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United States News Title: U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings dies; longtime Baltimore advocate was key figure in Trump impeachment inquiry U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore, a committee chairman known for his devotion to Baltimore and civil rights and for blunt and passionate speechmaking, died of longstanding health problems early Thursday morning, his office said. He was 68 years old. The Democrat, a key figure in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, died at Gilchrist Hospice Care, a Johns Hopkins affiliate, at approximately 2:45 A.M., a spokeswoman said. Cummings, who had been absent from Capitol Hill in recent weeks while under medical attention, had health issues in recent years. In 2017, he underwent an aortic valve replacement. The procedure, which aides described as minimally invasive in Cummings case, is used to correct narrowing of the aortic valve 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. Cummings had not participated in a roll call vote since Sept. 11. His office said recently that he had undergone a medical procedure but the seriousness of his condition had not been known. The committee he chaired, Oversight and Reform, is among three panels leading the impeachment inquiry of Trump, a Republican. Slide 1 of 15: (L-R): Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Jeff Ballou, National Press Club (NPC) past president and news editor at Al Jazeera Media Network, pose with the guest book Rep. Cummings signed, before his speech at a NPC Headliners luncheon in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, August 7, 2019. Slide 2 of 15: Congressman Elijah Cummings speaks at the grand opening of the McCullough Street Nature Play Space in West Baltimore on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Cummings on Saturday invited President Donald Trump and other Americans to Baltimore, taking the high road after a barrage of presidential tweets disparaging the black-majority city and its long-serving Democratic congressman. Slide 3 of 15: From left, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., hold a news conference after the back-to-back hearings with former special counsel Robert Mueller who testified about his investigation into and Russian interference in the 2016 election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2019. Slide 4 of 15: FILE - In this June 12, 2019 file photo, House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., wields his gavel on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 12, 2019. Cummings says in a letter to White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney that he wants all documents "memorializing communications between President Trump and the leader of any other foreign country" that relate to Trump's efforts to pressure the Ukrainian president. 12 Slide 5 of 15: Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD 7th District), and his wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, participate in a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, January 3, 2019. Slide 6 of 15: Former President Bill Clinton, from left, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Plank Industries CEO Tom Geddes participate in a panel discussion on the country's opioid epidemic at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. Slide 7 of 15: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, right, embraces Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., after being introduced and endorsed by him in front of Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., during a campaign event at City Garage in Baltimore, Sunday, April 10, 2016. Slide 8 of 15: WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 07: Committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) (R) talks to ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) (L) prior to a hearing before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee July 7, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing "Oversight of the State Department," focusing on the FBI's recommendation not to prosecute Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for maintaining a private email server during her time as Secretary of State. Slide 9 of 15: UNITED STATES - JUNE 29: Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., speaks during a rally with lawmakers and gun violence victims to call for action on gun safety measures on the steps of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore, Md., June 29, 2016. Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., and John Sarbanes, D-Md., also attended the event. Slide 10 of 15: BALTIMORE, USA - APRIL 29: United States Congressman Elijah Cummings pleads for protestors to go home when the curfew goes into effect rather than risk arrest in Baltimore, USA on April 29, 2015. Protests following the death of Freddie Gray from injuries suffered while in police custody have turned violent with people throwing debris at police and media and burning cars and businesses. Slide 11 of 15: WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 11: Representative Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, right, and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings arrive to a state dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama in honor of French President Francois Hollande at the White House on February 11, 2014 in Washington, DC. Obama and Hollande said the U.S. and France are embarking on a new, elevated level of cooperation as they confront global security threats in Syria and Iran, deal with climate change and expand economic cooperation. Slide 12 of 15: President Barack Obama, left, reaches across to shakes hands with Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., right, after signing HR 4348, the Surface Transportation Bill, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 6, 2012. The bill maintains jobs on transportation projects and prevents interest rate increases on new loans to millions of college students. Slide 13 of 15: U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), center, accompanied by L-R, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA), Congressman Henry Waxman, (D-CA) and Congressman Mark Souder (R-IN), introduces legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 24, 2005. The bipartisan House and Senate members will introduce