the committee, said a senior Democratic leadership aide. A caucus process to elect a permanent chair has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Previously a trial attorney and Maryland state delegate, Cumming had been a member of Congress since 1996. He became a national figure in 2019 as chairman of the committee. With Democrats assuming the House majority after the 2018 elections, he won the ability to demand documents related to Trump\u2019s personal finances and policies, as well as possible abuses at federal agencies.<\/p>\n Hogan called Cummings \u201ca fierce advocate for civil rights and for Maryland for more than three decades. Congressman Cummings leaves behind an incredible legacy of fighting for Baltimore city and working to improve people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the U.S. House, Cummings voted in 2002 against a U.S. military invasion of Iraq, citing insufficient evidence that the country had weapons of mass destruction. He chaired the Congressional Black Caucus in 2003 and 2004.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings was a staunch advocate for transit, which he viewed as crucial for providing a \u201cbetter future\u201d for Baltimoreans, especially those living in the city\u2019s impoverished areas. The congressman urged Amtrak to move forward<\/a> with the renovation of Baltimore\u2019s Penn Station, which he said \u201cshould be an economic engine,” and was a staunch supporter of the proposed Red Line, a planned east-west light rail project in Baltimore that Hogan canceled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings clashed with Trump and his administration over a number of issues, including the high cost of prescription drugs, a longtime concern of his. His committee engaged in a protracted court fight with the administration over subpoenas \u2014 challenged by the president \u2014 of Trump\u2019s personal and financial records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings said he had just a single one-on-one conversation with the president. It was in 2017 when both were working on plans to lower drug prices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Democrat recalled saying: \u201cMr. President, you\u2019re now 70-something, I\u2019m 60-something. Very soon you and I will be dancing with the angels. The thing that you and I need to do is figure out what we can do \u2014 what present can we bring to generations unborn?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings resented Trump\u2019s tweet over the summer that four Democratic congresswomen of color \u2014 Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota \u2014 should “go back\u201d to other countries. He said it recalled the summer of 1962<\/a>, when white mobs taunted and threw rocks and bottles at Cummings and other African American kids seeking to integrate the Riverside Park pool in South Baltimore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think these Republicans or Trump fully understand what it feels like to be treated like less than a dog,\u201d Cummings told The Sun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In July, Trump began a weeklong series of tweets and comments attacking the congressman, his hometown of Baltimore and his congressional district<\/a>, which Trump called \u201crat and rodent infested.\u201d<\/a> Cummings chose not to respond directly, but in a National Press Club speech decried \u201cracist language\u201d used by the nation\u2019s leaders and urged them to \u201cwork together for the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGod has called me to this moment. I did not ask for it,\u201d he said in the speech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In a tweet Thursday, Trump sent his \u201cwarmest condolences\u201d to Cummings\u2019 family and friends and said: \u201cI got to see first hand the strength, passion and wisdom of this highly respected political leader. His work and voice on so many fronts will be very hard, if not impossible, to replace!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings was known for his booming \u2014 and sometimes intimidating \u2014 observations during committee hearings. He did not hesitate to tell witnesses when he thought they were dodging his pointed questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI felt like you were trying to pull a fast one on me, I\u2019ve got to be honest with you, man,\u201d Cummings told U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in March during a hearing into how the Trump administration came to develop a census question \u2014 later withdrawn \u2014 about citizenship status. Ross said he had testified truthfully.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings was born in 1951 and raised in Baltimore, where he continued to live. He was one of seven children of Robert Cummings Sr. and Ruth Elma Cummings<\/a>, who were sharecroppers on land where their ancestors were enslaved. The couple moved to Baltimore in the late 1940s from South Carolina. Cummings often told a story of how his mother had witnessed Americans beaten while seeking the right to vote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHer last words were: \u2018Do not let them take our votes away from us,’ ” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As a child, Cummings struggled in elementary school and was assigned to special education courses; he wanted to be a lawyer, but a school counselor recommended trade school. However, after showing promise in high school at Baltimore City College, he won Phi Beta Kappa honors at Howard University in Washington. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science. He graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law and passed the state bar in 1976.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings joined a small Baltimore law firm and later set up his own practice, pooling expenses with two other lawyers. He soon transitioned to his second aspiration as a public servant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 1982, with the support of several established city officials, Cummings ran for state delegate and won. He served in the General Assembly for 14 years and became the first African American in Maryland history to be named speaker pro tem of the House of Delegates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In late 1995, Cummings decided to run in the 7th Congressional District after Kweisi Mfume announced he would resign to become the head of the national NAACP. The present district boundaries encompass parts of the city of Baltimore and sections of the counties of Baltimore and Howard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCommon law and experience teach us that politics change people, but Elijah was a person who changed politics. He put a human face on it. He made it real,\u201d Mfume said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As he rose to political prominence, Cummings struggled with finances. For two winters as a congressman, he said, he lived without heat. He told The Sun in 1999 that was in part because he was helping to support three children: two daughters and a son.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His daughters graduated from Howard, Cummings\u2019 alma mater. He posted a photo in 2016 in honor of his youngest\u2019s graduation day, saying on Twitter: \u201cI was so proud to watch my daughter, Adia, walk across the stage.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cummings was an active member of New Psalmist \u2014 he was there habitually, sitting up front, for an early Sunday service \u2014 and was married to Rockeymoore Cummings, who was elected chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in December<\/a>2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an honor to walk by his side on this incredible journey,\u201d his wife said in her statement. \u201cI loved him deeply and will miss him dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Thomas, longtime pastor of New Psalmist, said he was waiting to hear from Rockeymoore Cummings on funeral plans, but expected the service would be held in the 4,000-seat sanctuary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n