the "Clean Sports Act of 2005" in hopes of making sports safer and strengthen the testing procedures and tougher penalties for the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the four major sports; Baseball, Football,, Basketball and Hockey. Slide 14 of 15: WASHINGTON, : US President George W. Bush (2ndL) meets 31 January, 2001, with members of the Congressional Black Caucus including Caucus Chair Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, (L), (D-TX), Rep. Elijah Cummings, (2nd-R), (D-MD), and Rep. Bobby Rush, (R), (D-IL), in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Slide 15 of 15: Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. Winner of Democratic Primary of Maryland's 7th Congressional District with a supporter, after forum held at Bibleway Missionary Baptist Church on Feb. 27, 1996. Slide 1 of 15: (L-R): Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Jeff Ballou, National Press Club (NPC) past president and news editor at Al Jazeera Media Network, pose with the guest book Rep. Cummings signed, before his speech at a NPC Headliners luncheon in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, August 7, 2019. Next Slide Full screen Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), longtime advocate for Baltimore and civil rights, has died at age 68 at Johns Hopkins Hospital from health complications. As chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Cummings led multiple investigations into Donald Trump and was a key figure in Trump impeachment inquiry. (Pictured) Cummings and Jeff Ballou, former National Press Club president and news editor at Al Jazeera, pose with the guest book Rep. Cummings signed before his speech at a NPC Headliners luncheon in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 7. Slideshow by photo services A former Maryland state delegate and trial attorney, Cummings 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 Trumps personal finances and policies, as well as possible abuses at federal agencies in the Trump administration. Pundits had speculated before the change of power in the House that Cummings, who could be boisterous in his questioning of witnesses, might become a nightmare for Trump, a Republican. Are we going to be the nightmare? Its in the eyes of the beholder, he told The Baltimore Sun before ascending to the chairmanship. Cummings clashed with the 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 challenged by the president of Trumps personal and financial records. 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. The Democrat recalled saying: Mr. President, youre now 70-something, Im 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 what present can we bring to generations unborn? Cummings said he then told Trump that we dont need to be doing mean things. We dont need to be just representing 30-something percent of the people that like us. You need to represent all the people. Cummings particularly resented Trumps tweet over the summer of 2019 that four Democratic congresswomen of color should "go back to other countries. He said it recalled the summer of 1962, 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. In July, Trump began a weeklong series of tweets and comments attacking the congressman, his hometown of Baltimore and his congressional district, which Trump called rat and rodent infested. Cummings chose not to respond directly but in a National Press Club speech decried racist language used by the nations leaders and urged them to work together for the common good. God has called me to this moment. I did not ask for it, he said in the speech. Cummings often told the story of how his mother had witnessed Americans harmed and beaten while seeking the right to vote. Her last words were Do not let them take our votes away from us, he said. Following his health problems in recent years, he used a wheelchair to get around and braced himself with a walker when he stood. More: What they're saying about Cummings' death 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, née Cochran, who were sharecroppers on land where their ancestors were enslaved. The couple moved to Baltimore in the late 1940s. As a child, Cummings struggled in elementary school and was assigned to special education courses. However, after showing promise in high school at City College, he won Phi Beta Kappa honors at Howard University in Washington. He earned a bachelors degree in political science. He graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law and passed the state bar in 1976. In 1982, with the support of several established city officials, Cummings ran for state delegate and won. He served in the Maryland General Assembly for 14 years and became the first African American in Maryland history to be named speaker pro tem. In late 1995, Cummings decided to run for Marylands 7th congressional district in the U.S. House after Rep. Kweisi Mfume announced he would resign to become the head of the NAACP. Cummings served as a congressman since 1996. Cummings was an active member of New Psalmist Baptist Church and was married to Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who was elected chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in December 2018.
Poster Comment: A colossi jackass.
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#3. To: IbJensen (#0)
God has called me to this moment. I did not ask for it, he said in the speech. Cummings often told the story of how his mother had witnessed Americans harmed and beaten while seeking the right to vote. Her last words were Do not let them take our votes away from us, he said. I read things like this and it all sounds like a bunch of lies. Not even good lies, just the usual crap the various competing race hustlers spew to various crowds.
Statues should be erected, and schools named after this epitome of negro courage. He, like all Democrats, did a lot for his city he represented. Imagine as a youngster watching his mother beaten with a whip as she tried to vote.
#5. To: IbJensen (#4)
I don't believe those stories unless they have evidence. Photos, etc. It wasn't that expensive to buy some crappy Polaroid camera back then. Yet we see very little evidence of such lurid events. Probably because they didn't happen at all and are just stories some scumbag pol made up to tell his gullible voters. Dem pols specialize in lies like these to get elected.
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